Detail, musical/tonal accuracy of presentation, detail/articulation throughout the dynamic range

low power output

The VAC Avatar has been in my system for about 11 months now. I was previously using a solid state amp and music was constantly fatiguing. Until I upgraded to the Avatar, I found myself not enjoying music, not rushing to put on another recording when one recording ended. The Avatar changed all that by flushing out the midrange and extending the detail and articulation of recordings both high and low.

Selecting an amp wasn't easy and home auditions often weren't a possibility for the many integrated and separates that I demo'ed in dealerships. When I first heard the Avatar, not long after it was introduced, I was surprised by the level of articulation. I had heard equal detail in other amps but often these had an etched quality, except for the Pass aleph and monoblocks. And some tube amps, like many in CJ's line, sounded too warm and liquid with some tonal shelving. Once I got the Avatar home, I quickly settled into the triode mode using the 8 ohm taps out to my N802s.

My experience is that Avatar amplification is the next best thing to live performance. With incredible detail in the mids and highs, controlled, tight mid bass and surprisingly muscular deep bass, the Avatar speaks with the proper balance of detail and liquidness on all but the worst recordings. If a recording has glare, you will hear glare.

And if your speakers do not have high sensitivity >90 dB, you should stay away from the Avatar unless you can get away with very modest power, otherwise you may get bloating of the highs, upper mids and mid-bass. Which seems to be the case in the review below. In contrast to that experience and the unit reviewed by Stereophile (which they rated a class A despite having problems with tubes and fuses), I have had smooth sailing--absolutely no problems, not even a tube failure--in the year I've owned my unit. My speakers are a very great load and the Avatar handles it well.

Similar Products Used:

Cary, CJ, ML, Krell, Classe, Bryston, Pass, DNA

TRANSPARENT BUT WARM ; VERY MUSICAL;
HAVING THE MERITS OF MARANTZ 7 + 9!

NONE!

VAC'S AVATAR HAS TWIN THAT IS: MARANTZ'S MODEL66A.
AVATAR HAS THE GREATEST PERFOMANCE WITHIN THE PRICE (HK$25,000-30,000). WHATEVER THE COMPARED COMPONETS ARE
(KRELL'S 300I, DENON'S PMA S1, SONUS FABER'S MUSICA,
JEFF ROWLAND'S CONCENTRA, GRPHON'S TABU ET.......)

USER CAN FEEL EASY IN FINGING COMPONETS MATCHING WITH AVATAR.

MY CURRENT USE CONMPONETS ARE:
SONY: SCD1 SACD/CD PLAYER.
SONIC FRONTIER: SFCD1 CD PLAYER
SOTA: TIME DORMAIN MODEL 4 SPEAKERS
MASTER AUDIO: CHAMPION 2 SPEAKERS
SIGNAL CABLES: VENTURE MICRO-REFERENCE & BLACK REFERENCE
SPEAKER CABLES: AUDIOQUEST EXTREME CLEAR
XLO TYPE 5

Similar Products Used:

AUDIO SPACE'S AS8I INTEGERATED AMP.(TUBE)

Nothing in it's price range produced a more naturally musical sound... for me.

Ok if I have to... at extra cost to me I had VAC modify the Avatar to accept a balanced input and a Hi-output MC. So now it sounds even better, and I still spent $1000+ less than for the Levinson or Rowland!

I've been involved in the pursuit of the better sound for the last 25 years of my life. A lot of time has been spent poring over the latest Stereophile, Absolute Sound, etc., trying to determine the absolute bestest (I'm making a point here!)component system I could assemble for my dollar. I am very happy about NOT noting myself as an audiophile in the above selection. I feel that I have come over from the dark side this year, having spent for the first time in those 25 years more on LPs, CDs, opera and symphony tickets than I spent on audio gear!

Do I think the Avatar precisely produces the concert hall experience? No! And neither does a buddy's $100k+ system. Nor does a $250k+ system I heard in 2000. I specifically wanted an integrated amp that would have an integral phono stage, integrate into an A/V system, and produce the highest-quality sound in a smaller space (hence my desire to avoid pre/phono/power combo). And this the Avatar does in spades...

Lifelike, spacious, dynamic, musical, rhythmic... sure the detailing and imaging isn't equal to the heralded Class A separates, but we are talking about a sub $4000 integrated amp. In comparison, I thought the Levinson sounded non-musical and ultimately un-involving. Having recently similarly disapproved of a Krell separate system, I guess I've also settled on vacuum tubes as the only way to produce the nuances and subtleties of most music software.

Any operational issues? Yeah, the Home Theater feature is brilliant contrary to a recent review! Integrated amp goes with smaller spaces, less room for a couple more amps for surround right?!? Right! Just go pre-out from processor/receiver to the Avatar's HT input. The processor then controls the output of the Avatar directly and simply.

No headphone jack? Try the Musical Fidelity XCANs V2. It'll easily beat out anyone's front panel jack. Besides, you should be buying a separate amp if your audio needs drive you to fork over $4k for an integrated!

