BAT or Cary Pre with BAT VK-55?

Mekong56,

Congrats and enjoy :-)

Just to update those who contributed to the thread, I went with a BAT VK-31SE, and am so far very pleased with the combo.

BOB.......I could not agree more!!!! I use an Slp-05 with the BAT Vk-60 and love, just love that synergy.

found this thread most interesting as i am both a bat and cary fan. the bat vk 5i pre is very nice, even with it's age. recently upgraded tubes for $350 was like getting a new piece of gear. i tried the vk 55 tube amp and was not "wowed" by it. i once had a pair of AES (cary) six packs and wish i had them still as they were as smooth and silky in sound as i heard tubes could be. my gal even noticed...she called it a "creamy dreamy" sound. but, the heat of the tubes was unbearable in the warm seasons so i went to the bat ss vk-220 with bat pac. a very nice combo for the spring/summer. very happy with this pairing. but, again, i miss the tube sound that goes really well with a fire and cold weather. so i am going to find myself a cary tube amp of some sort and have a perfect mate for the full time bat pre and its ss sibling. which cary? well, my cary sli-80 int that sits in a box unused goes for +/- $2k on a-gon so that's my cary amp budget. my speakers are sonus faber strads and the gear above works well enough for me although others might increase their budgets to higher levels. i did have a mac int 6600 and loved the blue glow but found the bat and cary better suited for my ears. hope this helps.

Hi Mekong56,

I favor the BAT combo...synergy :-)

Best,
Sam

Thanks for all of the responses guys. I am leaning towards a BAT pre at this point. Probably can't go wrong with either.

I think you should leave BAT with BAT since you say you like the bat sound.

Get the Cary SLP-98 with F-1 upgrades and have it direct coupled which will give you more air, dynamics and bass slam. The F-1 is a BIG upgrade to the original SLP-98.

Gee,
I see a bit of competition here. Been looking for vk-3ix or vk-30 with phono and remote to mate with my vk-200.
I've also thought about Cary or other models at lower price, but BAT-BAT matching seems to be the way to go.

The BAT VK3ix is a fantastic match for the 55. Stereophile did a review on both. Look it up and decide :)

The Cary SLP-98 is a bee-u-ti-ful sounding--& looking--preamp. I have the orig., not the F1. Haven't heard one w/a BAT amp tho.....

I would think the BAT-BAT pairing would work out quite nice,but I have no idea if you would like it.

Stick with the BAT. IMO that Cary preamp will give less treble, and air than the BAT.