BAT VK-500 (with BatPak) vs Belles 350a?

Anyone compared any BAT gear to Power Modules gear? 

...anyone?

I am auditioning a Belles 350a this weekend in hopes that it can replace my BAT vk-500 (with bat pak).

was just curious if anyone has made comparisons before. 

The VK-500 with bat pak is pretty special. This Belles is gonna have to do something magic to beat it.

Ok here’s my quick review:

Belles 350a Reference (in comparison to the VK-500)

The Belles is more detailed and clearer layering more apparent. Absolutely no mud but also no ‘glue’.

The amp comes off as all midrange and highs, which makes sibilants feel a bit less obtrusive, more integrated.

It’s not a ‘transportive’ amplifier, it doesn’t take you anywhere. Feels like a clean cutting surgeon in a stainless steel room, clinical and not very sexy. 

Definitely a wider more holographic presentation. But not as full frequency as the VK-500. The Belles is missing that foundational low end. Perhaps it is too dampened...?

Even at lower volumes still very clear and forward. Maybe a bit better dynamics in the upper mids/low highs. Lot of energy here makes the amp feel a bit faster than the VK-500. This is the only area of real excitement in this amp—think Baba Oriley rebellious guitar strums really jumping. 

When you aren’t being pushed always by the aggressive upper mids it’s very easy to hear into any mix. There is more air than the VK-500 with some nice specificity of instrument placement. 

...I was hoping the Belles would replace my VK-500. The VK-500 is a beast of an amp, at about 110 lbs it is the largest heaviest machine I have owned, not including automobiles. But the 500 makes music—warm, rich, intensely impactful in the lows, setting up an incredible foundation for the rest of the soundscape to be intoxicating and inviting. It’s rare to stop thinking about the gear and to be swept away by the music. The VK-500 achieves this. 

In summation, the Belles would be extremely useful as an ‘in-studio’ amplifier. With silk dome tweeters and a more mellow, woody speaker, it would promote effortless appreciation of any mix.

I have a vk-200 up here for sale. Maybe I should hold on to it.

Such good music is made with this gear and it totally eliminates issues associated with dirty power.

The 500 is a bit more laid back and romantic in comparison to the 200. The 200 gets up and moves! But the 200 can’t energize your room with those foundational lows like the 500 can. Those firm powerful lows create winch an incredible bed for the rest of the music to float upon.

@pcc67 

I only listened to my VK-200 as driving the top end of my incredibly difficult to drive Infinity Kappa 8's. Please keep that in mind as I ramble. Currently running Kappa 7's so might get the 200 out again and see whats what.

Impressions:
The VK-200 is different than the 500. It immediately seems more 'live' and immediate. It more forward and has more 'swing' than the 500. I have a feeling since it has less power you can hear the ebb and flow as it works against the speakers. The 200 gets your toes tapping. Initially in the add here for the 200 that I am selling I said something like, "it makes James Brown and Genesis (the band) both 'get up an move' sounding. Sound stage was similar to the 500 but i remember a bit more separation and air, but this might be due to the upper mid and lower highs feeling a bit 'dry' or 'papery'.

The VK-500 is luscious, fleshy, grand, feels more recessed but not less forward (in comparison to the 200).  The 500 is a like listening in a larger room. The bass seems to launch the rest of the music into your room or at least is provides a marble foundation upon which everything else plays. Can be scary real. I do not have a typical/standard tube amp in my collection, just a more esoteric David Berning amp, but I imagine the VK-500 get close to that organic inviting tube quality.

Both amps have that startle factor where you get so lost listening that something will happen in the music that will make you jump. Both are perfectly built.  The 500 is absurdly heavy--110lbs about. THe lights do subtly dim when you turn it on... The balanced power design of these amps is a godsend! DIrty power is no longer a problem as long as you are using a balanced power conditioner with the rest of your gear.

You could monoblock two 200's?  Monoblock 500's is really an endgame setup.