Met with F. Van Alstine!

[blackraven]

Well today I met with Frank Van Alstine at his house and auditioned his Amps and DAC's.
He's an interesting man to say the least. I got to pick his brain a little.

First off, he allowed me to bring my Cambridge 840c to use with his Fet Valve 550 hybrid amp and his Salk Veracity HT3 speakers. I was impressed with the sound. It has a more analog sound compared to my amp, exactly what I'm looking for. It was very liquid and blacks were black, there was no audible hiss or hum. The amp was very dynamic with a huge sound stage. Bass had good slam but I could not tell if it was the speakers or his amp. The only thing that bothered me was that he could not tell me what the power of the amp was at 4 ohms, only that it should double the 8 ohm out put.

I also got to audition his SS DAC and Hybrid DAC and compared them to my 840c. Both DAC's blew my 840c out of the water. They had greater bottom end, were more liquid with less distortion and warmer overall sound. Interestingly the SS DAC had better bass then the Hybrid which may have sounded just a smidge smoother. The difference in cost is $800 for the SS and $1500 for the Hybrid. Frank recommended the SS to match with my Magnepans.

Frank did like the Cambridge unit however. He even tested the 840c's square wave to his DAC's on the oscilloscope with a test CD and said that the 840c was one of the best testing CDP's he's come across. There was still a remarkable difference in distortion however.

So now I'm left with the dilemma, do I just buy his DAC or do I buy his amp. He recommended going with the DAC and if I was not happy with it that I could return it in 30 days. I just might have an 840c for sale!

One other thing, he used $15 IC's and speaker wire. He thinks that high end cables and wire are a waste of money and dont make a difference. Middle of the road cables were the way to go.

[atomicAdam]

sounds like a good time - but where are pictures?

[Mr Peabody]

What a great opportunity. One thing you said I found interesting, the fact that the
840c "tested" so well but it had some distortions and furthermore his DAC blew it away. What are the prices for his gear? I agree it was a bit odd he didn't know the specs on his amp, are you sure it was him and not a sales person? It's also odd that he sees it critical to use good parts in his gear to achieve good sound but don't see the benefit of a good cable to carry the signal. $15.00 is not middle of the road, it's down right cheap.

I don't know that much about his gear. For him to be in the Midwest it's not very well represented, not much market penetration. I think more people have probably heard of Blue Circle.

[blackraven]

When listening to the 840c and AB testing it with his DAC's the 840c sounded edgy on piano and certain passages on various recordings. I should not have used the term distortion because it was far from that.
But I have to say there was a noticable difference between the 2. His showing me the square wave on his scope bore that out. He also showed me the square wave of a HK CDP and it was awful and sounded that way too.

As far as the $15 cables. Thats what he used. He stated that you shouldnt waste hundreds of $'s on cables. He went into technical reasons why which were over my head. He was not advocating using $15 cables.

His company is small and its run out of his house. His equipment is built to order here in Minnesota. It take about 30days.

[frenchmon]

What a great opportunity. One thing you said I found interesting, the fact that the
840c "tested" so well but it had some distortions and furthermore his DAC blew it away. What are the prices for his gear? I agree it was a bit odd he didn't know the specs on his amp, are you sure it was him and not a sales person? It's also odd that he sees it critical to use good parts in his gear to achieve good sound but don't see the benefit of a good cable to carry the signal. $15.00 is not middle of the road, it's down right cheap.

I don't know that much about his gear. For him to be in the Midwest it's not very well represented, not much market penetration. I think more people have probably heard of Blue Circle.

I was thumbing through stereophile mag today and noticed an ad for Herron Audio Amps. Then it listed a St.Louis address over in Maryland Heights. So I called the guy up and he says he sells his gear at MusicDirect ,Acoustic Sound, and a few other places including a local place in St.Louis by apointment only...I think it was call Kincher audio. Have you ever heared of Herron Audio? Not I, after living there all my life but the last 7 years.

[Mr Peabody]

I've heard of Herron but I had no idea they were in St. Louis. Their stuff is pretty expensive and I believe the product hasn't been available for very long, maybe within the last several years. I might have to track that lead down some day.

Clayton Audio is here and I've heard them. I don't know how many others have ever heard of them. They are phenominal Class A only amplifiers.

[frenchmon]

I've heard of Herron but I had no idea they were in St. Louis. Their stuff is pretty expensive and I believe the product hasn't been available for very long, maybe within the last several years. I might have to track that lead down some day.

Clayton Audio is here and I've heard them. I don't know how many others have ever heard of them. They are phenominal Class A only amplifiers.

Yeah...He told me his amps cost $6850. and he only makes one kind of amp... a mono block. He makes and sells about 6 different types of preamps. Wow, I never knew Clayton Audio was out of St. Louis as well. Good to know that some thing good is going on back home after Famous Barr, Bush Beer,and now Chrysler.

frenchmon