Mister Pig told me my gear was nothing more than sonic turd, and made me buy a new amp. He threatened to tip me out of my wheelchair if I didn't "step up"....

And Dingus teased and taunted my vintage system by making it seem puny. The inferiority complex started with the Dahlquist DQ-10s that dingus and friends sent my way. This got me on the kick for bigger power in the first place. I went from my Sansui 317, Marantz 1060, Kenwood 7100 and Yamaha 810 (all 30-60wpc) to a few Denon POA-1500s (great amps) and now an even meatier one.

He reinforced this need by brokering some AR9LSIs my way as well.

And Todd got me thinking too, with his new beefy Yammie meat pie amplifier turning his Vandersteens into sweet sounding sirens. I couldn't let Todd have all the damn fun, could I?


This amp is coming from a Chicago dealer that I made an exceptional deal with (better than his posted price) and absorbed shipping.

Should I spill the beans?

Or should I make you guess?


This was one of five brands I was considering, and one of two I placed in the most likely scenario- affordable, well built, respected, reliable, and described by many an Audiogon'er and also by Stereophile as a tubelike SS powerhouse.

Need more hints?

Spill it, we could guess for a while, if you would like.

Accuphase? No, doesn't fit in for affordable.

Jim

Aragon or B&K.

I promise to tip you out of your wheelchair if you don´t spill the beans out fast.

You know I can´t keep that promise, but anyway....

Lets see I am thinking...thinking....thinking......

PSE or Forte. Maybe Bedini. Seen a Nak PA7 kicking around somewhere too.

Regards
Mister Pig

However I will make one of my kids tickle you until you get that PSE pre-amp in the system.

You know I did see a DOA Onkyo Gran Integra M 510 on Audiogon. You wouldnt have bought that one would you?

Mister Pig

I dont know anything about amps, I just got lucky, I looked at a picture of my mx2000 and said, that is the coolest amp out there, I got to have it. just luck, hope paul is lucky too, with his new,,,,,,,,,, ROTEL,,,,,,, maybe

elroy

Hey fellas,

Just got in from a busy day at work, and need to head out again shortly. Sorry for the delay.

Elroy, I do find the Rotels very nice- I had at one time spent some effort reading up about Rotel, Parasound and Cambridge Audio. But alas, not a Rotel. Nor Parasound or Cambridge Audio.

Jim, not an Accuphase- heck, don't see many of them around. Nice gear, but not a heck of a lot of info on them.

Considered a trade for either a Soundcraftsmen or Mitsubishi DA-A15DC. Nice vintage pieces, but the early class H Soundcraftsmen left me concerned with possible upper-range grain, the Mitsu, an astonishing amp, had a nagging secret- the large caps are fakes- there's really two smaller caps under each "dummy" large cap "cover". Not a deal breaker, but the fact the Mitsu is of typical Japanese design left me concerned of possible brightness in the unit. Not something I'm concerned with on most of my speakers, but occasionally that type of amp can run afoul of the sensitive Thiels and the occasionally (but muck less so) fickle a/d/s/ L1230s.

The DOA Onkyo Gran Integra M 510- not that one either. A great amp, and a collectable piece as well, too close in my opinion to the Denon in performance, and as much as I like Onkyo gear and own some, I've seen more of these with problems than working fine. I'd stay away from these personally, unless it was a theft of a deal.


Forte & Bedini- I bet nice amps, but hadn't done much research into them. Nope on this count.

Nak PA7- read great things about this amp as well, but no again.


PS Audio, both old and new, were looked at. A PS Audio class "D" amp was offered to me for a fantastic price, but it was not picked up. As for the older PS audio stuff, it was one of the earliest models, which, unless updated, showed a sign of bursting into flames. PS Audio would fix this, of course, but why take the chance in the interim. Too bad, as the early PS Audios used some great innovations to achieve fabulous amp performance.



Ahh... PSE. A little-known company with fabulous gear. The amps are nothing fancy to look at- the front is the ribbed heat sink, no knobs, no on/off switch, and only occasionally dressed up with sideburns.

