My review of the VTA ST-120 Amplifier.
I had been looking for a nice tube amp kit, and I kept coming back to the VTA line
of Amplifiers so after a short e-mail exchange and a phone call I was the new owner
of a ST-120. The kit arrived quickly and was well packed. After a read through of
the instructions and an inventory it was down to building.
The build was straightforward and the included pictorials and photo
of the completed kit helped to clarify questions along the way.
When I was finished I hooked it up in my den/shop and was pleasantly surprised.
I was expecting it to sound good, but not this good! I let it run for a few hours
then relocated it to my living room and connected it to my main speakers and
I was greeted by a surprisingly full sound.
The audio was crisp and clear with a nice balance of highs and lows. I rolled through
various music selections from rock to classical. All of it sounding crisp and clean.
Then came "The Test", Since sometimes we can convince ourselves something is better
than it is I had my wife come out and listen. She asked me to put on some Pavarotti.
She said it was so clear and that she could really hear his voice distinct from the music.
I would call that a pretty successful test.
Tube Used: Four KT-120 Tubes, Three 12BH7 Tubes, One 5AR4 Rectifier Tube.
I had been looking for a nice tube amp kit, and I kept coming back to the VTA line
of Amplifiers so after a short e-mail exchange and a phone call I was the new owner
of a ST-120. The kit arrived quickly and was well packed. After a read through of
the instructions and an inventory it was down to building.
The build was straightforward and the included pictorials and photo
of the completed kit helped to clarify questions along the way.
When I was finished I hooked it up in my den/shop and was pleasantly surprised.
I was expecting it to sound good, but not this good! I let it run for a few hours
then relocated it to my living room and connected it to my main speakers and
I was greeted by a surprisingly full sound.
The audio was crisp and clear with a nice balance of highs and lows. I rolled through
various music selections from rock to classical. All of it sounding crisp and clean.
Then came "The Test", Since sometimes we can convince ourselves something is better
than it is I had my wife come out and listen. She asked me to put on some Pavarotti.
She said it was so clear and that she could really hear his voice distinct from the music.
I would call that a pretty successful test.
Tube Used: Four KT-120 Tubes, Three 12BH7 Tubes, One 5AR4 Rectifier Tube.
