VK-31 or other BAT preamp upgrade

am right in there with Mark and would love to get peoples perspective

You might want to read my review of the 31SE for one perspective.

http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?rprea&1048831707&openusid&zzKipdent&4&5#Kipdent

I also reviewed the BAT VK-P10SE with SuperPak.

http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?rprea&1130915875&openusid&zzKipdent&4&5#Kipdent

Kip

Kip, the 31SE does not use 6922's, it uses 6H30 tubes. Therefore it is not really relevant to this specific question.

John

I think it is cheaper to sell the VK-31, then buy an used VK-31SE. The cost of the upgrade is just too much.

By the way, I may sell my VK-31SE soon, any one interested?

Dtsag, you made the same mistake that Kipdent made. Re-read Mark's original post. He is looking for someone with experience that has upgraded the capacitors in their BAT preamp that uses 6922 tubes, not 6H30's like in the 31SE.
Many still prefer the sound of the 6922 to the sound of the 6H30's. The 6922 offers more midrange bloom, while the 6H30 is more dynamic. Mark isn't asking about a upgrade to a VK-31SE. Do you even know that the VK-31 is still a current preamp from BAT? The reason is, some people do not like the 6H30 tube, they find it sterile sounding.

BTW, this is not the forum to post a classified ad. Splurge and spend the $6.

Happy Holidays,

John

Hello again,

John has it exactly right. I would like to hear from anyone who has tried the Super-Pak or Six-Pak upgrades to the VK-31 or any other recent BAT preamp that uses the 6922 tube. I don't like the sound of the 6H30, so it doesn't help me if anyone relates his experience with the SE versions of BAT preamps. So, again, can anyone help with the question I asked? Thanks.

Mark,

Though I cannot answer your question specifically, I did own a VK-P5 and later a VK-P10SE w/ Super-Pak phono preamps. BAT's phono preamp was based on the 6922 tube. I also have a lot of experience with BAT preamps. I've owned the 31SE. 50SE and 51SE.
IMHO, you will notice a very impressive increase in performance, particularly in the music's weight, rhythm, and soundstage. That's the plus side. The negative is that these caps seem not to last as long as one would like, and they are expensive to replace. Figure $600 just to replace the six-packs. The Super-Paks are much larger caps, so I believe the price would be even more substantial to replace. The six-packs that failed in my 51SE were only 4 years old. BAT says that they should last 5-7 years.

So they definitely improve the sound, but they are high maintenance. Again, this was just my personal opinion. I hope this helps.

Regards,
John

Mark,

Though I cannot answer your question specifically, I did own a VK-P5 and later a VK-P10SE w/ Super-Pak phono preamps. BAT's phono preamp was based on the 6922 tube. I also have a lot of experience with BAT preamps. I've owned the 31SE. 50SE and 51SE.
IMHO, you will notice a very impressive increase in performance, particularly in the music's weight, rhythm, and soundstage. That's the plus side. The negative is that these caps seem not to last as long as one would like, and they are expensive to replace. Figure $600 just to replace the six-packs. The Super-Paks are much larger caps, so I believe the price would be even more substantial. The six-packs that failed in my 51SE were only 4 years old. BAT says that they should last 5-7 years.

So they definitely improve the sound, but they are high maintenance. Again, this was just my personal opinion. I hope this helps.

Regards,
John

Just a comment on the SIX-PAK "life time" issue. The oil capacitors used in the SIX-PAK's really have no wear out mechanism, and their life time is extremely long - probably in decades, certainly not 5 or 7 years. However, some samples may have less than perfect seal, and these with time will develop electrical leakage due to moisture penetration. The percentage of these defective units is small, and their replacement is often covered under warranty.

Even being small in frequency, that is still, of course, a concern, and an inconvenience, and we worked with the factory to address that issue. The factory has redesigned the seal, and since then we have not seen any such failures.

The leakage is only a concern in the output capacitors - the SIX-PAK's or single ones, but not in the SUPER-PAK's.

Balanced Audio

Thanks for the info.
How recent are the factory's capacitor imporvements? My vk-p5 with six pak is about 3 years old.