VAC Signature iQ200

Mike said:
Very close in performance, but I still prefer the more polished sound of the 200iq.
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The 200iq mono's are terrific amps, even in stereo form! If I were contemplating tube or tube hybrid power, that amp would be at the top of the list, along with the wonderful Absolare Passion integrated.
 
I just became the proud owner of a mint condition, virtually new (not even fully broken in) 200iQ amplifier. I can only agree with what has been said before in this discussion, it's a simply superb amplifier. I extremely happy with the sound of my system with the 200iQ driving things. I'm wondering what results people have had rolling the quad of 6SN7's though. I would be extremely interesting to hear what you've experienced. Thanks.

JC
 
Huge congratulations Jeff. Great news. I knew that of all your choices, this was the BEST option. Mike has never had a bad word and nothing but extremely high praise of the VAC 200IQ amp. Now you know what that means? I need to hear one now, ugh!

Enjoy!

Slapshot said:
I just became the proud owner of a mint condition, virtually new (not even fully broken in) 200iQ amplifier. I can only agree with what has been said before in this discussion, it's a simply superb amplifier. I extremely happy with the sound of my system with the 200iQ driving things. I'm wondering what results people have had rolling the quad of 6SN7's though. I would be extremely interesting to hear what you've experienced. Thanks.

JC
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Congratulations. The 200iQ is a wonderful amp. Try a set of KT150's in that bad boy when you get a chance.
 
Found a bit more about general, current 6SN7 recommendations from less than a year ago. The consensus is that spending $500.00 or more on famous NOS tubes no longer makes sense. However, they also generally agree that the Psvane CV181 TII Treasure tubes (grey glass bronze base) is a safer, very high quality recommendation, but a quad of those will run $580.00! For that money, a quad of some of the most highly sought after NOS tubes can be had from the right sources!

https://www.audioaficionado.org/archive/index.php/t-24170-p-12.html

JC
 
Congratulations! I love my 200iQ. I've been rolling 6DJ8s in my Master preamp, and the 200iQ faithfully reports every change. It's truly high-resolution. (Would probably be much better respected if it cost more :rolleyes:)

I've tried the Gold Lion and Psvane TII KT88s and prefer the stock Gold Lions. To my ears the Psvanes are a bit too thick and warm sounding. Not a HUGE difference, but noticeable. Haven't tried any NOS KT88s (although I think Mike has).

I tried several different 6SN7s as drivers in the 200iQ (although all were RCA) and preferred the grey glass and VT-231 types. Been wanting to try some of the other new production tubes (like the Psvane) but with the price being pretty similar to (or more than) NOS tubes and some question about long term reliability, I've stuck with the RCA. Please report if you do any 'rolling!

Dave
 
Just survived a near heart attack while nearing the end of a three hour listening session. I was completely immersed in the performance of a lifetime favorite song on the new King Crimson "Live In Toronto" recording when the sound suddenly went out, followed almost instantly by was a bzzzzzzttttt sound. Next thing you know, I was staring at a red led light on the front of the 200iQ. The far left KT88 tube crapped out, per the manual.

Thank god for the Continuous Automatic Bias System, as a tube completely failing like that in a standard design amplifier could have resulted in any number of issues. Having been in tubes a long time, you realize such a thing is always possible, but I was a bit more shocked than usual, given that this particular amplifier has only a bit more than about 200 hours on it. The amp was recently transported about 5 hours, by car, but I did verify complete seating of all tubes before turning on the amp the first time. And given that all was fine for the 15 hours or so since then, while in use,I doubt that could have had any impact. It simply appears that one of the Gold Lions just blew.

Oh well, looks like I need to do some checking as to which supplier is closest to me, get a replacement ordered, and pay for expedited shipping.

JC
 
Dth31,

Thanks for the info on your experiences with the Psvane TII's, and the 6SN7 tube rolling. Those RCA grey glass VT-231's are, from what I've read, considered amongst the very best 6SN7's ever made. I've targeted getting some of those myself, but have yet to find a source that has them in stock in a matched quad, much less at even a semi-reasonable price.

JC

Dth31 said:
Congratulations! I love my 200iQ. I've been rolling 6DJ8s in my Master preamp, and the 200iQ faithfully reports every change. It's truly high-resolution. (Would probably be much better respected if it cost more :rolleyes:)

I've tried the Gold Lion and Psvane TII KT88s and prefer the stock Gold Lions. To my ears the Psvanes are a bit too thick and warm sounding. Not a HUGE difference, but noticeable. Haven't tried any NOS KT88s (although I think Mike has).

