bat vk 60 vs rogue mono 120s

Hello Cat, The point I think that is being misunderstood here is that the bat vk60se is not just an upgrade "it's a totally new product". I feel that bat is going out of their way for its previous loyal vk60 owners by offering the vk60se. Otherwise they would have to buy the 75se or the 150se at an even larger cost to keep up with the best bat has to offer. I don't think they should be begrudged for trying to do a good thing if anything they should be praised. You don't see ARC offering an upgrade for the VT200 to the REF series amps? But they do have ongoing upgrades to mk1, mk2, mk3 and each time the retail price goes up and up. This is something bat didn't do, the retail price stayed the same as far as I know from the beginning. They didn't announce a vk60mk1, vk602, or 3 as the years went by to make people feel like they needed to have the latest update. I hope this brings clarity to the viewpoint Sterling and I are trying to get across. I'm not offended if you like another design over the bat as no two people hear it the same way. I do feel think that you are way way of base by saying that bat is taking advantage of people by price gouging. Sonically they have repeatedly beat out competitors products costing up to and over twice as much to my ears. I urge people to make comparisons for themselves and trust their own ears. Regards, Tom

My dealer sells both BAT and Rogue and he has always made comments that have pushed me towards Rogue.Mark O.has a well designed business plan to offer hi-end performance audio gear that delivers true competition to the more expensive stuff.His advertising is is mostly word of mouth but he does have some ads in mags.that are obviously "budget" The cosmetics IMO are very nice but not fancy.When you buy a Rogue you buy the PERFORMANCE of some of the best audio hardware made.If some want to pay twice what Mark charges for similar performance,to each their own.Listener mag.recently reviewed the Rogue Tempest integrated and wrote a very brief "bio" of Mark.This guy has some mighty impressive back ground and education.I never knew before how qualified Mark really is.Before I bought my 99 I talked to many dealers.Some didnt even sell Rogue but I asked what they knew of Rogue anyway.The ones that did sell Rogue recommended Rogue over their "$better$" stuff.The ones that didnt sell Rogue commented (approx.50%) that if they carried Rogue it would hurt the sales of their higher priced stuff.The name of the game is money in their eyes.I'm glad my dealer was out to sell me the best he had without the need to make more from me by leading me towards the big buck stuff.

David99. I just received a special phono board for my 99 that Mark O'put together for me. He put a few fancier parts and sent me a full compliment of NOS GE's and Tung-Sols. It is as awesome sounding as the line stage. I talked to him at great lengths today and he is still laughing about the previous comment that he is no Victor Khomenko. As a professional he won't make a negative comment about a competitor. He is a real class act and seems to have fun building and talking about his wares. The guys at Kora are the same way. Just having fun in this crazy business. BTW I asked what it costs to have a set of 120's updated to "Magnum" status and he said they charge $1200. He defended BAT a little in the conversation because of the nature of these upgrades. He did not understand the extreme cost of the update that we have blathered about here. I guess it is just part of this low volume market. Well I will quit gobbing off here.

Yes catman,Mark is a class act.He has always bent over backwards to make my obsessive ass happy.When I first got my 99/phono I was concerned about the low level hiss from the phono stage.I sent the phono to him to check out and he found it to be very quiet(I was use to S.S.) but still found some quieter tubes for me at no extra cost.In hind sight the phono was very quiet.He just recently e-mailed me out of the blue to tell me he is sending me some NOS Russian 6SN7's to check out in the line-stage.He said if I like them to keep them for free,all he wants is a "Review" of them.Mark treats his customers like friends.Works for me!

David have you ever tried the 120's in your system and compared the to the pass you use.