Balanced Audio Technology VK-60 Amplifiers
Balanced Audio Technology VK-60 Amplifiers
USER REVIEWS
[Mar 04, 2015]
snilsen13
Audio Enthusiast
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[Feb 17, 2008]
wapao69
Audio Enthusiast
Strength:
Very fluid, tight bass, great sweet highs, clear mids, you will enjoy every type of music.......
Weakness:
Heavy monster, no weaknesses.... ; ). Excellent mids, excellent highs, great bass, superb sound stage, he rock's, from Mozart to Snatana, to The Rippingtons to Chick Corea to AC DC to Toto to William Aura to Dave Matthews to Celia Cruz to Jarabe de Palo ..................he kick the ass of my Spendors. Great Amp. |
[Dec 06, 2007]
fresco
AudioPhile
Strength:
Excellent in producing punchy floor slamming bass. Not only that, the high end sound is so sweet, and fluid even the bass sound sweet. Not many tube amp can perform like this.
Weakness:
Big and heavy. Take about 3 hours to sound its best!! The moment I used BAT vk-60 on my snell type D, I knew that my 200 watts aragon 8008 will be in the store room for a long long time. BAT vk-60 is just awesome.
Similar Products Used: aragon 8008 and musical fidelity preamp. |
[Oct 15, 2007]
ckoffend
Audio Enthusiast
Strength:
Great midrange, excellent staging in all areas, solid power (in mono, never listened in stereo mode), beautiful with the human voice, better attack than many other tube amps. Overall, a very positive good amplifier. Seems like the autobiasing works well and helps with buying/replacing tubes.
Weakness:
Heat generation, power consumption, sheer size. Limited to a single power tube (less experimentation). Having gone through too many amps in the past year (starting with Golden Tube Audio as my starting point, and a good starting point at that as the SE 40 amps are way under praised, over performing amps at any price). I have owned CJ, Mark Levinson, Channel Island, Pass Labs, Theta and a couple of others in the past year. I now have a pair of the VK 60s that I run in mono configuration. I bought a VK 5i preamp to go with them. My plan is to only run the VK 60s during the colder months and a Mark Levinson during the summer (Michigan).
Customer Service Excellent, I have spoken with Victor (owner/designer of the amps) on several occassions regarding general questions about these amps or the VK-51 preamp. He is terrific and an asset to the specialty audio industry. Similar Products Used: amps: Conrad Johnson, Pass Labs, Golden Tube Audio, Mark Levinson, Theta, Channel Islands (for comparison with the same gear - spkrs, CD player, but various preamps). |
[May 07, 2004]
Jagpot
AudioPhile
Strength:
Clarity, great mids, tremdeous bass, wide sound stage
Weakness:
couldnt find one The VK P10 is in addition with the right new/old NOS tubes Telefunken E188cc and the Brimar CV1988 not to beat. The clarity in the mids and the strengthen of the bass with such an enormerous beat and a great and wide stage is the best i ever heard. For this price with a litte tune ups like the Combak Harmonics TU201 and the right interconnects like the Nordost Valhalla it presents the music quiet right. With the right turntabel like the Simon Yorke S8 you will find so much more music detail an rythm on these black dics never believed it before. Similar Products Used: lehmann silver cube |
[Jun 22, 2003]
Nelson Borje
AudioPhile
Strength:
Human voice at its best! Nothing beats it This is my first valve amp. Previously I have been a Solid State guy due to the fact that SS are low maintenance. I do not want to fiddle around and spend so much time tweaking a system. But anyway, that is a different story. Now to the BAT story. I had this amp for a few years now and I must conclusively say that it has given me and my wife hundreds of hours of listening pleasure. Our small house is always filled with glorious music from dawn to dusk. After a long and stressful day nothing beats a relaxing time in front of a BAT system and soak yourself with beautiful sound. This is my therapy! It may not have the tight bass or a growl of a Krell or a Mark Levinson but the bass is equally impressive for a tube amp. Double bass sounds like a double bass instead of a cello. Viktor Wooten from the Fleckstones can shudder the walls of my house with his bass for all I care. Jeff Beck can wail his Strat with pleasure. But what it can do the best is portray the female voice. Jacinta, Eva Cassidy, Patty Barber sounds so real in my living room. Every nuance, breath and vibrato is so uncanny that I cannot tear myself away from their hypnotizing voices. This is what drawn me to valve amplifier. I believe that this is just not the work of one component but the system as a cohesive whole. I own a complete BAT system [VK60, VK51, VK5D] Speakers in the meantime is Monitor Audio Gold Reference 20 with a plethora of wires and cables from different audio industry. The system is plugged to a dedicated outlet with a 20 amp. This is a classic system that I will be using for a long time. There is no need to upgrade if you are happy with what you have. Be contented and enjoy the music! Similar Products Used: The subterenean bass only bass freak craves. |
[Jun 04, 2003]
petro1511
AudioPhile
Strength:
big soundstage, helps make my solos disapear.tight bass,smooth wonderful midrange. looks like the ny skyline when you play it in dim light.
