VAC Renaissance 140 Mk III Triode monoblock Power Amplifiers

[Mister Kite]

I received an email from my cousin Mark who not too long ago had the good fortune to buy some used McIntosh gear from a guy. He recently heard back from the guy (Bob) who told Mark he is considering buying a pair of used VAC Renaissance 140 Mk III Triode monoblock Power Amplifiers.

If any Forum members have experience with these beauties and wouldn't mind sharing their thoughts pro or con, I will pass them on to Bob. I know he would greatly appreciate the input.

[MonkeyMan]

Holy smokes! Is that eight 300B power tubes per monoblock? It'd cost a fortune to retube those babies. That's one concern I'd have. I wonder how much a perfectly matched set of sixteen Western Electric 300B's would go for... :yikes:

[Mister Kite]

Well, if I am reading the literature correctly that my cousin included in his email, it looks like these go for $18,000 each, new... and you need TWO of them for stereo! :bigeek:

Needless to say, this is WELL out of my price range... :laugh:

[TONEPUB]

a pair of new WE 300B's go for 1200 these days, so you do the math....

[Dave]

:bigeek: And people question why I run solid state. http://www.sheknows.com/graphics/emoticons/holysheep.gif

[Jontario]

a pair of new WE 300B's go for 1200 these days, so you do the math....

Thankfully, often people who have compared tubes in the VAC Renaissaance amps, including Steve Hoffman and VAC owner Kevin Hayes, feel they sound the best with the Chinese 300B's.

VAC sells matched octets for $1528.00.

I've had very good results with the Chinese 300b's in my 70/70, and they seem to have a very long life. Kevin says the typical lifespan is in the range of 5000 to 10,000 hours.

[Mike in OR]

They are incredible amplifiers.......I love the 70/70 MKIII that I have. In fact I have decided that this amp is going to be an exit product for me. It is currently with Kevin as we speak getting some PHI upgrades done to it. This is my 5th VAC component that I have owned over the last 14 years. Regarding tube selection, I have ran WEs in it and did not like the result.......too soft in the frequency extremes. The current production tubes that VAC recommends and supplies are the way to go with these amplifiers ime. In fact, if I remember correctly Steve used a VAC 70/70 MKIII as his cutter amplifier with DCC!

[Jontario]

Hello Balekan and welcome to the forum:wave:

Make sure you ask Kevin what exactly he's doing to your amp. I am guessing that it's being upgraded to what he calls "Signature" status which, as far as I know, is as far as he can take the amp.

You get me curious when you call them "Phi" upgrades, could be something new thats become available. :love:

[Strabo]

Bumping this up to see if Steve is willing to comment.

According to the VAC website (http://www.vac-amps.com/dccvac2.htm)he used them in mastering some DCC's.
You'd think that would be good enough of an endorsement around here. :thumbsup:

My lowly PA100's will have to do for now, but some day, :love:

[Steve Hoffman]

What's the question?

[LeeS]

:bigeek: And people question why I run solid state. http://www.sheknows.com/graphics/emoticons/holysheep.gif

Love the sheep gif. :righton:

[Mike in OR]

Hi Jontario....thanks for the warm welcome :righton:

You are correct that there is in fact a "signature" upgrade for the amplifier. What I am having done is not that.......well at least at this point. Kevin has had the idea of re-introducing a 300B based product back into the lineup under consideration (I hope they do!). They have been using my amp with its new modifications they have just implemented as a tester to help in determining if this is a viable option for them in the future, adding a new 300B based amplifier back in the VAC lineup. Product voicing is still currently in progress. Can't wait to get it back! :winkgrin:

[Mike in OR]

Hi Strabo,

The PA100/100 is such a great amplifier......I had that amp in my system for more than 5 years. I had it originally as it came (PA80/80) and got the upgrade. Really loved that amp and I still think its great. :)

[Jontario]

Baleken, please keep us updated on your amp.

I hope VAC does introduce some new 300b powered goodies. The entire product line is pretty stripped down right now. The Phi series currently has only one power amp, one integrated, and no preamp. The top of the line pre remains the point to point wired Renaissance Signature MKll.

[Mike in OR]

Oh sure, I am looking forward to getting it back. I will let you know how it sounds. :righton: