vtl st-85 latest . model amazing amplifier the best i have including mark levinson 335 quad 40 mono conrad johnson 12 conrad johnson mv-75a conrad johnson premier 140 monoblocks ayon triton the 85 this is one of the best i'm happy finally find my tube amplifier ..... at first i don't like so much it was the Chinese tubes but afterwards when i changed the tube it was just amazing thanks vtl

i don't find any weakness only i like xlr in the amp... NO XLR

Punch, articulation, great separation in the lower freqs -- bass and drums are easily distinguishable with their own presence and tibre.

Runs hot -- but most do.

This is the second ST85 I've owned. Had such a great experience the first time (all except parting with it), that it was a no-brainer when one came up on the boards.

West accurate, detailed and warm. Does a great job with jazz, blues, accoustic and will rock with the best of them.

The EL34s are readily available for replacements/upgrades and the unit is easy to bias and remains that way -- very little drift or tweaking required over time. Cage is easy to remove for cleaing/retubing. Fusing easily accessible and connections good quality on both RCA ins and speaker outs. Solidly built - weighs ton and you could probably cook over it -- not a for use in an enclosed rack -- needs to breathe.

Had mine looked at for modding - they aren't common so not a lot of people have worked on them. Apparently they can do some upgrading, but what's they are built with is pretty much top quality so you can spend the money, but the improvement may be marginal.

Customer Service

Emailed for some support on biassing (found later on their website), but did not get a reply from them.

Musicality, warmth, details, non fatiguing. Compact (less than 13" deep!!!)

55Lbs !?!

I recently borrowed a VTL-IT85 (2003) to try it with my Kef 104.2 speakers & Rega jupiter CD player ( + Monster Cables Z1 speaker cables & Empirical Holographic pure Crystal interconnects). I had previously been using all kinds of solid state amplification (integrated & combos like Luxman, Marantz, B&O, Yamaha, ... some expensive and reputable Class A). Although I was expecting to hear a difference, I thought it would be small enough to be a matter of personal preference. WOWWWWWWWW!!!!!.....WOW! None of the solid state gear I used sounded magical and alive like the VTL; so much warmer, detailed, yet non fatiguing! the difference is absolutly stunning, I bought it with no hesitation and would pay full price for it anytime. Thanks to Echo Audio (Portland OR) for always being so nice & helpful.

Customer Service

Echo Audio in Portland OR is GREAT.

Similar Products Used:

Mostly 80s gear (I find most of the newer gear to sound to forward, high pitch and fatiguing)

Dynamic peaks, midrange, channel separation, depth of sound stage. String instruments, voices are incredibly well-represented. Triode mode and Tetrode mode. Bass is deep and powerful, regardless of what people say about Tube Amp bass.

Absolutely NONE

I am using one of these amps in my system as a loaner while VTL builds an ST-150 for me. I am absolutley shocked at this little amp. It sounds incredible, and doesn't break a sweat running my 805s speakers, never shows signs of caving-in on even the most demanding pasasages. Quite honestly, this amp is causing me to question whether the 150 is really necessary! It is excellent!

The only reason I am going for the 150 is for future growth potential, and to keep the nasty upgrade bug away for a while. Otherwise most people should not need more than this amp with the right speaker combination.

Customer Service

Very good, albeit slow to get products out of this company. But good things take time, so have patience. : )

Similar Products Used:

Krell KAV 2250, and FPB 400cx.

Phenominal midrange and lower midrange/upper bass weight.

none, I have never had a problem in ten years of owning it

I own the VTL ST-80 which is the identical amp as the newer ST-85. The only difference being cosmetic, another reviewer pointed this out. Let me tell you something, as a recording engineer and having access to multiple thousand dollar items, I love this amp. I have had it for nearly 10 years, it has NEVER given me any problems. I have repaired and sold Krell equipment that crapped out on me after three years! And it cost much more. But that is not the issue, this amp must be used with accurate speakers to show you what it is worth ( Magnepan, Thiel, Martin Logan, etc.) Accurate speakers need warmer sounding amps period. This amp produces a phenominal weight to the lower midrange and upper bass that is beautifully tailored and never boomy or bloated. The midrange is pure liquid gold. I come home to this amp, and trust me, I wouldn't keep it around this long if I heard a deficiency in any way. I continue to go into high end shops looking for the latest and greatest thing that I have read about and I always leave laughing with the same conclusion: Audio magazines sell readers to advertisers, do you get what I'm saying? Audio magazines like Stereophile make all their money off of advertising dollars generated by manufacturers of audio equipment. Therefor there is a need by magazines to continue to engage its readership with the idea that technology is rapidly changing at such a pace that you need to constantly upgrade, upgrade, upgrade. I bought a sonic impact digital amp and ended up throwing it out, great detail, don't get me wrong, but just listen for half an hour and tell me you don't have a headache! Honostly, this is what an amp needs to do, you have to be able to listen to it for two or more hours at a reasonable volume and want to continue listening! That is what the St-80 provides, friends of mine come over and are constantly amazed at the soundstage produced by this amp. One reviewer wrote that this amp didn't have bass like his solid state amp, well sure, but my Krell FPB 200 did NOT have the VTL's midrange. The ST-80 was actually given highest remarks for having excellent and controlled bass reproduction and I agree.

