BAT or Pass With My Sophia 2s?

I am very happy with my BAT VK-52SE tube preamp and BAT VK-600SE amp driving a pair of Wilson Sophia 2's. The bass is one tick less tight (but still very good) than when I had a SS preamp, but the midrange and treble is much better. Unfortunately, have not compared Pass gear, so not much help on that point. Good luck!

What Tvad says is true. If you go with the Pass, you need to be careful to find a preamp (that you like) that has low output impedance.

I'm picky about preamps and I've gone through several in the last couple years.

I have no experience with any of the Bat preamps (although I'd like to try them).

I'll be auditioning a Joule over the next week.

Madfloyd - thanks for sharing your impressions. Thinking of going VK600SE and Rex preamp. Any experience on your end with the Rex?

Meant to add that if you're going with a tube pre, the Bat would be the one I recommend.

I have both: a pair of Pass XA 100.5 monoblocks and a VK-600SE.

My speakers are Wilson Sophia 2. Preamp varies between SS and tubes (I'm still searching...)

Both are great amps. The differences to my ears:

Pass:
- Better midrange
- Thicker, more tube-like bass
- Warmer presentation overall, not much in the way of 'air', but highs are very smooth

Bat
- Bass is much tighter, less overhang
- Midrange and highs not as smooth as Pass
- Leaner presentation with much more air

At the moment I prefer the Bat, but both amps are great.

Keith - the Ayon is a keeper, and I was planning on using it in an upstairs listening room. The reason for considering solid state is that the equipment behind the Sophias will be going in a closet, and I'm concerned about the heat from a tube based amp. I know the big BAT amp (VK600-SE) runs hot, but not nearly as hot as my Triton.

Thanks for the comments so far - anyone else?

I am using the X350 with WP8 (in secondary system) and am quite happy with it. Infact, the Pass does make for a mellow combination - while retaining the bass performance. Only experience with BAT was a pre-amp about 3-4 years ago (VK30?) and I was very UNHAPPY with the tubby sound - kind of flabby and lifeless. Since then, I have never looked at a BAT piece but my experience may have been an extreme outlier.

Pass on the Bat ............. LOL... !

I think your Ayon Triton would be the best match. Have you gotten rid of it already? Wilsons really sound great with tubes. I think your move to BAT or Pass would be lateral at best.

I really enjoyed the BAT 75SE on them for a long time. I've owned a Pass amp (X250.5), but not when I had my Sophia1s. I think it would work fine, but I would prefer BAT sound with Wilson---a shade dark really works well with Wilson imo.

KeithR