Weakness:
scared to really push it due to past problems.had to cover the hypnotizing blue light on front with a piece of tape when i first bought this amp it kept blowing the same fuse over and over again.it was very frustrating, so after i went through all the extra fuses that it came with ,i sent it back to bat ,an ordeal that cost me $75 to ship & insure, i was not very happy about this considering it still wasnt broken in.then i got it back and it kept blowing the same fuse , so very upset i called bat. and they said it must be the tube, so i said, where can i get another tube( thinking that maybe they would give me one ,for the hassle) that didnt happen so now i had to find the tube and that cost me $70.so ive owned this amp for 6 months before i broke it in. now it is running right i am unhappy with bat. but the amp is unbeleivable the mids, great bass ,wonderful huge soundstage.and once i upgraded the power supply it was way better, i just put 2 mullard tubes in the front end and WOW! this is the best amp i heard anywhere near the price. if you buy it make sure its a newer model it has alot of upgrades from the older ones(ive heard the diffrence).my system vpi aries/jmw 10.5/grado statement bat vk-3i w/ valvo tubes vk-60 platinum solos aq caldera aq python harmonic tech cr. silver phono cable also be aware that the fuses they sent me were not slo-blo,which the manual said to use. ive since bought slo blo fuses. and its finally purring like a kitten |
[May 25, 2002]
quoc
Audio Enthusiast
Strength:
Excellent build quality and value (at second hand prices). Solid bass, smooth midrange.
Weakness:
extended highs but not natural I must say my experiences with the VK-60 is mixed. I particularly like the style and the build quality of the amp, which is very very solid. Having owned many tube amps, the self biasing is a very nice feature. I had high expectations on the VK-60, as I have listened to quite a few single ended triode amps on my Cornwalls and an older NHT model 2. The bass notes are very strong, detail and transparency is excellent, rivaling the best I have heard on my system. The music generated by the VK-60 is effortless, and the amp suits well with all kind of music, jazz, classical, blues, rock and pop. I was disappointed with the highs: they are very extended, may be too extended, and I found the treble notes a bit unatural, especially with violins (I play violin). I must say that the Cornwalls are likely not the most synergistic speakers for it: some amps tend to accentuate the etchy highs of the treble horn on the Cornwall. So roll in the trusty NHT and now the highs are better but still not the best I have heard. I also own a pair of Fourier Panthere monoblocks, an OTL single ended design that also uses the 6c33 output tubes as the VK-60 does. The Panthere in my view is clearly a better amp, may be the bass is not as solid, but the midrange and treble are smoother, more natural and transparency is for sure one notch up. More important, the music is more emotional with the Panthere. Similar Products Used: Futterman H3 OTL, Western Electric type 91 monoblocks with 300B, Fourier Panthere OTL, Wright sound 2A3, GAS Ampzilla, B&K ST140, Luxman MB3045 triode, Altec 1570B Tutay mods, Dynaco mk3 GSI mods. |
[Jun 11, 2000]
Phil Dodds
Audio Enthusiast
Strength:
very pure range,bass,build quality,visually appealing
Weakness:
none I'm a tube "newbie",but the vk60 is a very good performer at all listening levels and types of music.Currently I have one vk60 in stereo configuration,but I've heard mono vk60s and was very impressed.The heat developed from the unit could overheat some rooms,so that is a consideration.Plus I was told it is advisable to run a dedicated power circuit for the system.I have the vk3i pre amp which I'am very happy with also.My Wife likes the visual appeal of the tube layout which is a plus for some "file guys" trying to get equipment into the house! BAT is definantly a quality unit.So if you like great music reproduction,spend the money and you won't be disappointed! |
[Oct 30, 1999]
Philip O'Hanlon
Strength:
great high & low extension. Stunnig midrange
Weakness:
pricey for a pair of monos As good as the stereo amp is, the monoblocks are stunning. Added dynamics, transparency in the mids. Similar Products Used: CJ Premier 11a, VAC PA 80/80, VAC PA100/100, ARC VT200, BAT VK500, Krell FPB 200, Halcro monos, Chord SPM 1200B |