Ayre V-3 vs BAT VK-200 vs Classe' CA-200

JONT - my amp has had all of the upgrades except the "conditioner". What do you mean by "dropping the ground"?

I did try the tweaks that Jont had mentioned. Dropping the ground on the Ayre V3 did make a huge differnce! Much greater soundstage. By the way if you speak with the folks at Ayre they also suggest that you do this. And most units that are older than 1996 also benifit from switcing the polarity.

I love my Classe CA200/201. I don't know that I would recommend switching from the Ayre though. Just thinking price/performance I would hold out until you want to swap into a higher amp than any of those options. Right now, all three of those amps are in the same class, they just are different. Tide yourself over with some of those upgrades they are raving about.

I would have to agree with goldmans statement. I beleive the Ayre is highly under rated...Best-Gary

Keep the Ayre.....nothing will be satisfying long term like the Ayre. Many products have an initial zing that get you interested but the Ayre is the best SS amp on the planet. Keep it or you will regret it.

I own a Classe CA 200 and in no way would charaterize it as "flat". What power cord and associated equipment are you strangling your amp with to make Classe sound flat? Classe IMO is one of the more natural sounding amps, particularly in the midrange area which makes it an excellent match for many very revealing speaker brands.

Bought a used BAT VK-200 a month ago, and it makes the sweetest sound I've ever heard from my Bryston BP-25/B&W 802's. Very warm, yet incredible, tuneful midrange detail. Not the final word in high end brightness, but it sure sounds like music to me, not electronics. Very tube like, if that's what you want. Krell, Aragon, Clayton, ARC left me out in the harsh cold. BAT invites me in to listen comfortably for a while.

i've owned both the BAT and Arye. the BAT is more tube like (more of a warm, romantic sound) the Arye is more accurate. I've also heard the Ayre without upgrades/with the component upgrade/and with both upgrades. IF YOU OWN THE AYRE WITH THE UPGRADES, DROP THE GROUND. it makes a tremendous difference with the sound stage. it is dramatic. if you own an Ayre without the upgrades leave it grounded (also there is a 3-4db decrease in spl with the upgrades (unrelated to dropping the ground)). which one did i like more? female vocalist, i liked the BAT, everything else, the Arye....

Get the upgrades! I too have an Ayre V3 with all but the Ayre Conditioner upgrade and would not trade that baby in for anything. I have compared the Ayre to the Krell KSA S series and FPB series and found it far more musical IMO. I also would agree with the above comments on the Classe being to flat. Have not heard the BAT...What kind of speakers are you using with the Ayre? Best of luck.

I too own a V3 and auditioned the Classe before buying it. The Clasee was forward and flat compared to tha Ayre. Even the new Classe gear suffers the same (budy of mine will be putting CA-200 up for sale because of this). I have not heard the BAT and will offer no opinion. The Ayre can be tweaked for better performance. First, get the upgrades! I have all but the ayre-conditioner and found that the upper and lower frequencies were improved. The try to get some heavy duty sobothane feet to put under its rubber feet. They both significantly improve the V3 performance.