BAT at CES?

At CES the REX monoblocks were very transparent, fast, and linear top-to-bottom, with improved frequency extension and bass control. REX has none of the slowness and over-ripe plushness and toobie sweetness of the -SE version. I have heard Shashas in a half dozen systems-- they never sounded as good as with REX.

The chassis aesthetics are very similar to -SE except for better finished two-tone metal and St. Louis arched grip bar at the back.

Dgarretson described it very well- REX had a great control
over Sashas, very easy and relaxed presentation, not "tubey", great resolution and details. Very musical and engaging.
In another room Sasha were playing with Lamm M 2.1 monoblocks, and I liked BAT better

As a BAT owner, this is a bummer,sounds great but not great looking.Please Victor, can we leave Sputnik in the past and create a slick looking tube amp?? Rehash for 30k is just insulting.

:) I have to agree that we are not known for cosmetic extravaganza, but so far the reaction from people who have seen them live has been very positive - they look better in flesh than in snapshots. A bit too conservative? Perhaps. But today one has to make tough choices and while looks are important, they should not steal from the stuff that's inside.

Inside you have a very substantial redesign, and as some posts here indicate - the result is rewarding. Needless to say, achieving sizable improvements to sound of already fine amplifiers is not trivial.

Regarding the price... boy, do I wish we could bring such amps to the market for much lower price! But there are realities. The VK-150SE amps are priced today at $9000, and have been for most of their lives. However, their production cost has nearly doubled in almost ten years since their introduction. If they were designed today, they would have to be priced substantially higher in order to maintain any reasonable profit margin.

Happy listening!

Victor Khomenko

Congratulations Victor! Can't wait to hear music with these amps in my system. Someday it will happen .. until then it's nice to dream.

best,
Tom