ARC LS 25 MK II vs. BAT VK30SE

I believe the 3 hours drive would be worth it. ARC's largest undoings is their design indecision and their insistance on using large amounts of feed-back. The BAT is better.

Hello Eg1 and Tom, Although I haven't compared the pre-amps in ?. Everytime I've compared Bat to ARC (pre-amps and amps) Bat IMHO has won and not by a small degree. If you can please make the comparison and trust your own ears. All the best, Tom

Having done head to head listening comparison in my system of ARC Ref 1 and BAT VK50SE the 50SE was the clear winner. ARC makes a good product, don't get me wrong, however I find their "house sound" a little much. To me the ARC's have a bump in the upper mids that is annoying and a sheen or sibilance that is just not present in the BAT product. BTW, I was a happy owner of an ARC SP-11 for many years, UNTIL I demo'd BAT preamp in my home. After that.......

Sold my LS15 to upgrade, thought I would get LS25 or Ref 1 or 2. I bought a Sonic Frontier Line 3 without audition to it, but what a surprise! Much more open and transparent, more neutral as well. ARC always tries to retain that little bit of "warmth", so music can be colored.

I used several ARC preamps over the years and have always thought very highly of them. The LS2b, SP14 were superior to many others at similar price points. I switched to Modulus 3a and also found it to be very good, however, my last change, about 18 months ago was to the CARY SLP-98 with Tungsols and KenRad VT231 tubes. WOW, what a differenc a great preamp with superior tubes can make. I auditioned the BAT 60 and 30SE preamp last weekend at a dealer with my wife, and we were very impressed with the soundstage depth, presence and liquid presentation on female vocals. Our next move will probally be to the BAT amps, but my CARY stays! Highly recommend you put it in the 3K price point search for musical satisfaction. Hope the helps.