BAT solid state or tube?

ribbons + tubed amplification = sonic pleasure

I use both tube and solid state BAT amps in my system along with a D5 and 5i.

The strengths of BAT SS amps are probably obvious to you, since you own one. They don't offer the typical 'personality' associated with most SS amps. They aren't etched, glassy or grainy sounding, but neither do they present an airy or 3 dimensional quality. IMO, they certainly lack that good ol' tube magic, and rightly so. I use a VK200 for the bottom half of my biamp rig.

The VK60 suffers from a bit of bloat. It does't render low frequencies as well as a good SS amp can, but the realism & rendering of individual performers in space is very engaging and the upper frequency extremes are sweet and delicate. In short, the midrange is to die for. For female vocals(one of my weaknesses), there is nothing better than a good tube amp, and this is one of them. As you can probably guess, I use a VK60 for the top half of my biamp rig.

If I had to choose between the two, given my musical tastes, I would choose the VK60 hands down. I can live with less than perfect bass performance.

In my limited time listening to the VK75se, I got the impression that there would be much less of a trade off between the two design types. YMMV...

Loonytunz, thanks for your thoughts, which are very relevant (not meaning to exclude PBB and Artg in any way); your experience is exactly what I am seeking.

Just wondering, why not sell the 60 & 200 and get the 75se?

My impressions of the 500 have been very good. Lots of air, very palpable image, rock solid image in the middle of the speakers. A huge upgrade over my previous DNA-1, which I also loved. However, after listening my friend's tricked out Dynaco ST-70 in my system I was very impressed with the extra palpability. This was most noticable when I took his tubes out, and put my ss back. Sounded ... uh ... dang ... can't find the words ... well, ... not as real.

2 more VK-60's offered today .... hmmmm. Is 60w big enough?

Decisions, decisions...

Thanks

Funny you should mention that. As soon as the stars are aligned properly, I will be getting a 75se. I'm really thrilled with the biamp setup for now, but if I could get similar results (and less heat) with a single amp, I would be hard pressed not to do it.

Once you've spent some time with a good tube amp, everything else seems somehow lesser, even if it doesn't do anything particularly wrong.

Whether 60 watts is 'big enough' or not depends a lot on what you listen to and how you listen to it. FWIW, the VK60 can rock the house with even moderately efficient speakers and not run out of gas. The other upside: you won't need a heater in the winter!

I do live in Alaska ....