I tried several different 6SN7s as drivers in the 200iQ (although all were RCA) and preferred the grey glass and VT-231 types. Been wanting to try some of the other new production tubes (like the Psvane) but with the price being pretty similar to (or more than) NOS tubes and some question about long term reliability, I've stuck with the RCA. Please report if you do any 'rolling!

Dave
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Jeff,

I am glad no damage was done. That's why I love the auto bias and built-in protection circuits. It only takes one tube like that to go south to make you realize the value in that circuit. I'm glad all is well otherwise. No one can predict a tube failure and I am glad you weren't playing a "regular" amp. Phew!
 
Glad you had no damage! I had the same thing happen to one of the Gold Lion KT88s in my previous Phi200. That is 1 thing I liked better about the Phi200: the tubes were in the front so you could see when the getter was just about gone. In the 200iQ the tubes are in the back and you can't see (and check on) them. Of course, it was a bit scarier watching the tube redlining and wondering if the amp was going to be OK! (Luckily just took out the fuse.)

Dave
 
Opened up the rear amplifier cover today, and pulled out the tube that died. I've seen quite a few tubes that had various mishaps over the years, but this one shocked me. I couldn't even see any physical evidence of trauma. Usually, the evidence is pretty graphic, but not in this case. Granted, I'm not an expert, but you don't generally have to be to note the indications of serious tube failure. At this point, I'm chalking it up to the Sentry system in these amps having caught the failure so early that it literally shut things down before the tube could fail in any catastrophic/visible way?

JC
 
New tube received in the mail, installed, and all is well. This amp is only halfway broken in and already I'm extremely happy with it. Looks like my longtime, keeper amp!

JC
 
Slapshot said:
New tube received in the mail, installed, and all is well. This amp is only halfway broken in and already I'm extremely happy with it. Looks like my longtime, keeper amp!

JC
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Congrats! The 200iQ Sigs are sooooooo good! I've sold several pairs. One listen is all it takes.


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Any thoughts on the sound characteristic of the 200IQ amp (on its own or maybe as compared to others you may have had) ?

Slapshot said:
New tube received in the mail, installed, and all is well. This amp is only halfway broken in and already I'm extremely happy with it. Looks like my longtime, keeper amp!

JC
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joeinid said:
Any thoughts on the sound characteristic of the 200IQ amp (on its own or maybe as compared to others you may have had) ?
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I can only address that question in the context of the Master preamp. Both the preamp and the amp are "faster" and more propulsive than most other systems I have heard. For example, the Constellation Centaur II stereo amp that I am currently auditioning seems slower, warmer, thicker and opaque. They are also amazingly transparent and highly detailed. Instruments are consistently separated out of a mix and are easy to follow. More so than any other equipment I have owned, together they are a microscope on the rest of the system, especially the tubes used. Depending on the tube choices, the sound can easily be tailored to taste. But no matter what tubes you try, I don't think you would ever get them to sound syrupy or slow.

For people who like taut, tuneful bass, the 200 iQ delivers that in spades. I wouldn't say they are bass-light, but at least in my system, they will not give bass that slams you in the chest. I'm about ready to try running separate 200iQs on each speaker. My dealer says there's quite a bit more bass with a 2nd amp.
 
joeinid said:
Any thoughts on the sound characteristic of the 200IQ amp (on its own or maybe as compared to others you may have had) ?
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Joe,

As you know, I've gone through a few amps to get to this point. Forgetting about variations that began in my den, and beginning with what I've used in my "primary listening room" probably makes the most sense. In the primary room, I've had a First Watt F6, a Modwright KW100SE, an Art Audio Carissa Signature, the Red Wine Lilliana Monoblocks, the Wells Audio Innamorata, a brief visit by the fabled Line Magnetic 219IA integrated, and now the 200iQ.

The First Watt was a very good amp, one of the best solid state amplifiers, for the dollar, that I've ever heard, it was only sold due to a change in speakers that required more power. The Modwright was a really well made solid state amp that had such a wonderfully balanced overall sound. It hit all the right notes for solid state, and was sold only when I tried to move back into the SET world that I've always loved. The Art Audio was simply wonderful. It offered 16wpc, which, in the SET world is mega power. It also had the guts of a 50 wpc amp, with tremendous gain. This was a special version that Joe Fratus (incredibly great guy and brilliant designer) hand wired for me, and he also applied a number of tweaks they learned in making their $30k monoblocks to it. This is the finest Carissa amp he ever made, and I hoped to grow old listening to it. . The midrange was so rich and liquid, it seemed as though you could reach out and touch it. The bass was also extraordinary for a SET, both in quantity and control. I only set this amp aside, and moved on from the SET world because the speakers I got on a great deal, and which should have been a perfect match witht he amp, weren't. It turned out (thank you Ralph from AtmaSphere, another one of the great guys in audio) that the sensitivity was greatly overstated on those speakers. There literally is no SET amp in existence that could remotely drive them. And, what stopped me in my tracks, at that point, was the tiny number of really good high sensitivity speaker makers, and the fact that even equalling the speakers I had, was simply not financially possible for me, so my SET system died in it's infancy. I still have not been able to bring myself to sell the Carissa Signature, especially after all Joe did for me, but, I don't really have a choice. It's simply too great an amp to just sit here. Someone needs to be using it and enjoying it.

