sound quality

none esp. given it's price & size

Well this is a great amp! My only puzzlement is the relative lack of VTL reviews on this site. I bought a used one after reading the review in Stereophile, the 2 reviews here, & a couple of generous e-mails from one of the other reviewers.

I'm using this amp to power B&W Matrix 802 S3's, which shouldn't even't be possible (power-wise) according to most of the audio salesmen I talked to. The sound quality is so excellent, smooth, revealing, nice soundstage, etc. that altho I keep trying to talk myself into a more powerful amp (ARC VT100 for example), the ST-85 is such a "likeable" component that I don't want to give it up. One great aspect is that you can call VTL & talk to real people, Bea or Luke.

Another thing that impresses me is that when you read the Stereophile, etc. reviews going back even 10 years, a certain no. of the reviewers actually own VTL mono-blocks & use them as reference amps.
In case you can't tell it, I've become a VTL fan. I can't say if the ST-85 sounds better than any of the other exc. tube gear out there, but it does sound great, very musical. Impressive for it's size & price.

Similar Products Used:

Krell 300i, plus auditioned various other solid state amps.

Stunning value

none yet

I had been listening and researching pre and power amps for nearly three years in anticipation of replacing my old Onkyo integrated amp. I set the max dollar limit at 2K (4k total for both the pre and power) and listened to several different components. The VTL components simply destroyed everything at this price range. I listened to several highly reviewed power amps including Musical Fidelity, Classe, Plinius, and Marsh. I'm sure I drove several salespeople nuts over the amount of time I spent listening and taking equipment home to test drive, but I'm glad I did. The VTL was clearly the best sounding both in the showroom and on my own system.
I had some concerns over the noise floor and "guts" of a tube amp, but this amp is quiet and has wonderful, taunt bass. I was surprised with its ability to drive my speakers. The control of the lower octaves was just as tight with the 85 watt VTL (at around 6 ohms I believe) as the 120 watt (8 ohm) Musical Fidelity.
After all the time spent reading and listening I have two pieces of advice:
1st, don't buy anything based on how much a reviewer likes it. Several of the amps and preamps I listened to that had "highest" rankings sounded mediocre at best. I was not alone in my opinions as I always took along a friend or two in order to get a 2nd opinion. Listen and judge for yourself.
2nd, be sure you audition the VTL equipment!
Happy listening.

Similar Products Used:

VTL 2.5 line preamp and the new VTL TP 2.5 phono stage.

great for the money. reliable and good customer support

can sound bright before warming up or if left off for more than one day.

I see alot of five star reviews on this website for every imaginable product. I guess people get overstimulated when they purchase something new. We are all a bunch of guys in the 20-30's bracket, probably with lame jobs and not many aspirations besides the pursuit for audio perfection and other material longings. Truth of the matter, we have been brain washed by stereophile magazine into believing it's normal to spend so much money on stereo equipment. It's funny to read peoples independent reviews of thier equipment and notice they repeat the words used to descibe it from stereophool magazine. Oh well, I guess i'll get on with my review now. I've owned the vtl st-80 for about 5-6 years now. I called the company for an upgrade to st-85 status and was pretty much laughed at, "do you really want to pay for a new face plate?" was the response. The st-80 and 85 are the same. I like this product and I like the company. The st-85 has all the power that's really needed for most of us. I still enjoy it after all these years and never considered it the weakest link in my system. If you compare it with solid state, even the ultra expensive stuff, you'll notice how the midrange is sucked out of ss equipement but on the contrary is the focus of a good tube amplifier. The music is in the midrange and that is why I like this product. It won't give you the detail of ss but I don't care, If you look on ebay for a vtl amp you won't find more than one, maybe two. Look for krell and you'll find 20 or more. That says it all to me, people keep this amp.

When I would read posts by others stating that they could feel the "space" around each instrument, I could only guess at what they were speaking about. That is until I sat down with this amp in my living room. This was my first real experience with Tube gear. I just listened in amazement. At 1,700.00 (2,100 with the triode opition)this amp is exceptional. The Highs clear, mids fairly detailed and the low end is tight and pretty quick. Much more than I expected from this amp. Like the other post I'm sure there are better amps out there, but for the money you'd be hard pressed to find one. It's a five'r.

I absolutely love this amp. It has beautiful, detailed highs, a liquid midrange, and a taut bottom end. I use it to drive sound dynamics 300ti's and it has never been short of breathtaking. In absolute terms, it is a solid 4 star product, but for price, it is unequivocally 5 stars! Emphatically recommended!

This is simply a stunning tube amp. And guess what? I am using it with Martin Logan SL3's, and it doesn't sound like it's not powerful enough for them. Plenty of low end, the amp had less than 100 hours on it when I bought it used, at first, before break-in, I wasn't very impressed, but not, even if I'm sitting at my computer or in the kitchen, the sound it puts out simply amazes me.......lifelike vocals and piano, if the recording has good low end it will reproduce it! I am plannig on adding a second ST-85 in the future and bi-amping....I can't wait....I am using a Cary SLP-74 preamp, mainly listen to vinyl on a VPI HW19jp/Rega 300/Benz Glider/VPI Power Conditioner set.....all Telefunken tubes in the preamp.....VTL has the stocks that it came with, I believe JAN 2at7's and Svetlana EL34's.

Honestly, I cannot think of any right now....this amp is simply breathtaking......electrostasts, tubes, and vinyl...wow!

For under $2000 new, the VTL is a spectacular amp. Keep in mind that the 85 wpc rating is into 4 ohms, not 8 though. Believe it or not, the SL3's which are somewhat inefficient, sound gorgeous with this single amp running them!

Similar Products Used:

I used Meridian and B+K amplifiers prior to this.....both were 200 wpc.....for my system the VTL is the best, although when I ran a full Meridian pre + amp set on the SL3's, the amount of detail retrieved through the speakers was slightly better. I heard things I had never heared before. However, I still like the overall sound of the Cary/VTL setup better.

Accurate, quick mids and blooming, multi-dimensional highs

Deep bass extension lacking

I bought this amp used on audiogon.com with 100 hours on it; it was just hitting its stride when I unpacked it! A fantastic addition to my system, it is truly a gem. My only beef is the relative lack of deep bass, for which I plan on adding a second ST-85. Long live VTL!