Program Notes - Sunday, October 26,
2003
Luke Manley and the
VTL and VPI Extravaganza
Hosted by Audio
Alternative Shop - 895 Indian Trail Rd - Lilburn
GA - 770-931-0606
Audio Society members and guests were invited to a
presentation by Luke Manley head of VTL Amplifiers,
Inc. and the Atlanta launch of his new Siegfried monoblock
amplifiers. The program was hosted by the able
team at Audio Alternative Shop headed by Alan and Shawn
Jones. Mr. Manley (the younger) presented one
of the most enjoyable audio events we've had in this
or any other season. With vacuum tubes and LP's abounding,
it was a treat for the 90+ standing room only audience.
Luke a notable audio engineer, manufacturer, businessman
and recording veteran made an excellent presentation
with just enough techno talk to please most any audio
geek without snoozing off the technically challenged.
Best of all Luke offered no hype - indeed how refreshing
from a manufacturer! Having known Luke for
many years throughout the "VTL" years as a dedicated
straight shooter, I attest we got the scoop first hand
from one of the best in the business.
The focus of the afternoon was of course the powerful
new Siegfried 800 watt reference monoblock power amplifier(s).
The amp was first seen and heard by I and others from
Atlanta at the June 2003 HE show in San Francisco,
this to great acclaim while paired with Wilson's MAXX
loudspeakers. The core of this remote controlled, class
AB1 bias amplifier is a dozen Soviet sourced 6550C
power tubes per amplifier delivering 800W Tetrode,
400W Triode into 4 ohms, and 600W Tetrode, 300W Triode. The
nominal output "Z" setting is 5 ohms. The Siegfried
abounds with the latest in logic controlled auto tube
biasing - and even does so between music passages.
Siegfried also features smart fault-sensing user alerts
and diagnostics, precision regulated power supplies
and logic controlled soft-start circuitry to extend
tube life. Both balanced and single-ended inputs are
provided. Frequency response is stated at 1 Hz to 75
kHz - 3db, and a > 100db S/N ratio. Idle power consumption
is 480 W and 1300W at full power. A pair of dedicated
outlets is definitely recommended by this electrically
enabled audiophile. (If I were to order a pair of
these behemoths, I would specify 240V operation and
would install a pair of dedicated 240V circuits
direct from the main service panel at 30 amps capacity
to achieve maximum performance. Sourcing at 240V would
halve the input current delivery time-constant
to assure that Siegfried's power supplies would have
instant maximum available current and minimum voltage
drop). This is really the only way to go with a
pair of amps of this class and quality. Retailing at
$40,000 per pair, well worth the extra effort and incremental
expense. At 175 lbs. for each monoblock
and 450 lbs. shipping weight for the pair, strap on
your back-brace and ask in your local stevedore for
a hand!
Manley also discussed and demonstrated his impressive
TL 7.5, two-enclosure tube/hybrid line-level preamplifier.
Launched at the 2002 NYC HE Show, it is an equally
top=performing rremarkable product and makes quite
a companion to the Siegfrieds. Complete with remote,
it discards conventional potentiometers and manual
switches for quiet lab grade relays and low-noise precision
resistors w/opto control. What we have here is basically
a computer logic controlled, true balanced-differential
(front-to-back) 12AX7 based preamplifier that
stands in a class of its own. Attractively packaged
in brushed aluminum finish with digital volume level
readout, the TL 7.5 is likely one of the top two or
three preamps available on anyone's planet. Offered
to unfretted purses at $10,000, her two enclosures
weigh-in at 90 lbs., so she's no shrimp either!
Proprietor Alan Jones also treated us to the remarkable
performance of the new VPI TNT HRX Turntable w/JWM
12.5 arm ($10K) sporting Dynavector's top XV 1S MC
Cartridge ($4K), Ayre CX-7 CD player ($3K), Ayre prototype
Phono Preamp (Est. $2.95K) and Meadowlark's flagship
Blue Heron II Loudspeakers ($12K), including a full
network of JPS cabling at additional kilobucks. (Please
contact Audio Alternative for exact prices and specs.
- 770-931-0606).
Suffice to say, the sonic pictures presented this
day were truly first rate or at least we should expect
so at $72+ kilobucks for the 2 channel system. Despite
the rather loud playback to compensate for large roomful
of guests, everything was as it should be; copious
amounts of tight bass sans flab or bloat, fluid and
detailed midrange with the correct timbres and treble
extension to lightspeed. Nothing was missing or out
of place to these ears from top to bottom. We knew
we had a touch of warm sweetnes from tubes, yet lightning
speed and dynamics of today's finest circuits and parts. Meadowlark's
Blue Heron II loudspeakers acquitted themselves well
despite being pushed to their limits in the large room
with fairly modest dimension dynamic drivers and no
subwoofer. Despite the impressive performance of Ayre's
CX-7 CD at 44.1 (no DVD-A or SACD formats were demonstrated),
soon as Mr. Jones spun the first LP, such as the 1959
Claire de Lune - (RCA-LSC-2326) our eyes and ears were
instantly open to an expansive soundstage and multi-layering
of orchestra that basically banished all previously
played recordings. Now we're into the music folks!
Comments from the audience were - "this is what they
came for" - the latest in tube/hybrid engineering and
plenty of analog LP. Alan and Shawn's shop sports as
many or more LP's as any other in the region. To quote
Michael Hobson from a March 2003 visit, "LP lives in
this shop" - and that they do in abundance. We still
spun a lot of CD's but I and many others still testify
that LP won the day.
We spent a lot of time with music play and no matter
what type we threw at this system, Jazz, Classical,
Pop, including Boz Scaggs, and so on, it presented
each with its own merits, neither adding or taking
away from these familiar tunes. This is especially
true of complex Orchestra or mixed Orchestra and operatic
vocals, such as the Radiant Voice of Soprano Barbara
Bonney (Decca 289-468-818-2). Solo piano such as Nojima
plays Liszt (Ref. Recordings RR25CD) was stunning in
its vibrancy and sheer impact. It is one thing for
a system to accurately portray small ensemble material,
it is yet another to portray complex material with
equal accuracy at the same volume level or greater
without losing composure. This is what separates the
great from the also ran's. Not all systems that claim
high-end, high-dollars laurels can handle large-scale
complex material. This ensemble is no also ran, but
a leader that pushes the bar higher and well worth
attention.
Special thanks to all the folks that made this fine
program possible, and especially Luke Manley for making
the long trip to Atlanta via Florida from Chino, CA. Indeed
a fine afternoon well spent...
Notes by Chuck Bruce - Atlanta Audio Society
770-493-7105
VTL web: www.vtl.com
Email - mail@vtl.com
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