BAT rex is probably one of the best line stages, I've had in my system- very natural sound with no obvous omissions and no commissions. Very dynamic and detailed, at the same time avoiding being analytical or lean. Great texture and tone.
Pcosta- Syren II is beautiful. Dead quiet in my 108 dB sensitive system, otstanding resolution, combined with very engaging and "musical" presentation, a trick, that in my experience is very difficult to pull. I've had my share of preamplifiers: three different Suprateks, BAT REX, Doshi Alaap, Joule Electra ME-450, VAC Signature IIa. Tron Syren II Ultimate(Ultimate upgrade includes all silver wiring, silver WBT connectors and silver-wired transformers), is the best one by a significant margin, very expensive, but worth it. The ICs from Tron to power amps are about 15 ft. long- not a problem at all. Charles1dad, Roxy54- thank you for your kind words.
Hanss is very new, so I'm just getting a handle on it. I feel, it does bass better, than Verdier, and has more organic presentation. The weak point of Verdier is the motor- mine was converted to battery operation, but still. I would imagine, that with a state of the art motor and controller, it would have been a better TT, but I never gotten around to actually doing it. Genius of Verdier is the simplicity of the design. Anyhow, Hanss T-60 is very well made, and overall is probably somewhat better, than Verdier, that now is sold for $15 K with an MDF plinth (mine was with the more expensive Granito) Speed stability is very good, it has huge, partially magnetically-suspended platter, provisions for two tonearms, magnetic suspension, that is also adjustable and two motors. It isn't tweaky neither. For the asking price, it's a pretty good deal. To get much better, one would need to shop in at least $15-30 K price range
