Hey Bill,
I will do my best to describe the
sonic differences but please keep in mind...it is only my opinion. I will throw in a little VP2x vs 312 too and cover all bases.
I have chosen to replicate the vintage console preamp over a straight up 312 clone for a few reasons. Mostly, I
really love they way the old consoles sound! They for sure have a more distinct "tonal" footprint to them. The 312 is a bit more open and almost cleaner sounding compared to a VP26. That may be hard to believe with all the "mid-forward", "mid-aggressive" adjectives used to describe the coveted 312 sound. "Clean" is usually not one of them. Well, the VP26 has just a little more of that "it" sound, if you will. Even though they are not as open, they for sure do not sound dark when comparing the top. Similar, just not quite as "open". The bottom end on the VP26 is a bit tighter...maybe more round than a 312. It is subtle though. They are the most different in the mids though I think. The VP26 is very tight and focused while being even more forward and aggressive sounding but only in the bestest of ways. They have a unique and special character there that is not present in other preamps that I have heard. The VP26 output transformer can be driven hard with a nice, pleasing, gentle saturation. That will happen with a 2623-1 before it will with a 2503. Again, it's my opinion but I think there are other ears out there that can verify some of these same findings.
Contrary to some of the popular talk, the discrete opamps make quite a noticeable difference in these preamps. My favorites are the gar2520 and a Liebers' SL2520 red dot. Scott's red dots have a great, amazing detail thingy happening in the upper mid area while the gar2520 is a little smoother and more "creamy" sounding. Both of course retain the great mid-forward sound you would expect.
OK that being said, if a VP26 is 9:00 and a 312 is 3:00, I would put the VP25 in the 11:00 area. It has many of the same tonal signatures as a VP25 but a little more open sounding.
Those were some sonics. What other advantages does a VP26 have over a VP25? Well, a lower price for one thing which is very important these days. The 2623-1 has 2 secondary windings while the 2503 has 3. How many of these secondary windings are used in
any 312 style preamp? Always only 2. They are wired in series for 6db of transformer step-up gain. The 3rd winding is used for nothing. Kinda like paying for something that will never be used. The eq's do use all 3 windings in series, BTW. Why not save a little money? How's that for an "up-sale"?
The price is
very key Bill and I have no plans of changing it in the near future. I do not have the same types of overhead as some of the big boys. That is a plus to my customers. I suppose you could say it is still the age of the boutique manufacturer? I do want to make sure that everybody knows, there is not a cheap, "cut the corners" part in these things.
I hope this all helps in some way.
Cheers, Jeff