I don't think it is so much Keith that has retired as the VTPH2A. Even that is not so much retired as discontinued. The reason he gave is due to inflation the price he would have to charge now would be "astronomical" and so he will build no more. Of the phono stage. Still building his other stuff, so far as I know.
Three cheers for Keith Herron
A good friend of mine in Saint Louis is building a system centered around a new pair of Vandersteen Treo CT speakers. He has a nice Sota turntable, with a Lyra Delos on a Syrinx PU-3 going to a recently purchased Herron VTPH-2A phono pre. Currently he is using an old BAT 300SE integrated amp.
Keith Herron was nice enough to bring over his new VTSP-360 Reference tube preamp and a pair of his M2 Monaural Power amplifiers and sit with us for several hours listening to music.
We listened to digital and all analog sources. I noticed an improvement in the detail and clarity with the addition of the Herron electronics. This led to more lifelike presentation. Very well controlled sound even at high volumes. No sense of smearing during complex passages. There was neither a overly tubey nor a sterile solid state presentation.
Keith talked about his top design priority of preserving the musical timing. Indeed there may have been some special synergy here with the time and phase accurate Vandersteens. Surely there is also the advantage of the chain from phono pre through amplification being all an Herron pathway.
It was a pleasure to spend time with Keith and listen to some fantastic stories of his time in the crazy hifi world. He is such a nice down to earth guy who is truly in it for the music but uses his deep engineering expertise to get there. Fantastic stuff.
-Karl
Keith Herron was nice enough to bring over his new VTSP-360 Reference tube preamp and a pair of his M2 Monaural Power amplifiers and sit with us for several hours listening to music.
We listened to digital and all analog sources. I noticed an improvement in the detail and clarity with the addition of the Herron electronics. This led to more lifelike presentation. Very well controlled sound even at high volumes. No sense of smearing during complex passages. There was neither a overly tubey nor a sterile solid state presentation.
Keith talked about his top design priority of preserving the musical timing. Indeed there may have been some special synergy here with the time and phase accurate Vandersteens. Surely there is also the advantage of the chain from phono pre through amplification being all an Herron pathway.
It was a pleasure to spend time with Keith and listen to some fantastic stories of his time in the crazy hifi world. He is such a nice down to earth guy who is truly in it for the music but uses his deep engineering expertise to get there. Fantastic stuff.
-Karl