Help identifying amp and preamp

Hi all,

I have recently been given some kit, but I have no idea what it is really (apart from a valve amp).

Looking for any info and a rough price guide if possible.

Mobile phone pictures I'm afraid...

 

There you go, shame you weren't given a slightly newer pairing!
http://www.vtl.com/pages/welcome.htm

 

Thank you. I did have a look around that site, but I think my kit is a bit old!

 

I think you might be right, stick them on Ebay you will soon see how much they are worth, regards Keith.
Bognor rather than Barbados I would have thought.

 

You don't know!!

 

they are old, but VTL make some reasonable stuff. i've heard some of their more recent offerings and though i prefer my VAC kit, it still isn't bad. should think with a clean up and service, it could sound rather pleasant.

 

...could double up as a radiator

 

Not sure it would stay on the wall, weighs more than a radiator!

 

You don't know!!

There is only one way to find out!

 

I'd give it a whorl!

 

I like it - old school.
When you consider a lot of the best valve amp designs are from ideas from the 40's and 50's, its probably no slouch. The only thing I heard about were the odd components needing replacing just through age. Paul at Classique Sounds knows his onions and is a very nice bloke (Leicester). He might be willing to have a gander at it. Then of course there's always Chris at Big Ears (Cornwall) who raves about this kind of stuff, although his couriers are total monkeys, so it might be worth using one of your choosing, or pack to withstand a nuclear blast. Or even my friend Pete at Dooleys in Macclesfield, who will check anything over and re-solder where required for a modest outlay.

 

It sounds fantastic, but I don't have pro ears, so not sure if it is as good as it could be.

I'm near London, so there should be people here who can have a look and see whats what I suppose.

Cheers for the advice, might just give her a clean

 

well, it does have glowing glass bottles...

 

Anyone know the best thing to clean the metal up with?

You can see from the pictures the sides and top are looking a bit tired. There are also some rust spots on the volume knob.

It's a funny thing. Ugly as hell, but somehow it looks good.

 

In case you didn't know..
VTL was David Manleys onld company before he setup Manley. His ex-wife now runs the company (Manley). Back in the day VTL were considered to be quite good, better than Croft and as good as Audio Research. I had a AR D270 and the VTL equivalent back then was nearly as good BUT kept blowing up....but then so did my D270, and just about all the tube stuff I bought, hence going over to solid state.
Cleaning metalwork.. Just use WD40 to get the grime off then see what it needs.

The VTL units you have may need new rectifier tubes (if they use G series rectifiers). These can be changed for a standard bridge rectifier, the type you use in a solid state amp. I did it years ago with an old Trio I had..it was a lot quieter afterwards.

 

hi

As Robm has said, the VTL were considered to be good back in the day. VTL were based in the UK from the early 80s to around 1986 before they relocated to the USA.

I think the combo you have was around £1000 -£1500. (I could be wrong). Not sure how much they are worth. A good few hundreds at least. A service from a someone who knows what they are doing would help to get them sounding good.

I would get in contact with VTL. They may be able to give you some pointers.

SCIDB

 

Yes, either a VTL engineer or any good audio service engineer. the only bits that would need a change are any caps, tubes and the rectifiers. A well designed amp will last years...like a NAD3020.
If it all works now and sounds good, then it'll probably sound very good after a once-over.