Al Clark sent me this e-mail sometime back and thought it is worth posting here as a follow up. As information on this gear is sparse at best.
TO: Ferrari
I was just surfing and I found a few of your nice comments about the old VA Model 1,2,3
I founded Van Alstine Audio Systems along with Frank and two others in 1977 (or 76).
I don't think Frank talks much about these products because he didn't design any of them.
Greg Broburg and I designed the model one. We share a patent on the phono preamp. The model two was an improved modified Dyna Double 400. The model three was started by me and finished by Greg (also a partner). Grag thought my original design was too complicated, but many of the original elements were retained. Greg turned it into a current mode power amplifier. We didn't actually know what a current mode power amplifier was at the time. We just wanted to improve the speed of the amplifier. It was always our belief that the Model three was a much better amplifier than the model two.
I actually have 1/2 of the world supply of the Model 4 (still in kit form, since I never seem to get around to building them). We built two for our distributor Japan. These were essentially mono Model threes.
We also designed a very good replacement for the Model 1. It was clearly our best preamp but it never was released.
A few years ago, I designed on paper, an "ultimate" version. I was curious if I could design something that would compare favorably with today's best. At the time, I had an old dealer from way back who was interested and I was having fun with the idea.
I don't even have a turntable anymore. I had a fairly respectable stereo at home until my house got broken into and it was all stolen (except for an old pair of MGIIs that were well past their prime.
I keep thinking I might build my own system using a combination of old VA techniques and newer ideas. I specialize in DSP today. One of our summer products is going to be a DSP based crossover for high performance speaker systems.
What dealer were you? Did we meet? I replaced Frank Van Alstine (after I fired him in 1978). I haven't spoken with or seen him since 1979 so I don't really know much about his newer products. I epect that many of them are good because Frank was a good evaluator/listener and did develop a staff to help him move forward.
Al Clark
Danville Signal Processing, Inc
www.danvillesignal.com
TO: Ferrari
I was just surfing and I found a few of your nice comments about the old VA Model 1,2,3
I founded Van Alstine Audio Systems along with Frank and two others in 1977 (or 76).
I don't think Frank talks much about these products because he didn't design any of them.
Greg Broburg and I designed the model one. We share a patent on the phono preamp. The model two was an improved modified Dyna Double 400. The model three was started by me and finished by Greg (also a partner). Grag thought my original design was too complicated, but many of the original elements were retained. Greg turned it into a current mode power amplifier. We didn't actually know what a current mode power amplifier was at the time. We just wanted to improve the speed of the amplifier. It was always our belief that the Model three was a much better amplifier than the model two.
I actually have 1/2 of the world supply of the Model 4 (still in kit form, since I never seem to get around to building them). We built two for our distributor Japan. These were essentially mono Model threes.
We also designed a very good replacement for the Model 1. It was clearly our best preamp but it never was released.
A few years ago, I designed on paper, an "ultimate" version. I was curious if I could design something that would compare favorably with today's best. At the time, I had an old dealer from way back who was interested and I was having fun with the idea.
I don't even have a turntable anymore. I had a fairly respectable stereo at home until my house got broken into and it was all stolen (except for an old pair of MGIIs that were well past their prime.
I keep thinking I might build my own system using a combination of old VA techniques and newer ideas. I specialize in DSP today. One of our summer products is going to be a DSP based crossover for high performance speaker systems.
What dealer were you? Did we meet? I replaced Frank Van Alstine (after I fired him in 1978). I haven't spoken with or seen him since 1979 so I don't really know much about his newer products. I epect that many of them are good because Frank was a good evaluator/listener and did develop a staff to help him move forward.
Al Clark
Danville Signal Processing, Inc
www.danvillesignal.com