Balanced Audio Technology VK 3i

W WALDECKER
W WALDECKER Posts: 900
edited February 2010 in 2 Channel Audio
I just pulled the trigger on a BAT VK 3i preamplifier in perfect condition from Upscale Audio with the original box, manual and remote control. i guess i might put the Anthem pre 1L up for sale in a week or so unless my daughter wants it. i feel pretty excited, whenever i get some new gear i am almost like a kid at christmas. thanks...WCW III.
Rogue Audio stereo 100 tube amplifier - Lector Zoe preamplifier with 6H30 pi's
.Audience AU24SE speaker and ic cables- Chord Qutest DAC - Black Cat Silverstar II 75ohm digital cable-Tyler Acoustics Linbrook Signature system with large bass cabinets to accommodate 10" Seas magnesium woofers.2xhmpsuownoj.jpg
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  • Dennis Gardner
    Dennis Gardner Posts: 4,861
    edited February 2006
    Congrats, William!

    Let us know what you think of it...........
    HT Optoma HD25 LV on 80" DIY Screen, Anthem MRX 300 Receiver, Pioneer Elite BDP 51FD Polk CS350LS, Polk SDA1C, Polk FX300, Polk RT55, Dual EBS Adire Shiva 320watt tuned to 17hz, ICs-DIY Twisted Prs, Speaker-Raymond Cable

    2 Channel Thorens TD 318 Grado ZF1, SACD/CD Marantz 8260, Soundstream/Krell DAC1, Audio Mirror PP1, Odyssey Stratos, ADS L-1290, ICs-DIY Twisted , Speaker-Raymond Cable
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,566
    edited February 2006
    Nice pre amp, you're going to be a happy camper.
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."

    President of Club Polk

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  • dorokusai
    dorokusai Posts: 25,577
    edited February 2006
    Neat.
    CTC BBQ Amplifier, Sonic Frontiers Line3 Pre-Amplifier and Wadia 581 SACD player. Speakers? Always changing but for now, Mission Argonauts I picked up for $50 bucks, mint.
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  • RuSsMaN
    RuSsMaN Posts: 17,987
    edited February 2006
    I'll see Marks 'neat', and rasie a 'neat-o'.

    Can't go wrong with BAT, that's for sure.
    Check your lips at the door woman. Shake your hips like battleships. Yeah, all the white girls trip when I sing at Sunday service.
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  • reeltrouble1
    reeltrouble1 Posts: 9,312
    edited February 2006
    very cool I read nothing but excellent things about BAT.

    RT1
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  • W WALDECKER
    W WALDECKER Posts: 900
    edited February 2006
    Thanks guys,and now comes the hard part. i ordered it today from Upscale Audio in California and they were swamped and he said it will probably ship by UPS from there on monday so i might not see it here in Maryland till monday after next. i have a sweet quad of Amperex 7308s to install in it when it arrives. i almost bought the same model preamp from Upscale last year but i hesitated and someone else scored it before i did. the VK 3i preamps are in pretty high demand and dont show up on the used market very often so i didnt flinch this time around and i snagged it .this unit is a linestage only which is fine with me and the remote is machined from a solid block of aluminum with the same dark grey finish as the faceplate on the preamp and has volume, mute ,fade and five user controlled volume presets so it should be fun to play with. Audiobliss has first dibs on the Anthem Pre 1L if i decide to sell it.thanks....WCW III
    Rogue Audio stereo 100 tube amplifier - Lector Zoe preamplifier with 6H30 pi's
    .Audience AU24SE speaker and ic cables- Chord Qutest DAC - Black Cat Silverstar II 75ohm digital cable-Tyler Acoustics Linbrook Signature system with large bass cabinets to accommodate 10" Seas magnesium woofers.2xhmpsuownoj.jpg
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  • RuSsMaN
    RuSsMaN Posts: 17,987
    edited February 2006
    How many 6DJ8 does it use? Do you know if it's phase inverting?

    Gotta love a heavy remote, sold AR stuff, got a Rogue.

    Cheers,
    Russ
    Check your lips at the door woman. Shake your hips like battleships. Yeah, all the white girls trip when I sing at Sunday service.
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  • W WALDECKER
    W WALDECKER Posts: 900
    edited February 2006
    RuSsMaN wrote:
    How many 6DJ8 does it use? Do you know if it's phase inverting?

