This website is for those who enjoy music and are looking for better ways to reproduce it. We are one of the world's leading resources for audiophile news and information plus equipment and music reviews.

They say if an amplifier does not get the first watt right, then many more make no difference. It matters not if it is a 100 watt per channel unit or the single watt GREATech µVAC. Loyal readers know full well i am not of the 'bigger is better' camp. Huge coffin-sized loudspeakers that demand 1.21 Gijawatts of power need not attend my funeral. Give me that single tube, pure Class A triode amplifier and a pair of loudspeakers that present an easy load. High efficiency is, of course, a must. Perhaps those guys who like huge speakers and amplifier, like Fabio, are making up for other, eh hem, shortcomings?

My first encounter with this amplifier was years ago at the High End Society show in Germany. It was in prototype form under the Kolibri nameplate. At the 2005 Munich show i once again saw the unit in production form by GREATech, and under the official name of µVac. Frankly, i have always had a soft spot in my heart for chachkies. In the 1980's it was the Sony D-88 3-inch CD player. Eventually came the Lehmann Audio Black Cube phonostage, which has just been released in a 2006 version by the way. Next up was the 47 Labs Gaincard, and many of you know the outcome from that review. The Gaincard spurred many imposters to the point of virtual downright design theft! They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, though stealing a design and selling it to others is downright inexcusable! With that said, i have a feeling that GREATech has no worries in that regard.

As seen in the photo, the µVac is very small. A puny 140 x 85 x 75 mm for amplifier and 140 x 85 x 90 mm for the external power supply. The box of wooden matches gives you some idea. To the right is a photo i took while covering a European show in 2005. Note the chassis color and Kolibri name at that time.

So what is it with the fascination of small chachkies? The heck if i know, other than perhaps i am the type of guy to cheer for the little engine that could. GREATech's µVac is a stereo amplifier with volume control and external power supply. Single source systems can use this as a preamplifier/amplifier, thereby saving money on interconnects and the like. Tube compliment is a High-Rel MIL subminiature beam power pentode 5902 for amplification and high-mu UHF triode 5744 for pre stage. Frequency response is claimed as 25Hz to 30kHz with weight being a mere 2.5 kg in total. The internal power supply senses power voltage and therefore can handle from 115 to 230. So how many watts does this €940, limited production of only 250 pieces produce? Glad you asked!

Remember at the beginning of this article where i said the first watt is the most important. Well, that is all you get with the µVac. A single, one, uno, ein.... Just one watt! This amplifier almost personifies the meaning of the first watt, because that is all it can produce. Not that the Song Audio's 4 watts is some big, beefy amplifier in the watt-producing game of life. i mean, here it is 2006 and we have amplifiers that produce well over 1,000 watts per channel. What the heck am i doing playing around with such small wattage units? Ahhh, we must remember the saying about the first watt. As for build quality, the µVac is almost toy-like, yet the tubes are nicely surrounded in an almost jewel-like gloss black chassis.