Anyone compared BAT Rex vs. Atmasphere MP-1?

08-27-10: Raquel
If you have long IC runs (2+ meters) to your amp, I would be inclined to consider the top solid-state pre's in order to avoid the impedance issues and problems running long cables that almost all tube preamps (except those using output transformers) suffer from.

Both these preamps are fully balanced/differential from input to output. No output transformers(Ralph Karsten doesn't use them in any of his products). The MP-1(& MP-3) put out 32v@600ohms, the Rex 200ohms. The Atma preamps are claimed to easily drive cables of up to 200ft long. So, cable influence is essentially a non-factor when run to true balanced inputs of a power amp.

Aaah, I get what you are saying now, thanks for the tip. Luckily, everything that I am considering is 100k and up.

Rtml, thank you for the great description. I find myself leaning towards a more rich(not overly-ripe, though) and powerful sound. I had considered ARC, but since I will be buying used, I didn't want to deal with trying to decide between the Ref 2, 3, 4, or 5 to find where the "sweet spot" for price versus performance was.

Simontju, I will ask Victor. He is always great with technical advice - whether about his products or just engineering in general.

No problem with minor tangent of discussion, Raquel, as long as it is informative. And your points fit that definition to a "T". You have given me a lot more to look into before making an expensive leap.

I still need to nail down which speaker genre I want to explore(having tried SET & high(er) efficiency wide-range driver) - electrostat/ribbon, line array, multi-way cone driver. I'd like to try a fully balanced/differential system from source to speaker. But, that may be hard when it comes to phono preamps(except maybe Atma-sphere)

09-01-10: Maril555
I've had BAT REX in my system for a significant period of time, and so far, it's the best preamp I've ever heard (others include Supratek, Nagra, Doshi).

I have considered those three preamps, too. Could you please describe how the Rex's musical presentation differed from them and others you've had the good fortune to use?

As usual, this thread deviated from the original question- comparison of BAT REX and Atma Sphere MP-1 (MK III?).

In this particular case, I find the discussions of tube life and 24/7 operation, while tangential to the original post, extremely relevant since both preamplifiers use 18 tubes each. I have read about amps/preamps who require retubing every couple of years at fairly high expense and would like to avoid that.

09-01-10: Maril555
REX...I still feel, one day I might have it in my system again, it was that addictive.

Oh my, that just feeds into my obsession.