Quote:
Originally Posted by octalsocket
Another 4 1/2 months on, what's your opinion about the Phison with the GRs, or any other SS amp, compared to your VAC amps?
I've had my GRs for just over a year now (made my final 12-month mortgage payment last month!), and started them off with a pair of 140 watt CJ Premier 12s, then a 30 watt Class A SS Accuphase integrated, then an older 220 watt B&K, and for the last seven months, a pair of 15 watt Quad II Classics.
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I haven't tried other SS amps with these speakers, unfortunately. The Phison actually sounds more tube-like than the Rogue Apollo Dark tube monoblocks. I had the VAC amps out for loan for some months; just now got them back for more comparisons with a fresh perspective after using the Phison almost exclusively in that time. Yeah, now I remember the VACs are really nice lol. I'm not ready to sell them, for sure. That said, I have hooked them up a few times this year and was able to quite enjoy the sessions for a while before the "put the Phison back in" voice became overwhelming
The VAC 200iQ mono amps are absolute king of the midrange. They simply sound the most lifelike and palpable with vocals and instruments that live in the midrange. The Phison midrange is excellent, but can't match the VACs here. The Rogue falls behind both the VACs and Phison - a little bit dry in comparison.
The VAC monos have amazing macrodynamics. The Rogue, with their ridiculous power reserves, actually CAN keep up here. The Phison single stereo amp falls a little bit behind here.
The Phison absolutely crushes everything else in microdynamics, speed, and detail. It keeps up with hard rock and heavy metal - anything fast and complex - better than anything I've ever heard. The separation and clarity of details is astounding. Some recordings you might have thought sucked are actually amazing on this amp! The Rogue can keep up pretty well, but the Phison bests it. The VAC starts to blur details in a relatively non-offensive manner, but noticeable nonetheless.
The VAC has a "beautiful" voicing. The Phison has a "pleasing" voicing. The Rogue has a neutral / dry voicing (hot-biasing and NOS small tubes helps but doesn't fully mitigate this). Both the VACs and Phison project an equally 3D, deep sonic image. The Rogue is more 2D. The Rogue cannot beat both the VACs and the Phison and any one thing, though it roughly ties the VACs for 1st place in macrodynamics. And it's pretty much 3rd place in everything else lol.
The Phison pairs best with a Koetsu Platinum cartridge (lush but very fast when called for), and also matches superbly with a top Benz (similar to Koetsu but a bit less plump sounding). With a clean modern digital source, the VACs are probably generally a better match. I only got to hear the digital hookup in a friend's system. I only play vinyl in mine.
I now have 2 Phison amps. Bridging to mono was not as enjoyable as a single stereo amp. Biwiring in vertical or horizontal configurations also (surprisingly) ended up not being as good as one amp. I have a sneaking suspicion one of these amps may have something weird going on e.g. output wiring out of phase etc - that would prevent the 2 amps from working well together. All of my above comparisons are with the known "good" stereo Phison amp, alone. IF I could get better results from 2, it would be quite something to behold. I'm happy enough with one good Phison (which I will never sell). The problem now is I'll have the urge to swap in the VACs for some material, and Phison for others...