Item: Virtue Audio M5001 Monoblocks with Gary Dodd Tube Buffer
Location: Prahran or Brighton, Victoria
Price: $900
Item Condition: Excellent condition
Reason for selling: Change of direction, gone integrated
Payment Method: Cash, bank transfer
Extra Info:
These are beautiful looking, muscular amps in a compact form factor that will satiate any power hungry speakers you may have. I've used them with Dynaudios and Maggies and they've performed remarkably. I've just popped in some new valves and have put no more than 40 hours on them. Amps come with original boxes, local pickup preferred.
Here's a review extract that does a better job of describing them than I ever could:
The first impression was that of absolute control over both frequency extremes. Bass was tight and controlled. Midrange is neutral with just the slightest hint of fullness. High frequencies are extended with absolutely no loss of detail.
Resolution, in particular micro-detail is excellent with individual instruments in a mix being discernible even under the heaviest of mixes. One would be even tempted to flog the oft-used and abused audiophile claim of hearing detail in familliar recordings that went previously unnoticed.
The tube buffer would appear to mitigate much of the criticism I had against ICEpower. Images are fleshed out with proper depth while treble air and the sense of acoustic space are delicately conveyed. I did not see any downside from the installed tube buffer since all the things I liked about the stock module remained – no slowness in transients, or loosening of bass grip.
All that being said, this is by no means a tube-like amp. If you want tube liquidity, get a tube amp – this is not going to float your boat. The tube buffer does not honey coat the sound, it imparts a subtle warmth and organic flow to the dry sound of the stock module. Tonal balance wise, it still remains on the right side of neutral.
Choice of tube used in the buffer as well as pre-amp used could go a long way to tuning the sound the way you want. As far as I am aware, the M5001 can be used with most of the 12A*7 family tubes, enabling fairly cheap and flexible tube rolling, since you can avoid the insane pricing in the 12AX7 family and go for cheaper equivalents in less popular families like the 12AT7 for example.
Hyper-detailed and analytical with the subtle touch of liquidity and warmth – coupled with loads of power to control almost any speaker out there on the market. Take into account its relatively modest price, and I think Virtue Audio has an absolute winner on its hands.
Some specs:
- B&W ICEpower ASP500 Class D modules, as used by Jeff Rowlands, Bel Canto, Wyred4Sound, etc.
- Gary Dodd Tube Buffers
- 250w into 8 Ohms, 500w into 4 Ohms
- XLR and RCA inputs
- Pre-out for use with a sub (brilliant!)
- 270mm wide x 105mm high x 240mm deep (nice and compact)
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