Customer Service

never needed

Similar Products Used:

Krell (reliability issues, sterile sounding) Cary (great midrange, lousy bass)
Arcam Diva A85 (everything sounds as it should, but something is missing )
Naim (great pace, it got me to run away from it!) I've heard Every new integrated amp that has been raved about in the last five years, all good, but I'll stick with seperates and tube amps.

Technicolor sound, with real instruments and natural vocals. Superb build quality.

Struggles with deep bass (like most valve amps with EL34's!)

I bought this to try an all valve set up partnering it with a Croft Epoch Elite valve pre. I listen to mainly vinyl through a Linn LP12, Lingo, Hadcock tonearm and Cartridge Man Musicmaker III.

The ST85 struggles with deep bass. With Primal Scream in their 'house' moments it lacks the power and control of a good transistor amp with my Monitor Audio Studio 20's.

For the rest if you've only heard trannies you're in for a shock. It's like going from watching a black and white TV to a technicolor widescreen. Everything sounds real and 3 dimensional. If Neil Young is playing he's in the room with you and a guitar. Led Zep assaults you like a live concert.

I don't know if the ST85 is the best tube amp at this price but living with it you warm to it and don't feel the urge to upgrade because it looks great and sounds great!

One small point, when I got it I emailed VTL about 5 or 6 times and got no reply. They have a good reputation for customer service so maybe the Uk emails didn't get through. It was a bit disappointing though.

Similar Products Used:

Audio Analogue power, Croft Twinstar power, Musical Fidelity A3cr Pre and power, Musical Fidelity A300 Integrated.

Technicolour sound, superb build quality, reliable.

Can't control deep bass

I bought this to go with a Croft Pre as an experiment to try all valve amps. I'll go to its weakness first, it can't control deep bass like a transistor amp can! It replaced a £600 (new) Audio Analogue which still beats it in this respect. That's it. In every other respect it's fantastic. The build quality is superb. On vinyl especially, the sound is technicolour. acoutic guitars sound like acoustic guitars, pianos like you get the picture! I listen to rock mainly through Monitor Audio Studio 20 speakers and stuff like Led Zep and AC/DC sounds majestic with lovely and realistic tone to all instruments. This amp wasn't my first choice and I only took the risk because it was relatively cheap (for UK prices!) but I do believe I bagged a bargain. One small thing I emailed VTL about half a dozen times but received no reply - a bit disappointing as they seem to have a good reputation for customeer service.

Customer Service

Disappointing as no reply to any emails

Similar Products Used:

Audio Analogue Power, Croft power, Musical Fidelity A3 cr pre-power amps

warmly and very detail

nothing

i used it with proac studio150 loudspeaker, vandenhul cable & interconect, vtl tl-2.5 and i feel so happiness to have it; it's great & bargain; i think i'll never change my hi-fi system.

Similar Products Used:

nad power; accuphase power; cary power

Sound, price, size...and on khorns.WOW...ig ive it a 5/5 overall...cant go wrong with this one.

not much, not as extended as some other amps, but is also not 5k or higher

Yes this amp is quite a value, it is the newer version with triode swithching. Just a great amp for the money, I am pairing it with the 2.5,also have a mac c2200 which works great with it. Usually use it with my K horns, but does well with my small B&Ws. I own a few systems and have heard and owned lots o gear....if you own khorns...run dont walk to your nearest vtl dealer, vtl and khorns are just a super match...this amp, the it85, their mb125 and the titny triodes all work great with khorns...as well as other highquality reasonably efficient speakers.....overall compares to their bigger brothers nocely and is a sound value.

Similar Products Used:

ARC, Mcintosh,linn,naim

Musicality, micro and macro dynamics, solidity, looks, built-quality

I have always wanted to get McIntosh tube gears but they are obviously costly. When I saw a used VTL ST85 on audiogon I snatched it right up and ever since, I've been stunned by its musicality. It has plenty of power unless you live in a football stadium with inefficient speakers. I'm not going to use all the audio cliches here but just take my word for it--you won't go wrong with this amp. Tremendous bang-for-the-buck quotient.

Similar Products Used:

McIntosh, Conrad Johnson