ARC VTM120 Any thoughts?

Blue Book price often has nothing to do with actual sonic quality so I would not focus on this too much. What the going price has been on Audiogon would be a far more worthy indicator of their "value".

$1500 does seem a bit high considering that ARC M100 mono amps sell in the low $2k range and these along with the D115 stereo amp (which sells in the $1300-1500 range) are in a completely different league than the more budget-minded VT60/VTM120 series. And I have seen the ARC VT130 stereo amp go in the $1700 range and this is an oustanding amp that I wish I had not sold years ago. Clearly Audiofeil has little or no experience with these models as they do not at all have a "dried out presentation" that I personally would associate with the Classic series.

ARC like any other company has made some phenomenol products and a few that performed quite poorly; the LS2 and CL150 come to mind on the latter. And on the issue of Sonic Frontiers, the SFL-2 was one of the most unmusical line stages that I tried in my system some years ago.

If you're selling the VTM120's good luck. If you're looking to buy the VTM120's, I'd consider the models mentioned above if you want to stay with ARC amps. But there are so many products to consider if you're not attached to ARC.

John

Pawloski: I think that it is going to take some patience and luck to find a good deal on a pair of good sounding mono tube amps in your price range. But I have seen older VTL models like the 185/225/300 sell below the $2k mark. And these were huge hits in the late 80s with great 3-dimensional qualities and impressive bass for tube amps of the time. Just be prepared to put out a few hundred $$ to retube these amps if you get an older pair with old warn out tubes.

And what about the Quicksilver that was quite the rave back in the 80s as well? You might be able to find a good deal here and retubing if needed should cost less than the VTLs. They simply won't have the punch and dynamics of the VTLs.

What kind of speakers do you have? You can't really buy an amp without matching it with the speakers and vice versa.

Do you have any plans/interest to biamp? If so, focus on a 2-channel amp like the D115 or the VT130/VT100 if you want to stay with ARC products and then get another later. The BAT VK60 is another product to consider to start with one and then get another later to either use as two 2-channel amps or have them changed to run as mono amps.

If you need an amp with more power, the Counterpoint SA and NPS series are excellent performers as well; they simply will not have the bloom and decays like the other amps mentioned here. They are incredibly tonally coherent...just not the last word in resolution....but nothing mentioned here really is anyway.

So there's some ideas from my corner of the world.

John

Pawlowski: There are a lot of VR4JR owners who would be willing to share their experiences on their search for an amp that works well here. This could save you considerable time and even a little money. Consider starting a new thread requesting ideas for amps that work well with the VR4JRs.

Concerning newer vs. older amps, as long as the company is still in business and doing very well, even older models are supported for repair and upgrades. This is definitely true of ARC.