I have put the Karan I-180 (the newest version) into my system, running it against the ARC LS26 and SD135 combo on loan from a dealer, as well as my McCormack DNA-125 Gold and Dehavilland preamp combo. I picked it up for a demo based solely on recommendations from people I trust, which is probably how most people find out about them. This is definitely an integrated that you should check out. The Karan was both more detailed (I am hearing tons of things in the music that were never there before)and more "tubey/musical" sounding than either of the solid state amp-tube preamp combos. The McCormack and Dehavilland were bettered slightly by the ARC combo (more detail, sound is a little less lush and more accurate) but the Karan goes way beyond either of these: it has better control of the speakers, more accurate bass, more natural, and really shows off good recordings vs. mediocre ones. I have had some pretty nice separates in here for demo recently (Herron separates, Classe CP-700 mated with the McCormack) and they each beat my setup by a small margin, but the Karan is in a whole different league. They are tough to find though. Now, I just need to get my wife to let me keep it.....
Bat vk31se and vk120 vs Simaudio I-7
Can anyone share some insight into how the two systems compare?
I have the BAT vk31SE and VK120 monoblocks and the sound is very nice and musical with Esoteric player. However, recently I had the opportunity to hear Simaudio I7 integrated amp with their Nova Super Nova player and was very impressed. For an integrated SS amp, the sound was full, really nice and Jazzy. Ofcurse, this was at the dealer, our speakers are the same but rooms, PLAYER, cables and treatments are completely different and they won’t let me connect my gear to the I7 unfortunately which would provide for a better frame of reference :(
Obviously these two systems are quite different (BAT tubes and i7 integrated), but I am considering the i7 based on the cost savings and ease of operation (class A preamp, class A amp to 5 wpc class AB at over 5 wpc), without the Super [expensive] Nova.
Perhaps, someone already had both and did the compare? Appreciate your thoughts..
I have the BAT vk31SE and VK120 monoblocks and the sound is very nice and musical with Esoteric player. However, recently I had the opportunity to hear Simaudio I7 integrated amp with their Nova Super Nova player and was very impressed. For an integrated SS amp, the sound was full, really nice and Jazzy. Ofcurse, this was at the dealer, our speakers are the same but rooms, PLAYER, cables and treatments are completely different and they won’t let me connect my gear to the I7 unfortunately which would provide for a better frame of reference :(
Obviously these two systems are quite different (BAT tubes and i7 integrated), but I am considering the i7 based on the cost savings and ease of operation (class A preamp, class A amp to 5 wpc class AB at over 5 wpc), without the Super [expensive] Nova.
Perhaps, someone already had both and did the compare? Appreciate your thoughts..
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- 16 posts total
- 16 posts total