Bat VK-600M SE, or halcro dm-88 or MBL 9011

Among three you mentioned - BAT is the best and by far!!!. No question about it. Even better amps and twice cheaper ones are Spectron Musician III SE monoblocks. Their only problem is price so people who buys Halcro at their astronomical prices will never even try them.
All The Best
Rafael
P.S. I do not count LAMM mentioned here simply because they have very different power output - otherwise, its the heaven!

I have no experience with the Halcor amps but in the last year owned the BAT 600 mono amps, the MBL 9007 and finally, the MBL 9008 amps.

The BAT amps were, at the time, part of an all-BAT system including the lovely sounding REX pre amp. The speakers used with all of the amps in this posting were the MBL 101Es. The sound was excellent, though a bit on the "dark" side. Full-bodied, warm, rich, powerful, dynamic, all good attributes, but not as "transparent" as I like.

The MBL 9007 mono amps were better - better with the MBL speakers and obviously voiced to drive them. More tranparency, more neutral sounding for sure.

The MBL 9008s are better yet, make that clearly better. I see in an earlier post, the listener felt that the 9007s were superior to the 9008s. We all hear what we hear, but in my system and for my taste there is no comparison here. You get what you pay for. The 9008s are flat out the finest amps I have ever owned! And they run ice cold and do not break the bank with outrageous power demands. In fact, I leave them on all the time.

I use the MBL 1610D pre amp with the MBL amps and my comments about the 9007 and 9008 are based on an MBL pre amp driving them. Also, I use all Tara Zero cables and that combination has a sound of its own - not only outstandig, but rich, full bodied (tube-like in the best sense of the phrase), wonderfully detailed and transparent, with unlimited dynamics. But most of all, the combination sounds more real, more like live music than anything that I am familiar with.

The BAT and both MBL amps are all first rate. I suppose your check book will make the final choice for you.

Good listening,
David

If you're still looking in this super league, have you thought about any of the FM Acoustic amps? They are special and you can view testimony from more experienced ears than mine on their website: www.fmacoustics.com

Hi guys!

Thanks a lot for the answers! It seems it is a mixed feeling with the Halcro amps, but most seem to like the MBLs. I am amazed witk the sound of my Bats, but mr. Harley wrote in TAS that the bats was maybe lacking a bit of air in the treble. That is what got me thinking that maybe Halco or MBL could be better! I get ny new Usher BE-20 today, and will post a small review here on them soon.

Regards Eyolf

I've had the MBL 9008A's now for about 10 days and have been amazed at how good these amps sound. I've heard and owned many other highly regarded ss and tube amps and the 9008A's are special.....hardly "typical".

I have not heard BAT VK-600MSE and want to hear them. I have heard Halcro DM-88 compared to VTL Siegfried and thought Halcro sounded dry, analytical and totally unmusical. VTL Siegfried stomped all over Halcro. I own MBL9007 and this is the best solid state amp I've ever owned. It has much of the very best tube amplfier characteristics with warm, open and musical sound while having best of solid state fast, tight and controlled bass with weight. I used to own Theta Digital Citadel amplifiers as well and in comparison MBL9007 is night and day better. It would be interesting to compare MBL9007 with BAT VK600 MSE.

Osgorth, thank you very much for your suggestions. They are much appreciated.

Davis, if you don't need as much power as the 9008s give, try the smaller 8011AM monoblocks.. I find these are actually better than the 9008, even though they're much cheaper! :) Marginally less grunt, but more natural-sounding. Another option would be to listen to the new 9007 amps, which are between those two in the range (but a new design; the 9008s are fairly old by now). All of these will provide more power than your Lamms.

Good luck :)

Eyolf, Halcro are way hyped in my opinion. I think they sound "dead". I'm hearing nearly only praise for BAT, but have little experience with them myself, I'm afraid. I haven't heard the 9011 but most of the others in the MBL range, and they're a must-listen. I bought the 8011AM amps myself, and I think they are a revolution. If HP at TAS would hear these, I don't know what he'd write. ;) I've done direct comparisons with his much-hyped ASR Emitter II Exclusive, and although very good it's not even close. Even the smaller MBLs are much, much better, in particular when paired with an MBL pre-amp.

Hi,

I will be auditioning MBL 9008's in my system in the next 2 weeks(they are being shipped). I am currently using Lamm ML 2.1's which I like alot. The reason that I am even considering changing is because a year ago I was presented with the same opportunity to audition the MBL 1060D in my system and was so impressed, I bought it along with the MBL 1621A and 1611E. What impressed the most about the 1060D was how detailed and musical it was(best of both worlds,tubes and SS)It will be interesting to see how the 9008's compare.

Hello Eyolf! The Halcro's are sterile and cold sounding. They are not engaging. The MBL is a typical solid state sounding amplifier.

I think you have the best of those mentioned.