Balanced Audio Technology VK-85 Preamplifier

A solid-state high-current circuit with SuperPak and Unistage

Introduced simultaneously with the REX 300 power amplifier, the Balanced Audio Technology VK-85 preamplifier blurs the lines between the finest tube and solid-state sound. VK-85 features BATs trademark high-current Unistage topology with transformer-coupled outputs that anchor the full line of Balanced Audio Technologys preamplifiers. The VK-85s second-generation output transformers work in conjunction with a symmetrical N-channel Unistage gain block to provide the high-current operation that is a BAT hallmark. A revised connection scheme for the SuperPak Quattro technology used in REX 300 offers beguiling levels of musical finesse and textural beauty.

SuperPak Quattro

The revised power supply of VK-85 incorporates the same fourth-generation SuperPak used in REX 300. In addition to providing four levels of filtration, it is connected in a new manner that dramatically lowers the preamplifiers overall noise floor. The parts used in SuperPak Quattro include premium silver foil/oil capacitors that improve harmonic accuracy and go far beyond the red chiclet-style caps found in most power supply bypass designs.

Unistage Design

Simplicity of design, especially in the direct signal path, remains a hallmark of Balanced Audio Technologys purist approach to circuit topology. The signal in VK-85 is transmitted through only one gain stageone free from the negative artifacts attributable to both extremes of modern preamplifier design: passive preamplifiers and multi-stage buffered active circuits. BATs trademarked Unistage circuit provides the ultimate simplicity of amplifying the incoming signal just once while using no global feedback to double-back on the integrity of that signal.

High-Current N-Channel MOSFET Circuit

The VK-85 circuit is based on N-Channel MOSFET devices. Solid-state designs customarily use complementary N- and P-channel devices in the gain stage. Such configurations are easier to build but suffer from an important drawback: P-Channel devices are inherently inferior to their brethren because they are much slower. In VK-85, both sides of the waveform are handled by identical devices in identical circuit configuration assuring symmetry of the resulting signal.

Specifications

Inputs: 3 x XLR, 2 x RCA

Outputs: 2 x XLR, 1 x RCA (Tape)

Gain: 20 dB

Vol Control Resolution: 140 x 0.5 dB steps

Input Impedance (min): 100 k

Output Impedance: 200

Power Consumption: 80 VA

Dimensions: 19″ x 5.75″ x 15.5″

Weight: 40 lb.