And the inevitable what's my system? Levinson No. 37, Levinson No. 360, Well Tempered Reference w/Benz Ruby 2, all connected with Transparent Ultra interconnects and speaker cable. My current speakers are the also very-well balanced Celestion A3's which sound great with pop, jazz, or classical. However, I will admit that I am leaning toward replacing these with the superb Red Rose Music R3's if I can curb my vinyl buying habit! The A3's do overload my smallish room a bit and could use a pinch more in the image department.

So... if you're in the market for an amply featured integrated amp or even a starter pre/power combo, please do yourself (and the incredibly knowledgeable and helpful people at VAC) a favor and don't pass on auditioning the Avatar. It produces that which this former audiophile once hungered for... music! It will always find a welcome spot in this man's house even when I've graduated to a bigger room and gone back to separates.

Similar Products Used:

Auditioned: Levinson 383, Rowland Concentra, Rogue Tempest, VTL IT-85, YBA Integre, Bryston BP-60.

Will drive any speaker. The Avatar has enough power. Beautiful looks.

Although the phono stage is excellent, it can be refined with better tubes.

It is difficult to judge an amp as if it were standing on its own. If one has a good working system than the totality is greater than the sum of the individual parts. The Avatar is a good and safe choice and will deliver as long as it will be teamed-up with equal or better good partners in the system. First of all I do have the Avatar completely vibration controlled with a double layer of amp stands (Mana and BDR) between the Mana and the BDR I have placed a set of the vibration control device called Daruma III-2 from Final Laboratories and again the Daruma between the BDR and the Avatar. This has produced a more transparent sound stage and a better bass. My source, for now is a Linn LP-12 and a Sun Audio stepup transformer. From the Linn to the stepup the signal is guided by the acclaimed Kimber TAK Phono - AG. From the steup to the Avatar the signal is guided by the Audio Note AN-V silver cable. And then finally the signal is carried to the speakers by the Kimber Bifocal XL. The Speakers are from Reference 3A, model Studio Master II with vdHul silver internal wiring.

Recently, advised by one of audio's foremost, I changed the tubes of the phono stage. I placed a matched pair of 12AX7LPS from Sovtek. Although these tubes still have to break/(burn)-in, from the start they have performed better than the original tubes. At this moment I am looking for the creme de la creme of the 12AX7: the Telefunken to experiment with yet an even better phono stage. Nevertheless these Sovtek's changed the character of the sound completely. A clear sound stage, better bass (both more extended and more thight), a much better midrange and
a more extended high. Overall better and these little tubes haven't broken it yet. And than the music; let's forget about all the technical stuff. The Reference 3A Studio Master II speakers responded in a incredible way to this change. It is now that these "little" speakers are beginning to really show what they can do. The sound is very musical and transparent with a deep bass. Almost too good to be true for a two-way monitor.

Eventually I will stepup to even better (that is mono blocks with a separate phono stage), but that will come later. The Avatar produces a superb sound at a good price.

Haven't I mentioned Avatar line stage and CD's? Well, that is because in my audio room I will not allow digital unless something really special comes along. The digital I banned to the second system in the living room.

P.s. The same Daruma I have placed between the monitors and the stands, under the stepup and the Linn.

plays music

it doesn't cost 9 k (it would then sound as a 20k separates )

I can only agree with previous review . Avatar realy plays music the way it should be . In the era of endless "auditioning" of different gears , I somehow ( still can't explain why ) ordered my Avatar without even see it in a real life . My version is SE (special edition ) with a remote , so that's why 4.5k . After placing an order I waited 6 and a half months till my Avatar reached Moscow (it is app. the same time it took Napoleon to reach Moscow from France ). So , Russia is a hard place for an audiophile to live .Nevertheless , when I pluged it in , I was amazed with a sound it was pouring out of my Dynaudios 1.8 .I expected to make some A-B comparison with exicting Krell 300i , but it was a funy feeling . There was not a single aspect in which Avatar wasn't killing my beloved Krell to the point of sheer embarasment . Avatar simply gives you so much fun listening to the music that it is hard to explain by words . Speed is first thing which is to shock you with this amp .Then follows everything else .Only the imaging is second to my reference Pass Aleph 2 monoblocks ,Aleph P preamp ,Audio Physics Virgo system .Which costs by the way ,3 times more .What bothers me above all , is that Avatar - Dynaudio 1.8 gives me more "enjoy the music" effect then Pass-Virgo . There is deffinetly somtehing very , very special about this amp .I am still in a process of evalueting Avatar and will be adding the follow-up . But for the time being I simply can not recomand enough VAC-Avatar . If you want an amp which is easy to use , ocuppies litle place ,plays realy music the way it should sound , you don't even have to give yourself "auditon" - send a chek to Vac and relax .You will be uterly happy when your Avatar arrives .