The model that occasionally comes up is the Studio IV. 100wpc, heavy as lead, great build- but an uncommon score. Even rarer are the Studio V monoblocks- I've yet to see one for sale.

Rumored by a few to be one of the choice favorites of Richard Vandersteen, I took notice to this model. And it was in the top two running.

A Studio IV came up for sale, but I was unable to act due to other issues that took precedent at the time. When I was finally ready to act, so was someone else- and just a little bit sooner than I. Within mere hours it went from available to "sold".

And A B&K came up as well. Actually, three of them. Seller was moving and was unloading all his personally re-capped (with Black Gates) B&K amps.

One was sold immediately, leaving two of the older models available. But for a song, he'd let the older models go. Arrangements were made for chump change to grab one.

A personal tragedy on his end derailed the deal- he called to cancel it, due to a family illness in the middle of the move, and he and his ads disappeared off of Audiogon and eBay.



So, with a bitt of luck, a gaggle of B&K EX-442s came up for sale.

One on eBay with a heavily dinged corner- I put a bid on it, knowing I could rebuild the faceplate if I wanted to, and could save some cake in the process.

Outbid. By a zealous eBayer, who paid more than I felt a cosmetically damaged unit should sell for. But best of wishes to him/her!

Another on eBay. Sold for a small fortune. Then another. Also high up there.



I started to rethink. Should I go for an ST-202? I passed on the ST-140, and the ST-202 was rumored to be as good sounding as the ST-140, but with more power and more bass control (the ST-140 was accused by some as to having a soft handle on the bass, and shy on power for demanding speakers). Part of the benefit of an ST-202 is a near dual-mono design. One power pack regulated specially into two mirrored channels.

The 140 was rated, depending on time of manufacture, as 70 to 105wpc into 8 ohms. The 202 was, if I recall, around 125-150 into 8 ohms...

But, there were the monoblock 140s at 150wpc into 8 ohms and 225wpc into 4 ohms, from eight healthy mos-fet output transistors. But they can add up... $500 or more for the pair.
Still not a bad deal.

Or, I could keep sticking some cash away, and grab a pair of the B&K holy grails- the M-200 Sonatas- true beasts, 200wpc into 8 ohms, 400wpc into 4 ohms. At times, you can land these for $800 if you're lucky.



But alas, patience paid off, and two EX-442s appeared. One looking good but a bit used, the other a few bucks more, and cleaned and checked by a Chicago hi-fi store.



The EX-442 is close to the monoblock M-200s. While I did say the M-200 is 200wpc into 8, 400 into 4, essentially doubling it's machismo, the EX-442 is only a wink behind at 200wpc into 8 and 375wpc into 4.

And inside is a true dual-mono layout, just sharing one case and one power cord, compared to the two a seperate mono amp would require it.



So, winner is Scott, and runner up is John.



Should arrive sometime next week. Pics then- I promise!

i win, i win!!!

... what did i win?

I won't tell you what you won.........

should be a very nice addition Paul. B&K was on my short list until the Yamaha M-2 fell into my lap.

Never heard of that brand before... i hope it fullfill yours expectations and please post a small review of that "baby beast".
Congrats.

nice, cant wait to hear your impressions of your new amp.

elroy

B&K made a name for themselves here in Portugal mainly due to the MC-101 Sonata pre-amplifier and M-200 monoblocks in the 90´s.

One of the most respected reviewers of the only portuguese hi-fi dedicated magazine used that combination to drive a pair of Magnepan´s MG-1.6 QR´s.

Some manuals are still available from their site. Unfortunately none is available for the one you just got, Paul.

http://www.bkcomp.com/support/manuals/past-product-manuals/

Jorge

Amp arrived saturday or monday, but haven't even opened the box up yet- a busy work blitz before the long weekend.

Also plans to pick up a $400 Salamander rack for 75% off. Will keep you posted once I get some sleep.