"Excuse me, how do I get to Carnegie Hall?" goes the setup for the old joke. The punch line is, of course, "Practice". For anyone who wants to get into high end design and manufacturing, desire and talent are not enough. Those who succeed in this highly competitive area really have to do their homework--which is just what Balanced Audio Technology has done. They've produced a pair of audio components that, in my opinion, are in the front rank of their respective categories.

  The VK-5 retains the transparency of a minimalist line-stage, but has enough facilities that make it convenient to use. The VK-60 offers the natural rendition of instrumental/vocal timbres that the best tube amplifiers are known for, but has enough power to drive most speakers to very satisfying volumes, especially when used in the monoblock configuration. In balanced or unbalanced mode, used together or with other high-quality amplifiers/preamps, the VK-5 and the VK-60 performed in a way that was always musical.

  BAT out of hell? Heaven is more like it.