Hi,

I tried the VTL TL2.5 whilst my Audio Research LS1 was being re-capped. I use a B&K ST125.2 power amp and the 20dB gain for the TL2.5 is a bit too big for the power amp either that or the output sensitivity is too big?

The amp is very quiet in operation and very nice to listen to, but when I dial in some volume greater than about the 9 'O' clock position (starts at 7) then I found the bass to be over driven. Maybe it’s the mis-match with my power amp that causes this, but otherwise all good.

With the bass slam, it is hard to believe that it is a valve amp.

I found the Volume control knob to be strange in that the milled angle on one half of the front face does not align to anything in particular and the remote control does not provide a good control over the volume position - it was always either over or under what I wanted

Open mid range, which allows vocals and tones to poor through into your listening area with the beauty and caress of a warm ocean breeze. Complimented by the most transparent highs I have ever heard and finishing with a velvety and very controlled bass. Does wonders for Jazz music, classical, easy listening and live performances. A++++. Rock and roll still sounds good, but best on a straight SS system.

Some rock recordings can sound mixed up. Warranty stinks.

All I can say about this piece is WOWEEE! I never thought of myself as a tube equipment type, up to this point I had only experience with SS equipment. I currently run a pair of B&W 804s on a Krell 250 amp and a Rotel processor. Since adding a Richard Gray 600S the Rotel began to sound a little edgy at times, so I auditioned this tube preamp after being told this could help remedy the problem. And remedy it did! It definately rounded out the sound and brought a nice front to back dimension to most performances. Does not quite have the in your face bass slam that 100% SS will offer, but it creeps around and hits with a pleasing authority nonetheless. As this thing warmed up, the element of sounds that really surprised me was the voices, mids, and high tones, it was like having a new set of speakers in my room. I only wish I had added this sooner than I did.

Similar Products Used:

Rotel 976 processor.

Clean, dynamic sound. Excellent build quality. Fairly sweet and refined in the violin/trumpet range.

A bit forward, a touch bright/glarey, a bit weak in the low bass. Tubes went bad too soon.

For the money, this is a great preamp in the right system (this is important). The build quality is exemplary. The optional silver face plate is much more attractive than the black one. Although there's no getting around the rather ugly big black knobs for volume and source selection. A great feature is the home theater pass through, which works perfectly. I ultimately was disappointed with this preamp, however. On the plus side, it is very clean, dynamic, with pretty decent bass for a tube preamp in this price range. However, I found overall the preamp tended to sound a little too forward and a touch bright/glarey in the upper range. It has a lovely tonality in the upper mids down, but certainly no extra warmth in the lower mids that you'd expect from a tube piece. So, ultimately a somewhat robust, forward, very clean and a touch bright, gleaming sound, and a touch weak in the bass department dictates that very careful system matching needs to be observed with this unit. Don't expect this unit to warm up your system for you, it won't. However, it remains clean and robust. It's certainly not laid back! And the build quality is excellent, right down to the RCA connectors on the back. Oh, also, I really missed some kind of display for volume. You don't get any kind of display with this unit. I did like it better than it's more expensive brother, the 5.5. While the 5.5 was even more dynamic and improved in the bass, it wasn't as sweet in the upper mids (violins are quite lovely with the 2.5). I must also add that the output tubes in both channels went bad in the first six months (I bought it new). But VTL replaced them no question, and Denver Audio Designs provided the best service imaginable.

Similar Products Used:

Krell KRC3, BAT VK3i

soundstage,detail,bass

thisis a superb player I couldnt belive how great thi prem souded.the soundstage was huge wide and deep.the images were very dimensional.the bass was extended firm and deep.a sublimely smooth but uncolored midrange provides the basis for musical experiences you wish never end.equally impressive are the rock solid imaging and deep soundstage tha provide uparalleled musical presens. bottom line this pre-amp is OUTSTANDING. this is a superb player.i couldnt believe

Liquid, smooth and transparent. Very good level of clarity and details for tube gear. Remote control is nice to have.