    Gotta love a heavy remote, sold AR stuff, got a Rogue.

    Cheers,
    Russ
    it uses four 6DJ8 /6922s and two 6V6s total and its not Phase inverting. i have a friend who owns a very nice DeHaviland ultraverve preamp that is phase inverting and i think he had to switch polarity on his speaker wires to compensate for it.yeah a remote volume makes it nice when the phone rings and you dont have to jump up and run to turn the stereo down.
    Rogue Audio stereo 100 tube amplifier - Lector Zoe preamplifier with 6H30 pi's
    .Audience AU24SE speaker and ic cables- Chord Qutest DAC - Black Cat Silverstar II 75ohm digital cable-Tyler Acoustics Linbrook Signature system with large bass cabinets to accommodate 10" Seas magnesium woofers.2xhmpsuownoj.jpg
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  • jfb4548
    jfb4548 Posts: 168
    edited February 2006
    W WALDECKER wrote:
    it uses four 6DJ8 /6922s and two 6V6s total and its not Phase inverting. i have a friend who owns a very nice DeHaviland ultraverve preamp that is phase inverting and i think he had to switch polarity on his speaker wires to compensate for it.yeah a remote volume makes it nice when the phone rings and you dont have to jump up and run to turn the stereo down.


    BAT Stuff is cool!. Enjoy!
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  • george daniel
    george daniel Posts: 12,096
    edited February 2006
    Congratulations, very nice pre :)
    JC approves....he told me so. (F-1 nut)
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  • reeltrouble1
    reeltrouble1 Posts: 9,312
    edited February 2006
    W WALDECKER wrote:
    the phone rings and you dont have to jump up and run to turn the stereo down.

    I just dont answer the phone!!!!!! How dare someone interupt "smoking jacket" time.

    Still sitting here READING about the BAT gear and you will soon be LISTENING!! Great Bag. I look forward to your thoughts about it.

    Enjoy William.

    RT1
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  • W WALDECKER
    W WALDECKER Posts: 900
    edited February 2006
    I have been wanting to get a BAT preamplfier for a good while and i remember having a conversation about preamplifiers and SDAs with F1 NUT while leaning against the catering van at Polk headquarters During the last PolkFest and i told Jesse that i was looking to buy a BAT preamplifier. well i found the BAT, now i need to find a nice pair of SDA CRS+s or 1Cs to play with. thanks....WCW III
    Rogue Audio stereo 100 tube amplifier - Lector Zoe preamplifier with 6H30 pi's
    .Audience AU24SE speaker and ic cables- Chord Qutest DAC - Black Cat Silverstar II 75ohm digital cable-Tyler Acoustics Linbrook Signature system with large bass cabinets to accommodate 10" Seas magnesium woofers.2xhmpsuownoj.jpg
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  • ND13
    ND13 Posts: 7,601
    edited February 2006
    William,
    I'm very happy for you. That should make a great addition to your already steller rig. Hope it does what you anticipate and more. With the reputation that BAT has, I'm sure you will not be disappointed.
    "SOME PEOPLE CALL ME MAURICE,
    CAUSE I SPEAK OF THE POMPITIOUS OF LOVE"
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  • W WALDECKER
    W WALDECKER Posts: 900
    edited February 2006
    The BAT VK 3i was sitting on my doorstep when i got home from work today. i decided to give her a spin in my system with the Russian tubes it came with, so i hooked her up and was somewhat suprised to find that it sounded very nice cold right out of the box. it is easy for me to understand why these preamps have a solid reputation. it came with the original box and remote and i cant find a flaw one on either the preamplifier or the aluminum remote control and they both look brand new.this is a very handsome piece of gear! i have never heard Russian tubes sound this good before. maybe i will roll in a Quad of Amperex 7308s in a few days and see what happens. im a pretty happy guy right about now.thanks....WCW III
    Rogue Audio stereo 100 tube amplifier - Lector Zoe preamplifier with 6H30 pi's
    .Audience AU24SE speaker and ic cables- Chord Qutest DAC - Black Cat Silverstar II 75ohm digital cable-Tyler Acoustics Linbrook Signature system with large bass cabinets to accommodate 10" Seas magnesium woofers.2xhmpsuownoj.jpg
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  • audiobliss
    audiobliss Posts: 12,518
    edited February 2006
    That's great!

