It is very hard. Even before supply line problems ala Covid, it was hard to make comparisons "in store" without other variables-room, associated equipment in play, etc. Ideally, you’d want the ability to hear the unit in your system. I did have a dealer when I lived in metro NY who would do house calls-- in fact, I had never been to his shop until years later, and then, more for a social visit.
At one point, he brought over a Veloce (now out of business) line stage (first version), which didn’t have quite the grainlessness of my then Lamm L2 Reference. I did like the frequency extension. Within about a year, there was a new version of the Veloce which he brought over- the one using the 6h30. Plugged that in, and viola! A whole new musical ball game. I said-- can I just keep this one? Nah, but one for me was built and delivered pretty quickly, along with a matched quad of the elusive DR Reflecktor tube (extra). Sadly, the company is now dormant but Vytas did the latest upgrade a few years ago, different batteries, etc. Currently running a fresh quad of the DR tube circa 1977. That tube is not easy to find now.
I was a long time ARC guy going back to the early days of Wm Z. I kinda stopped with them when they went through their "white" period-- a bleached, more analytical sound. (I think they’ve swung back to richer sound- at least the Reference stuff I’ve heard didn’t sound as "bleached"). My last ARC preamp was the SP10mkii. Great preamp, too noisy for my horns, and you could go crazy on tubes-- it tended toward microphony too so you really had to select tubes for the phono section that played nicely. (I think there were a total of 15 tubes in the unit).
I think there is some benefit to buying something you could resell at a later point- I don’t know how VAC sounds these days- and if you were looking for built in phono, that might be a good route. Ditto, Ken Stevens Convergent Audio Technologies- again, it’s been a long while since I’ve heard one, but he’s been improving and improving. Both brands are well respected and probably deserve a listen. I’m sure everybody has a favorite, but the only way to know is to hear ’em. And sadly, even if you took a road trip to two different cities that were rich with audio salons, made the necessary appointments in advance and were given the opportunity to do some comparisons among the dealer’s wares, it’s still not your system.
But, short of finding a dealer willing to loan out a demo (you’ll probably be asked to pay for it in full and cover shipping and insurance both ways), it may still be worth that road trip. Better than buying blind (or deaf), eh?