Sound is slightly on the lean side, would prefer slightly more body and bloom.

This is a very good pre-amp in my opinion, like Sonic Frontiers and Audio Research, it''s not necessarily very "tubey" sounding. It give u the transparency, liquidity and 3-D imaging of tubes but managed to maintain high level of resolution and clarity. Try avoid partnering with lean sounding cables and equipments. If u have no choice, perhaps u may wish to roll the tubes.

Top end and mid-range warmth. Very musical. Reduces digital hardness. Little listener fatique.

Not as dynamic as some others. Weak low end

Just spent a good portion of my afternoon auditioning the VTL and Adcom pre-amps at local Hi-Fi shop.

Here was the setting:

Speaker - Magnepan QR1.6's
Amp - Bryston 3B-ST
CD Player - Adcom (not sure which one)
Speaker Cables - Transparent Audio Link 100
Music - Rachmaninov "Isle of the Dead" and "Symphonic Dances" by Vladimir Ashkenazy on London label.
Listening Room - Roughly 24 X 12

My impression is that the VTL was the most musically satisfying of the two pre-amps. What I mean by that is that I think it corresponded more closely to what you would hear in a live concert. It has that "tube magic" that solid state cannot replicate. The warmth and bloom on the strings was very pleasing from high end down to the mid range. Where the Adcom outperformed the VTL was in the width of its total dynamic range (especially in the lower mid range and below). It also had more detail, but that detail had some of the digital "hardness" associated with solid state gear. Both have remotes. Adcom has both balanced and unbalanced outputs where as the VTL is striclty unbalanced.

I think that if your musical tastes are into accoustical, Jazz or Classical Music, you should hear the VTL. If your are mainly into rock, rap or electronica, I think you are better off listening to the Adcom because of its deeper and more dramatic bass. Another nice thing about the Adcom is that it has both passive and active stages which gives you another option. The passive was extremely neutral. The active was much more dynamic but was definately colored.

Overall, I think that they both are good Amp's for the $. However, I do not think I will buy either one. I am looking for a tube Amp with the characteristic of the VTL for the high and mid range but with deeper and more dynamic bass. If you could mary the best qualities of both the VTL and the Adcom, then I would be in heaven.

Similar Products Used:

Adcom GFP-750

Versitility,and that tube quality of sound;Golden!

None

Having become entrenched in the 5:1 theater system search for the Holy Grail,I paradoxically kept finding myself drawn back to the music.Specifically two channel! On the Rec.of my local HiFi guy I added the 2.5 to my system to use when I wanted to listen to 2 channel.My system consists of B&W P5's up front;
603's rear,and the LCR S2 center.The power is by the B&K AVR 202 HT Reciever for the center,rears,and bottom end of the front P5's.I Bi-Power the 5's top with the Mac.MC 7100.Now I'm satisfied with the sound,but it can be improved apon in various ways.One way to my gratification to HiFi guy was the 2.5.When I went from 5:1 to 2 channel and the VTL took over the effect was immediate,very apparent,and wonderful!!!!!!
The 5's opened up from mid to top by a factor of
3,the clarity,and tonality improved dramatically,and I was hearing instraments as never before! That TUBE quality was introduced into my SS system and I still have not recovered!
Obviously,you can go thru the list and find
many PRE's that are consisdered "better" than the 2.5.And not being a betting man I'll take that one if were talking price point,(not to mention grabbing one on the "used, but as new" market).The added bonus here is the Dig.pass through which lets you integrate this Preamp into your HT system.For me this feature nails it. Absolutely a no brainer,

wonderful soundstage, good 3 dimensionality, tonal balance and unexpected clear bass rendition, compatability

none found out yet

It took me great decision to get in tube ground. I was planning to set up tube-pre and ss-power combo but ended up with tube gear at both ends. It was the sound, sound, sound that I just couldn't resist eminateing from the simmering tubes.