    Pics!
    George Grand wrote: »
    Jstas wrote: »
    Simple question. If you had a cool million bucks, what would you do with it?
    Wonder WTF happened to the rest of my money.
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  • george daniel
    george daniel Posts: 12,096
    edited February 2006
    Yeah,, pic's NOW :)
    JC approves....he told me so. (F-1 nut)
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  • dorokusai
    dorokusai Posts: 25,577
    edited February 2006
    This is from the factory website.
    CTC BBQ Amplifier, Sonic Frontiers Line3 Pre-Amplifier and Wadia 581 SACD player. Speakers? Always changing but for now, Mission Argonauts I picked up for $50 bucks, mint.
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  • W WALDECKER
    W WALDECKER Posts: 900
    edited February 2006
    george daniel wrote:
    Yeah,, pic's NOW :)
    i dont have a digital camera and if i keep buying gear it will be a long time until i get one :rolleyes:
    Rogue Audio stereo 100 tube amplifier - Lector Zoe preamplifier with 6H30 pi's
    .Audience AU24SE speaker and ic cables- Chord Qutest DAC - Black Cat Silverstar II 75ohm digital cable-Tyler Acoustics Linbrook Signature system with large bass cabinets to accommodate 10" Seas magnesium woofers.2xhmpsuownoj.jpg
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  • ND13
    ND13 Posts: 7,601
    edited February 2006
    She's a beaut!!!!
    "SOME PEOPLE CALL ME MAURICE,
    CAUSE I SPEAK OF THE POMPITIOUS OF LOVE"
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  • W WALDECKER
    W WALDECKER Posts: 900
    edited February 2006
    I rolled in the Quad of Amperex 7308s and it has become obvious to me that i like the sound of the factory supplied Sovtecs in the VK 3i over the high dollar NOS Amperexs that made my Anthem Pre 1L sing so sweetly. Viktor Khomenko designed and voiced this preamplifier with Russian tubes and BAT recommends them for use in this preamp and when i read this on the website i thought the Amperex 7308s would make a definite improvement but i was wrong. good thing i bought a quad of Sovtecs from music direct when i heard they had stopped making them.the VK 3i is a wonderful sounding preamplifier that if feel will stay in my main two channel system for many years to come.thanks....WCW III
    Rogue Audio stereo 100 tube amplifier - Lector Zoe preamplifier with 6H30 pi's
    .Audience AU24SE speaker and ic cables- Chord Qutest DAC - Black Cat Silverstar II 75ohm digital cable-Tyler Acoustics Linbrook Signature system with large bass cabinets to accommodate 10" Seas magnesium woofers.2xhmpsuownoj.jpg
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  • pjdami
    pjdami Posts: 1,894
    edited February 2006
    W WALDECKER wrote:
    I rolled in the Quad of Amperex 7308s and it has become obvious to me that i like the sound of the factory supplied Sovtecs in the VK 3i over the high dollar NOS Amperexs that made my Anthem Pre 1L sing so sweetly. Viktor Khomenko designed and voiced this preamplifier with Russian tubes and BAT recommends them for use in this preamp and when i read this on the website i thought the Amperex 7308s would make a definite improvement but i was wrong. good thing i bought a quad of Sovtecs from music direct when i heard they had stopped making them.the VK 3i is a wonderful sounding preamplifier that if feel will stay in my main two channel system for many years to come.thanks....WCW III

    Da Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na ... BAT-man...

    Isn't it great when more expensive stuff doesn't necessarily equate to better sound (the tubes). Synergy is way cool BAT-man.

    Robin

    p.s. Congrats!
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  • SCompRacer
    SCompRacer Posts: 8,500
    edited April 2006
    William, in part due to your thread and Jesse saying oh yeah, I pulled the trigger on a BAT VK-3i at Audiogon. Mine has the remote and the VK-P3 phono card. It arrived today but I only had time to play a couple of tracks off a CD with it. Once I get the McAlister back, I'll compare them and decide what stays. Gotta love that remote with the 5 pre sets.

    Some folks say to throw the OEM tubes away, but like you said they do sound good. I don't have a quad of anything to roll into it at the moment. Kevin at Upscale claims a quad of Siemens/Phillips ECG7308's along with a pair of Pope 6V6GT's will improve the mid bass, but it would take $270 for me to find that out.