Similar Products Used:

Krell 300i ,Gryphon Calisto , carre 300 sei C-J cav-50

home theater mode, easy switch to triode mode, overal versatility, damn good looks

remote control appears cheap, but all the money went into the amp, so not much of a weakness; expensive for most consumers

My first religious conversion with tubes occurred with the Vac Avatar through Nautilus 804's, 805's and finally the 802's. I could not believe the clarity and warmth of the sound compared to the other amps. All but the Krell monoblocks hooked up to martin-logan's failed to produce the "humaness" of the Avatar. All the other amps had good sound, to be sure, but there was a level of detail, and more importantly, warmth, that the others did not have. It is also very versatile with the "home theatre mode", and in general, is built like a TANK. The triode mode is even sweeter, but probably not so great with demanding material. Amazingly, at 27 wpc, this thing drives my N-804's with no problem, with satisfying levels below 11 O'clock on the volume control. The remote control is rather cheap looking, but considering the quality of the internal components added to make the amp remote capable without sacrificing sound, it is not really that much of a complaint. Pairs well with B & W, which can be unforgiving of poor recordings.

Similar Products Used:

compared to: Krell, Aragon, CJ, Rogue audio, jolida, Bryston

Anyone in the market for an integrated amplifier ought to take heed of what VAC has done with its Avatar amp. The power is rated at 60 W in ultra-linear mode, which was a real concern for me because I am driving a pair of B&W Nautilus 802's. But after demo-ing the Avatar, ordering it and listening to it in my home, I am convinced that the Avatar has plenty of power for home applications.
In fact, I removed the grille and switched the circuits from ultra-linear to triode mode which cuts the wattage output by more than half to about 27 W/channel. Not only was this still plenty of power at the volumes I enjoy, but it made my power-hungry 802's sing so beautifully on everything from Wayne Shorter to the Beastie Boys to Debussey, that I am convinced I will never go back to solid state amplification.

For those still considering solid state (like I was), tubes make the music full, rich and real, throughout the lows, mids and highs. I had tried to ignore audiophiles who told me this but too much money and personal satisfaction was at stake in choosing components for my new system. Upgrading to the Avatar didn't provide greater details or nuances in any particular recording (the 802's did that), rather the whole sound of my system is mellower. I find I can no longer listen to solid state amps without finding them too bright and brittle.

The engineering and design of the Avatar are awesome. Circuits are simple. The connectors on the rear panel are mostly gold and arranged conveniently. The power supply is hefty--it must weigh about 25 lbs. VAC has even designed the Avatar to fit into home theater applications by providing a front-panel knob to bypass the internal preamp and use a separate decoder/preamp. Eventually I want to use this amp and my 802's in a home theater system, so this feature was very important to me and I am impressed that the folks at VAC had the vision to provide the home theater knob.

Looks/ergonomics are also important. The Avatar harkens back to an age of classy, no nonsense electronics. I really enjoy that retro style. The dimly lit meter on the face-plate, the tubes glowing under the grille, the thick faceplate and heavy knobs are all part of pride-of-ownership here. Beautiful amp--no question about it.

I wish I could provide data from comparisons that helped me decide on the Avatar. In fact, once I convinced myself that tubes were the way to go and realized that I had somewhat limited resources (thanks to the significant price of the 802's), there were only two choices. The Conrad Johnson integrated amp vs the VAC. With the features stacked so heavily in favor of the Avatar, it was hardly any choice at all. This amp has plenty of power despite what the solid state guys say. If people only knew what they were missing with solid state. . .

Lucious sound, easy on the eyes and ears. Simple biasing controls, unique Home Theater pre-amp bypass mode, built in tube phono amp.

none encountered yet.

After listening and pricing tube amps and pre-amps from Balanced Audio Technologies, and Audio Research I was delighted to discover the VAC Avatar.

Here is an integrated tube amp with a phono stage that
sound as good, if not better than the others. Better yet,
I includes a fine tube phono pre-amp and an optional remote. The icing on the cake, however, is the Home Theater mode function. This permits me to route the mains from my A/V receiver through the VAC, bypassing the VAC pre-amp stage. Now I can leave my speaker cables permantly attached to the VAC and always power the mains with tubes. Of course I don't need to use the A/V receiver for music listening, thereby going all tube for CDs and Records.

The combination of sound, features and price made the VAC the only rational choice for me. I understand that VAC's seperate pre-amps also have the theater bypass mode, so I can see my self remaining with VAC for the long haul.

My Avatar is a 2001 SE version, which includes the normally optional remote and phono stage, as well as higher quality caps and such. The only features the VAC is missing, that I would care for, are remote power on/off and function switching, but I can appreciate the K.I.S.S school of thought employed here. If the addition of those features introduces negative effects on the sound then I'm happy to live without them. Your mileage may vary...

So, if you are in the market for tube gear and want to save
money on a integrated amp, I highly recommend you check out the Avatar.

Similar Products Used:

This is my first Tube Amp / Pre-amp.

Detail & Sound Stage, Bass, Dynamics

Mute knob

This integrated amp's (special edition) response is very musical providing detail, a 3-dimensional sound stage and excellent bass response. The phono stage is very clean. At lower listning levels it kills all solid state amps I've litstened to, even Krell and McIntosh.

Similar Products Used:

Krell, McIntosh & Adcom