AudioSalon - scotlands first and foremost hi-fi dealer since 1979

The Phi 220 Monoblock

Once in a great while an audio component comes along that redefines our expectations of what is possible and, for the astute listener, necessary. VAC has had the privilege of being responsible for such breakthroughs twice in the past decade. Now, VAC again presents an order of magnitude improvement in both sound and functionality with the PHI Series.

One may be forgiven for focusing initially on the elegant aesthetics of the VAC PHI (pronounced "fi", as in "hi fi") components. The tubes are celebrated behind the edge-lit glass fascia and beveled glass top, which also keep children and pets at a safe distance from the tubes. With minute attention to detail, illumination is controlled in response to ambient light levels. The chassis itself, with its sweeping corners and contours, is precision milled from the highest quality non-magnetic aluminum. Truly, the PHI Series is a work of visual art.

The PHI sound builds on the heritage of the legendary VAC Renaissance and Signature Series, with further improvements in materials, circuit refinement, layout, power supply design, and optimization. It is the culmination of several thousands of hours of careful voicing. This fanatical devotion to detail is the crucial factor in transcending mere "high fidelity"; with VAC Phi components you hear all of the "hi-fi" attributes, but in a way totally subservient to the feel and emotion of the music. After all, that is what music is all about.

Sound and appearance are just the beginning of PHI's magic. Balanced inputs & outputs are standard. PHI components can communicate with each other via the iVAC data buss, which manages system power and coordinates illumination levels. 12 volt power triggers are provided for use with other brands of amplifiers. PHI provides numerous remote control functions and system configuration settings, allowing convenience in normal use and easy integration into elaborate systems.

The PHI 110/110 Stereo and PHI 220 Mono Beam Power Amplifiers have external power supplies on six foot cables, and feature twice the high voltage energy storage of the legendary VAC Renaissance amplifiers, multiple choke pi filtering, and a new grounding paradigm. There is a marked increase in dynamics, extension, detail, and sound quality. The noise floor is reduced an order of magnitude to less than 0.3 millivolts at the speaker terminals, less than the output of a moving coil phonograph cartridge! Never before have you experienced such purity in reproduced music. These are, quite possibly, the finest amplifiers ever made.