Why Not More Conversation about VAC?

I have owned and sold a VAC Ren (not Sig) full function pre and now have a VAC Ren 30/30 MkII amp. The pre was excellent, has fantastic looks and build quality, it's extremely versatile and has the best remote I have ever come across. It sounded fantastic (l.s. and phono). I sold it when I went to a l.o. mc and I wanted to get into an active gain stage instead of the internal step up in the VAC. My Doshi Alaap is better, but not significantly better. I could have lived with the VAC, happily ever after. I did have to send it back once for repair and to have the internal loading resistor swapped out. The repair took a while, but it was sent in just before XMAS and then of course Kevin is out at CES right after. I would say that in terms of speed of service its about what you could expect from an artisan/boutique operation. The work was done well, it was not cheap and it took a bit of time.
The amp is fantastic; I bought it used here on the 'Gon and had a couple of concerns when it arrived. I emailed Kevin late one night and got back a detailed response first thing the next morning. Over the course of the next day or 2, we exchanged 3 or 4 emails; he was never anything but helpful, gracious and generous with his time. So I would say his products are expensive and provide a level of build quality and sound quality commensurate with the price. As far as comparing the Ren series of products to the moderate priced tube gear from China- well all I can say is we are not talking apples and oranges, we are talking apples and extra-terrestrials. Also, try getting some good diagnostic advice from PrimaLuna or Consonance on a piece you bought used. And then there are the QC and dealer/customer support issues. Search Trelja's threads; it'll curl your hair!

Mapman said:

I try to keep decent spare gear around in order to be able to listen if/when something has to go out for repair.

Couldn't agree more. I bought and learned to thoroughly respect Dan Wright's entry level pre-amp whilst the VAC was away; now I have a Lightspeed passive for same.

Dev-

Put my current VAC side by side with the Doshi and it's pretty apparent the VAC is superior.

My VAC Ren pre was neither Sig nor Mk2, but I did compare it head to head w a Doshi (not mine) and in that case, driving a Doshi Lectron amp, which now I also have, the Doshi won out. But as I said, I could have easily lived w the VAC, which at that time I was using to driving a Joule OTL amp. Maybe its as simple as the synergy of the pre/amp from the same builder. Or the chocolate vs. vanilla dichotomy. We are talking v. high quality products here and very personal decisions.

Its easy to understand why things might occasionally fall through the cracks from the service side for about 6 weeks prior to and 4 after a major show like CES. This is not a criticism of VAC - its just common sense. I would think most people would realize this, but maybe not.

I agree completely. This goes part and parcel w owning an "artisanal" product like this. There is, IMO a huge difference between this and the "bumps in the road" that one usually encounters in dealing w a "garage shop" operation. VAC has certainly stood the test of time in terms of quality, reliability, and accessibility. A wise man (or maybe woman) once said "Good oats are expensive. If you can be happy w oats that have already been thru the horse once, they are a lot less expensive."