Bat VK-600M SE, or halcro dm-88 or MBL 9011

I have not heard BAT VK-600MSE and want to hear them. I have heard Halcro DM-88 compared to VTL Siegfried and thought Halcro sounded dry, analytical and totally unmusical. VTL Siegfried stomped all over Halcro. I own MBL9007 and this is the best solid state amp I've ever owned. It has much of the very best tube amplfier characteristics with warm, open and musical sound while having best of solid state fast, tight and controlled bass with weight. I used to own Theta Digital Citadel amplifiers as well and in comparison MBL9007 is night and day better. It would be interesting to compare MBL9007 with BAT VK600 MSE.

I've had the MBL 9008A's now for about 10 days and have been amazed at how good these amps sound. I've heard and owned many other highly regarded ss and tube amps and the 9008A's are special.....hardly "typical".

Hi guys!

Thanks a lot for the answers! It seems it is a mixed feeling with the Halcro amps, but most seem to like the MBLs. I am amazed witk the sound of my Bats, but mr. Harley wrote in TAS that the bats was maybe lacking a bit of air in the treble. That is what got me thinking that maybe Halco or MBL could be better! I get ny new Usher BE-20 today, and will post a small review here on them soon.

Regards Eyolf

If you're still looking in this super league, have you thought about any of the FM Acoustic amps? They are special and you can view testimony from more experienced ears than mine on their website: www.fmacoustics.com

I have no experience with the Halcor amps but in the last year owned the BAT 600 mono amps, the MBL 9007 and finally, the MBL 9008 amps.

The BAT amps were, at the time, part of an all-BAT system including the lovely sounding REX pre amp. The speakers used with all of the amps in this posting were the MBL 101Es. The sound was excellent, though a bit on the "dark" side. Full-bodied, warm, rich, powerful, dynamic, all good attributes, but not as "transparent" as I like.

The MBL 9007 mono amps were better - better with the MBL speakers and obviously voiced to drive them. More tranparency, more neutral sounding for sure.

The MBL 9008s are better yet, make that clearly better. I see in an earlier post, the listener felt that the 9007s were superior to the 9008s. We all hear what we hear, but in my system and for my taste there is no comparison here. You get what you pay for. The 9008s are flat out the finest amps I have ever owned! And they run ice cold and do not break the bank with outrageous power demands. In fact, I leave them on all the time.

I use the MBL 1610D pre amp with the MBL amps and my comments about the 9007 and 9008 are based on an MBL pre amp driving them. Also, I use all Tara Zero cables and that combination has a sound of its own - not only outstandig, but rich, full bodied (tube-like in the best sense of the phrase), wonderfully detailed and transparent, with unlimited dynamics. But most of all, the combination sounds more real, more like live music than anything that I am familiar with.

The BAT and both MBL amps are all first rate. I suppose your check book will make the final choice for you.

Good listening,
David