al23

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
3 Months to 1 year

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
This is a great little phono preamp for the money. I used this on my Rotel 985/B&W 685/NAD 333 & it did make the sound so much warmer & musical. Also great that it has a headphone input during those late night listening. I highly recommend upgrading the stock tube. I tried 3 different kinds - tung sol, sovtek & reissue Mullard. And i seem to prefer the Mullard between the three but all of them were way much better than the stock tube. There were some hum issue that i notice only when the turntable was not playing & i tried different solutions that the customer rep recommend. Seem to decrease it but still noticeably there. Another great thing is the company that makes this product - Rolls. They have the best customer service i have encountered helping me set up,troubleshoot my problem, definitely no outsourced customer service & real staff to answer your question.

stratman672001

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
3 Months to 1 year

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
This actually a review of the VP530 with the USB port. I bought this unit from Music Direct and it was worth every penny. The first thing I did was tube roll. I replaced the cheapo 12AX7 with a rather tired Telefunken 12AX7 "Ribbed plate" and for a well used tube she still sounded good. I bought an NOS Brimar "Longplate" and within 24 hours it went microphonic. Luckilly Brent Jessee exchanged it for an NOS Telefunken "Smooth Plate" and haven't looked back since. The sound is simply wonderful, warm and lifelike (thanks in no small part to the Tele). I did try the USB port to do some needledrops but my computer wouldn't recognize it (more with the computer than the preamp), but I did try the line out and that worked just fine. So all in all I strongly reccomend this unit, and if you do decide on this then tube rolling is a must to get the best out of it.

PMartinez

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
1 to 3 months

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 2.00 votes

Price Paid:  $199.00 from SweetwaveAudio.com

Summary:
The VP130 is the newest version of the venerable VP129. It utilizes a 15 volt DC input that is derived from the Rolls PSU 115. It is shipped with a 12 volt DC wall wart. You can get the PSU 115 from the Rolls website.

I purchased this unit as a gift for a friend and was more than mildly surprised at its performance. It provides a warm and even gently sweet rendition of the music on the record. I compared it my Acoustech SS pre-amp and other than providing less detail then the Acoustech, the Bellari could stay the distance with it.

The headphone amp is a really nice bonus and most vendors would charge you
the list price just for it. I used it with a Philips and my Sennheiser 650s and was highly satisfied with the overall sound.

In the process of purchasing it, I uncovered another gem, www.sweetwaveaudio.com. My mouth salivates every time I peruse their catalog. I ended up purchasing a Furman Power Conditioner, which is must for any audio lover, but was amazed at their amplifier, equalizer, etc., offerings.

Strengths:
- price that even the most miserly can live with
- nice looking metal case
- muting
- very quiet, smooth operation
- headphone output
- the switching power supply makes it quieter than the VP129

Weaknesses:
- its big brother the VP530 offers even more neat functionality like direct recording on your PC via the USB port!
- rated Stereophile Class B
- you have to purchase the PSU115 separatly