New B&K amp 200.7 s2 (TASDOM is the MAN) is on its way

[A1UC]

They dont not even close , the D Sonic is like Wyred 4 Sound pretty much the same . the D Sonic runs 3100 and the Wyred is 3600 so its really not fair to compare to the Emo amp . I owned a Theta amp and sold it when I shipped my Kef Model Fours to Alaska , I then tried a few Emo amps but really didnt care for them . Anyway enjoy your new amp you got a nice system , wanna buy a 4520ci now ? lol

[derrickdj1]

pics

Something sexy about good looking amps. You got a good deal! Enjoy.

[Youthman]

Congrats on the new gear Reference. Where is the pic of you holding the amp? []

[Shodrewken]

That's one fine looking piece of hardware [Y] How has music differed using this amp compared to the emo? And does it run hot at all?

[willland]

Congratulations on the B&K. Just a couple of years back I was dead set on getting either the 200.5, 200.7, 7250, etc. but when I realized just how deep those babies are(19.25 inches), I knew my AV stand just could not accommodate them. I was really bummed until a 5 channel Acurus came up on my local c-list.

That new toy of yours will never want for more power. That sweet velvety midrange brings magic to vocals.

Enjoy,

Bill

[MichaelandKlipsch]

Sounds absolutely amazing RH. Im glad your happy with the B&K. I noticed the exact same things with my Anthem Amps. Nothing wrong with EMO amps but there are differences in the higher end gear. I have only heard Emo gear once though to be fair though. Picks look great snap some photos of it installed would love to see close up photos of your amps/pres subs etc. Congrats buddy.

[MichaelandKlipsch]

I am also in the same boat. I have a pretty extensive reef aquarium. The wife has a brand new Cayenne Porsche we just picked up last week and I have some nice collectibles and things throughout the house. Be that as it may. If the house catches on Fire to hell with all of that stuff the reef and fish and all. Ill be up on the top floor dismounting the THX speakers and lugging my amps speakers Screen projector so on and so forth. The fish, cars and house can fend for themselves lol Klipsch THX speaks will be with me in the hotel while things get sorted out with the insurance company

[A1UC]

wow glad Im not alone [Y]

[Heritage_Head]

Thanks everyone [].

Bill in my stand it sticks way out the back and only part of the back feet make it so its really close.

No music yet but today i will try some out.

Watched another movie last night and i'm very impressed with the sound and detail. The biggest upgrade is in the voice. Its so clean and large i love it. Its night and day vs the emo. I was expecting it to be better but not as much as it is and I'm sure some will roll their eyes [8-)] lol but it really is a nice upgrade in sound.

[Heritage_Head]

Congrats on the new gear Reference. Where is the pic of you holding the amp?

lol i could hold the manual []

[Vital]

Its so clean and large i love it. Its night and day vs the emo.

I'm glad you're happy with the B&K but I have to say I don't buy it.

There has been a lot of hot chatter on the E-mail circuit over the past couple of months about the Steve Maki and Steve Zipser challenge in Miami. I thought you would appreciate a complete recount of the events. Zipser, a high-end salon owner, had issued a challenge that he would pay the airplane fare of any interested party who wanted to see him prove he could hear the differences between amplifiers.

On Sunday afternoon, August 25th, Maki and I arrived at Zipser's house, which is also Sunshine Stereo. Maki brought his own control unit, a Yamaha AX-700 100-watt integrated amplifier for the challenge. In a straight 10-trial hard-wired comparison, Zipser was only able to identify correctly 3 times out of 10 whether the Yamaha unit or his pair of Pass Laboratories Aleph 1.2 monoblock 200-watt amplifiers was powering his Duntech Marquis speakers. A Pass Labs preamplifier, Zip's personal wiring, and a full Audio Alchemy CD playback system completed the playback chain. No device except the Yamaha integrated amplifier was ever placed in the system. Maki inserted one or the other amplifier into the system and covered them with a thin black cloth to hide identities. Zipser used his own playback material and had as long as he wanted to decide which unit was driving the speakers.

I had matched the playback levels of the amplifiers to within 0.1 dB at 1 kHz, using the Yamaha balance and volume controls. Playback levels were adjusted with the system preamplifier by Zipser. I also determined that the two devices had frequency response differences of 0.4 dB at 16 kHz, but both were perfectly flat from 20 Hz to 8 kHz. In addition to me, Zipser, and Maki, one of Zip's friends, his wife, and another person unknown to me were sometimes in the room during the test, but no one was disruptive and conditions were perfectly quiet.

