That Transformational piece of Gear We All Wish For

Glad to hear about the VK-80, I agree, I love the company, customer support, build quality and aesthetics, it’s a beautiful component. I hate to say this but the sound quality just doesn’t do it for me, in my setup it sounds too polite, errors of omission rather than commission. I can’t sell it because I want to love it, everything else is A+. I also have an Audio Research Reference 6 that I compare it to, possibly not a fair comparison due to price differences but when that gets swapped in, it wows me, big soundstage, dynamics, bass. A friend has the VK-80i integrated and that has to be one of the coolest looking integrateds on the market. He loves it and I’m tempted to sell the preamp to try the intergated. Associated components are KEF Reference 1 Meta, KEF Reference 3 non-meta, Benchmark AHB-2, Benchmark LA-4, Luxman 595, Aurender N200, Bricasti M3, Eversolo A8, HoloAudio Cyan2, Parasound JC-5. 

hi agbrace,  that is wild.   that is the exact opposite of what i am experiencing.  this beast has great dynamics and slam, and is anything but polite. i wonder if the tubes are getting old as  your description is so far from what i am experiencing.

are you the original owner? 

Yeah, bought it brand new direct, I even talked to Steve and he said let it break in more, has about 500 hours. I am a believer in system synergy and I do go through a lot of gear but haven’t found the right combination where it fits in well. It certainly doesn’t sound bad but isn’t exciting, soundstage is smaller than Ref 6, bass and dynamics are lighter weight. I even tried it with a 255SE power amp and the amp had a similar sonic profile. Maybe I need a Rex 500!

wow,  not sure what to say.  500 hours should be more than enough.  Mine has improved in the month since i got it but still not at 500 hours. the sound stage is very large and immersive (depending of course on the recording).  and the jump factor is amazing.  i use a Coda 16 amp and it is a killer for sure, but someday i hope to try a REX 300.  i do use two REL subs and they are very important in getting the kind of sound i like

The two pieces of gear have surprised me were the Computer Audio Design (CAD) GC-1 and Sonore Signature Rendu SE w/Optical Module.

I bought a used GC-1, it was so amazing I immediately also bought the used GC-3 that was for sale.

I bought a used Sonore UltraRendu several months ago to play with the Ethernet output of an Innuos Statement, liked it enough to try the Signature Rendu SE. 

Well, the Signature Rendu SE had that I never knew it could sound like that feeling.