My system includes (from up to downstream)
Luxman 375 CDP (I'm going to upgrade it)
Monster interlink 400 (sitting in just for a few months)
VTL TL 2.5 Pre (the hero or heroine)
Audiotruth Opal 3 (Fantastic for my classical taste)
VTL MB-125 monoblocks (see my review if you are interested)
Audioquest Cobalt 2 (no comment since no comparison made yet)
Ruark Crusader II (a nominal underdog but a genuinely graceful and powerful, if conservative, bargain)

Before setting the above up, I did try some SS integrates and inte plus power combos and found them weak and lean. A friend persuade me to try tube, but I'm so scared of the retubing and biasing legend that I was very reluctant to try the TL 2.5 on a loan from dealer.

Jesus Christ, it's not only the beautiful tonality that struck me dead, but also the lifelike, 3-D and clear-defined presentation. I think I'm trapped and there is no way to get out. I'm sorry not being able to try more tube pres on my system, but I went to quite a few hifi shops, listening to what similar pres (within the same price range) they have on their systems. As I am a classical fan and have stocked a Classical CD collection, with symphony and concerto as my main fodder, I found it disappointing that most tube dealers want to demo accoustical stuff,like jazz and light pop song, which I know would seduce inexperienced listener by their delicate sound artifact.
Despite of this, I manage to detect why VTL suits me more than other famous brands.

VTL has an SS-like character in presenting wide soundstage and imposing strong impact, while preserving the tubey basics and flavours. This is exactly what I need for my music. The deep bass extends the soundstage farther and wider and the crystal and unstinging tremble locate the instrument groups accurately. Playing jazz doesn't understate the 2.5 at all. Sarah King's voice became more tangible and Armstrong is heard with more phlegm and saliva.

More importantly the price doesn't kill me. I now volutarily take the "risk" of retubing the little tubes inside and am very happy to afford the expenditure ensued.

I will by no means degrade other top models as ARC, CJ or SF, etc. However, for my taste and my money, I believe VTL TL 2.5 is a crane among hens. If you find some similar situation as mine and have access to VTL products, test it, you'll be obsessed.

Neutrality, Sweetness of sound, Soundstage

limited functional remote

A great sounding pre-amp..."pure tube" is it!! Talk about re-discovering the beauty of music...WOW! This all tube pre-amp throws an excellent soundstage while maintaining its neutrality in terms of musical reproduction. Great gear!!

Transparent, natural sound. Soundstage. That wonderful rich tube sound.

NONE

I bought my VTL 2.5 used - oops, I mean "pre-owned". There is one great thing about buying used tube equipment, no break-in period. There is one thing I did learn about tubes, let those guys warm-up before you listen! Proper grounds are also a must.

My Carver CT-6 had a good soundstage and a clean sound. Nice solid state "I'm not here" type of sound. Or so I thought. WOW! I can't believe the difference in the 2 units. The VTL does not add anything to the sound. I hear the warmth and richness of the original performance, not what somebody else thinks it should be. The soundstage is deeper and wider. True spaciousness (new word) is the best way to describe the soundstage. I can "see" where the instruments are. The CT-6 added bass and so much high mid range (or is that low highs) that I was not hearing the true highs. I now hear what I was missing and I was missing a lot. Beyond that, the Carver was so busy adding things to the music that it could not reproduce those subtle things like the sound of a drum stick hitting the drum head, or a bow being pulled across violin strings, or the sound of fingers/pick plucking strings. It may not seem like much but, it is. The sound feels natural and I guess that is the highest compliment I can give to the VTL.

Now I understand. Hey ya'll, can I call myself an Audiophile now? Please, please can I?

My system:
Bryston 4B Amp
VTL 2.5 Preamp - The Bryston & VTL mate VERY well.
JVC CD Player
Boston Acoustic Subsat 6 Speakers
Radio Shack Gold Interconnects (Yes, RS and damn proud of it. These things sound great and are built well. They're not Kimbers or Audioquest but, they're not $500/set either).

Similar Products Used:

Carver CT-6