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Extreme Midrange Bloom

Hello: I'm using a BAT VK52SE with the 6H30DR tubes recommended by several folks here on the Gon. I've noticed an extreme emphasis in the upper midrange frequencies which is somewhat unsettling and in fact causes an almost artificial honking presentation. Is this simply the BAT house sound or is there something I can do to resolve this anomaly? I've never experienced this in any other preamp I've owned in the past. I love the build and general fit and finish of this preamp. The user interface is excellent. An audio enthusiast friend suggested this could possibly be a result of the oil filled caps BAT is using. Any help would be most welcome since the pre is great in every other way. Accurate bass, sweet highs and a very unfortunate bloated midrange.
frontier1
jmcgrogan2's avatar
jmcgrogan2
6,346 posts
 
How many hours do you have on the tubes? It could be that they are still burning in.

That being said, I preffered the older VK-31SE/VK-51SE series to the newer VK-32SE that I auditioned, for similar reasons. I found the VK-32SE to have a sweeter midrange, with more bloom, but it lost much of the dynamics and authority of the VK-31SE/VK-51SE, IMHO. FWIW, I solved this problem by buying a ARC Ref 3, which I like better than all of the BAT preamps, though I'm still using a BAT amp.

Cheers,
John
dazzdax
599 posts
 
How much midrange bloom is needed? With other words: can you have too much midrange bloom? When does midrange bloom becomes an euphonic coloration?

Chris
sidssp
1,077 posts
 
Why don't you put the original tubes back in to see if it is caused by the new tubes?
jaybo
4,478 posts
 
could be a loudspeaker issue
guidocorona
4,298 posts
 
It is worth pointing out that Frontier1 is baselining against the excellent ASL Flora, which is not displaying the excessive bloom. This suggests that the issue may be specific to the VK52Se. Frontier1 already reported this bloom to me before replacing the SovTec 6H30PIds with the DR NOS Supertube variant.
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