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Hi,
I'm on the fence between these 2 great preamps trying to decide which one is for me, with no chance to audition. I'm looking for:
1. clarity and highs that are crisp and extended/ not rolled off
2. bass, heft, weight, solidity
3. some definite tube sound/ as opposed to solid state or clinical
4. some warmth yet detailed
5. dynamics / top to bottom extension
To be used with Wyred 4 Sound ST-1000 preamp (60k ohm input impedance)
Thanks
Follow Ups:
I've owned a few tube preamps over the years including the BAT VK30se and the Cary SLP-05.
The Cary SLP-05 was in a totally different league. To my ears, it offered all of the benefits of tubes w/o any of the drawbacks.
Many tube preamps are less than fully extended in the lows and highs and often lack big dynamics or go a little soft in the slam department. Not the Cary.
The Cary SLP-05 is also smooth, warm, and transparent... some tube preamps are smooth and warm at the expense of transparency or clarity only giving the illusion of smoothness.
The SLP-05 is an incredible sounding tube preamp. THE best preamp I have owned.
I thought the VK30se was a bit veiled and not fully extended up top. It had kind of rich deep character but not crisp and lacking any sparkle or extension up top. Very nice user interface though, one of the best.
If you do not need balanced circuitry, I would look to Cary's smaller brother the SLP-98 with the F1 upgrades that include Jensen Oil/Copper coupling caps, Hexfred Diodes, Kimber silver output wire and also have the unit's output direct coupled to increase the pre's speed, HF extension, bass slam and increased dynamics. I like the SLP05 a lot, but I don't run balanced and I have no need for the internal head phone amplifier, which is about 1/2 the 05's circuitry.
I've owned both VK-31SE and VK-51SE. The 51SE matches all of your criteria, however if what you want is a warmer more tubey sound, you might consider an older VK-50 w/ 6922 tube complement. The 51SE excels at dynamic and nice weight in the bass and midrange, yet is very extended. I don't think it sounds stereotypical "tubey", and there are very good solid state preamps that approximate the 51SE sound.
The Carey SLP-05 is also impressive and I've heard it only briefly, however I have insufficient experience with it to form a legitimate opinion.
Ken
Does the BAT VK-51SE have any of the sound of tubes or is it strictly a solid state sound?
I find it harder and harder to use descriptions like "tube sound" or "solid state sound" with electronics of this caliber. The BAT and the Cary are both top notch pre-amps that have so much more going on than that.With the 51SE, you definitely get the benefit of the tubed circuits and oil caps to render the superb tonal characteristics and pitch definition, and refined midrange. The sound is full and warm, popping off of a black background. The bass has nice boldness and definition (not wooly at all), and the treble extension is excellent without being prominent or calling any attention to itself. The extension on both ends is superior to the 31SE. The tubes last a very long time, and I never did hear much of a difference beyween the NOS DR tubes from the EH Gold Pinned 6H30's - certainly nothing to justify the cost of the NOS tubes. They can be microphonic, however, and tube dampeners do well to take care of that.
What I also loved about the 51SE was that it was dead quiet, and devoid of tube noise and haze that you get with many tubed preamps. I should also mention that it is extremely flexible with the ability to label inputs, set custom levels for each source, invert polarity, nice large readable display with adjustable brightness, unity gain setting (HT bypass), and a remote that can perform all of the functions. BAT's customer service is also excellent. The only things I was left wanting was a power on/off signal to send to the amps via remote, and more than 4 characters to lebel inputs.The best solid state preamps from Pass and Marantz (Ayre also, though I've not heard it yet) carry most of the performance characterisitcs as well, and are in the same league. With the latest reference Pass and Marantz solid state preamps, there is an ever so slight extra steeliness in the treble that I actually like for most music, but not to be confused with stereotypical SS analytical, graininess or harshness. As a total package, the 51SE is as good as any preamp I've ever owned and I could easily go back to it and see how they synergize with VK-150SE's.
Ken
Edits: 01/31/10
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