Got a BAT VK-225se ... Holy Moly!

Yes, Victor really knows his stuff. Enjoy!

Congratulations on your new amp! As always its not just the wattage but also parts quality and stiffness of the power supply!

IME, upgrading to a great amp makes close to as much difference as upgrading to a great speaker.

For the price I would hope so

Glad you are enjoying it. Didn’t you recently get a Don Sacks preamp ? How does this new BAT amp play in the mix. ? Don Sacks with MF in a 2ndary system ?......Jond, I think the circuit configuration has a lot to do with it as well, agreeing with you about parts and power supply being significant. 

@mrdecibel ...I returned the Sachs preamp. There was some damage to the unit due to shipping, and the wait in the queue was too long. Don was great and gave me a full refund. However, I was able to hear the Sachs preamp for a couple of hours and it sounded quite good; however, it was not a night and day difference to my existing BAT VK-3i.

So, I decided to keep the BAT preamp and match it with a BAT power amp for purposes of synergy. They work great together, and I like the BAT combo much better than the Sachs/Musical Fidelity combo.

@gochurchgo ...I did not pay list on the amp.

Awesome ! Happy listening. 

however, it was not a night and day difference to my existing BAT VK-3i.

I had the BAT 31SE in the 2002-2005 years and loved it......until I heard the Aesthetix Callisto Signature in my system.  Such is progress, right!

The 31SE would certainly be a night and day difference to the 3i.  The 31SE was a significant step up from my long time (7 years) reference ARC LS5 II and III with that product's great 3D but the BAT had much more extended and smooth bass and a presentation back at the speakers and behind vs. the in-your-face ARC presentation. 

The 31SE pops up from time to time in the $2300 or so range.  And if you use the phono board in the 3i, the 31SE supports that too.  So keep your eyes out for it....or perhaps its successors 32SE or 33SE which I have no experience with.  Oh, and I have a mono pair of 600SE amps driving Sound Lab A1s and the pairing is outstanding so I can understand your excitement with your new BAT amp.  Congratulations on your purchase.

.

enjoy ! every time I hear a system w BAT amps, pre or phono I tend to smile :-) they make great music..

enjoy !!!!!

Sigh......

I really really do miss my VK600SE.

One of those items I should have kept but no I became convinced that class D was the new way to go.
Sheesh!

Enjoy your BAT combo!

Thanks to all for the good wishes. The sound of the BAT combo is awesome and I’m having a huge blast. The VK-225se has amazing punch and control; it is a wonderful amp and I am very pleased with it. Not cheap, but this is a prime example of paying for quality.

One recommendation ... it turns out I had some DC offset on the line going to the amp which resulted in a very slight transformer hum. Hadn’t heard it with my other amp because it is choke regulated. Anyway, I bought an Emotiva CMX-2, which has a DC offset feature. I plugged the BAT into the Emotiva, and there was dead silence ... no hum at all. Here’s a link explaining the Emotiva unit ... I recommend it highly, particularly for units with large, toroidal tranformers. https://emotiva.com/products/cmx-2

BAT makes good stuff.  I had a VK 200 for a while that I picked-up used.  Was a really great amp.  Punched WAY above it's weight.  If I needed a budget amp I would look for one again in a heartbeat.

I've not had the chance to own one of their pre-amp's.  I'd like to try one someday.  

I have a BAT 225SE and 23SE That I want to sell on Audiogon.  What shoukd I ask?  I bought them in 2016 and thay are in mint condition, still under warantee.

What's your reason for selling?

Hi Rib61,

Did you ever try the BAT VK250SE??  I just bought the BAT VK 23SE and love it so far.  Only have 10 hours of burn in.  My Amp now is the Adcom 555MKII.  Still works good but I agree with you in moving to all BAT.
My speakers are 87DB sensitive.  But need 50-150W (300W Pecks)
I really like the older sound of BAT.  Like the VK 250SE.  Thinking of mixing the new with the old BAT sound.  Like you did only the reverse. But your glowing review about the VK 225SE has got me thinking ether the VK 250SE vs the new VK 225SE.

Any thoughts from you or anyone else??
Thanks

BAT VK-225se power amp, and all I can say is WOW!
Bass slam, grip, and control are simply astounding

 Comes from having a great power supply and bi-polar (BJT) output stage able to deliver big current when needed, even into low impedances.

"BAT: Bipolar transistors in its discrete Class AB output stage. Each channel uses six high-power bipolar output devices, boasting a combined rating of 1380 watts."  

Cheers George

@stereo-one ... it depends what you’re looking for. The VK-255se is a Mosfet amp and runs kind of hot (Victor told me that as well). Victor told me also that he thought the VK-225se was an under the radar amp, and that it hasn’t gotten the kind of attention it deserves. IIRC, the VK-250se also is a Mosfet amp and may run hot as well.

As to sound, I’ve always found BJTs (like the VK-225se) to have a very nice overall balance while Mosfets seem to have a bit more slam. Given that I have a small room, I felt that the 225se was more appropriate for my application. Of course, YMMV.

Remember that this is just a generalization, and could change based on how the circuit is implemented by the designer. You may want to try both in your system, if possible, and listen for a synergy that satisfies you. In any event, one really can’t go wrong with a BAT amp and pre-amp combo.

Rib61,
I recently bought the BAT VK-43SE.  Which is a great sounding preamp. I was hoping to find a 42SE  but could not.  From what I've been told it's pretty accurate that the 42SE is more tube like.  Where is the 43SE is definitely more three-dimensional with a lower noise floor.   The highs at times are a bit harsh for me.  I auditioned The Mcintosh MC152 which sounded amazing with the BAT VK 43SE.  Very balanced but I can't remember if it softens the highs which is what I was looking for.  At that time I was having a turntable issue.  I now have had the VK-225SE which gave me a little more rich deep bass.  More of a little punch that some of my CDs and records needed In my opinion.  But the characteristics have changed.  Now I thing the VK 225SE Is a little too bloomy in bass.  The Macintosh MC152 was much more Refined. That added to the three-dimensional sound of the VK-43SE.  So Right now I'm a little confused About the VK-225SE.  You mentioned Transformer hum of which I just noticed recently.  And the noise floor is much higher.  At the beginning with the VK-225SE it was very low and quiet.   The VK 225SE Volume levels are much lower with the 43SE on both sources.  I did like the Mac because right now the BAT sounds a little dark.   I'm wondering if the Mac would round off the highs a little more.  Any thoughts?

Brand matching can’t be better.....I have an all Ayre system and have confidence my system is at its optimum too

@stereo-one ... I think any bass bloom with the VK-225SE is due to having matched the amp with a SS preamp. I have never had luck matching SS with SS. In my case, I have an older VK-3i tube based preamp which works very well with the SS power amp. Also, you may want to check on your room treatments. If the room is untreated, then call GIK Acoustics for an opinion as to how to treat yours. If the room is treated currently, then you may be sucking up too much bass ... so, start to remove some treatments incrementally and that may help. As to the noise, that was an issue with hash on my house lines, which was remedied by the Emotiva CMX-2, and I suggest you try one if you don’t have a dedicated line.

If you get too obsessed with gear and sound you'll never be satisfied with anything no matter the cost! (Professional musician & Audiophile for over 45+ years).

@doctorrob77 + 1

Also for me Holy Moly BAT , I ; m using 2 x BAT VK1000 for biamp drive the B & W 800N , preamp Audio Research REF 3 .What can I wish more