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TRACE ELLIOT "VA350" info please...??

Rockbobmel

Rockbobmel

Feb 14, 2002
4,169
2,404
Greenfield, MA(Nowheres'ville)
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#1
I found one locally and want to know more about it. Is it a rack amp? The guy said that it has a 200 watt additional amp on the bottom- in the same case. I can't really make sense out of it, but he made it sound like there is 2 amps. One on top (VA350) and one P-amp on the bottom. I'm confused.

Any pics of the back of the amp? How much is the amp wort??. He said it is in good condition and more than 10 years old.

Thank You
 
#2
RockBobby said:
I found one locally and want to know more about it. Is it a rack amp? The guy said that it has a 200 watt additional amp on the bottom- in the same case. I can't really make sense out of it, but he made it sound like there is 2 amps. One on top (VA350) and one P-amp on the bottom. I'm confused.

Any pics of the back of the amp? How much is the amp wort??. He said it is in good condition and more than 10 years old.

Thank You
Click to expand...

If it's really a VA350 head, then yes, it's a very good amp. I don't know about that second amp on the bottom thing, though. Here is a shot of the front of my VA400 (which should be similar to the VA350):

TraceElliotVA400FullFront.jpg


And here is the back:

TraceElliotVA400FullRear.jpg
 
#5
The VA350 has a tube power amp and a solid state preamp. You can run it "all tube" by bypassing the preamp but then you get exactly ONE control: volume! That's probably what the guy was referring to as "two amps". It's certainly one of the weirder amp designs I've seen.

It's rated at 300-ish watts RMS.
 
#7
...well, the 350 & 400 do have a tube pwr sect BUT they also have a "tube fronted" pre similar to Edens Navigator. There's 3 pre tubes in the Trace units & I believe 2 of them are for the pre section & the other is for the "valve" section.

I have done comparisons with my 400 & V-8, they are very different amps, both great, but the 400 seems more S/S & the V-8 is defintely ALL tube. The 400 is less effected by pre tube changes compared to the V-8 also IME/test.

The VA series has its definite sound & strong points & is by no means a slouch in tone. I prefer them over the Quatra/Hexa series in design(not size & weight), but due to their scarcity, if you like the GP type pre, you'll love the VA series with its tube pwr section.

~S~
 

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