Vincent SA-31 Pre-Amp and phono

[kermit z]

I have gotta stay away from Gold Sound in Denver:yes: So here is the story, I stopped in to have a look at some pre-amps. My Kenwood Basic C2 flaked out. The balance control is acting up and after a cleaning it still wants drop a channel. Well worth a repair but have not taken it in. The Kenwood Basic C1 out of my back up system has been used with good results, but I have to adjust the sides on my Yamaha M-70 power amp as the left plays louder than the right on phono. So I go in to have a look:scratch2: I am presented with 5 pre-amps. A Quad which is highly rated, but I didn't care for the face. A Rogue Audio which is a Hybrid (bare with me please) and a couple of Parasounds. Now I love the look of the silver (sorry I don't remember the model). But I keep coming back to the Vincent SA-31. It's sound was warmer than the Parasound models.The salesman says that the Vincent is as close to tubes as you can get with SS (bare with me please). But, I need Phono and want MM/MC. They have a nicely priced Vincent Phono Pre. hmmm....well, I have been looking at vintage, but with the Basic C2 down and the Basic C1 also needing some work.....what does a man do when the Girlfriend has stayed in the truck and the music is flowing?

Yup

Now, I have previewed Vincent before at the RMAF. I have read about it in Stereophile. And I could have sworn that Vincent did Tubes (bare with me please). So I get home and go straight to the listening room and hook it all up. I fire up the Vincent. I grab the Owners Manual.......hummmm what does it say on the front?.....Hybrid-Stereovorverstarker......The Girlfriend comes in and has a listen......She says "Sounds nice"...... (I have to buy her a ring) I say yeah It does sound VERY nice. Surprisingly warm for solid state (bare with me please) She says shes going to take a nap. So I sit back and listen........hum. Then I get up and go online and look up Vincent SA-31. WAIT A MINUTE

I move the Vincent phono pre that was sitting in the upper left hand corner, and what do I see?

Anyway, I am very impressed with the Vincents....

 

[BmWr75]

Man.........those transistors are getting hot!!

I have a Vincent SP-331 hybrid power amp. Very happy with it.

 

[240sx4u]

Nice preamp! I have been interested to hear one. I suspect it was quite the upgrade.

 

[kermit z]

Kinda looks like someone left their cigarette in there eh? It is a great upgrade for sure. I am very impressed by the details too. All aluminum, I mean I have not found any plastic anywhere. I have no plans to open it either but it is a well thought out piece.

 

[240sx4u]

I saw a pair of vincent speakers years back and was shocked to hear they were of chinese origin. They can and will build good gear when called upon!

 

[Art K.]

Vincent appears to be designing some nice gear. One of my favorite dealers carries them. I'll have to roll in for another demo soon.

 

[kermit z]

I was very surprised to see "Made in China" on the box, as the salesman was writing down the serial number for the warranty. But, it seems very well made, so your right, they can if they want too Art, you should have a listen

 

[guiller]

Vincent is getting high marks in European magazines reviews. If I remember correctly, it is a German company that builds its gear in China in a similar fashion as Cambridge Audio does. They have a line of hybrid and tube gear.

 

[kermit z]

Thats correct I have to say, I have not wanted to turn the system off!! I am very pleased with the Vincent. Better soundstage, more acurate tones. Cat Stevens Tea for the Tillerman sounds most exellent. Phoebe Snow also sounds like she is in the room. Man, I love this thing

 

[JBN]

Vincent is getting high marks in European magazines reviews. If I remember correctly, it is a German company that builds its gear in China in a similar fashion as Cambridge Audio does. They have a line of hybrid and tube gear.

They are designed in Germany and built in China as is a lot of other Audio company's. Like B&W for example.

 

[JohnVF]

I need to check out more of their gear. I heard an integrated that I liked very well. I think the Sheng-Ya gear is made in the same place? It looks very similar and a friend has a Sheng-Ya integrated that he's in love with.

I need another modern preamp- I may check this one out. There's a ton of excellent gear out there, its just tough to audition it. And getting the 'modern' bug is addictive- watch out!

