yes. I own a BAT VK50-SE. I was at a friend's house when we did a direct A/B comparison between the BAT VK-30SE and the First Sound Presence Deluxe pre-amp. Sonically, it was a clear win for the First Sound--no question about it. Of course, the BAT has the benefit of a remote and fancy user interface. If you don't mind getting up to change volume, get the First Sound. I couldn't deal with that, so that's why I got the BAT. Also, if you don't have multiple sources, you can get the First Sound made with only a single input (and no input selector switches or mute switches). This sounds even better than with the input selector. Craig Zastera
