Vac Standard 220 standard, signature, or Phi

Currently I drive my Maggie 20R's with a pair of VAC 220's....very nice match, but in the quest for better than nice I'm going down the biamp/active crossover road. I just purchased a tubed Marchand crossover and have another pair of VAC 220's on the way. I'll let you know the final outcome in mid-Jan if you are interested.

The Phi series is Kevin's best to date. I have the Phi's (110's) and they are musical and revealing. They are very fast and dynamic, with lots of air. No shortages to speak of. They are realitively new and if you can find them used you should jump on them. I do not experience load issues and I understand that they drive Thiels (which can be power hungry) quite well. Bass is very room dependent (a fact), speaker dependent, and taste dependent (imho). some like it tight (too tight), some like it loose (too loose), some like it forward (perhaps too forward), etc. I don't miss anything in the bass. He had them driving the very large VS at the show last year with no problems.

I have owned the Ren series 70/70's and prefer the Phi. I do own a Signature preamp and find it quite nice. I would like to own the Phi preamp some day.

"finickey with non-VAC tubes"
frankly i think you'll be very happy with those kevin recommended the brimar cv4003's to me for one of his amps, and i think the mullards are very similar. i've tried a number of different tubes in my vac amp and it has always been very revealing about different tubes, but i wouldn't say "finickey".... just my 2c.

I appreciate the feedback, I am using the stand 220 sig. and will be taking delivery on the Vandersteen 5a shortly. I think the 220 is a capable performer but did not drive my previous Egg Andra 2's sufficienly for my personal tastes. Perhaps the 12 " woofers in the EW's were a bit too much for the VAC. I believe the VAC's will be better matched with the Vandy's due to their built in SS amp taking care of the low frequencies. I am also awaiting new input tubes(mullard cv4003) for the 220 although I have heard they were finickey with non-VAC tubes. Hopefully it will all come together, if not, VTL, CARY 211, Quicksilver V4, BAT, maybe even back to the Tenor 75. I'm calm , I'm calm.

I have been running the new Phi 30/30 with my Von Schweikert VR4IIHSE's for just over a year now, and have found it to be an outstanding performer. It is very dynamic, extremely quiet, detailed, and most of all
seductively musical. This is the 4th 30/30 I have owned, and by far the most refined tube amp I have had in my system to date...Quite a jump up from my previous VAC Ren. 30/30 with the Signature upgrade. It does a much better job at driving moderate to difficult loads than The Berning ZH270 or Atma-sphere M60's that I previously owned, with far better control in the deep bass. Even though it is not quite as snappy with transient attack as a great OTL or SET, it's other sonic characteristics more than make up for my being spoiled by the speed and clarity of OTL's or SET's I have had in the past. The Phi 30/30 has more body, dimensionality and presence than I have experienced from solid state/digital amps as well. At sane listening levels, you would swear that you are listening to an amp rated at 4 to 6 times it's given power output.
I have been extremely happy with this amp, although I have been drooling over Phi integrated version a lot lately!....

The Phi series is Kevin Hayes best effort to date. Even better than some of his higher end pieces he told me. I am selling my Phi Preamp and Phi 220's not because of musicality, sound quality, inner detail, or imaging, but because I am running Wilson MAXX speakers and have decieded I miss the conrol of solid state on the bass. You will not be disappointed with the Phi series. Check out the reviews on the Phi integrated amp.