Description
Rare BAT - VK-42SE Pre-Amp 2 Remotes, Excellent Condition(Please Look At All Pictures. Please contact me with any questions. I will auction the BAT power amp also, and the phone amp. All in excellent condition Look At The Pictures on this pre-amp, no scratches anywhere, looks new(Mint).Buy the power amp to go with itIve seen a couple of these over the years, and no remotes are included. Probably lost, and not in mines condition. Gorgeous BAT Pre-Amp(This Is A Solid State Pre-Amp)Built Like a tankCouldnt buy a Krell or Mark Levinson anywhere near this price. I personally think it sounds as good.This sold for $1700 last year on e-bay. OK shape and no remotes.Mine has Very little use. I have original box and packing too. I will ship next day.There is a reserve on this pre-amp, but not a absurd price. Lower than the $1700 it sold for last year.There are no BAT - VK-42SE pre-amps anywhere. Not on Reverb, Audiogon.They are not that common, mabye once a year. Im going to auction this on e-bay for a little longer. Go to reverb or Audiogon to see it listed if you are interested.Make me a fair offer, lets decide on a price that works for both of us. I Balanced Audio Technology (BAT) is a decades old company specializing in, you guessed it, balanced audio components. They have produced a long line of vacuum tube and solid-state preamplifiers and amplifiers, phono preamplifiers and, more recently, digital converters. The BAT VK-300xSE integrated amplifier was reviewed here in 2004, and the VK-31SE tube preamp was reviewed here in 2005. BAT has received numerous “best of” awards over the years for their excellent sounding and innovative products.There has been a convergence in the sound quality of vacuum tube and solid-state components which has been happening gradually since solid-state gear exploded into the marketplace in the 1960s. Over the past few years, this convergence seems to have entered a terminal phase because some solid-state components meet or exceed the highly desired sonic strengths of tube gear. This is relevant for this review not only to showcase a long-gestating technology, but also to give audio consumers the option to not rely on any particular technology when considering a system change. Tube rollers will find little to do here.The BAT VK-43SE stereo analog line stage solid-state preamplifier, $8995, was requested for this review to help ascertain the maturity of solid-state technology and to hear the latest top-of-the-line solid-state preamplifier from BAT. Steve Bednarski, the General Manager of BAT, was very kind and accommodating in their participation with this review. From the BAT description of this model:“Combining BAT’s trademark high-current Unistage topology with the transformer-coupled outputs anchoring all Balanced Audio Technology Special Edition preamplifiers, VK-43SE establishes a new performance benchmark. Upgraded output transformers work in conjunction with a high-bias symmetrical N-channel Unistage gain block. Fully balanced dual-mono construction and more than 55,000uF of power-supply capacitance yield instantaneous response to the most demanding signal requirements. Second-generation oil-filled capacitors provide increased purity to the elegant Unistage circuit, completing BAT’s new flagship solid-state preamplifier.”The VK-43SE includes a proprietary electronic shunt volume attenuator that has 140 steps of 0.5dB resolution. Most listening was with the volume control in the 30 to 60 range, and the very fine 0.5 dB adjustments were a delight to be able to get the volume just right, although the change from 30 to 60 takes several seconds. The large volume adjustment range practically guarantees that the VK-43SE will be compatible with any power amplifier on the planet. Also available is the optional, internal VK-P20 phono module. 10 Audio requested the line stage only, so the phono module add-in was not tested here. There are 3 balanced analog XLR inputs and 2 unbalanced RCA inputs. The 2 outputs are both on XLRs, and the tape output is RCA. There is no trigger input or output. All features are controllable on the excellent metal remote control, including balance, mute and phase adjustments. The dimmable front panel display has large lettering and can be set with custom input names, such as “LP” instead of input 1. A 5 year warranty is standard. The user interface for setup and regular operation is superb. This solid-state preamplifier was a “real KAPOW experience” due to its stunning dynamics and powerful presentation. Bass control, texture and definition were sublime, causing us to place the BAT at the top of the $6000 to $7000 preamp heap.
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