Next up were the Red Wine LIlliana monoblocks, a hybrid designfrom Vinnie Rossi, another of the most wonderful people in audio. These little, lightweight and otherwise unpreposessing amps are a true hidden gem in the amp world. Great, well controlled bass, a liquid midrange, spacious highs, I can say nothing but great things about them. I bought them because they were noted to power the demanding Magnepan 3.7i's wonderfully (and they do). My plan then was to go with a Maggie based system. Unfortunately, it turned out that my room is a bit small for the 3.7i's, and I had to scrap the idea. At the same time I found that out, a friend had just purchased them for his more spacious room, and begged me to sell him the Lilliana's to use with them, so there they went. Next up was the Wells Audio Innamorata designed by Jeff Wells, another of the nicest people you will meet. A friend and I had heard the Wells integrated amp driving speakers when we visited the Salk speaker factory last January. I could not believe the quality of sound that the integrated was pumping out. Not long after, the lower end Wells power amp,and the Innamorata were featured in four different rooms at Axpona. The base amp was outstanding, but the Innamorata took it to another level entirely. After I got home, I stumbled across an incredibly rare ad for one of these fine amps, and snapped it up. I was certain it would be a fine match for my new Sonus Faber Olympica III's and it was. This is absolutely as good, or better than any solid state amp I've ever heard at recreating the best elements of solid state and tubed amplifiers. This could very easily have been my amp for the long except that it lacked a large and wide soundstage, something I particularly prize.

Next up, and only about a month ago,I took somewhat of a shot in the dark by grabbing up the Line Magnetic 219IA, aka The Beast" when it popped up for sale (an incredibly rare thing). I had read all the rave reviews, and initially was certain it simply could not power my Sonus Fabers. However, the review by Steve Huffman, wherein he said that it drove his Guarneri Evolutions without breaking a sweet, to any levels, he wanted started me thinking. As those speakers are significantly less sensitive, and harder to drive than mine, it seemed clear that this amp could be an option. And the idea that it might be possible for this SET amp to power my Sonus Fabers was simply too much to pass up. After getting help bringing the monstrously large and heavy unit into my house, I took one look, and was in love with the way it looked and couldn't wait to hear it work it's wonders. And there, the fairy tale ends. At lower to barely medium levels, playing acoustic music, or ligher music, it sounded like one of the best SET's you've ever heard. That was it, however. It ran out of huice playing anything more loudly, or more challenging. It simply could not drive the speakers. Thankfully, it now has a happy home, in a small listening room in Chicago, with quite sensitive speakers (with powered subwoofers). And this bring us to the newly acquired VAC 200iQ.

The 200iQ, while not being able to offer the golden warmth, and glisteningly liquid midrange of a great SET amp, does so as well or better than any push pull, or other design of tube amp, or any solid state amp $25k or under, that I've ever heard. The midrange still offers liquidity, and some warmth, but the pure musicality of the amp, overall is what is stunning. Earlier tonight, I put on an old favorite piece of music by the brilliant and unmatched bassist, Chris Squire of Yes. We sadly lost Chris when he passed away within the last year, but his incredible artistry on the bass lives on in his recordings. His first solo recording, "Fish Out Of Water' offers some of his finest moments playing the bass guitar as, at times, a lead instrument. One particular cut from that album, "Lucky Seven" is extremely challenging to reproduce well. When I listened tonight, it came alive as I had never previously heard it. The stunningly dynamic bass tones, against the rest of the instruments was portrayed as though I was there live. I literally just sat back and shook my head at how well the 200iQ was capable of reproducing that.

In the end, ther 200iQ offers me the best bass of all of the amplifiers I have owned, with only the solid state, Wells amp being able to equal it. The midrange is better than any I've heard in solid state, although again, the Wells was somewhat close. In terms of treble/highs, the VAC is above anything but the best SET I ever owned. And, very importantly, the size, width and depth of the soundstage is simply beyond all of the other amps. In overall musicality, the 200iQ is in a very real sense, untouchable, to my mind, and can compete with equipment 2-3 times it's price. And I've auditioned and heard a LOT of amps in my time.

JC
 
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