#41
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Great! We need some BAT action around here.
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#42
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Found a nice VK-300XSE. Should have by the end of next week. Hope it arrives in good shape during the Xmas rush.
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Glenn... Canton Reference 9 Clearaudio SM Pro Focal Bathys JLA 10" Dominion Kuzma Stabi S w/MC & MM Magnepan 1,7i McIntosh MA8950 & MR88 Oppo 203 Roon Nucleus Rose Hifi RS150B Shunyata Gemini-4 Sony ST-A6B, TA-F6B, ST-J75 & PS-X75 Sorane SA1.2 & TA-1L Stillpoints LP1v2 WW Pt, Au & Ag |
#43
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Glenn, congrats! Of course, we will need a full report on this fine integrated.
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#44
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Absolutely. May be a bit, as we are headed out of the country shortly after Xmas. Got one of the later models with the knob for volume adjustment. This is my 3rd BAT piece, but my first with the 6H30 tube. Will be interesting to compare to my memory of the 6922 tubes in the previous pieces.
Ack!! My wife just caught me. She said the BAT is going into the living room with a turntable for 'our' listening enjoyment. Good thing I've hung onto that second set of decent speakers.
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Glenn... Canton Reference 9 Clearaudio SM Pro Focal Bathys JLA 10" Dominion Kuzma Stabi S w/MC & MM Magnepan 1,7i McIntosh MA8950 & MR88 Oppo 203 Roon Nucleus Rose Hifi RS150B Shunyata Gemini-4 Sony ST-A6B, TA-F6B, ST-J75 & PS-X75 Sorane SA1.2 & TA-1L Stillpoints LP1v2 WW Pt, Au & Ag Last edited by Formerly YB-2; 02-11-2016 at 09:23 AM. Reason: enlarge photo. |
#45
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Dropped by the BAT facility this morning. They are only about an hour from the house. The display in my VK-300xSE is 'weak' and I want to be able to see it from across the room, so having it replaced and a new set of tubes installed. A pretty busy place. Victor was in conference, but did take the time to come over and say 'hello'. Will drop by and pick it up after we return the middle of next month.
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Glenn... Canton Reference 9 Clearaudio SM Pro Focal Bathys JLA 10" Dominion Kuzma Stabi S w/MC & MM Magnepan 1,7i McIntosh MA8950 & MR88 Oppo 203 Roon Nucleus Rose Hifi RS150B Shunyata Gemini-4 Sony ST-A6B, TA-F6B, ST-J75 & PS-X75 Sorane SA1.2 & TA-1L Stillpoints LP1v2 WW Pt, Au & Ag |
#46
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Picked up the VK-300xSE from Victor last week (actually, it was Vladimir) and it is singing sweetly with new set of matched 6H30s from Upscale Audio and the new display (they seem to last about 10yr, depending on how much they are on, before starting to dim). The downside is we've decided we need to travel more. To accomplish same we are going to move into the condo and sell the house. So either the BAT or Cary integrated amp needs to go as will no longer have two systems.
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Glenn... Canton Reference 9 Clearaudio SM Pro Focal Bathys JLA 10" Dominion Kuzma Stabi S w/MC & MM Magnepan 1,7i McIntosh MA8950 & MR88 Oppo 203 Roon Nucleus Rose Hifi RS150B Shunyata Gemini-4 Sony ST-A6B, TA-F6B, ST-J75 & PS-X75 Sorane SA1.2 & TA-1L Stillpoints LP1v2 WW Pt, Au & Ag |
#47
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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.
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Glenn... Canton Reference 9 Clearaudio SM Pro Focal Bathys JLA 10" Dominion Kuzma Stabi S w/MC & MM Magnepan 1,7i McIntosh MA8950 & MR88 Oppo 203 Roon Nucleus Rose Hifi RS150B Shunyata Gemini-4 Sony ST-A6B, TA-F6B, ST-J75 & PS-X75 Sorane SA1.2 & TA-1L Stillpoints LP1v2 WW Pt, Au & Ag Last edited by Formerly YB-2; 03-22-2016 at 06:51 PM. |
#48
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new integrated amp
I've had my VK-300SE in place for five years. I optimized the setup and have resisted any change in setup till now. The sound is really good used as a nearfield setup. Today I inserted two new items into the setup which are a BAT VK-3000SE and Focal Sopra N2. I have set the spikes and am pleased with the high level of detail and airy presence. Never was unhappy with the 300 but wanted to fill up the room with a different sound. I pulled some cd's from the past and enjoyed them much more than prev. Cat Power, Aimee Mann, Sinead O'Connor -very listenable. Good pricing is available at this time on the 3000 integrated. So now the setup is Esoteric X-05 with Nordost SPM ic and Tyr spk. The speakers are of course a big upgrade and the int-amp seem quite capable of driving them. I was previously using Penaudio Rebel II and Chara lower tower. The VK-300se still keeps a spot in the rack though.
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#49
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Quote:
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AudioNet-Pre G2/MAX, YG Sonja, JL F112v2, Kubala Sosna |
#50
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Latest TAS, Feb 2018, has a review of the VK-3000SE. Very positive.
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Glenn... Canton Reference 9 Clearaudio SM Pro Focal Bathys JLA 10" Dominion Kuzma Stabi S w/MC & MM Magnepan 1,7i McIntosh MA8950 & MR88 Oppo 203 Roon Nucleus Rose Hifi RS150B Shunyata Gemini-4 Sony ST-A6B, TA-F6B, ST-J75 & PS-X75 Sorane SA1.2 & TA-1L Stillpoints LP1v2 WW Pt, Au & Ag |
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