New Amp

[frenchmon]

Just want to mention I picked up a spanking brand new amp. Its the Vincent Sp-331 MK hybrid and this thing out of the box is outstanding! Not syrupy warm like some tubes and not hard like some SS. Just enough tube goodness to add texture to the instruments....flesh on the bones. My room is like 18X 18 or something like that so I play at moderate levels so I dont think I will ever come out of Class A....the low level listening is so clean and you can hear all the detail of the little nuances...I love this amp already.... More after this thing gets run in....im just letting a CD loop for now....oh I did play one Album....Chet Baker and Bill Evans "Alone Together" Wax Time reproduction 180G....and It had so much emotion and romance...Thiis is the perfect amp to let all the detail and warmth of the 2M Black shine though... I am over joyed and its not even run in. More later.

[JohnMichael]

Sounds like a great sound experience with your new amp. I would love to hear it sometime. Keep us posted on any improvements you hear.

[blackraven]

Glad to hear you like the new amp. I wish I could hear it. Vincent seems to make some nice gear.

[Feanor]

I'll be interested in you further impressions. The Vincent hybrid has had some very good reviews.

[frenchmon]

This thing has changed back and forth. I was beginning to be worried for a while because out the box it was really nice, then the highs became like lost. So I took off the Pangea power cord and the small subtle nuances returned some, but the over all sound became dark and I'm not about a dark amp. There was a lot of texture to the instruments especially piano and strings, a very pronounce bass and the mids became very noticable....a little to noticeable. I mean this thing was really changing for the worse. Then I had a hunch. In the Vincent preamp...about 4 months ago I took out the Gold Line tubes and put in some Mullards. The Mullards where great, and they helped to mask some of the brightness of the Rotel amp I had been using. The Mullards are much warmer than the Gold Line tubes, have a better stage than the GL, a very very nice mid section than GL, and a much deeper bass than the GL.....the Mullards, in my opinion are a much better tube and will give you all the tube goodness you need......but it has to be the right system. The Mullards where great with the Vincent Preamp with the bright Rotel amp. But the Mullards are not so great with the Vincent preamp and the Vincent hyrid amp which uses tubes that are already on the warm side. The Mullards where the problem. So I replaced them with the Gold Lion tubes and wala! All my magic is backl. The GL dont have the stage as the Mullards, nor do they play as loud as the Mullards, and about the only thing they do better than the Mullards is not be as sweet sounding and I dont need that with this amp. Its already sweet enough It very neutral ....not syrupy nor bright but just right as far as tone goes. I wish the GL did some of those other things as well as the Mullards and yet remain open as it is now, but ...this will give me a chance to do some tube rolling and I can now get those tubes LeRoy has been telling me to get. The RadiotechniqueTubes.

[blackraven]

Frenchmon, you have to give the stock tubes about 30hrs of play time to break in. But I'm glad that you like the replacement tubes.

[frenchmon]

Hi Raven....I never bothered the tubes in the New Vincent Amp, but It was the Mullards in the Vincent preamp I was talking about. Sense then, the system is sounding really nice. The Vincent SP-331 MK is all that and a bag of chips. I have about 20 hours on her and it sounds really nice now....it sounds better now than when I first switched out the tubes in the preamp. All the reviews I've read where spot on except the Absolute sound that said it was a little on the dark side. I think its very neutral and the tones are spot on. You can feel the emotion of the artist. What I have noticed is that the mids have opened up just right. And according to the reviews I've read, its still running in....it takes about 40 to 50 hours to fully run in. I cant wait to get a new power cord and the New Analysis Plus Solo Crystal interconnect.

[blackraven]

Keep us posted. I am eventually going to replace my Parasound A21. I would like to go with a high powered hybrid tube amp like the Vincent or a Van Alstine 400R or 600R. A used Pass amp or Nuforce Model 9se monoblocks may fit the bill. The $5000pr Nuforce amps canbe had for $2K used.

[LeRoy]

This thing has changed back and forth. I was beginning to be worried for a while because out the box it was really nice, then the highs became like lost. So I took off the Pangea power cord and the small subtle nuances returned some, but the over all sound became dark and I'm not about a dark amp. There was a lot of texture to the instruments especially piano and strings, a very pronounce bass and the mids became very noticable....a little to noticeable. I mean this thing was really changing for the worse. Then I had a hunch. In the Vincent preamp...about 4 months ago I took out the Gold Line tubes and put in some Mullards. The Mullards where great, and they helped to mask some of the brightness of the Rotel amp I had been using. The Mullards are much warmer than the Gold Line tubes, have a better stage than the GL, a very very nice mid section than GL, and a much deeper bass than the GL.....the Mullards, in my opinion are a much better tube and will give you all the tube goodness you need......but it has to be the right system. The Mullards where great with the Vincent Preamp with the bright Rotel amp. But the Mullards are not so great with the Vincent preamp and the Vincent hyrid amp which uses tubes that are already on the warm side. The Mullards where the problem. So I replaced them with the Gold Lion tubes and wala! All my magic is backl. The GL dont have the stage as the Mullards, nor do they play as loud as the Mullards, and about the only thing they do better than the Mullards is not be as sweet sounding and I dont need that with this amp. Its already sweet enough It very neutral ....not syrupy nor bright but just right as far as tone goes. I wish the GL did some of those other things as well as the Mullards and yet remain open as it is now, but ...this will give me a chance to do some tube rolling and I can now get those tubes LeRoy has been telling me to get. The RadiotechniqueTubes.

Ya man, tubes add another dimension to the presentation and those La Radiotechnique Tubes still remain the benchmark sound for my tastes. Are you needing AX7, AU7, or AT7 tubes?

Congrats on the newest Vincent addition!

[frenchmon]

Ya man, tubes add another dimension to the presentation and those La Radiotechnique Tubes still remain the benchmark sound for my tastes. Are you needing AX7, AU7, or AT7 tubes?

Congrats on the newest Vincent addition!

Hey buddy! Well I can use the Ax7's and Au7's because I have slots for both. But I think I may get the U7 and try them out just to see what they are like.

[harley .guy07]

I know the head guy at Audio Adviser raves about the Vincent SP-331 and Especially the MK model which from what he says a huge upgrade from the normal model. I have never heard Vincent gear but I did study it as an option when I was looking at amps for my system. I ended up getting a great deal on a used Pass Labs x150.5 so I went for it and love the thing to death. I knew I would because I love everything Nelson Pass has touched since I was younger and also Mr P. and I share like tastes in the way out system sounds and I have never been happier. But I would not mind listening to a hybrid someday just to see what some people love about them.