Hi Luna,
My 1st impression of the upgraded Herron is it has more weight/body to the music & slightly more transparent as well.
I thought the improvements from VTSP-2 to 3 were not night & day. It could be that the Herron VTSP-2 is already a very good pre-amp.

ipy June 08, 2008 12:39

Chris,
I have stopped using my HP IPAQ (Telcanto software) to control the SB3 which was slow & unreliable. I was thinking of using tabletpc as well but I guess it will wait until I find time to investigate further.
Thanks for your complement! I do enjoy my system very much & it sounds musical, life size & transparent.

Garry,
I agree that the 788s is a great speaker. She is only starting to "sing" after about 6 months of mostly weekend use.
I have heard both the 688s & 888s at the dealer's & they all share the FA signature sound, good thing. I did find the 688s to have a similar sound to my previous pair of Platinum Solo but perhaps does not go as deep in the LF. The 888s on the other hand has a bigger sound than the 788s but we (including both FA dealers ie: one in Sydney, Oz & the other in NYC, US) all felt its too large for my 15.6' x 10.5' x 8.0' music room.
Thanks for the complement as well & I will post my system pic soon.

Cheers,

ipy March 25, 2007 19:38

System edited: Upgraded to Focus Audio FS788 floorstanding speakers.

ipy October 08, 2006 19:14

System edited: After a year or so, I took the "plunge" to replace my aging Ayre V-3 with the CJ Premier 350. The CJ is a pretty amazing amp, sounds effortless, musical & neutral.

ipy August 23, 2006 22:04

Hi Jon,

I have heard the VTSP-1A but not in comparison to the VTSP-2 side by side. All I could remember after listening & auditioning the VTSP-1A is that it is THE Pre-Amp I wanted to replace my passive Audio Synthesis Passion.

By the time I got round to deciding on one ie: after 6 months later, the VTSP-2 was already in production & the dealer sold his last VTSP-1A unit.

I can only remember that both VTSP-1A & VTSP-2 has a very similar sonic signature; neutrality & transparent at all frequencies. If you ask Keith (which I did) he will say the 2 is an improvement over the 1A but they sound very similar in many ways.

Before settling for the Herron I also auditioned a CAT SL1 Signature Mk 2 (used) in my system which did not "entice" me as much the Herron or my passive pre, particularly in the mids. The CAT was THE pre-amp until I heard the Herron.

Hope this helps.

ipy August 01, 2005 12:11

System edited: I took the plunge to treat my room with Auralex bass traps & absorption panels. The improvement is nothing short of a total system upgrade.

Like some other inmates will attest to, the listening room is often overlooked and neglected "component" of the system to be improved upon and I 'm disappointed that it took me this long to realise this.

The treatments gave my room a sense of quietness which I never experienced before and it is now so easy to hear into the music being played. I would say the "naturalness" factor has been increased by many times over. Some would refer the sound I 'm experiencing as being "organic" or life like.

Sure aesthetically, the room is not as appealing with the treatments, at least with my limited room design abilities, but I would trade this for the very pure music I getting out of this.

I would suggest to anyone to take the plunge like me to experiment with room treatments, if they have not done so already. Sure it has not cure all my room acoustics problems (particularly the lower bass which I will tackle next) but the clarity and naturalness of the mid and above frequencies is just too much to ignore.

ipy May 27, 2005 20:08

System edited: Upgraded the PS Audio P500 to a P1000. I 'm now able to plug my Ayre amp to the regenerated outputs instead of the filtered ones and the P1000 is registering a usage of 30%+, nice:-). The P1000 added a whole new dimension to the musical spectrum. The P500 was great but the P1000 is perhaps twice as good and it is solidly build. What's next? Bought a bunch of Auralex room treatments.......

ipy May 26, 2005 19:29

Hi Sampsa55,
The active Herron pre replacing the AS Passion has expanded the dynamic range of the music played through it. Particularly evident when the volume is increased. When the Passion volume is cranked up, the music is "blurred" whereas the Herron maintains its texture and imagery, if this makes sense.

I 'm geting used to the active slight "noise"/hiss throught the speakers though. No doubt it is not audible at the listening post. The Passion in this regards is almost noiseless unless you put your ear right at the speaker drivers which is not the norm I might add when you are listening to the music :-).

I would regard the midrange "sweetness" of the Passion is hard to beat in my setup but the Herron is pretty darn close to it.

ipy May 14, 2005 04:00

System edited: Yes, finally took the plunge to go "active" again. I had the Audio Synthesis Passion Passive Pre for at least 8 years. With the Herron VTSP-2 tubed pre, every CD played has extra life and dynamics to it. Sounds close to the AS in the midrange (sweet and transparent) but there is no match to the Herron's HF and LF dynamics. Heard the Herron while auditioning the Pass Lab X350.5 amp at the dealer. Took the Herron home for an audition and was awe on how it transform the system sonically. It's a keeper!! The Ayre V-3 is staying for the moment until the next upgrade.

ipy May 08, 2005 05:10

System edited: Currently looking for a replacement for the Ayre V-3. Looking to audition the Pass Lab X350.5 and CJ 350 Premier.

ipy April 30, 2005 20:04