Finally got a chance to plug the B&K in tonight.


A good friend stopped by and helped me re-arrange a bit, and the B&K was put into duty.


Now, I love my Denon POA 1500 IIs, and they appear to be very neutral for a Japanese SS of that vintage, but the B&K Sonata 442-EX delivered the goods.

The issues I had with the Thiels being a bit harsh on the top end with certain recordings either cleared up or were curtailed greatly. I suspect room treatments will cure any remaining issues.

Clarity was superb. Being a dual-mono design, the amp did it's job keeping crosstalk to a bare minimum.

Quiet passages were just that- quiet. And dead quiet. Nary a peep, not even a whisper.

Most surprising however, was the bass- both control and amount.

I've found these Thiels to be a bit lacking in the bass, but not anymore. Indeed, certain recordings with heavy, electronically augmented bass lines like a selection from Goldfrapp or The Streets hinted at a bit of etiolation, but for anything else, anything with natural bass, the Thiels were a bit too robust for me.

This I was thrilled with, as a small rug should cure this, or, god forbid, I could always engage my tone controls and turn the bass to the left of the zero.

Yes, the Thiels now deliver the bass for anything with upright bass, electric bass, and most drums.

Nice!

Oh- and no slop in the bass- tight as a pair of trousers at an all-you-can-eat buffet. Complete control over every note. The leash is tight ant taut on the low end.

Sublime.



Negatives?

Every nuance is heard- a positive for most things, but a negative when the recording is bad, or features a few issues with the pressing or mastering. This amp will glorify good recordings, and will not suffer fools lightly.




I've not invested much time in listening, but will be sure to post more once I spend more time with this new edition.

outstanding, now how do the ADS 1230's fare with the B&K?

Now I am hoping that you will give the vandy's a shot at love. I think you will probably have a similar engagement like you did with the thiels. especially if you can get them positioned in your room for optimum sound.

When I got my pre-and-amp, it made everything I listened to sound better with no exception, except one. new music, it sounded real bad, compressed and lacking in every corridor.

Just the other day I was listening to some old frank sinatra, and over the years I would put that on and it always sounded really dated, sonically speaking, but now, you can almost feel the bass players finger on his standup bass. I think you will get tons of new enjoyment out of this new setup, cant wait for more, after you have spent some time with the setup.

elroy

Why is it you have all this cool stuff... and no pictures! Oh wait... I do the same thing

Hi Paul~!

What Elroy said......try the Vandies too. You may be in for a very pleasant surprise.

I'm glad the B&K is working for you. The "soft" top end is good for the Thiels.

Those Thiels and Vandies will probably show you more than any speaker you own your changes in upstream components....and they will also show you the bad....as you already found out.

See ya Saturday at Markus' place.

Best,

Paul

I blame the messy apartment.

Though looks like I may have some help tidying it up this week....

Thanks, Paul.

Sorry I didn't make it to Markus' place. I'd have loved to hung out with you bpys.


I'm sure the Vandies will shine with the B&Ks- Truly great speakers.

So Paul, I know what you rthink of the AR 9 and 9LSi, but how do you feel about the DQ-10s and the a/d/s/ L1230s compared to the Thiels and Vandies?

Nice amp isn't it?

I owned a pair of B&K M-200 mono blocks and the Pro-10mc Preamp. the system was indeed very smooth with my Old Thiel Cs-3.5's which had a bit of a hairy top end due the equalizer the speakers required.

The m-200's ran class A up to 25wpc.. and had very good bass, not great bass. But the midrange is ohhhh sooo sweet.

The preamp was cut from the same cloth... but as desires change, I sold off the system and moved on..

BTW, I also used this system with my Rogers/ 3D Acoustics sub and it was wonderful!

Good luck with the unit.