I'm thinking of getting into tubes, what do you

Gfloyd53,
Just got caught up on this thread. Sorry to have left you hanging. I think the break-in was the key to your initial issues.
From your comment about jumpers, it sounds like the speakers are bi-wirable. I'd post a question in speaker forum or search archives re: B&W biwiring. On some speakers it makes tons of difference. You might be able to borrow someone else's biwires and give it a try. B&W dealers would also have recommendations.
Lastly, BAT gear is made balanced and strongly prefers balanced XLR interconnects. Hope you are using them. If not, you aren't hearing all that you paid for. Even lower priced balanced cables can outperform some higher-priced singe-ended cables with their gear.
Keep us updated, you're well on your way. Cheers, Spencer

Hello again Sbank,
Yes. I'm using XLR connections. I may be doing biwires someday. I have in the past like when I was using Synergistic Reaearch Designer's Reference and Resolution Reference with the big Krell KAS2 amplifiers. It was better than either single run. But, Siltech G5 Signature Echo Bay single run sounded better than anything else by a LONNNNG shot! However, I never tried biwiring with the Siltechs (too expensive anyway). The next thing I'm considreing for the B&W 801s is the Northcreek external crossover. It will be awhile before I get around to it though.

Thanks to everyone for their advice. However, I'm leaving tubes behind. The combo was really starting to open up and was starting sound pretty good when a tube or tubes in the preamp decided to act up. I called Kevin at Upscale audio and after describing the sound he agreed that it was probably one of the tubes. So, I sold the VK-30 as needing tubes. However I might stay with BAT solid state designs.

Hi,
sorry to see you let go of tube. It's common to replace tubes and tube rolling, for me, is half the fun. I'm currently running Bat cdp and pre with a ss. amp. With revealing speakers tube rolling will allow you to "tune" the sound to your personal taste. Eventhough I'm relatively new with all this stuff and tubes was intimidating at first, changing them is as simple as changing a light bulb. There are good resources on tubes available on the net. Check out Joe's tube lore to get some basic information.

Don't feel bad about the VK-30 as I was never a big fan of their product. One best example would be the reissued Marantz 9.... the worst amp ever in terms of quality. Many of my friends bought it, tried it, and dumped it. Guess who build them for Marantz?