SteelerFan Posted May 30, 2004 Share Posted May 30, 2004 I picked it up today and unpacked it to make sure there wasn't any obvious damage. That's the good news, the bad news is it's just sitting there because my pre-amp isn't here yet. Doesn't that just suck? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olorin Posted May 30, 2004 Share Posted May 30, 2004 It only sucks about a third as much as it could. Your amp could have gone missing or come to you broken. But in a sense, yeah, that sucks! I haven't been following your amp quest. Which B&K are you getting? I'd love to see a review when you get it settled in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JewishAMerPrince Posted May 30, 2004 Share Posted May 30, 2004 If you can..hook it up with your Yammi as a pre-pro. I know, I know...that's a travisty...but...at least you will be using it and breaking it in. Jerry R Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
damonrpayne Posted May 30, 2004 Share Posted May 30, 2004 I hear that! My Aragon amp is sitting on the shelf because I can't get the pre/pre yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burtlively Posted May 30, 2004 Share Posted May 30, 2004 send me the aragon and the b&k. i'll break them in for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darren Posted May 31, 2004 Share Posted May 31, 2004 And the anticipation builds while it sits unused Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteelerFan Posted May 31, 2004 Author Share Posted May 31, 2004 Olorin, it's the 200.5. I know there are more powerful 200 watt amps out there, but it's not all about power. I'm sure with my Klipsch speakers the B&K will be way more than up to the task of driving them to insane levels no matter what the source material throws at it. Quality wise, for the price I don't think I could have done much better. Especially since it was the B&K 507 the salesman used to demo the RF-7's for me. I remember how well they matched up. I thought about trying the Yamaha as a pre but I'd have to rearrange my whole rack to fit them both in and then do it all over again when the new pre-amp arrives. That's enough to discourage me. I'll just wait and anticipate! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marksdad Posted May 31, 2004 Share Posted May 31, 2004 steeler, your going to love your new amp, it sounds even better at home, but do yourself a favor, let anticipation build, it would not sound so cool with the yammi, it would be a let down, do it all at once and than you would get the full b&k impact Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anarchist Posted June 2, 2004 Share Posted June 2, 2004 Really, Explain how that works to me. The B&K amp with the Yamaha as a pre-pro would be a letdown? Hmmm. I would hazard a guess he wouldn't notice much of a difference particulary if he were blindfolded and conducted an A/B test. Is that the letdown? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjgeraci Posted June 3, 2004 Share Posted June 3, 2004 I disagree. I hazard to guess he would notice a difference blindfolded between running his Yamaha as a pre/pro vs. using another pre/pro with his B&K amp. I am one who believes that the preamp choice is more critical than the amp choice, and this is based on my own listening of various pre/pros with the same amp, including using my own Yamaha as a pre/pro for awhile. Of course, your ears may have revealed something entirely different. For additional opinions on this subject, read through "companions" thread in this section entitled, "how do I get rid of some of the brightness of my RC-35s." Carl. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteelerFan Posted June 3, 2004 Author Share Posted June 3, 2004 I'm inclined to agree with Carl. Even though I haven't had the opportunity to do any A/B testing myself, I've always read where the pre-amp actually has a larger influence on the sound than the amplifier does. So I guess Carl is sitting pretty with his Classe pre-amp, a real fine piece. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjgeraci Posted June 3, 2004 Share Posted June 3, 2004 Yes John. Carl is very pleased with his Classe pre/pro. Best of luck with your pre/pro when it arrives!! You should love the 200.5! Very nice amp. BTW, after all of your hum struggles, thought I'd share the following. Was battling a mild hum recently. Tried a variety of things and eliminated the amps as the culprit. Planned on keeping the Classe regardless because even though it was mildly irritating, I just love the Classe/Rotel combo so much (and this demo was the last one I could find before the switchover to the new, and more expensive models). Finally, another Forum member made me some custom interconnects, with extra shielding (Thanks, Kevin!!) The hum is down to a mild whimper, which is only slightly noticeable if you are about 2-4 inches from the speakers. In fact, you only notice it if there is no noise in the room, whatsoever, and you are up real close looking/hearing for it. After some troubleshooting, I believe the remaining noise is incoming-power related, and I will deal with that in time. Good luck with your new one, and may you have NOOOOOOO issues. Carl. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Posted June 3, 2004 Share Posted June 3, 2004 B&K and Yamaha,wow thats a BRIGHT idea.Enjoy ASAP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjgeraci Posted June 3, 2004 Share Posted June 3, 2004 Heh, heh, heh. Fish, you still have a way with words. CJG. p.s. Love the guitars......And again, thanks for helping to steer me down the road to sonic nirvana. