Quite the looker

By Anonymous -

VAC Avatar SE Stereo Integrated Amplifier



Every person who has walked back into the testing area of The Music Room has seen this VAC tube amp sitting on its box and instantly remarked on it.

Remarks are either appearance-related (“Holy @#$, look at that gorgeous thing”), or true audiophile interest due to the stellar pedigree of the Valve Amplification Company and their reputation for excellence.

You see a few EL34-based hifi tube amplifiers out there, in part because of the tube’s well-known midrange abilities and also in part because it’s one of the most readily-available tubes period. EL34s can be found cheap since they’re being used in a majority of high-power guitar tube amps as well.

You’ll see EL34s used as output tubes in single ended triode (SET) setups and push-pull designs and even an OTL (output transformerless) or two. I’ve become familiar with quite a few different EL34-based amps.

And this tube and well-designed amps featuring it never cease to amaze me with their musical life and presence. Presence literally, as the tube is so crunchy and smooth at the same time in that oh-so-important “presence” range of roughly 1.5KHz to 3.5KHz. This amp in particular can even switch between SET mode and Ultralinear mode, the latter of which I believe brings a touch of negative feedback into the mix and provides more power.

I spent too much time listening to this thing. Soundstage = huge. Background hiss = nonexistent. If you can swing the price and handle the decidedly minimal maintenance, this is one of those amps that makes you happy. The Gearhead recommends it.

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