Hi,

I am buying a pre-amp to complete my system (very thight budget
system), I am currently have a Krell KSA250, Marantz 63 SE, and B&W
Nautilus 805. I am considering to get a used pre-amp, and got an
offer of Balance Audio Tech (BAT) VK-5 (older version of VK-5i, an old
product of 1995-1996) and Rogue Magnum 99 (a quite new pre-amp, year
of 2002-2003). I am really appreciate if someone can give me a
recommendation of which pre-amp should I get in consideration of
quality and whether it's important to get a newer product than an old
one (BAT VK-5 1995 vs. Rogue Magnum 99 2002). Both are offered with
the same price of us$1200, and are in a very good conditions. I am
sorry about my bad english. Thanks in advance.

Adinata

On 10/19/04 7:35 PM, in article , "Adinata
Tjandra" wrote:

Hi,

I am buying a pre-amp to complete my system (very thight budget
system), I am currently have a Krell KSA250, Marantz 63 SE, and B&W
Nautilus 805. I am considering to get a used pre-amp, and got an
offer of Balance Audio Tech (BAT) VK-5 (older version of VK-5i, an old
product of 1995-1996) and Rogue Magnum 99 (a quite new pre-amp, year
of 2002-2003). I am really appreciate if someone can give me a
recommendation of which pre-amp should I get in consideration of
quality and whether it's important to get a newer product than an old
one (BAT VK-5 1995 vs. Rogue Magnum 99 2002). Both are offered with
the same price of us$1200, and are in a very good conditions. I am
sorry about my bad english. Thanks in advance.

Adinata



A lot of people really like BAT (me included) - they can be upgraded easily,
and the design is pretty simple and you can swap out tubes to get from
transparent to "tubey" in the sound.

I have heard the Rouge 99 is noted for being very un-tubey in sound, but a
lot of people like them.

I personally would lean towards the BAT if you have balanced connections.

"Adinata Tjandra" wrote in message
...
Hi,

I am buying a pre-amp to complete my system (very thight budget
system), I am currently have a Krell KSA250, Marantz 63 SE, and B&W
Nautilus 805. I am considering to get a used pre-amp, and got an
offer of Balance Audio Tech (BAT) VK-5 (older version of VK-5i, an old
product of 1995-1996) and Rogue Magnum 99 (a quite new pre-amp, year
of 2002-2003). I am really appreciate if someone can give me a
recommendation of which pre-amp should I get in consideration of
quality and whether it's important to get a newer product than an old
one (BAT VK-5 1995 vs. Rogue Magnum 99 2002). Both are offered with
the same price of us$1200, and are in a very good conditions. I am
sorry about my bad english. Thanks in advance.

Adinata


If your ongoing budget will continue tight, tube replacement might be an
issue. The 9 year old BAT may not be at its best unless all the tubes are
replaced. It is a very fine sounding preamp, however, and extremely well
built, and would, I suspect, compliment your Marantz front end and Krell/B&W
backend very nicely.

I don't know the Rogue except by reputation so will not comment.

B&D wrote in message ...
On 10/19/04 7:35 PM, in article , "Adinata
Tjandra" wrote:

Hi,

I am buying a pre-amp to complete my system (very thight budget
system), I am currently have a Krell KSA250, Marantz 63 SE, and B&W
Nautilus 805. I am considering to get a used pre-amp, and got an
offer of Balance Audio Tech (BAT) VK-5 (older version of VK-5i, an old
product of 1995-1996) and Rogue Magnum 99 (a quite new pre-amp, year
of 2002-2003). I am really appreciate if someone can give me a
recommendation of which pre-amp should I get in consideration of
quality and whether it's important to get a newer product than an old
one (BAT VK-5 1995 vs. Rogue Magnum 99 2002). Both are offered with
the same price of us$1200, and are in a very good conditions. I am
sorry about my bad english. Thanks in advance.

Adinata



A lot of people really like BAT (me included) - they can be upgraded easily,
and the design is pretty simple and you can swap out tubes to get from
transparent to "tubey" in the sound.

I have heard the Rouge 99 is noted for being very un-tubey in sound, but a
lot of people like them.

I personally would lean towards the BAT if you have balanced connections.


What do you think about Sonic Frontier SFL2 comparing with BAT VK-5?
Thanks again

Having actually heard the Rogue Audio preamps and being very familiar
with their design and controls, I can say that the 99 Magnum is a
great sounding unit that mates well with other brands of equipment and
is popular for use with solid state power amplifiers. The 99 has a
front panel selectable gain control which allows fine tuning of the
sound from "transparent" to "tubey", so you don't need to swap tubes
to experiment. You are free to use one setting for Lps, one for CDs,
one for Video or whatever you like. Build quality is excellent and
equal to that of the BAT.
-Bill
www.uptownaudio.com
Roanoke VA
(540) 343-1250

"B&D" wrote in message
...
On 10/19/04 7:35 PM, in article ,
"Adinata
Tjandra" wrote:

Hi,

I am buying a pre-amp to complete my system (very thight budget
system), I am currently have a Krell KSA250, Marantz 63 SE, and
B&W
Nautilus 805. I am considering to get a used pre-amp, and got an
offer of Balance Audio Tech (BAT) VK-5 (older version of VK-5i, an
old
product of 1995-1996) and Rogue Magnum 99 (a quite new pre-amp,
year
of 2002-2003). I am really appreciate if someone can give me a
recommendation of which pre-amp should I get in consideration of
quality and whether it's important to get a newer product than an
old
one (BAT VK-5 1995 vs. Rogue Magnum 99 2002). Both are offered
with
the same price of us$1200, and are in a very good conditions. I
am
sorry about my bad english. Thanks in advance.

Adinata



A lot of people really like BAT (me included) - they can be upgraded
easily,
and the design is pretty simple and you can swap out tubes to get
from
transparent to "tubey" in the sound.

I have heard the Rouge 99 is noted for being very un-tubey in sound,
but a
lot of people like them.

I personally would lean towards the BAT if you have balanced
connections.

On 10/21/04 7:42 PM, in article , "Adinata
Tjandra" wrote:

B&D wrote in message
...
On 10/19/04 7:35 PM, in article , "Adinata
Tjandra" wrote:

Hi,

I am buying a pre-amp to complete my system (very thight budget
system), I am currently have a Krell KSA250, Marantz 63 SE, and B&W
Nautilus 805. I am considering to get a used pre-amp, and got an
offer of Balance Audio Tech (BAT) VK-5 (older version of VK-5i, an old
product of 1995-1996) and Rogue Magnum 99 (a quite new pre-amp, year
of 2002-2003). I am really appreciate if someone can give me a
recommendation of which pre-amp should I get in consideration of
quality and whether it's important to get a newer product than an old
one (BAT VK-5 1995 vs. Rogue Magnum 99 2002). Both are offered with
the same price of us$1200, and are in a very good conditions. I am
sorry about my bad english. Thanks in advance.

Adinata



A lot of people really like BAT (me included) - they can be upgraded easily,
and the design is pretty simple and you can swap out tubes to get from
transparent to "tubey" in the sound.

I have heard the Rouge 99 is noted for being very un-tubey in sound, but a
lot of people like them.

I personally would lean towards the BAT if you have balanced connections.


What do you think about Sonic Frontier SFL2 comparing with BAT VK-5?
Thanks again

I know nothing of that Sonic Frontiers SFL2, actually.