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Depends on what you call vintage... VTL?

I have not heard any of the tube Mac or Marantz preamps ever sound really good. Noise levels are pretty high, detail pretty low, and in the middle of all that muddle, lovely mids. Same goes for Sherwood, Scott, etc. from the 50's and 60's. Admittedly, my Marantz experience is very limited, but I lived with 2 C22's for an extended period. I think them over-rated.

Coming into more recent stuff, early C-J preamps weren't much better. Slightly better noise levels, and wonderful imaginging and sound-stage. Lousy dynamics -- the "PV" series up through the PV10 all seemed to compress everything.

The exception I've found are the late 1980's/early 1990's VTL preamps - Deluxe, Super Deluxe, and Ultimate. Lived with all of them, and recommend all highly. Their sound resembles the early Mac tube stuff, without the noise, with tremendous dynamics, and great soundstaging and imaging. Manufacturing quality is decidedly NOT up to Mac levels, and some pre-emptive maintenance is recommended. Great units for upgrades, and very easy to work on. The only preamps I've listened to that are markedly better are the Manley line, and with that we are into current production.


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  • Depends on what you call vintage... VTL? - Bill Way 12:45:35 12/29/03 (0)


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