As far as I was concerned, the test was over. However, Zipser complained that he had stayed out late the night before and this reduced his sensitivity. At dinner, purchased by Zipser, we offered to give him another chance on Monday morning before our flight back North. On Monday at 9 a.m., I installed an ABX comparator in the system, complete with baling-wire lead to the Yamaha. Zipser improved his score to 5 out of 10. However, my switchpad did develop a hang-up problem, meaning that occasionally one had to verify the amplifier in the circuit with a visual confirmation of an LED. Zipser has claimed he scored better prior to the problem, but in fact he only scored 4 out of 6 before any difficulties occurred.

His wife also conducted a 16-trial ABX comparison, using a 30-second phrase of a particular CD for all the trials. In this sequence I sat next to her at the main listening position and performed all the amplifier switching functions according to her verbal commands. She scored 9 out of 16 correct. Later another of Zip's friends scored 4 out of 10 correct. All listening was done with single listeners.

In sum, no matter what you may have heard elsewhere, audio store owner Steve Zipser was unable to tell reliably, based on sound alone, when his $14,000 pair of class A monoblock amplifiers was replaced by a ten-year old Japanese integrated amplifier in his personal reference system, in his own listening room, using program material selected personally by him as being especially revealing of differences. He failed the test under hardwired no-switching conditions, as well as with a high-resolution fast-comparison switching mode. As I have said before, when the answers aren't shared in advance, "Amps Is Amps" even for the Goldenest of Ears.

Tom Nousaine
Cary, IL

Read more: http://www.hometheatershack.com/forums/home-theater-receivers-processors-amps/34084-can-we-really-hear-difference-between-amps.html#ixzz2RUKRIPHk

[Heritage_Head]

Great article vital very interesting read. The only way you will know is if you buy the amp and see. They do sound very different and from everything i have read most who have heard both agree. Thats not saying there is not some that dont but most do. The biggest reason i have never bought nice wires and cables is that most veiws say its not that noticeable. However that is not the case with amps at all. Now i know some people think power is power but of the people i have read that have have owned some of the higher brands and the lower seem to hear a difference. And thats what got me thinking and reading even more.

It is absolutely different and as the saying goes you wont miss what you never had. []

Vital if you heard it you would hear it i guarantee it.

ps. If it was the same i would sell the b&k and keep my xpa-5 (thats still under warranty)

[A1UC]

Maybe I better get over to Walmart and grab that 10,000 W car amp they got and sell my amp if amps are amps I would be money ahead

that artical means nothing its what a person themself can hear , just because one person cant hear it doesnt mean the next cant.

I can hear a diffrence and I enjoy my system thats all that matters

Maybe the guys speakers sucked []

[Heritage_Head]

So many examples of power vs power being different from one power source to another.

Just like with speakers as i moved up the food chain in video and audio gear i have to say in most cases you get what you pay for.

Emo has a good thing going they offer lots of power for a price that no one else does. But they have to sell the idea on why its not just to good to be true. Enter factory direct to you with no middle man. And they cant just say it they have to sell it so everyone believes it. Yes they cut out the retail store but they have other things they have to pay for that a company that sells to a retail store does not. Like the cost of advertising to name one. They dont have the amps set up in stores that people walk in and see (plus the store does a ton of the advertising for them).

Now im not trying to start a debate over online sale vs retail because i know its less over head to sell online direct.

[MichaelandKlipsch]

A1uc I knew I liked you

[Heritage_Head]

Mike you need to get that jvc going i want pics [:@] lol.

[MichaelandKlipsch]

Yes sir Im going fast as I can lol. Got the recessed shelf built made it 13 high (7 clearance for heat dispersion) 4 deep and 2 wide. Stained it piano black Sunday. Im off tonight so im going to start working on it then im off sat and Sunday to do the install. Got to do a little work around the house and then im locking myself up in theater room till completion. I wont emerge until I have pictures. Started mentioning getting a pair of RF-7ii for downstairs and the wife isnt taking it lightly she wants to just do a sound bar under the Elite tv with the wireless sub hidden behind the couch. I told her No Me Gusta! Going to be a battle im not ready for yet so for now I will just play upstairs in theater room. shes been good lately will try again after I put up her new curtains lol. I want pics of the amp installed. Want to see it next to that Elite pre. I remover when I used to have a media center and my Anthem amp also stuck out the back lol. The new AV racks on the opposite walls house the A2+A5 nicely. With my old media center I had to take a sawzall to it to make the amp fit.

[A1UC]

[derrickdj1]

Its so clean and large i love it. Its night and day vs the emo.

I'm glad you're happy with the B&K but I have to say I don't buy it.

If the amp has a black floor, no hum, no hiss, or obvious coloration and is working in it's comfort zone, it is hard to tell a difference between many amps. But, in the real world amps are not always in the comfort zone and maybe the difference people hear is related to how the amp handles slight clipping and voltage swings. But on the other hand maybe not [^o)]. A good preamp is the key!

[Mongo171]

A good preamp is the key!

Don't need no stinkin' preamp! [*-)]