    Upscale does carry the Sovtek 6H23-EB/6922 type 3 which is like the OEM tube. I spoke to Victor today and he said the 6H23 is fine to use.
    Salk SoundScape 8's * Audio Research Reference 3 * Bottlehead Eros Phono * Park's Audio Budgie SUT * Krell KSA-250 * Harmonic Technology Pro 9+ * Signature Series Sonore Music Server w/Deux PS * Roon * Gustard R26 DAC / Singxer SU-6 DDC * Heavy Plinth Lenco L75 Idler Drive * AA MG-1 Linear Air Bearing Arm * AT33PTG/II & Denon 103R * Richard Gray 600S * NHT B-12d subs * GIK Acoustic Treatments * Sennheiser HD650 *
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,566
    edited April 2006
    Looking good Rich, looking good!!!
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."

    President of Club Polk

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  • W WALDECKER
    W WALDECKER Posts: 900
    edited April 2006
    SCompRacer wrote:
    William, in part due to your thread and Jesse saying oh yeah, I pulled the trigger on a BAT VK-3i at Audiogon. Mine has the remote and the VK-P3 phono card. It arrived today but I only had time to play a couple of tracks off a CD with it. Once I get the McAlister back, I'll compare them and decide what stays. Gotta love that remote with the 5 pre sets.

    Some folks say to throw the OEM tubes away, but like you said they do sound good. I don't have a quad of anything to roll into it at the moment. Kevin at Upscale claims a quad of Siemens/Phillips ECG7308's along with a pair of Pope 6V6GT's will improve the mid bass, but it would take $270 for me to find that out.

    Upscale does carry the Sovtek 6H23-EB/6922 type 3 which is like the OEM tube. I spoke to Victor today and he said the 6H23 is fine to use.
    Hey Rich, did you get to have some more seat time with the VK 3i yet ? its kind of hard to believe how good it sounds with Russian tubes under the hood, dont you think ? the Amperex 7308 goldpins sounded wonderful in my Anthem Pre 1L and in the VK 3i they actually detracted from the sonics. i may try the Pope 6V6s and see if i can hear a difference.if you will please share some of your observations of this Preamp. thanks....WCW III
    Rogue Audio stereo 100 tube amplifier - Lector Zoe preamplifier with 6H30 pi's
    .Audience AU24SE speaker and ic cables- Chord Qutest DAC - Black Cat Silverstar II 75ohm digital cable-Tyler Acoustics Linbrook Signature system with large bass cabinets to accommodate 10" Seas magnesium woofers.2xhmpsuownoj.jpg
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  • SCompRacer
    SCompRacer Posts: 8,500
    edited April 2006
    W WALDECKER wrote:
    Hey Rich, did you get to have some more seat time with the VK 3i yet ?

    Hi William,

    With the wife and mother-in-law sent off to an early afternoon wedding, Norm came over around 10:30AM and we got our listen on for a few hours. I received some tubes from Upscale Friday, a quad of Siemens/Phillips ECG 7308's and a pair of Pope 6V6GT's. So we rolled tubes and swapped pre amps in and out.

    The Siemens in the BAT did indeed improve the mid-bass and highs, but the low bass seemed diminished at low volume levels. They were a tad warmer than the OEM Sovtek's too, which seemed a bit bright with my ribbons. Rolling the Pope 6V6GT's in and out with either the Siemens or Sovteks didn't seem to do anything, it was all in the linestage tubes.

    We compared the BAT to the McAlister ML-33 that was returned to me with a larger power transformer. Surprisingly, the ML-33 did quite well. It had it all from top to bottom, at low and reference levels, but was on the bright side. Vocals were not as defined as the BAT. After sonics, the other considerations are appearance and remote. The BAT looks better and the ML-33 has no remote. No idea if there ever will be one.

    The all tube phono stage of the ML-33 was very impressive. It has much better dynamics than the phono card in the BAT, but I don't spin enough vinyl to weigh heavily on that. I don't have any tubes to roll in the McAlister pre amp, but I can switch the two each 6CG7/6FQ7 tubes around. Two of those tubes provide infinite plate resistance to the two linestage tubes. I will try that in the next couple of days.

