The VTSP-2 is the product of innovative engineering and many hours of critical listening. It is a single chassis, tube based, remote controllable, line stage that has a beautifully designed faceplate with an oval shaped opening in the center for the function display. The chassis is silver and made of heavy gauge sheet aluminum. There are chrome finished push-button switches and control knobs on either side of the display. To the left of the display is the balance control and five input selector switches. These switches select the video, tuner, cd, aux, and phono inputs. A blue LED above each switch lights when the input is selected. To the right is the volume control and five function switches. The functions are mute, mono, invert, tape, and display. For the sake of clarification, the tape function is the same as a tape monitor, and the display switch provides a dimming feature for the display and LEDs. There is also a LED above each function switch. The mute LED is red, mono is amber, invert and tape are yellow, and display is blue. The display readout is green.
There are three 6922 tubes per channel. The 6922 is a very popular tube for use in line-stage applications and is used by a number of high-end audio manufacturers. The tube has good linearity, low noise, and current capability which make it attractive to designers. What sets apart the sonic performance of various line stages that use the 6922 is the circuit topology, components, and layout the designer chooses. Keith Herron has spent countless hours in the development of circuit topologies and selection of components for the VTSP-2. His engineering expertise, love of music, and attention to detail is what makes the VTSP-2 such an exceptional product.
All of the power supplies in the VTSP-2 are fully regulated. Regulated power supplies provide a stable output voltage even though the AC power line voltage may fluctuate. The filament and high voltage power supplies are brought up slowly together at power on to prevent cathode stripping. This feature along with conservative biasing serves to significantly extend tube life. Even though the toroid power transformer is located within the chassis there is absolutely no audible hum. The unit is dead quiet. As a matter of fact, I can't even hear tube noise with my ear to the speaker and the volume control wide open. The VTSP rivals the best solid state line stages when it comes to low noise, low distortion, and inaudible hum.
The digitally controlled volume control is really innovative.
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Frequency Response: 1 Hz to beyond 100 kHz, 20 Hz to 20 kHz +/-0.1 dB
Output Impedance: 100 ohms nominal at 1 kHz
Input Impedance: 100,000 Ohms
Gain: 14 db
Volume Control: 100-position electronic stepped attenuator, maximum differential +/-0.1 dB channel to channel
Distortion: Absolute Polarity: Switchable
Dimensions: 18 inch wide x 3.5 inch high x 10.5 inch deep