Amp/Preamp Asylum

Posted by mlsstl (A) on September 14, 2022 at 17:16:30

I've had a LSA VT-70 for about a week now and probably have about 15 or so hours on it, so these are initial impressions, not a long-term assessment.

The unit was ordered in mid-July knowing that Underwood was out of them and waiting for the next shipment. It finally arrived about a week ago. On unboxing, the amp is a simple cosmetic design, but nicely built and attractive. It is also heavy at 46 pounds. A tube cage is included, but easy to remove and put back. A remote is also included -- it only adjusts volume and has a mute button, but no other functions. One side-note, the remote does not include a battery, so you'll need to buy a CR-2032 cell for it if you want to use it.

This is a basic integrated tube amp with EL34 output tubes, producing 35 watts a channel. It has three line-level inputs, a volume control and an on/off switch. The front panel also has a 1/4" headphone jack and two VU meters with switches for the meter lights and and using them for tube bias adjustment. All of the tubes (four EL34 outputs, one 12AX7 and two 12AU7s) are LSA branded so not sure who is the real manufacturer. The rear of the amp has three sets of RCA inputs, a single pair of preamp outputs for a sub, and connections for one pair of speakers, with both 4 and 8 ohm options. The owners manual also says that you can use 6550 or KT88 output tubes in place of the EL34s if you wish to tube roll.

The amp is currently in my second system, hooked up to a pair of Spendor 4/5 bookshelf monitors I recently acquired. (This is Spendor's current interpretation of the classic LS 3/5a speaker.) The results? Excellent. The amp is effortless in driving the speakers to my desired listening levels, generally about 85 dB max, in the room. (Though not a big room at 12' X 12', it is completely open on the right to a larger room.) The sound is clean and balanced from bass to treble. Transients and percussion are well presented with no sense of brittleness. Midrange is smooth and clear; voices are excellent. It has that 3-D quality that good tube amps give, but is not syrupy or muddy. I played a wide variety of music -- folk, rock, jazz, classical (from solo piano to orchestral) and found myself in that delightful spot of wanting to put on yet one more track after I thought I'd just put on the last song for the session.

In summary, this is a very good tube amp. I'm in agreement with the several professional reviews out there that say this is quite the deal. List on the amp is $1,399 and, since it was only introduced this year, there is an intro price of $1,299. Shipping is extra. If you are looking for a tube amp that sounds good and looks good, I doubt that you'll find anything new that competes without spending quite a bit more.