Amplifier Experience Gryphon Pass Lamm BAT

Thanks Rtn1 and Beerdraft.

With regards to exchange rate you are right. The USD is such that american products were never cheaper BUT and that is a big BUT most European Distributors dont pass on the weak exchange rate at all. As a matter of fact i have seen enough example where the European or UK price are the same or more than in USD but in EUR or GBP instead. The excuses are usually weak but hell Audio distributors and retailers do not seem to bother if they loose business over here!

Most US products are only good value in Europe if bought 2nd hand or as ex-demo. I honestly wish guys i could take advantage of some of thouse Audiogon deals here but thanks to different voltages and the size and wieghts of speakers/amplifiers that is not going to happen easily!

That said Rtn1 BAT Rex and Pass XA200.5 is most impressive! BAT Rex uses tubes, is that correct?
I see you used Karan Acoustics too, how do they compare to Pass XA? You sold the Karan so that says something I guess!

BAT is interesting and price wise more attractive than the others. I wish I could compare them directly. All that upgrade schemes I find cofunsing though at best....

I would go with the Pass Labs XP-20 and the XA160.5. I love the sound of tubes but I own Apogee Divas and need a big amp combo like the XP-20 and XA160.5. I currently own an X350.5 with an XP 10 which has plenty of power and sounds great. I will upgrade to the the XP-20 and XA160.5 sometime next year. It took me years to get my system to sound like it does. I have listened to a friends system that had a set of XA160 and when he upgraded to the XA160.5 the difference was very big. It was 5 or 6 steps better. Somebody above said that there is little difference between the XA and the XA.5 series and I would have to disagree. The original XA series is a single single ended gain stage and does not have the current/ power that the XA.5 series does. The .5 is much more relaxed and effortless and rarely runs out power. The original XA series like easy loads and are not good for the challenge of difficult loads. Match your amp to your speakers. The XA60.5 and the XA100.5 may have more then enough power to run your speakers. The XA60.5 is a more powerful amp than the original XA160. Also keep in mind when you buy Pass Labs you get first class support and they actually answer their phone. I have owned many different high end systems and I have not had anything as good as Pass Labs

The Lamm L2 Reference preamp accompanied with the Lamm mono's setup is a good choice, usually this brand has solid state preamps.. a remarkable feature of this preamp is the polarity reversal switch that allows signal polarity reversal, it help you to find the best album position in polarity.

Since you are in Europe, you should give Einstein pre a listen. It's tube, super dynamic and resolving, and has a touch of tube sweetness. I would pick Einstein over MBL or Burmester because Einstein is tube.

I use Einstein with BAT 150SE, the match is very nice. I have also tried Einstein with other amps, both solid state and tube, Einstein has a very low output impedance so matching to even Pass Labs which has lower than typical input impedance is not an issue.

The BAT REX uses tubes, yes. It has like I don't know 6 or so in each unit. It also uses two power cords to separate the positive and negative phase. No need for tube rolling is one thing I like about this pre. Some of these pre's you can buy then you want to go on a tube hunt for them and Bat goes to extensive lengths to make sure they put the right tubes in the circuit. There is a switch I just found out that allows you to change the flavor a bit and its easy to do, just flip the switch and it puts two tubes in the circuit that change it slightly. Both ways sound excellent and I can't say which one I like better, but I like that its that easy to do so. They also have bat packs that they sell for even more of a change if needed for system synergy. Just my liking that I don't feel the need to go down the road of searching for the Nos tube of dreams like I did with my previous tube pre. Bat has done that for me and I like it.