Battle of the BAT's, VK-60 vs. VK-220


My dealer has recomended BAT for my next amp. I am trying to figure out which is my best BAT, uhm bet (pun intended) He has helped me narrow it down to these two amps, a VK-60 or VK-200. I only want to purchase from him based on my past expereinces so these are the only two I will consider. Who has put the VK-60 head to head with the VK-200? I have a new pair of Von Schweikert VR4 jr's, Audible Illusions L1, Parasound transport with a Benchmark DAC & listen to rock & roll exclusively. I am replacing my McCormack DNA-1 with either amp. I tend to listen to my music at higher levels, about 90-100 db on average.

A nice tube amp intrigues me & later down the road I can purchase another one for a set of mono's. My worry is that the VK-60 will not have enough power & authority to drive the VR jr's to their potential.

I enjoy the bass slam a powerful solid state amp will give me. I have never heard a really good tube amp or any BAT product so I am a little aprehensive. He will allow me to return either so it won't be such a big risk, I'd only be out shipping. The solid state is apealing b/c of the extra power.

Tubes are romantic but will they cut the mustard with the kind of music I generally listen to driving a pair of 89db speakers? The VK-220 certainly has enough power but will I miss the "magic" of tubes? There are enough devotees to both sides so please let the battle begin!
fishwater
I've owned a vk 200 and a vk 60. At the time, I was using a vk 50se pre and Audio Physic Virgo speakers. Tireguy is pretty much right on. The vk60 will give you a midrange to die for. In terms of transparency, depth, image, tonality, etc.... The bottom will be a little looser than with the vk200. The vk60 on top is pretty darn good, the vk200 is close, however I pretty much had to leave it on 24x7 to get the top end close to the vk60.

Neither amp you'll go wrong with. However, the vk60 gives you some great upgrade paths. you can run them mono, double your power, which will increase your dynamics, bass control, image size and this set up will beat the solid state amp on bottom. You can also upgrade it to SE status, which dramitically improves the transparency through out the mids, bottom and top end, tightens up the bottom significanty, and better image size and depth.

VK60's are a steal used right now. The front 2 6sn7's are critical to sound quality, spend some money there on NOS, the other 6sn7's don't yield the same improvement...helps, but not worth spending a ton ...
Cdma I have never had an Aleph though they have always interested me- one day I'll get one and give it a shot.
Some thinks Aleph is the closest ss amp to SETs in sound (but without their euphonic distortion). It definitely worth a trial! Just wonder how it compares to VK-60 since it is also highly praised.