Since you've landed at this page, you're probably new to "high-end" audio. In that case, you have a rewarding and lifelong adventure ahead of you! Let's chat for a few minutes and get better acquainted!

Kevin Hayes, President & Designer First of all, welcome to VAC. My name is Kevin Hayes. Back in 1985 I began to build my own audio electronics because I could not find any commercially available components that met my demanding expectations for vivid, lifelike sound. Many people agreed that what we built was an astounding jump forward in sound quality, so in 1990 I left my Ph.D. studies and founded VAC. As they say, the rest is history (at least up to this point!).

What's it all about?

It's all about home entertainment! VAC's reason for being is to bring back to life the sound in your home entertainment system. Home entertainment systems consist of sound, or sound & pictures, such as:

Some of you may be surprised that we list movie & computer sources in this list. Well, think about it. When you go to the music store, you see hundreds of CDs and cassettes of wonderful soundtracks from movies, but you never see a video tape of a movie without sound. Sound is the soul of the system, and often contributes more to your enjoyment than the pictures! Sound will become even more important as HDTV (high definition television) becomes a reality. But rather than waiting a few years for a better picture, you can have better sound today!

Why VAC?

VAC started with a passion about breathing realism and life into reproduced music, to making it sound as much like the real thing as possible. Perhaps you are surprised that this is an issue, with so many products available with superlative specifications. Unfortunately, good measurements do not guarantee good sound; in fact, heroic measures to improve a measurement can often degrade the sound you will hear. It is an involved discussion, so for now suffice it to say that test equipment work differently that your ear & brain, which pay attention to different things. We do not yet know how to quantify what you hear. This is why VAC has two criteria for their designs:

  1. They must measure at least reasonably well
  2. They must sound superb

In some cases, more than 1,000 hours is invested in "voicing" a VAC component. And to guarantee that you will hear the same magic in your home that we designed, each and every VAC component is auditioned before we will ship it!

What makes VAC so special?

VAC uses vacuum tube technology almost exclusively. This may seem old fashioned at first glance. However, the triode vacuum tube remains the most linear (accurate) amplifying device ever invented. It remains at the cutting edge of sound technology after almost 100 years! Still not convinced? Consider the following:

The pros know that vacuum tubes are superb, so why deny yourself this magical studio quality?

Now, it is not sufficient merely to have a vacuum tube in an audio. There is an alarming trend for some companies to include a tube or two in the signal chain and claim that it is a tube product. This can be misleading for two reasons:

This is not the case with VAC electronics, which are designed for the most faithful sound possible. Regardless of price, VAC components are genuinely high performance; you are in for a "Ferrari" experience.

Click here for more information on owning and using tube electronics.

Click here for a virtual tour of the factory.

Okay, how many channels of sound do I need?

It all depends on your priorities. There are two basic types (sound only and sound & picture), each of which can take one of two forms (stereo and multi-channel). Let's briefly examine each.

  1. Sound only, stereo. This is the classic "audiophile" system. It is appropriate for the music lover. At this time, almost all truly high fidelity music is in two channel (stereo) format. Sources include CD, LP records (which can actually sound better than digital CDs), and live FM broadcasts. This type of system is capable of astonishing levels of musicality and satisfaction. Frankly, this is my favorite application. Soon there may be higher-fidelity two channel music on the new DVD-Audio discs and the Sony/Phillips "Super CD."
  2. Sound & picture, stereo. The two channel sound system (above) easily integrates with your television to provide and excellent home theater experience. All you need to do is connect the stereo outputs from your VCR or DVD player to your stereo. Now, many people will argue that home theater must be surround sound; however, I have found a high quality two channel system to deliver superior enjoyment and dialogue intelligibility to the best Dolby surround home theater systems. This is probably due to the compression techniques in Dolby Digital (it throws away sound information that it thinks the average person can not easily hear). Try it; you may be surprised.
  3. Sound only, multichannel. Over the next several years, music programs will become available with up to five channels and more. Today, "5.1" channel audio is available as compressed audio on movie-spec DVD and DTS discs. Soon there will be higher fidelity audio-only DVD discs, and a new Sony/Phillips "Super CD" disc. Playback of these discs will require a "surround sound processor." When the specifications wars settle down, VAC will release a surround processor fine tuned for the best sound performance. Not every home will accommodate five or six speakers in their optimal positions. Frankly, if you don't put the extra speakers in the correct positions, you wind up with more, but not better. For this reason, it is good to know that multi-channel discs will still play on two channel systems; the extra channels are "folded" into the channels you have. This means you can also "grow" your system at your own pace: can start with left & right speakers, then add a center speaker, then add the rear ambience speakers.
  4. Sound & picture, multichannel. Really, this is simply the above (#3) system with a TV or video projector added.

VAC makes products that fit into any of these system types. A wonderful example is the new Avatar integrated amplifier. It can accept any audio source (including LP records) and also dovetail smoothly with a surround sound processor into a multi-channel home theater system.

Will multi-channel be worth it?

Well, it depends upon your priorities and your listening environment. There is an old saying that sometimes more is not better, it's just more. In my opinion, quality is more important than quantity. There are several issues here.

First, if you have a choice between two excellent speakers and amplifiers or five mediocre speakers and a compromised five channel amplifier (and there usually are some horrible compromises to fit five channels into one box), choose the two excellent channels. It's a bit like food: would you rather have five bags of potato chips or one fine entre for dinner? 'Nuff said!

Second, you have to be able to position the speakers in their optimal locations, or the sound of the extra speakers can make the overall system sound worse. Regrettably, speakers often sound poor when located hard against a wall. In wall speakers? Well, take a listen, but I have yet to hear an in wall speaker that I would want to live with. More and more speaker makers are rushing them to market, but most are doing it simply to capture uninformed demand for surround sound. Get your dealer to demonstrate an in wall system verses his best free-standing system, and see what you think.

Third, what will you hear in the rear speakers? Most of the music now mastered for surround sound release sounds very much like the failed quadraphonic system from the 70's, trying to place the listener in the center of a group of musicians. That may be fun for a few minutes or good for a discoteque, but it is a very unnatural way to hear music, and even a bit disorienting. Do you really want guitars that sound 20 feet wide, or to feel like your sitting in the middle of the mouth of a gargantuan singer? Listen carefully, and ask yourself, "Does this really seem more natural? Do I really enjoy this more? Am I able to feel the emotion of the music as well? Can I tell if the singer is enjoying herself or sad?" Regrettably, exaggerated and unnatural presentation in multi-channel will be common, at least at the beginning, as record companies try to grab your attention. Well, it must be remembered that 40 years ago many engineers engaged in an exaggerated form of stereo that was derisively called "ping-pong" stereo.

There are ways to use the extra channels to convey natural ambience and thus enhance the musical experience, at the same time improving clarity and reducing distortion, but only if artists and recording engineers have the will to use it with discretion. I think it will be quite rare.

Class dismissed!

Okay, that's it for your first lesson. You will find additional elements of the VAC philosophy throughout our web site, rave product reviews from all sorts of magazines, awards, information about our recordings, and so forth. However, you are also likely to have many questions about high fidelity sound and how to put your system together. I encourage you to call us or e-mail us (info@vac-amps.com) with your questions. Every one at VAC is passionate about good sound, and we are here to serve you.

Kind regards,

Kevin Hayes

President & founder

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