jafant...
Oddly enough the tech at BAT noted that the unit I returned had been "dropped hard, onto a hard surface" causing the chassis to be bent and the led display to fail. This was not the case at all upon my receipt of it originally, something which I would have immediately related to Karl at The Music Room given that their site's description of the unit did not include such a physical condition. They describe their stuff pretty well. I repacked the unit as I received it, even forwarding photos to TMR to "cover my ass", as I did when I repacked the Neo and sent it to them. The BAT tech closed by stating there would be no investigation as to whom, or where, or when the alleged damage occurred, they repaired the unit and sent it back to TMR.
Although I was somewhat irked by those comments, BAT and TMR responded quickly, attending to a customer's issue, addressing it, resolving it. No complaints there. Had I dropped the unit causing the DOA, I would have contacted BAT directly myself and sought repair at that point. My parents didn't raise dishonest kids. Furthermore, even though I didn't buy it through the 'Gon, my reputation as a seller/buyer here and elsewhere is something I take very seriously.
Again, kudos to TMR's Karl who handled my trade and the issue professionally. Kudos as well to BAT for working with them to resolve the situation.
Anyway...
Yes, the BAT offers more detail than did the Neo at my listening levels. The phono stage is far superior to the Neo's to a degree that playing vinyl supercedes the ease of playing my server. It's THAT good. (Marantz TT-15 with an mm cartridge. Basically it's a rebadged Clearaudio tt.) I listened to "Life Is A Carnival" by the Band as sort of a test because that is one "busy as hell" piece of music, and, well, just wow. Then I tossed on "Cyril Davies", Ginger Baker, from my Sony HAPZ1es, a tune I use to judge equipment, and again the sonics were impressive. Both were listened to without the REL T7 in service, so the bass definition here, that I thought was missing from my 3.6's, was quickly evident. It seems we dwell a bit on Thiel's bass reproduction and/or lack of it at times, and I hasten to add that I ain't looking for the "boom" at all, Thiel bass reproduction is clean, articulate, uncolored. That's what I love the most about Thiel in general. That, and the mids and highs.
The BAT's tubed front end mimics the setup I employed with the Pass amp/BAT preamp I previously dug. The BAT takes about a minute to reach operation. A blue led light flashes in tandem with the main display until that's reached. I'm finding that things become more distinct after about an hour of play, which is pretty much par for the proverbial course with anything. There's a little more heat from the top of the unit because of the tubes, but I don't stack my equipment anyway, so that's never been an issue.
All in all, despite the glitch encountered, a good purchase. 1 year factory warranty, more power, good customer service, good amp.