    I would like to try a new quad of Sovtek's in the BAT since the OEM's are 5-6 years old. I need to put more hours on the new tubes too as it seemed later in the day the low bass was getting better at low volume levels. So more to come, it ain't over yet. I'll go back at it again to confirm what we heard. But I am leaning heavily to keeping the BAT.

    EDIT: Fumble finger 'spellin.
    Salk SoundScape 8's * Audio Research Reference 3 * Bottlehead Eros Phono * Park's Audio Budgie SUT * Krell KSA-250 * Harmonic Technology Pro 9+ * Signature Series Sonore Music Server w/Deux PS * Roon * Gustard R26 DAC / Singxer SU-6 DDC * Heavy Plinth Lenco L75 Idler Drive * AA MG-1 Linear Air Bearing Arm * AT33PTG/II & Denon 103R * Richard Gray 600S * NHT B-12d subs * GIK Acoustic Treatments * Sennheiser HD650 *
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  • Normanality
    Normanality Posts: 297
    edited April 2006
    I was thoroughly impressed with the BAT.

    Much more so than my VTL2.5 which seems somewhat subdued compared to the BAT, even with the new Mullard DV4003 and Sylvania 6350's.

    The ML33 did a good job all the way around. Having to get up off my **** to change volume late at night when I'm trying to zone to music is not good.

    Thanks for a good day of listening Rich!
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  • halo
    halo Posts: 5,616
    edited April 2006
    I was at Rich's this weekend and that BAT is really something. Dern thing's so big it looks like an amplifier!

    I finally got my McAlister Audio PP150 amp and I've got Rich's McAlister Audio pre (on loan until mine arrives) so I'll be writing up some reviews in the near future.
    Audio: Polk S15 * Polk S35 * Polk S10 * SVS SB-1000 Pro
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  • W WALDECKER
    W WALDECKER Posts: 900
    edited April 2006
    Here are some observations of the BAT VK 3i preamplifier in my 2 channel rig after a little over two months.the music comes forth from a pitch black background. the sound is very clean and while not being overly euphonic it has none of the hard edge associated with SS preamplifiers and just a hint of tube warmth. with the factory supplied Sovteks in place using a pair of Odyssey Modded special order mono extreme SEs for power amplification and Lorelei loudspeakers with Symphonic Line crossovers and Scanspeak drivers ,the sound of my system is nicely balanced from top to bottom and as F1 Nut stated earlier in his post i am a very happy camper! thanks....WCW III
    Rogue Audio stereo 100 tube amplifier - Lector Zoe preamplifier with 6H30 pi's
    .Audience AU24SE speaker and ic cables- Chord Qutest DAC - Black Cat Silverstar II 75ohm digital cable-Tyler Acoustics Linbrook Signature system with large bass cabinets to accommodate 10" Seas magnesium woofers.2xhmpsuownoj.jpg
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  • george daniel
    george daniel Posts: 12,096
    edited April 2006
    Since you have not been around very much,I assumed that you must be having fun with it,enjoy. :)
    JC approves....he told me so. (F-1 nut)
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  • SCompRacer
    SCompRacer Posts: 8,500
    edited June 2006
    William, I waited too long (was broke actually...LOL) to order some EI tubes. They only had two left and said 30-60 days to get more so I went in a different direction.

    I originally preferred the Siemens/Phillips ECG 7308's over the Sovteks when I had Audiotruth Lapis IC's in my system. They are a detailed cable but can add a harsh brightness with some speakers, like ribbons. When I changed over to MIT IC's, I ended up going back to the Sovtek 6922's as the 7308's were now too warm for my liking.

    I ended up going with a quad of Russian 6H23 EB Type 3 tubes. I only have 19 hours on them and find they are better than the OEM 6922's that were pretty long in the tooth (5 years). They give me similar results as you found with the EI Elites. Great bass and midrange with vivid highs.
    Salk SoundScape 8's * Audio Research Reference 3 * Bottlehead Eros Phono * Park's Audio Budgie SUT * Krell KSA-250 * Harmonic Technology Pro 9+ * Signature Series Sonore Music Server w/Deux PS * Roon * Gustard R26 DAC / Singxer SU-6 DDC * Heavy Plinth Lenco L75 Idler Drive * AA MG-1 Linear Air Bearing Arm * AT33PTG/II & Denon 103R * Richard Gray 600S * NHT B-12d subs * GIK Acoustic Treatments * Sennheiser HD650 *
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