 

[cubdog]

Is Golds still owned buy and staffed by the same interesting cast of characters? Quite an eclectic store.

cubdog

 

[kermit z]

Yeah, I auditioned the gear with Ron Gold. It is a very eclectic shop. Lots of vintage gear. But quite the candy store. John, I guess now that I am thinking hard about a Vincent power amp, things will go down hill even quicker

Gold Sound is hiring a sales person.....huummm

 

[slippers-on]

Glad to hear you are enjoying your Vincent. Yes they are a German audio company that builds in China to keep cost down. They build at the Sheng-ya plaint in China, but uses different parts than the similar amps and preamps that Sheng-Ya uses . I have confirmed my suspension about the parts through a lot of online internet researching. I saw a statement by Sheng-Ya Electronics that basically said the parts where different. Another online search claimed that Sheng-Ya uses mostly German parts in Vincent gear supplied by Sintron Electronics which is the German company that owns Vincent gear.

I have a Vincent preamp as well that is valve and I just love it. I wondered why they named it Vincent, and another audio buddy told me his research turned up they named it after the artist Vincent Van Gogh. If you have seen his paintings you know his colors seem to jump off the canvas. Vincent is not overly warm and kinda lively...especially if you have a Vincent Hybrid.

I have been enjoying my Vincent SA-T1 preamp for some time now. But I wanted a measure....a benchmark, something by which I could measure the Vincent by just to hear the listening performance to see if it was really this good or if it was in my head. I had heard one of my buddy's ARC tube preamp the LS 16...its not syrup warm, and reminds me of the Vincent in its liveliness but was not able to listen to them side by side.

I also have a buddy that has a Conrad Johnson CT6 preamp and Conrad Johnson MV60's mono amps. Conrad is very warm gear. He had been having problems drive some Zu speakers with his Conrad Johnson preamp....He did not think they where a good match with the ZU. He had bad bass responce and I thought the tweeters where to hot as well, and his Dynaudio Contour t2.5 which he had been able to drive, but made the sound even warmer really did not favor his taste as much as they had been.

So I took over my Vincent preamp and he and I where both surprised at what the Vincent SA-T1 preamp and Conrad Johnson MV6o mono block amps sounded like. His system was not syrupy warm anymore, had a warm lively sound like my buddys ARC tubed preamp. The Vincent was able to drive the Zu speakers and actually drive the Dyns better than his CJ CT6. I think my buddy was a little upset at the performance of the Vincent. He had a few negative things to say about it later, but in the end told me at the price of the Vincent, I was getting a hell of a deal. Its actuall a very good preamp, but its frowned upon by many because its not a Rogue, Conrad Johnson, ARC, or some other American made product. But I dont care about that....Vincent makes great gear which performs well above its price grade...in my opinion.

Heres a picture of my SA-T1. I drive it with a Rotel amp @ 200watts per channel. The SA-T1 has excellent build quality as well. I have changed the odd tube out for a Sovtek LPS and have been meaning to change out the other two tubes for a pair of Golden Lion 12ax7, but have gotten side tracts. Will do it soon though.

 

[kermit z]

Wow, that thing looks great Thanks for the info on Vincent. They are really nice priced gear

 

[Art K.]

Beautiful setup, Slippers!

 

[slippers-on]

Thanks Art....I've been following many of your threads and value your opinion greatly.

 

[jekkyl]

What about the PHO-111 Kermit? Do you like it so far? I have it also with a Denon DP-300F (stock cartridge). Comparing to my phono stage of the amplifier it gives a more clean sound, but also a dead feeling to the recordings...

 

[kermit z]

Its been great so far. The specs on it are pretty impressive with THD of less than 0.0005%.

 

[ChaddoNobby]

Vincent SA 31MK

Recently bought the Vincent SA 31MK. Driving Rotel RB 991 from Rotel RDD 980 with dac from Marantz NA 7004. All this in my study with Triangle Color bookshelves. Anyone know if I can add the Vincent to my surround sound systems as dedicated front channel pre amp?