The Velleman K4000 – my first step into a “higher end”

The Velleman K4000 Valve Power Amplifier was – what I believed back then – my very first “decent” audio component and actually was my first step into “high end audio reproduction”. I bought the K4000 second hand from a Dutch audiophile for about 500 euro back in 2008.  It was my father who advised me this component. He’s a retired electronics engeneer. He used to repair valve radio’s back in the fifties and sixties when he was still very young. He also had the Velleman K4000 in his home audio setup and back then claimed that nothing could compare to the sound of valves.

Since I bought the Velleman my system went through various changes for the better but for quite a while this unit remained a proud contestor amongst my other more “high end” equipment. The K4000 itself got quite some high end modifications as well which made it really shine. The K4000 reproduced music in a very cozy, charming & warm manner while not sounding muddy or retained at all.

By the time the rest of my setup got upgrades to a “higher end” I had the Velleman playing at his best, with brass instruments like saxopones having a very full & natural character, voices sounding really live-like and the Velleman performing in a way only the higher class (2000 – 4000 euro) valve amplifiers could reproduce music.

But then came the point where I bought Floating Synthese 2 speakers (the famous “telephone horns”) and this valve amplifier just couldn’t drive them. My Velleman is now retired waiting for a new audio candidate or maybe drive a secondary system one day…

More info about this Velleman power amplifier can be found on the website of Adrian Kingston, a fellow K4000 lover who hooked it up to a set of Quad ESL-63 electrostatic speakers with very good results & powers his home cinema with it: http://www.adrian-kingston.com/K4000.htm