Yamamoto Acoustic Craft A-010 VT-52 Single Stereo Amplifier

The VT-52 has been talked about by enthusiasts as a hidden gem of a triode tube with excellent sound quality. A-010 was designed to maximize the performance of the VT-52.

A-010 has a luxurious exterior made of muku wood. Four 80 rectifier tubes are used for the rectifier tubes, and an extremely luxurious power supply is constructed with one rectifier per MF tube. Mutual interference in the power supply section is eliminated and the response speed of the power supply is fast.
In the A-010, the input capacitor of this 80 rectifier tube is configured with a film capacitor of only 2μF in the driver tube, and a high-performance current regulator from Ichthys Corporation of the United States is used for a clear and excellent response speed power supply section. The choke coil in the output circuit has been eliminated in favor of an RC-only filter circuit, and the amplifier's own operating speed has been improved by this power supply configuration, resulting in a clearer sound with a greater sense of speed.

The A-010 uses a German-made high-performance C3m pentode as the driver tube, which is guaranteed to last 10,000 hours and can be used stably for a long time.
The heater circuit for the C3m and VT-52 tubes uses DC ignition with double-wave rectification to minimize noise, and a constant-current circuit utilizing high-performance MOS-FETs from Ichthys for a clean and fast-response heater power supply. The output transformer is made of custom-made 100 micron thick core material and coiled with Teflon insulation paper to improve sound quality.
The capacitors and resistors used are carefully selected from the best sound quality parts selected by listening tests from all over the world. The output terminals are large, machined gold-plated and banana plug compatible.

Even nearly half-century old sound sources are reproduced with great power and without the slightest hint of grating or cheap sound. The vocals sound as if they are being sung right in front of you. The accompaniment skillfully accentuates the main vocal part of the song without degrading the quality of the accompaniment, bringing the vocals to the forefront. The speaker terminals are 8-ohm outputs only, but there is no problem using 4-ohm or 16-ohm speakers. In both cases, however, the maximum output power will be reduced; a maximum output of 8 watts will be reduced to about 4-6 watts.

When I play Weill's "The Seven Deadly Sins", I feel as if Gisela Mai is singing right in front of me, and the rawness and sexiness of the music makes my neck crawl. Although the soundtrack was recorded nearly half a century ago, it is as if the air of that time has been sent into the room along with the soundtrack. The VT-52 sphere is a powerful reproduction of Mai's voice, and yet there is not the slightest hint of a grating or cheap sound, which I believe is due not only to the power of the VT-52 sphere, but also to Yamamoto Acoustic Craft's reliable manufacturing.
I listened to Georges Pachinski's "Plaisance" for jazz. I was surprised at the way the familiar software sounded as if it had just woken up. The piano sounded so glossy, the wood bass so bouncy, and the drums so rhythmic. It was a wonderful expression that clearly showed the performers were truly enjoying the music.
For pop music, I listened to "Chamomile Smile" by Emi Fujita. Like the classical music, this song had a vividness that made me feel as if I had invited the diva into my room. This kind of expression is hard to find in other amplifiers. As is often the case with well-made tube amplifiers, when listening to vocal material, the vocals alone come to the fore without degrading the quality of the accompaniment, and the accompaniment skillfully accentuates the main character of the song. For those who like to listen to singing, this is an amplifier that, once you have heard it, you will not be able to put it down.
*Excerpt from analog magazine