Thread: Sure do love delivery day.....

Well lookie what just arrived! Going to be selling the Luxman 509x to make way for this beauty.

VAC.png

What is it? I can't see the pic.

You haven't had the 509 long should be a nice find for a buyer.

Originally Posted by Mr Peabody

What is it? I can't see the pic.

You haven't had the 509 long should be a nice find for a buyer.

Hi - it's a VAC 170 integrated tube amp.

I'm going to let it burn in for the next 4-6 days before doing any real listening.

Wow, very nice. I really like VAC. It would be interesting to hear it with your speakers. The combo may not be the most audiophile but I bet it will be fun.

Originally Posted by MichaelsMinute

Hi - it's a VAC 170 integrated tube amp.

I'm going to let it burn in for the next 4-6 days before doing any real listening.

Originally Posted by Mr Peabody

Wow, very nice. I really like VAC. It would be interesting to hear it with your speakers. The combo may not be the most audiophile but I bet it will be fun.

For sure! Letting it burn in for some time and can't wait to do some listening!

How old is that amp?

Never mind. The blank red plate and missing tubes threw me. It's a blank plate because the version he bought doesn't have the phono stage option.

Congrats and enjoy!

Originally Posted by Shadowfax

Congrats and enjoy!

Thank you!

Such a gorgeous amp …… hope you love it!

Originally Posted by Audio 1

Such a gorgeous amp …… hope you love it!

Thank you! I'm actually going to sneak in a bit of a listen tonight as it's killing me to not try it.

Originally Posted by MichaelsMinute

Thank you! I'm actually going to sneak in a bit of a listen tonight as it's killing me to not try it.

Welllllllllll?

Originally Posted by Shadowfax

Welllllllllll?

I didn't get much of a chance as I unplugged the Klipsch La Scala's and moved them to the front room while I had a neighbor available to help me as I'm putting them up for sale. I'll have to burn it in with the next set of speakers.

Hopefully they arrive in the next couple of weeks.

Audio 101, you should have listened with the Klipsch in order to get a feel for the difference. Now you will be hearing all new gear and not know what to attribute what.

Originally Posted by MichaelsMinute

I didn't get much of a chance as I unplugged the Klipsch La Scala's and moved them to the front room while I had a neighbor available to help me as I'm putting them up for sale. I'll have to burn it in with the next set of speakers.

Hopefully they arrive in the next couple of weeks.

Originally Posted by JCS123

Agreed, I've learned the hard way about swapping more than one variable at a time. I've ended up pulling my hair out and starting over from scratch, where patience in the first place would have SAVED me time.

Maybe you can buy your friend a beer and get him to help you move the La Scalas back so you can listen to the new amp with them for a week or two before swapping in the new speakers? It seems like 2 birds, one stone - detecting differences in both amps and speakers.

Remember when he started this thread about how he still loved his speakers in Aug 2023? I'm still in love with my speakers

He fell out of love sometime between Aug 2 and Oct 20, 2023. Looks like the divorce is final and he's waiting for his new speakers to show up. He won't be buying his buddy any beer to move them back into his living room to give them another whirl with the new amp.

Originally Posted by JCS123

Agreed, I've learned the hard way about swapping more than one variable at a time. I've ended up pulling my hair out and starting over from scratch, where patience in the first place would have SAVED me time.

Maybe you can buy your friend a beer and get him to help you move the La Scalas back so you can listen to the new amp with them for a week or two before swapping in the new speakers? It seems like 2 birds, one stone - detecting differences in both amps and speakers.

I did do some listening with them before I moved them out.

I had already decided prior to the new amp that as I upgraded additional gear and specifically cables the last several months, I had exceeded the capabilities of what I was looking for from the speakers regardless of adjusting and tweaking.

And for the last year or so I realized I've missed tubes in my amp section, so that was a decision made some time ago to bring tubes back in.

Originally Posted by Mr Peabody

Audio 101, you should have listened with the Klipsch in order to get a feel for the difference. Now you will be hearing all new gear and not know what to attribute what.

I did.

Just a side note at an audio show in India Conrad Johnson with Klipsch took best of show and now they are forming sort of a partnership, that may not be the best word, nothing legal just the dealers and companies are informing of the synergy, recommending etc.

I understand wanting to change, we've all been there. I just would have thought the VAC and LaScallas would have rocked.

Originally Posted by Mr Peabody

Just a side note at an audio show in India Conrad Johnson with Klipsch took best of show and now they are forming sort of a partnership, that may not be the best word, nothing legal just the dealers and companies are informing of the synergy, recommending etc.

I understand wanting to change, we've all been there. I just would have thought the VAC and LaScallas would have rocked.

The La Scala's do a lot of great things, and boy can they sing and sound great.

I've reached a point - especially as I've upgraded cables - where the resolution is so good it's highlighting things about the LS's I don't care for on some kinds of music. Such as a terrible mid-bass hump (some claim it's the cabinet that is not well braced) that makes voices chesty. I found adding dealing with vibration control on gear helped quite a bit, but there is still much left and no trial and error of speaker positioning or seating position has fixed.

Also, in my very large room these things have NO bass at all. I knew they would have less bass than the Cornwall's, and they are fine for classical and blues, but when I listen to bass heavy music there is so little bass it sounds tilted up. Also certain voices sound "lightweight" and don't have full body due to this.

I even upgraded my sub to a 16" SVS, and blending is a challenge due to the horn loaded woofer on the LS's, and when I raise the crossover frequency on the SVS to get to a point where it fills in the bass adequately, it doesn't blend well and sounds muddy even at 24db slope as it's now too high. Note I have also played with the phase of the sub as it is infinitely adjustable.

The speakers sound huge, lively, expansive and have wonderful midrange and highs. But I've had a lot of system changes and I've moved beyond them.

Kharma Coming?

I had a Klipsch phase and they really are difficult to dial in with a sub.

Originally Posted by MichaelsMinute

The La Scala's do a lot of great things, and boy can they sing and sound great.

I've reached a point - especially as I've upgraded cables - where the resolution is so good it's highlighting things about the LS's I don't care for on some kinds of music. Such as a terrible mid-bass hump (some claim it's the cabinet that is not well braced) that makes voices chesty. I found adding dealing with vibration control on gear helped quite a bit, but there is still much left and no trial and error of speaker positioning or seating position has fixed.

Also, in my very large room these things have NO bass at all. I knew they would have less bass than the Cornwall's, and they are fine for classical and blues, but when I listen to bass heavy music there is so little bass it sounds tilted up. Also certain voices sound "lightweight" and don't have full body due to this.

I even upgraded my sub to a 16" SVS, and blending is a challenge due to the horn loaded woofer on the LS's, and when I raise the crossover frequency on the SVS to get to a point where it fills in the bass adequately, it doesn't blend well and sounds muddy even at 24db slope as it's now too high. Note I have also played with the phase of the sub as it is infinitely adjustable.

The speakers sound huge, lively, expansive and have wonderful midrange and highs. But I've had a lot of system changes and I've moved beyond them.