BALANCED AUDIO TECHNOLOGY VK-P12SE Phonostage

BALANCED AUDIO TECHNOLOGY VK-P12SE Phonostage
 
New engineering enhancements increase sonic pedigree
 
A Special Edition version of BAT’s VK-P12 phonostage, VK-P12SE includes numerous engineering improvements to offer greater information retrieval and supreme musical presentation. The first gain stage is completely revised to provide a substantially lower noise floor. In addition to the transformer-coupled output transformers, a reconfigured output stage incorporates four high-gain 6C45 tubes. They provide high-current and low-output impedance, establishing superb drive and crystalline transparency. These enhancements result in a phonostage with improved silence in the quietest musical passages, unfettered dynamic ease, and a grand sense of scale. For listeners that may want even more performance, VK-P12SE is fully upgradeable to the VK-P12SE SuperPak.
 
Clearer transparency, visceral bass, three-dimensional texture
With the VK-P12SE, you get an all-tube zero-feedback design that combines the benefits of balanced operation with complementary vacuum-tube current sources. Dual-mono construction and enormous energy reserves are matched by extensive flexibility in cartridge loading. The first gain stage achieves a very low noise floor via premium Vishay bulk foil resistors that replace metal film resistors in critical areas. An upgraded power supply joins the new transformer-coupled output stage in contributing to greater transparency and more responsive, visceral bass. Vacuum-tube current sources further improve the linearity and yield a more open, textured sound. A differential RIAA network ensures all your records will sound the way the recording engineer intended, permitting ease of adjustment and improved common mode noise rejection. Plus, the VK-P12SE’s second-generation step-up transformers provide as much as a 20db improvement in signal-to-noise ratio in comparison to direct mode operation. With up to 80dB of gain available, no signal is too small. Analog bliss awaits.
 
A “transformational” transformer-coupled output stage
Like the elite VK-33SE, VK-53SE, and REX II preamplifiers, the VK-P12SE features a transformer-coupled output stage. This new design replaces BAT’s venerable Six-Pak of output capacitors with custom-designed output transformers. In order to achieve this “transformational” goal, years were spent prototyping and testing various alternative output transformer designs. All the work paid off: BAT’s new transformer-coupled output stage proves substantially superior to any capacitor in maintaining a purity of signal transmission. Electrically, these output transformers significantly improve the performance in every measured respect. Sonically, they offer improvements in every area of musical reproduction.