VAC Reviews, Articles, and Publications (primarily English language)

updated 1 March 2010

Are you wondering why there aren't more ‘official’ reviews of VAC instruments? The fact is, each VAC component is hand built as a labor of love, in a time intensive way, and has enough of a 'diehard' following that there is usually an 2 to 8 week backlog of orders, and thus no units available for review. We do not view this as a problem: there isn't anyway to meet the higher than current demand that a 'great review' might create. Our focus is on making the best gear possible, not the best-reviewed gear!

"It is critical in manufacturing perfectionist speakers to use related components that reveal all that's possible; especially in resolution, tonality, dynamics and sound-staging. To this end we've evaluated and tried a vast array of the highest end equipment available. VAC's amplifiers and preamps have turned out to be references of the highest order, and not coincidentally, terrifically enjoyable to listen to" Alon Wolf, owner, Magico Loudspeakers

"For those with a raging fire burning in their pocket, VAC’s Phi Beta Beam Power Integrated Amplifier will tickle their ears and help keep that hole from burning any larger really fast. Yes, it’s expensive, but I’ve heard precious few amplifiers that sound this good. I’m a sucker for the manner in which tubes replicate music, and this amp has all those luxuriant qualities, yet it doesn’t really have a discernable sound of its own—it simply churns out, with great prowess, some of the sweetest music imaginable outside a live performance, full of life, nuance and vitality. It’s 110 watts of top-shelf intoxication." - JazzTimes on the VAC Phi Beta

"The sound was easily the Best at Show in my humble opinion." - StereoTimes on the VAC room, CES/THE Show 2004

Positive Feedback "Audio Oasis" Award, RMAF 2007

Current products

Phi 200 (Italian, 2010)

Signature Mk II Preamplifier, dagogo.com, March 2010. "That’s pretty much how it goes with VAC gear – whatever it is connected to sounds about as good as it’s going to get! ... recommended without reservation!"

Signature Preamplifier Mk II, full review, Stereophile, October 2002

VAC Royal Power Supply, mentioned in the March 2010 dagogo review: "As would be expected, the fingerprints of the master are all over these devices. The King rose from superb to state-of-the-art sound under the influence of the VAC “Royal Power Supply”. That’s pretty much how it goes with VAC gear – whatever it is connected to sounds about as good as it’s going to get!"

Discontinued products

• Auricle Musicbloc, Positive-Feedback No. 26 (August 2006)
• Avatar cover feature in Audiotechnique, Issue 214
• reviews the VAC Avatar! Click here! "...in a rhythmic sense, the Avatar is single-handedly the most incredible unit I have on hand, regardless of price...The balance of the overall frequency spectrum and harmonic structuring thereof, combined with excellent boogie factor, makes the Avatar a truly extraordinary piece indeed! So just maybe all you need is love... and a VAC Avatar." (Copyright 2000 by Enjoy the Music.com™ All rights reserved.)
• Avatar, Stereophile, April 2000, page 63; follow-up, November, 2000
• Avatar Super, IAR Newsletter
• Avatar Super, The Absoulte Sound, May 2004
• CPA1 Mk II, The Absolute Sound, Issue 106 [visit the TAS website]
• CPA1 Mk II - Audio, May 1996
• CPA1 Mk II, Fi, March 1996
• PA35/35, The Audio Adventure, February 1996
  
• PA80/80, Stereophile, March 1996
  
• PA80/80, High Fi News & Record Review (UK), September 1995
• PA90 review (cover feature), Stereophile, Nov. 1991
  
• PA90 review (cover feature), Positive Feedback, May 1992
• PA100/100, Stereo Review's Sound & Vision magazine, October, 2000. A rock band and its producer compare the VAC PA100/100 & Standard Preamplifier to a Krell/Lexicon combo costing twice as much. The verdict? "There's a lot more clarity on the tube system, with a lot more going on in stereo separation... the tube is what I want our records to sound like... the tube had more 'definition'... with the tube, I can hear into the mix better... That sound is so clear and open, especially in the real bottom and the ambient high end... "
  
• PA160 Review, Audio, August 1995

• Phi 70, IAR Newsletter, Issue 80
• Phi Beta award in 6Moons

• Renaissance 30/30 Mk III, Maxim Magazine, May 1999
• Renaissance Thirty/Thirty Mk III, Fi, October 1998
• Renaissance Thirty/Thirty Mk II, Ultimate Audio, Jan/Feb 1998
• Renaissance 30/30, Fi, March 1996
  
• Renaissance 30/30 Mk III, The Absolute Sound, Issue 117
• Renaissance 30/30 Mk III, Stereophile, June 1999.
• Renaissance 30/30 ("Premier Design"), Home Theater Technology, May 1995
  
• Renaissance 70/70, Audio, May 1996
  
• Renaissance 70/70, The Absolute Sound, Issue 106
  
• Renaissance 70/70 Mk II, The Absolute Sound, Issue 96
  
• Renaissance 70/70 Mk II, "Recommended Systems," The Absolute Sound, Issue 100
  
• Renaissance 70/70, Stereophile, Dec. 1994; Manufacturer's Comment, July 1995
  
• Renaissance 140 Mk II, The Absolute Sound, Issue 98
• Renaissance 140 Mk II, "Recommended Systems," The Absolute Sound, Issue 100
  
• Renaissance 140 Mk II, "The Best Components," The Absolute Sound, Issue 100
• Standard Preamplifier, Stereo Review's Sound & Vision magazine, October, 2000. A rock band and its producer compare the VAC PA100/100 & Standard Preamplifier to a Krell/Lexicon combo costing twice as much. The verdict? "There's a lot more clarity on the tube system, with a lot more going on in stereo separation... the tube is what I want our records to sound like... the tube had more 'definition'... with the tube, I can hear into the mix better... That sound is so clear and open, especially in the real bottom and the ambient high end... "

Show Coverage

• Reports from The Home Entertainment Show, New York, 2004
• CES / THE SHOW 2004
• VAC wows the press at CES 2003
• Who had the best sound at Home Entertainment 2001? Read what HiFiPlus has to say!

Background articles, interviews, etc...

• Television feature, WRAL-TV (CBS) 6/20/2001
• Sight & Sound, winter 1997, profile of the new VAC Visionary Audio & Home Theater System
• Scientific American special issue "The Solid-State Century," winter 1997, pages 44-45 ("Where Tubes Rule," information from Kevin Hayes & VAC) (full text now available on-line)
• An Historical Context of Audio Technology (by Kevin Hayes), Positive Feedback, Late Fall, 1993
• The Visionary of VAC (interview), The Absolute Sound, Issue 99 [visit the TAS website]
• Quotation/product photo, Business Week, October 10, 1994
• VAC on VTL vs. RAM (manufacturer's comment), Stereophile, June 1991
• Tube Misinformation (letter), Stereophile, May 1989 [visit the Stereophile website]
• An interview with mastering maven Steve Hoffman, with praise for his reference VAC Signature electronics.

VAC Technical Monograph Series

• VAC Technical Monograph 90-08: Classes of Operation
• VAC Technical Monograph 90-09: Impedance Matching
• VAC Technical Monograph 90-10: Power Supply Regulation