| The Phoenix is far less colored than the Vari Mu, and far more transparent. They are totally different beasts. I found the Phoenix to be of more general value but I would like the Vari mu as a flavor when appropriate.
The Phoenix is, generally, quite subtle, although the input knob is like a "Bigness" control. It's a gorgeous sound. The Vari Mu has far more attitude and is a love/hate piece.
When you are testing you're going to think about the Phoenix's transparency as sort of a "why spend all that money for transparency?" but then you might catch yourself and realize being able to do what it does so transparently is exactly why it should cost that much.
It is suggested you try the HPF/T-bar mod Vari mu. |