Audio Note Conquest Silver Signature vs. Bat VK-60

I have a pair of Conquests and I can say if they are mated with the right speakers (AN-E's) you will likely not find a more satisfying combination. The SS version has silver wound output transformers, all blacks gates on the 300B board and power board. The 300B is an amazing sounding tube, designed for audio. The 6C33 triode used in the BAT was certainly not. The downside to the Conquest is it is only 17 watts. Now if you use an efficient pair of speakers, as they were designed for, you would never need more power than that.

The BAT is a hybrid push pull type, making 120 wpc per monoblock. Your speaker choices will be almost unlimited. But these amps were NOT designed for the high efficiency alnico or horn type speakers that the 300B Conquest was designed for.

In short, the Audio Note was made for someone going in the direction of a low power SET system. The BAT certainly is not designed for someone moving in the low power SET direction. So they really are designed for two separate and divergent segments of audiophile nervosa.

If you are not looking to spend some major bucks on associated gear with silver transformers, silver wire, and speakers with silver voice coils and alnico magnets, then I would avoid the Conquest SS amps. Those are for low power SET purists, building a system with as much silver as possible in the signal path. Not to mention the Conquests cost about 16k for the pair, and the BATS can be had for much much less than this.

If you are a budding SET purist, then go for the Audio Note stuff by all means. There is nothing else out there that sounds like it. It is like heaven I assure you, but you have to be committed to building the system correctly to get the most out of them.

I would concurr with that. The Audio Note Conquests are superb in the right setting. Hook them up to efficient speakers, preferably 2 ways, or horn hybrids of at least 93 db efficiency, not just for the volume but the dynamic ceiling as well.
I run the standard none silver Conquests 18wpc, and into a pair of current production Zingali Overture 2, a really well built horn hybrid from Italy. They are a match in heaven.
You don't need to have crazy budgets though. I have the AN M3 pre, AN CD1, diy AN Kit DAC 1.1. All come to around 24k US, not so much for a decent system, and one that I find is not needing to be upgraded. in fact the first I have owned which I am totally happy with, and 3 years on from completing.

Thanks for your output.
Now I'm looking for to buy one good used pair of Audio not Conquest Silver Signature.
Does anyone have one to offer? Thanks

BTW, the BAT topology is not push-pull, but rather single-ended bridge(similar to Atma-Sphere), as described by Victor Khomenko:

"The VK60 is neither a traditional single-ended design nor a push-pull design. We refer to the VK-60 through VK-1000 amplifiers as single-ended bridge designs. This fundamental circuit dates back to the early 1950's and was invented by Henry Wiggins while working for the ElectroVoice Company. The original name for this type of output topology was Circlotron. The single-ended bridge design relies upon two single-ended amplifiers arranged in a floating bridge formation. This differentiates it from other forms of bridge topologies, most of which effectively incorporate two push-pull sides. The output circuit is inherently balanced and is driven differentially from a preceding stage. The two DC bias currents that exist in each half of the output stage cancel each other in the load. It is a more expensive way of building an amplifier as it requires multiple floating power supplies, as opposed to the more traditional ground-referenced supplies. The benefits of this approach, however, include enhanced symmetry when compared to push-pull designs and lack of the DC saturation problem inherent to single-ended designs."

"The 300B is an amazing sounding tube, designed for audio. The 6C33 triode used in the BAT was certainly not."

While 6C33 may originally have been originally designed for russian military applications, its suitability for high end audio(in SE applications as well) is accepted by Lamm, BAT, and others.

Not trying to 'dis Audio Note here. 300B amps certainly have their following.