Thank you John, although my mention of VTL 7.5 and BAT VK51SE was cursory, my auditioning was very detailed and based on a set of my own classic CDs--not test disks containing meaningless sonic fireworks, but albums old and new, representative of the music I typically enjoy.
My criteria had all to do with musicality. After all I have been in the world of music for the last 45 years in one form or another: student, singer/performer, composer and musicologist in my college days, audiophile. The VTL was in fact very musical, strings were truly lovely, but it had the tendency of deemphasizing transients, as such, a Steinway piano ended up sounding like a Bluthner with a blanket thrown on top: that's not of my liking. The problem with musicality of the BAT VK51SE is that. . . I could not hear any of it. Transients were well defined, but the sound was cold, dark, it lacked completely the glow and emotion that I associate with what I deem musical. Paradoxically, I found the Boulder 1010 I auditioned during the same session musically more satisfying than the BAT. On the other hand, I am more than willing to give VTL 7.5 and BAT VK51SE another chance, just in case my memory of them were flawed.
My criteria had all to do with musicality. After all I have been in the world of music for the last 45 years in one form or another: student, singer/performer, composer and musicologist in my college days, audiophile. The VTL was in fact very musical, strings were truly lovely, but it had the tendency of deemphasizing transients, as such, a Steinway piano ended up sounding like a Bluthner with a blanket thrown on top: that's not of my liking. The problem with musicality of the BAT VK51SE is that. . . I could not hear any of it. Transients were well defined, but the sound was cold, dark, it lacked completely the glow and emotion that I associate with what I deem musical. Paradoxically, I found the Boulder 1010 I auditioned during the same session musically more satisfying than the BAT. On the other hand, I am more than willing to give VTL 7.5 and BAT VK51SE another chance, just in case my memory of them were flawed.