[Formerly YB-2]

Had an occasion to visit the BAT folks today and met Steve Bednarski for the first time (met Victor the first time some years ago). I was chatting with Vladimir about changing out the coupling-caps in my VK-300xSE and mentioned going from the Jensen oil caps to Clarity caps. Steve joined us and we had a nice discussion about the various sound signatures of caps, etc.

We also discussed the possibility of swapping out the 6H30 'supertube' board for a 6922 board so I could do some tube rolling. Both boards are plug-in, but there are a few components on the main board that need to be changed with the board swap and I don't want to dig in to it that far. So, the plan is to change the coupling caps, which is quite straight-forward. Neither Steve nor Vladimir is a particular fan of the 6922 compared to the 6H30.

In addition, we talked about the 6H30 tube and what is available. Vladimir tells me that NOS 6H30 tubes are considerably different (as in far better) than the current production. The NOS tubes were all made for the USSR military and not to a price-point, as today. So my next up-grade is going to be a pair of the NOS 6H30 tubes. Vladimir also told me that he personally tests all tubes that BAT uses in their gear. For the 6H30 that is at least two days of run-time as well as a full gamut of testing on a tube tester. If I understood correctly, it takes so much time that tubes are tested on an 'as needed' basis (when a new piece of gear needs a set or someone orders replacement tubes). Not sure what other tube equipment manufacturers are doing with the tubes supplied with their gear, but with BAT you can be assured that you are getting a fully tested tube that they will stand behind for a full year.

Also got to see the new 'all silver' gear. There was a VK-53SE & a matching VK-255SE on the shelf in silver. Very striking in appearance.

All-in-all it was a very nice visit and I appreciate the time that Steve and Vladimir took to talk with me.