This post is probably nothing new to many of you out there who have had dealing with V.A, but for me it was a new experience and anyone thinking Why buy a Valve audio amp...read on!
I recently decided to see what all the V.A. fuss was about and purchased my first Valve Audio product, a used older version Predator(2005) 200w in silver with the obligatory knuckle duster remote! While I thought it looked solid and sounded good it didn't seem to quite match the stories I had heard about the sound quality so I assumed that it was possibly needing valves or just not to my taste....A visit from another Predator owner the following week seemed to confirm that something was a little off, and we assumed it was time to replace valves.
I contacted Schalk for the first time 11 days ago via email after 6pm to inquire about my issue and was surprised to have a mail back before 7pm asking for my address and permission to collect and sort it out....Gees, after hours service must come at a huge premium I thought and was suddenly wondering which bank I would need to rob to pay for this snappy service.Amazingly Schalk offered to check it out and update to current spec and charge only for tubes that needed replacing...what an offer considering the age of the unit and the fact that I had purchased from a 3rd party!
The amp was collected at 9am the following day and a couple of days later I had received a diagnosis that Schalk had restored the highs, boosted the gain and introduced some silvered caps to bring the old lady up to current spec....the amp arrived back with me yesterday and sounds BEAUTIFUL :rubhands: Smooth and powerful yet manages to retain perfect control across the ranges....I listened last night for 6 hours of pure bliss to my proudly SA combo of the Predator paired to B1's :noteworthy: ...whats more, I believe the new caps will take 100hrs to burn in and sound even better ....I love this amp!
The bill for this fantastic service was exactly R0.00 and feeling uncomfortable at not paying my dues I asked Schalk to please charge for his time, he reminded me the offer was to charge only for tubes if needed and they were not needed.......
Wow...So we have a world class amplifier company available on our doorstep, quality is fantastic and prices excellent considering this is not a volume production factory!It seems the company is 100% committed to their product rather than profit and will bend over backward to keep its customers happy...even 2nd or 3rd generation owners! It also seems service levels at V.A are like something you see in a 50's movie because you just don't get service that that anymore in SA!....And how often do you get to deal with a true gentleman these days?......So to me it seems the more relevant question anyone looking to buy an amp in SA should be asking is... why not a Valve Audio???
I recently decided to see what all the V.A. fuss was about and purchased my first Valve Audio product, a used older version Predator(2005) 200w in silver with the obligatory knuckle duster remote! While I thought it looked solid and sounded good it didn't seem to quite match the stories I had heard about the sound quality so I assumed that it was possibly needing valves or just not to my taste....A visit from another Predator owner the following week seemed to confirm that something was a little off, and we assumed it was time to replace valves.
I contacted Schalk for the first time 11 days ago via email after 6pm to inquire about my issue and was surprised to have a mail back before 7pm asking for my address and permission to collect and sort it out....Gees, after hours service must come at a huge premium I thought and was suddenly wondering which bank I would need to rob to pay for this snappy service.Amazingly Schalk offered to check it out and update to current spec and charge only for tubes that needed replacing...what an offer considering the age of the unit and the fact that I had purchased from a 3rd party!
The amp was collected at 9am the following day and a couple of days later I had received a diagnosis that Schalk had restored the highs, boosted the gain and introduced some silvered caps to bring the old lady up to current spec....the amp arrived back with me yesterday and sounds BEAUTIFUL :rubhands: Smooth and powerful yet manages to retain perfect control across the ranges....I listened last night for 6 hours of pure bliss to my proudly SA combo of the Predator paired to B1's :noteworthy: ...whats more, I believe the new caps will take 100hrs to burn in and sound even better ....I love this amp!
The bill for this fantastic service was exactly R0.00 and feeling uncomfortable at not paying my dues I asked Schalk to please charge for his time, he reminded me the offer was to charge only for tubes if needed and they were not needed.......
Wow...So we have a world class amplifier company available on our doorstep, quality is fantastic and prices excellent considering this is not a volume production factory!It seems the company is 100% committed to their product rather than profit and will bend over backward to keep its customers happy...even 2nd or 3rd generation owners! It also seems service levels at V.A are like something you see in a 50's movie because you just don't get service that that anymore in SA!....And how often do you get to deal with a true gentleman these days?......So to me it seems the more relevant question anyone looking to buy an amp in SA should be asking is... why not a Valve Audio???
