Balanced Audio Technology Vk-500

tom t
tom t Posts: 543
edited January 2008 in 2 Channel Audio
any thoughts out there on this amp. BALANCED AUDIO TECHNOLOGY VK-500

seem to be getting good reviews. has anyone actually heard one,sound impressions. tube like, smooth mids, bass power. any info would be good
thanks
Post edited by tom t on
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  • george daniel
    george daniel Posts: 12,096
    edited January 2008
    I believe that RT1 has one,,how does it sound,,if you were at PF you'd know----Great,, I'm sure that he will chime in. :)
    JC approves....he told me so. (F-1 nut)
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  • dorokusai
    dorokusai Posts: 25,577
    edited January 2008
    Tube like? C'mon. It's a big, well made, powerful SS amplifier.
    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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  • hearingimpared
    hearingimpared Posts: 21,137
    edited January 2008
    I believe Ted's is a VK-250 and it sounds glorious.
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  • tom t
    tom t Posts: 543
    edited January 2008
    are you saying there is no ss amp that has tube like sound qualities??
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  • treitz3
    treitz3 Posts: 19,029
    edited January 2008
    No, that's not what he's saying.
    ~ In search of accurate reproduction of music. Real sound is my reference and while perfection may not be attainable? If I chase it, I might just catch excellence. ~
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  • tom t
    tom t Posts: 543
    edited January 2008
    then explain what it is he's saying????
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,557
    edited January 2008
    If you want the tube amp sound, buy a tube amp. The VK-500 is a balls to the wall SS amp, it's not trying to be a tube amp.

    BTW, Ted has the VK-500, it's rated at 250wpc.
    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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  • tom t
    tom t Posts: 543
    edited January 2008
    not looking for tube amp. just wanted to know what kind of sound characterstics the vk 500 had,thats all. just wondering if it would work well with my infinity 1b mid/tweeter panels.
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  • Early B.
    Early B. Posts: 7,900
    edited January 2008
    tom t wrote: »
    not looking for tube amp. just wanted to know what kind of sound characterstics the vk 500 had,thats all. just wondering if it would work well with my infinity 1b mid/tweeter panels.

    There's only one way to find out....
    HT/2-channel Rig: Sony 50” LCD TV; Toshiba HD-A2 DVD player; Emotiva LMC-1 pre/pro; Rogue Audio M-120 monoblocks (modded); Placette RVC; Emotiva LPA-1 amp; Bada HD-22 tube CDP (modded); VMPS Tower II SE (fronts); DIY Clearwave Dynamic 4CC (center); Wharfedale Opus Tri-Surrounds (rear); and VMPS 215 sub

    "God grooves with tubes."
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,557
    edited January 2008
    I'd have to say it's a musical, yet fairly neutral sounding amp with a zero feedback design that should work pretty well with just about any speaker. Mate it with one of the BAT tube pre amps for the best of both worlds.

    Sorry if my first post wasn't all that helpful.
    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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  • tom t
    tom t Posts: 543
    edited January 2008
    thank you for the input f1nut.
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  • hearingimpared
    hearingimpared Posts: 21,137
    edited January 2008
    F1nut wrote: »
    If you want the tube amp sound, buy a tube amp. The VK-500 is a balls to the wall SS amp, it's not trying to be a tube amp.

    BTW, Ted has the VK-500, it's rated at 250wpc.

    I knew there was 250 in there somewhere, sorry for the misinformation.

    TED's BAT amp rocks!!! Especially with his BAT tube preamp!
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,557
    edited January 2008
    You might want to PM Ted to get his thoughts.
    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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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,557
    edited January 2008
    I knew what you meant Joe, just keeping things straight. :)
    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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  • hearingimpared
    hearingimpared Posts: 21,137
    edited January 2008
    . . .

    Ac/dc . . . Ballbreaker!!!:D
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,557
    edited January 2008
    Hey Tom, if you get one make sure it has the BAT-PAK upgrade.

    Regards,
    Ballbreaker
    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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  • tonyb
    tonyb Posts: 32,963
    edited January 2008
    Ditto on the bat-pak....
    I thought Ted moved up to the VK 600 ?
    HT SYSTEM-
    Sony 850c 4k
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    SVS SB-2000
    Polk Sig. 20's
    Polk FX500 surrounds

    Cables-
    Acoustic zen Satori speaker cables
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    Audio metallurgy ga-o digital cable

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    Sonos zp90
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  • tom t
    tom t Posts: 543
    edited January 2008
    sure thing on the batpak
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  • reeltrouble1
    reeltrouble1 Posts: 9,312
    edited January 2008
    Tom,

    The VK-500 is a powerhouse amp configured as 250w mono-blocks in one chassis. It is a neutral amp and is refined in its sound. You get plenty of low level detail and can drive any speaker. One of its most notable features is its speed, very fast ampflier no problems handling any kind of transient tones.

    Yes, you want the Bat-pak, I would pass on one without it, this greatly increases the energy storage. Bat uses many smaller oil filled capacitor's to achieve the tone and speed, I think its a value in high current amps. The build quality is excellent, the amp is a beast weighs like 110 lbs. CS is the best I have received from a component dealer, they pride themself on getting gear back to you if something happens in just seven days and yes, they did do this for me when I had a problem with my pre.

    Hope that helps a bit.

    RT1
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  • tom t
    tom t Posts: 543
    edited January 2008
    the batpak would be nice but if i pick up one without it i think i can have the factory do it for me. the thing that i dont understand is why would they build the amp in stock form and have a batpack option. in stock form wouldent the amp be able to proform its job without any problem. if i use the amp to run midrange/tweeter panel of infinity 1b's where it wouldent be needed for bass,wouldent a stock 500 be able to handle the job.
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  • reeltrouble1
    reeltrouble1 Posts: 9,312
    edited January 2008
    I suspect it would do fine in stock form, but for the cost of a used one with the bat-pak and one without it just does not make sense not to get it, they come up frequently on the Gon, the BAT upgrades at the factory are not cheap.

    RT1
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  • tom t
    tom t Posts: 543
    edited January 2008
    thats what i was afraid of. would you believe i am using a B&k 202+ on my mid/tweeter panel's now and the sound is just great. very smooth and plenty of volumm if i need it. its like they were made for each other. why i want to buy another amp ill never know. i guess its that upgrade bite.
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  • reeltrouble1
    reeltrouble1 Posts: 9,312
    edited January 2008
    Tom,

    Nothing wrong with B&K, nice gear, I use a B&K amp in my HT now, used to use it for music and it was great. The BAT is just plays in a different ball park.

    RT1
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  • tom t
    tom t Posts: 543
    edited January 2008
    smart people would say stick with what you have if it works. i just might do that.
    i use a parasound 3500 for the bass columns. if strong, tight,powerfull bass is what you are looking for,this is it!!. i hooked it up the the mid panels the other day just to see how it would work with them. i must say,not bad. it was alot smoother and better sounding then i thought it was going to be. with all the hear say out there that these amps are alittle bright and foward sounding it sounded quite good on the 1b mid panels. if there was any roughness going on i sure dident hear it. was better sounding then the adcom 5500 in mid panels. there you did hear alittle grain in the midrange. but the 5500 was a good bass amp and did well on the 1b bass colums. i would actually dare to say two parasound 3500 amps would not be at all that bad. but if i was going to do that i would just go for a halo a21 amp. from what i understand,these are supposed to be a big improvement over the 3500.
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