The best tube poweramp. . What do you think about ?


I’ve now a VAC phi 300.1. I’m very satisfied with this poweramp. What do you think , and do you have another option ?
my set consists of: Audio Note Cd Two II , Metronome technologie C6 , Daniël Hertz M6L: and the Ilumnia Magister MKII speakers. ( look at : ilumnia.be ). Thanks a lot for the reactions!
lukaske
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even the tube sockets are gold over solid copper ,most are cheap brass.
Gold plated tube sockets are unreliable- gold is very soft as metals go; when tubes are inserted and then removed gold is scraped from the contacts of the socket. In time, the underlying metal is exposed; in this case copper. It will then blast the remaining gold off of the contact surface as it corrodes (which is does rather quickly). The result is a bad socket.

If you want reliable sockets go for a tin-plated socket. Tin, like gold, does not corrode quickly but its much harder and so the socket can last decades longer. There's no downside for sound quality either since tubes usually have tin-plated pins.
Old amps like Futtermsn judt asking for trouble their problems were many 
yes they sounded good but tons of unit failures. Look for a modern amp  like Ayon for example transformers are the heart of the unit , Ayon use world class Lundahl for transformers and chokes,
And  micro processor controlled to monitor each tube for optimum operating range ,then auto bias just adds more resistors in the circuit and averages all tubes in sum too much wasted energy , and no cheap sheep metal that vibrates 
thick aluminum chassis even the tube sockets are gold over solid copper ,most are cheap brass.
the spirit3 highly recommended.

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@lukaske You have a real winner there. The VAC phi 300 would be one of my top picks. Even the VAC phi 200 is very good.....Jim
I have NY Audiolab Futterman OTLs. Rarer than hen’s teeth. Easier to find than the ones built by Julius, which are rarer than rocking horse s^#*.

Jon Specter, cousin of Al Kooper and former NY Audiolab technician, converted them from pentode to triode for me, upgraded all the caps to Jensen foil oil audiograde with help from George Kaye of Moscode, also a NY Audiolabs alumni.

I drive a pair of very efficient Altec Lansing 604Cs, (I rebuild them every 10 years, I have a choice of 8 or 16 ohms, I keep them at 16 ohms at Jon Specter’s recommendation), 101 db efficiency.

I couldn’t be happier.

I can find you a pair of NY Audiolab Futtermans. PM me.

theaudioatticvinylsundays.com
The Ayon Triton pure Class A tube amp looks great, is built like a tank and sounds phenomenal!
VAC is good but I'm a long time c-j fan.  That said, if your speakers are at all efficient, Conrad-Johnson has just introduced a new super premium Class A amplifier the ART27A.  36WPC at 4 ohms.  Just traded my relatively new ART150s in on it.  Ten minutes of better dynamics, detail and timber convinced me to make the change.  Plenty of power for my Wilson Yvettes in a big room.
Thank you very much, for those nice reactions. I live in Belgium (Europe) but it’s always nice to hear response from other audio-fans.  And I look forwards to hear some amps.,you described. knotscott :I’ve heard the Magico S5 MK2 but I have to say (my opinion) ,the Ilumnia Magister is more open , detailed en more 3D. 
Lamm are the best after tried CJ, AR, VAC, CAT, VTL, Jadis, Cary, Manley, McIntosh
Lafayette KT-550, modified Counterpoint hybrids, Counterpoint OTL, and the class ! mono blocks that I build.

@dynamiclinearity7 - the Melos do you live in New Jersey?  We have repaired a few of them.
Love my Linear Tube Audio ultralinear power amp with volume control (switch allows you to bypass it or not) with DeVore nines speakers. For the preamp I have an eastern electric minimax that pairs exceptionally well with the LTA adding some nice drive and body while maintaining the clarity. All of you have such great systems! Happy listening...
My Chalice Audio 'Grail' SET monoblocks are the best amps I have heard. An Audionote Japan dealer said of the original prototypes that they were the 'best amps he had ever heard."..I would not trade them for any other tube amp combo.
I recently bought a JJ 243 tube preamp and love it. The phono stage is amazing.
+1 Atma-Sphere
M-60 or MA-1
Super reliable with excellent detail and tone.
Believe it has more detail than VAC.
Yes, articdeath, but Carver 275 + a pair of Carver 350’s in biamp’ed setup is even better.  I’ve never heard the Silver Sevens.
I've had Cary and VAC for 20 years.  Never saw  any reason to change.  Sound, soundstage, and every other factor has me getting lost in the music every night, without exception.  If I had to upgrade my VAC at this point I'd probably look for a used 300i!  If you need to upgrade, stick with VAC.  They are brilliant, and the best customer service I've ever encountered.
+1. There are plenty of suggestions, and some are better than others. I would not make any change without a home demo showing a clear improvement

ebm
VAC stick with a winner.
The best I've heard is the CAT JL-5 amp, CAT SL-1 pre, Magico S5 MkII speakers.  Simply head and shoulders above anything else I've heard or owned.  

..
Atma Sphere M-60 will be a perfect match for your Magister MKII speakers and Audio Note CD. When properly matched with compatible speakers, OTL amplifiers are BY FAR the best tube amplifiers. 
Also a Had fan...my fave of all time Inspire Firebottle HO (it's a HO...says it right on the front) SEP with Heresy IIIs (better than the IVs for my tastes) sounds astonishingly good although nearly unobtanium if you desire one...so...uh...forget it...
I have to admit bias(pun intended) since the Melos amps were designed by good friends. But monoblocks putting out a rated 400 watts(they actually put out more) in triode using only 4 output tubes is very imposing. I might add that they had a very high damping factor for tube amps thus greatly reducing the frequency response variation of tube amps into reactive loads. 
AtmaSphere OTL?  The M60 for modest power requirements, the MA-1 on up for power-hungry speakers.  Stunning performance and rock-solid reliability.

VAC may be a contender as well--it's been too long since I've heard one, but the old ones were outstanding and I'm guessing they've only gotten better.
My favorite is a classic sixty watter,  the sonic frontiers power 1 amplifier.
That is a wild speaker and your current amp is insanely good.  To step up from VAC with power you could always look at something like a VTL Siegfried or something of that sort but I am not sure it will be better.

An interesting option, and I mention it because it is very different, is the KR Kronzilla DXL mono.  Similar power output and a warmer sound that is between a KT88 and a 300B.  They are really lovely amps.  The tube replacement cost is painful but the tubes are good for 30K hours so unless you leave them on all the time, it will be a long while before they need replacement.  

I have no relationship with VTL.  I am a KR dealer.  
Yep Roxy54: they are amazing. It’s a cone floats on a magnetic field. First in the world : made by Jef and Tom Nuyts (Belgium) ::Omni-radiial. : Cone to 9,5 kHz, above, the scan-speaker.
Carver crimson 350s’, or if you have money to burn, the Carver Silver seven behemoths!

Any Vincent hybrid power amp. Great stuff, affordable, and reliable.


Those speakers look amazing. I'd love to hear them. It seems that you have plenty of power to drive them.
And in honorable mention are my pair of Heath W5 monos, each with a new-production pair of Gold Lion KT66's.
For wider speaker choices I have a pair of the Paoli-modified Dynaco MkIII's. These were the top-rated tube amps by Harry Pearson of TAS back in the days of yore!
The built-by-Julius Futterman H3aa mono OTL tube amps using six 6LF6 in PP are certainly contenders. I have #56 and #57. They are best used with 8ohm and above speakers.