BAT vs. Quicksilver

Having had an episode with an amplifier company that embodied customer service at its worst, I have to tip my hat to the point Tubes108 makes.

You are not just buying the amplifier, but the company. Making sure you form a relationship with a company that offers good customer service pays dividends not always thought of at the time of purchase. Thankfully, the reputations of both Quicksilver (over a VERY long time) and BAT are quite good, so there should be no worries here.

If you have a new home, a larger listening room and you are a little short on funds, I think the last thing you want to do is to go around switching amps.

The question is do you like the BAT? If you do, the logical thing to do is to sit tight, not "push" the BAT too hard--I never had that problem--and wait unitl you are ready to buy a second BAT. You are not going to get any tube amp that has twice the power of the BAT and sounds as good for less money. You're gonna have to pay more, probably much more or settle for inferior sound.

In the long run, you'll be happier and save money by waiting until you're ready to change your system.

"Wanting is more satisfying than having." Mr. Spoc.

Good suggestion Justin - Keep in mind, not only in considering his suggestion, but in considering any of your alternatives, and someone correct me here if I'm wrong, but doubling your power is only going to give you an additional 3db. You said in your post you need MUCH more power. In my experience I would not consider doubling the power as gaining MUCH more power. That said, if you do like the BAT you have, weighed against the alternatives you are considering and the price you would be paying, I think Justin's suggestion is a good one.

Marco

Thanks Howard!

Hey Marco. On paper you are correct about doubling power results in a 3 db increase in sound. But there are no standards in rating power in amps; and keep in mind that this non-standardized spec is derived under laboratory conditions.

Other factors such as headroom and power supplies factor into the amount of juice an amp can provide in the real world setting of our audio systems, whose requirements (complex impedances) change by the microsecond. And thus, it is possible that a little under 20 watt Viva SET amp can drive the hell out of power hungry Sound Lab M1s, which typically is an amp killer.

In my view, most specs in audio components should be ignored, at least ignored in the sense that they cannot be used to compare one component to another. It is much better to plug something into your system and verify performance 1st hand.