VTL information

luxmancl38
I didn’t know anything about Bryston amps. I read some reviews and they say nothing but great things about them. Hmmm. Maybe some day. Thanks for the heads up. 
Mike

@livingwellinco , I have not had this particular model, but have owned a number of the VTL amps. 

The main power supply filter caps over the years get cooked by the heat from the tubes and transformers. Even if the caps test good, would still suggest replacing them with 105C rated parts of the same capacitance. Also you may want to ask your tech to re-solder or re-flow all the octal tube sockets solder points to the board. Over years of heating/cooling cycles, its not uncommon to see some cracked solder joints. 

Compare VTL to Bryston. They will help you and fix any model they made.

Actually it could be argued that Luke's wife runs VTL.

Have never heard a good word about VTL's service nor their turnaround time.

Look through the past forums regarding VTL. They have proven to be VERY unhelpful on 2nd hand VTL gear. It's why many audiophiles will not buy used VTL gear. It's unfortunate since it is considered some very nice gear

Be sure to follow up, those were alway good sounding amps.   Hope it works out well

Good thing you have a good tech because VTL’s customer service seems to be among the worst in the business. 

Thank all of you for the information. My tech is soon to have room on his bench for them and we will see. He is very good and not to concerned about the servicing them. When I get new equipment I like to get the sales brochure and owners manual and a few reviews for it for later reference. 

Mike

I had a similar situation last year when I needed repair for one of my Compact 80 monoblocks.  They are at least 30 years old.  I was able to find biasing info online at VTL but that was about it.  I did correspond with Bea at VTL; it wasn't particularly helpful but I thought she made a reasonable effort.  I finally found a shop in Nashville that works on tube gear and took both my amps there.  The tech was able to test and find two bad filter capacitors and repair the amp without schematics.  Good luck!

The fact that these manufactures cant offer you a simple schematic is beyond me.

I believe thats a straight forward design so a good tech familiar with tubes.

I had the Vtl deluxe 300's tech repaired them in a heartbeat/

Good luck!

It turns out that I did talk to Bea previously. She was much more helpful/pleasant this time. I still didn't get any info. She indicated that they didn't have an owners manual they furnished to purchasers back then. Seems odd...Maybe I don't need one. I must say that this forum has been very helpful even though I didn't find what I was looking for. Thanks everyone for your input. If anyone comes up with another idea please let me know.

Thanks I will try that. Thanks for the warning. 

Speak to Bea at your own peril. You have been warned…

Hard to believe that a reputable company wouldn't catalog and archive all information about past models, but it happens. From personal experience in the industry I know that Cartier watches for example would frequently tell me that they no longer had information about models that were 25 years old. That's hard to understand. It's not hard to keep a database.

Sorry it didn't pan out...

I would pursue info from Manley if you have not already exhausted such (I've only read good things about Eva).

Wondering if you spoke to Bea @ VTL.

DeKay

Dekay,

Upon digging into that link that amp is different than mine. I have 8 807 power tubes. The Manley has 10 EL34's. Maybe the difference is in the different years or the two different companies. My understanding is that David Manley engineered that amp for VTL and they split from them. 

DeKay,

Thank you for that. That is what I was hoping for.

Mike

Here’s a link to the Studio & Reference 240 models:

DeKay

I read this form almost every day and have learned a lot of the years. This is my first time using it. I am switching over to tubes and discovering how much I don’t know. That is part of the appeal for me to audio. 

I do have a good tech. I like to have as much info as I can when I get new equipment. There isn’t much out there on these amps that I can find. I usually like to find the owners manual, and any reviews for reference when possible.  I was really surprised when I contacted VTL. Maybe the receptionist was having a bad day. She was rude and no help. She informed me they don’t have any information on their equipment that age and offered no help at all. Customer service was lacking. It seems like this is a good source for information and lots of advice. 

You might try the following online resource:

audio.manualsonline.com

David has passed Luke is the son that runs VTL , I have 250 mono blocks had them serviced  many times with and without manual  thru the years, roxy54 is correct. Find a tech that good ,no fly by nite , I have mine over 20 years ,enjoy them.

A competent tech can probably service them without the manual if it comes to that.