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anarchist Posted June 4, 2004 Share Posted June 4, 2004 Ok. Apparently my post was completely misunderstood. My very point was using this amp instead of the Yammys amps would make very little difference, i.e. there should be no letdown with the amp because there should be little difference between the two amps. The sound would be similar using the B&K amp - should be more headroom, should be more volume. He would be able to actually begin breaking the amp in and using it now. I agree the pre/pro makes most if not all of the difference in the sound. The amp, if worth anything, should not impart anything into the sound hence using it with the Yamaha as the pre should not be a letdown unless the expectation is the amp is going to make some big difference. Lastly. B&K is supposedly warm. Yamaha is supposedly bright. Mixing the two (if you believe the amp imparts the magic) should result in something in the middle hence the BRIGHT statement some poster made would appear incorrect. I, for one, enjoy Yamaha and specifically chose it over several other Denon models. I, too, will be adding an external amp to my Yamaha and am looking at the B&K. IF I decide to move to another pre/pro it would not be a B&K but rather an Anthem or Bryston. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjgeraci Posted June 4, 2004 Share Posted June 4, 2004 "Ok. Apparently my post was completely misunderstood. My very point was using this amp instead of the Yammys amps would make very little difference, i.e. there should be no letdown with the amp because there should be little difference between the two amps .....I agree the pre/pro makes most if not all of the difference in the sound." Ahhhhh. You are right. I did misunderstand your post. Me bad. I agree with your last sentence. I also agree with there is sometimes not that much of a difference in sound between various amps. But, not always...(see below) "B&K is supposedly warm. Yamaha is supposedly bright. Mixing the two (if you believe the amp imparts the magic) should result in something in the middle hence the BRIGHT statement some poster made would appear incorrect." No, actually, I don't believe that the amp "imparts the magic." But, there can be some differences between amps, and I think Fish is correct based on his own experience. B&Ks are warm sounding with some Klipsch, but not necessarily so for some of us, with the infamous (and touchy) titanium tweeters. Fish was just relaying his own experience. He runs a Rotel pre/pro, and a Parasound amp, and it is an excellent combo for his Reference sevens. Recently, he tried a B&K 125.2 amp to run his RF-7s, and he found that the B&K amp was a little too bright at louder volumes. I had a similar experience. When shopping pre/pros and amps, I also demoed a B&K amp (200.7) with my Reference sevens (and various pre/pros) and found the B&K sound to be detailed, but a tad bright. On the other hand, other reference owners comment on the warmth of their B&Ks amps, and I expect John will have a positive experience. In my case, it was probably just my old, sensitive (and abused) ears, that's all. Not to backtrack, but I still believe the pre/pro makes more of a difference in the overall sound than the amp - assuming that you have two completely neutral amps. But, there is often some difference in sound between two respective amps. "I, for one, enjoy Yamaha and specifically chose it over several other Denon models." I'm sure your Yamaha sounds great with your polymer dome tweeters. From personal experience, Yamahas are just too bright for the titanium tweeters of the Reference line. I also enjoy my Yamaha, just not playing music through titanium tweeters. Ouch!! That's just part of the reason why some of us said, just stand pat and wait for the pre/pro. That way, he can start off with a clean slate - on the road to bliss!! Glad that was all cleared up. Carl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteelerFan Posted June 4, 2004 Author Share Posted June 4, 2004 The McCormack pre-amp arrived today and will soon be unpacked. Unfortunately, I didn't buy the 5.1 interconnects I need to set it up for surround duties. I bought the pre-amp from someone off of Audiogon and was a little worried it might never arrive. So I just now ordered them from bluejeanscable.com. I can hook it up in 2 channel however and use the ARM mode for surround I believe. I'll at least know if it's going to sound bright, warm or somewhere inbetween. I'll report back soon! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Posted June 4, 2004 Share Posted June 4, 2004 Carl,I could not have said it better myself,thanks for saving me typing. Steeler,sounds like a very interesting combo,let us know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjgeraci Posted June 5, 2004 Share Posted June 5, 2004 Anytime, Fish. Yes, SteelerFan, give us your thoughts. Of course, there are the most exciting, significant events in one's life (marriage, birth of child, new job, new house, etc.) But, the arrival of new equipment that is going to have a substantial impact also has its place. Should make for a fun weekend for you. Carl. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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