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BAT amp + cheap pream vs BAT integrated vs Prima Luna integrated

Hi all, this is my first post ever here in Audiogon. I am going to buy my first proper Hifi setup and am really going bonkers with all the possible configurations and combinations, and tbh so little data. I tend to like detail so in the beginning i discarded tubes. Separate amp and preamp is a wish, having read only but praises about this. I have read many great things about Prima Luna and am considering tubes now, to be specific, the Evo 300 hybrid, which is the closest any integrated amp will get to separate amp and preamp. But there is an option i have not read about too often: GREAT amp (BAT VK 90t) and since this will break my budget, a small and cheap preamp like a Schiit Freya or another preamp that does not impact the sound of the amp negatively too much (with the wishful thinking of buying a proper BAT preamp in the future, god and wife allows). AND, to add complexity, this configuration vs the BAT VK80t integrated amp.

Any thoughts would be much appreciated!

tykozen
jimmy2615
477 posts
 

VIP428, I think you should try some more amps before you offer your opinion here !   Seriously, that’s a lot of amps!

OP, I think the best advice here you’ve received is to figure out which speakers you will buy next before investing in a new integrated.  Synergy is really important.  Making one change in a system often leads to changing out most or all of the rest of the system.  That’s one reason so many of us have owned so much different gear.  Lastly, find a good trusty dealer - they often have figured out this synergy thing a long time ago with the components they sell.  

vip428
31 posts
 

To be honest I had multiple setups. 3 setups in one house 2 in another and a HT in an apartment.  So cycling equipment plus 40 years of upgrades along the way has given me extensive insight.  I whole heartedly agree"SYNERGY" is the key!  

vip428
31 posts
 

Also as a correction it was the Aesthetix Atlas not the Dione's.  I am here right now at Audio Connection listening to the the ATC' with the AR i50!  Sounds Great!  I took a video.

tomic601's avatar
tomic601
13,705 posts
 

The Atlas is a great hybrid amp from Jim White and engineer with ears….

patrickalston
163 posts
 

@vip428  ive done almost exactly what you suggested with the V-Caps on two VK-60s, except I have a Rex Preamp.  

The OP’s $10k budget  can buy two vk-60s, pay for the upgrade, a 52se or 53se and probably a VP-P5 w/superpak that can be upgraded to outperform a p10SE.  That would be a reference-level system (that could double as a room heater).  

@op, I understand your concern about 20 year old amps, but the Krells are exceptionally well built and sounds great.  You can buy a pair for under $4k and then will drive almost anything.  I would not be so quick to discount them.  If I weren't saving for a BAT Rex 3 DAC,I'd buy a pair for a second system.  

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