vac or art audio


can sombody help me decide im looking at art audio diavolo or the vac 30 30 my speakers are silver line sonatinas and ra cd 55 i have not heard either one ,just going by reveiws i did audtion the vtl tiny triodes and thoght they were just great. could the art or the vac be that much better at three times the price? please help
kelleyann
Be careful with the Art Audio Diavolo vs. Jota. Similar sound, maybe, but not the same. The Diavolo is more harmonically full and musically appealing. I love it! But the Jota has that extra power increment, if you have to have it.
After 6 years of the vac 30-30 and many changes of tubes and 2-3 weeks of trying to audition the art audio amps I can tell you that I never got more than a few hours of listening before I would call the dealer to do a recall on the diavalo,enough was enough,now the bad news on the vac is that you MUST replace the 6sn7 tubes with n.o.s brimar,sylvania,mullard or the 5692 r.c.a.red base.THEN you call welborne labs and tell Ron that you need a matched quad of the kr 300b.At this point you can sit back and laugh at all tube amp owners, there is nothing better
I'll chime in here and support VAC. I've got a Renaisance 70/70 MKII and it's the last amp I will own. I've had it several years and every time I go to any Audio Salon to listen to newer and better stuff I always prefer the sound I am getting at home regardless of their system cost or innovation. Good tubes are better. I can play with tubes to change it's sound if I prefer and it's built like an army tank, maybe better!