bat vk 60 vs rogue mono 120s

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.

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!

Leafs,no I have never heard the M-120's.Right now they are a bit pricey for me.My Pass was a deal I couldnt resist.It had less then 50 hours on it,1 year old and it came from Jim Smith of Aventgarde USA.He used it for a couple shows then put it away for a year.I paid < $1000 ($2500) and so far I love it.It has a air and transparency about it that Im sure would be hard to beat.The bass is deep and tight also.I know the Aleph-3 is said to have crappy bass but not in my opinion.This may be superficial but I dont like the looks of the M-120's.If and when I go back to a tube amp I want an amp with killer looks and that shows the tubes in full glory.The sound of a good tube amp is hard to beat but the glow of the tubes at night just adds to the enjoyment IMO.If Im going to pay big bucks for a tube amp I want it all! No doubt the M-120's are awesome and my dealer keeps after me to get them.I am hoping and Im even going to suggest to Mark he put out a killer amp with a different cosmetic design than the M-120's.Sorry if my reasons are shallow but being a single parent makes it a little tough to come up with the money this hobby demands.As I said,when and if i go back to a tube amp I want it all.The Pass is no beauty but for a SS amp I like the looks better than many others.It sure gets a lot of comments from civilians! My sister thought it was a subwoofer and a recent date thought it was a air conditioner!!

Leafs,I have Paradigm Studio 80's 8ohm-92dB.Why do you ask? Dave

Leafs, the 80 is a 3 way design.It has an aluminum dome tweeter,kevlar mid driver and a ? bass driver.I believe both are 7 inch.It has 2 sets of posts which I use with MIT T-2 biwires.I got into Paradigm early in my addiction and I had a 100% trade up on them(1 year) I started with the Titans then gradually over 3 years ended up with the 80's.I considered going next with the flagship 100's but I thought the bass would be too much for my room.The 80's are very smooth with terrific bass.They play nice and loud with my 30 wpc Aleph-3.They list for $1700.I got mine for $1000/floor demos.I think my system has gotten to a level where I should consider better speakers but I also want a new cartridge,conditioner,amp stand,power cords,CDP etc,etc..... fun hobby,huh!??