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Amplifier Experience Gryphon Pass Lamm BAT

After living with a small integrated amp for quite some time (Pathos) I am finally about to take the plunge and buy myself a large power amplifier with a matching preamp. (Speakers are WB Chimeras)

I am focussed mostly on class A amps amd prefer a neutral sound erring on the warm side. After having lived with Pathos for a while I am looking for someting more powerful than most tube amps.

The brands and models I have narrowed it down to are:
- BAT VK52SE+ 2x BAT VK600
- Pass Labs XP-20 + XA160.5 Monos
- Lamm L2 Reference + Lamm M1.2 Reference Monos
- Gryphon Mirage + Antileon Signature Stereo

All models are used or ex-demo equipment I could get a good price on hence if some manufacturers (Krell, mbl etc.) are not included this is because there is either no opportunity or I excluded them for some other reason.

The above are listed according to price I could get them at with the BAT being quite a bit cheaper and the other three being quite close.

I will not be able to compare any of the above in the same room, etc so I would be grateful for any direct experience people have in comparing the above!
hamburgcity
semi
649 posts
 
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.
beerdraft
198 posts
 
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.
peterayer
1,382 posts
 
The only experience I have is with the Pass gear. I used to have an XA160 but traded it in for the new XA100.5. The .5 is a very substantial improvement.
sdrenslow
65 posts
 
Extremely happy w/ BAT VK-52SE and VK-600SE stereo amp. Going this route would allow upgrade from VK-52SE to REX and converting VK-600SE to mono and buying a second one. Outstanding dynamics, soundstaging, and instrumental tone and texture.
david12
1,454 posts
 
Hamburgcity Do'nt dismiss buying in the US and changing the voltage. I have done it several times, Conrad Johnson and Karan, no problem, Viva valve amp, major problems. Tube amps seem more problematic.

Manufacturers are producing for a world market, so they need to be made easy to adjust voltage, usually by changing the taps on the transformer. Spectral even have a switch to change voltage, you can do it yourself. So if you pick your amp carefully, you can buy on the Gon and import
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