aviserated Posted December 24, 2005 Share Posted December 24, 2005 I have been using my B&K Pre / Power Amp combo with my ForteII speakers for about 5 years now and I cannot complain about the DEEP, RICH, POWERFUL, and BALANCED sound. Then I tried a 40watt push pull tube amp with zero tone controls. That deep, rich, and balanced sound that I was used to went away totally. The sound turned bright, unbalanced, and with near zero bass. WTF! I hate my new $1000.00 Tube Amp. www.bkcomp.com is the answer. You "must" audition this B&K pre/power combo with the Klipsch Heritage line! Reference 5 S2 Pre Amp Reference 125.2 S2 Power Amp Leave your crossover neatwork alone. USE TONE CONTROLS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallette Posted December 24, 2005 Share Posted December 24, 2005 No thanks. I just say "NO" to extra signal paths. With my Heritage system I have yet to use an amp/preamp/integrated whether Class D, SS, or tube that I felt any need for EQ. Some sound better than others, but none of these differences appear to have anything to do with EQ. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steamer Posted December 24, 2005 Share Posted December 24, 2005 sorry to hear your first tube expierience was'nt so good! I find that tube amplfication is not as bright as SS amps IMHO What brand of tube amp is it?Maybe something is wrong elsewhere in the system. We all have our own likes and dislikes when it comes to the sound we hear,if your B&K rig is better for you then I hope you enjoy! Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aviserated Posted December 24, 2005 Author Share Posted December 24, 2005 sorry to hear your first tube expierience was'nt so good! I find that tube amplfication is not as bright as SS amps IMHO What brand of tube amp is it?Maybe something is wrong elsewhere in the system. We all have our own likes and dislikes when it comes to the sound we hear,if your B&K rig is better for you then I hope you enjoy! Greg The B&K is far from bright because of the MOSFET transisters. I will send you a PM concerning brand of tube amp I purchased. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallette Posted December 24, 2005 Share Posted December 24, 2005 Jeez, I'd like to know about that tube amp as well. I got to thinking the same thing steamer wrote after I posted. BTW, I am sure you understand my post was in no way suggesting there is anything wrong with your approach to nirvana (see my sig-it is my philosophy in these things). It DOES seem to indicate something is not right when a tube amp appears brighter than SS. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodog Posted December 24, 2005 Share Posted December 24, 2005 User 'BS Button' has B&K powering his LaScalas and I have to admit they put out a VERY convincing, powerful & well-balanced sound, no tone controls needed. That being said, I can't imagine your tube setup being that horrible. Hope you find whatever makes ya happy. Woo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piranha Posted December 24, 2005 Share Posted December 24, 2005 Leave your crossover neatwork alone. USE TONE CONTROLS Could you please elaborate a little here? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aviserated Posted December 24, 2005 Author Share Posted December 24, 2005 By modding your crossover (aka DeanG versions) all you are doing is changing the tone of the speaker much like a tone control does. I am a firm believer of tone controls (bass/treble) to adjust for bad recordings, bad speakers, bad rooms. Give the B&K a listen if at all possible. Very smooth, pleasing and powerful sounding. Bass will literally shake the house, I promise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOSValves Posted December 24, 2005 Share Posted December 24, 2005 So what was the horrible $1000 tube amp? Craig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Speedball Posted December 24, 2005 Share Posted December 24, 2005 No shame in saying what brand the amp is. A thousand bucks should get you satisfaction to say the least. On the other hand I've read about many who think B&K products mate very well with Klipsch, it is certainly a brand to consider when choosing solid state. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldtimer Posted December 24, 2005 Share Posted December 24, 2005 Glad to hear you have something that makes you happy. If you don't mind sharing, what does this pre/pro and amp cost? Also, does it run hot, or say hotter than the sunfire series? When I crank it in the summer I hate it when the room heats up and I have to use a fan on the receiver. On another note, I love your avatar steamer! What a crappy frustrating year it has been though. ____________________________________________________ "Are you a mod or a rocker? "I'm a mocker." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aviserated Posted December 24, 2005 Author Share Posted December 24, 2005 List price... B&K Reference 5 S2.. preamp $798.00 B&K Reference 125.2 S2 amp $798.00 I have my preamp setting directly on top of my amp and no heat related problems yet. It does get slightly warm but not hot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteelerFan Posted December 24, 2005 Share Posted December 24, 2005 B&K makes nice stuff and it mates well with Klipsch, I have one of their amps myself. But I am also wondering what tube amp you had that was so horrible with your Forte II's. I have a pair of them in my 2ch rig and have planned to one day buy a tube amp to match them with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Invidiosulus Posted December 24, 2005 Share Posted December 24, 2005 Maybe your tube amp didn't like the B&K preamp that you were using. Could have been the preamps fault as much as it was the tube amps fault. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ben. Posted December 24, 2005 Share Posted December 24, 2005 Network changes affect the sound of a system in a very different way than tone controls. I've gotten satisfactory results with systems both ways. B&K has an excellent reputation among a large cross-section of audiophilia. They are located near me, and I nearly went to work for them several years ago. They are a class company behind the scenes as well. Now, why not 'fess up and say what the tube amp was? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BS Button Posted December 24, 2005 Share Posted December 24, 2005 User 'BS Button' has B&K powering his LaScalas and I have to admit they put out a VERY convincing, powerful & well-balanced sound, no tone controls needed. That being said, I can't imagine your tube setup being that horrible. Hope you find whatever makes ya happy. Woo Well Forrest, The PT-5 pre-amp runs with the loudness button engaged at all times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steamer Posted December 24, 2005 Share Posted December 24, 2005 On another note, I love your avatar steamer! What a crappy frustrating year it has been though. ____________________________________________________ Yes ,I agree what a terrible year!Thought with the key additions of Moss and L. Jordan we would turn things around...at least make it a respectable year. BTW my fantasy team looked the same,literally!!!! Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smilin Posted December 25, 2005 Share Posted December 25, 2005 B&K bery bery good, BUT NO WAY is it the Holy Grail..............enjoy[][] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbsl Posted December 25, 2005 Share Posted December 25, 2005 Did you try different types of tubes? I did not like Svetlana EL 34s in my cayin TA 30 tube amp midrange sounded very forward and hard/ harsh. I then tried Elctro Harmonix 6CA7s which is a industrial version of the EL 34s and it had much better bass and a smoother midrange. If you have not tried this form of tone controls give it a try. I agree on using the tone controls IMHO! I understand when someone says they have never wanted to mess with changing the bass and treble. But to say tone controls degrade the sound to a point the music is no longer enjoyable I disagree, again IMHO. On quality equipment(not some $250 A/V reciever) tone controls can improve the sound and not degrade it. I have Luxman int amp that I use as a preamp that has bass, treble, and LOUDNESS and I hear no ill effect on the sound when using them. I don't know how many times I listen to a cd and it will have great chest thumping bass. Put another cd in and the bass is barely there and the highs are too much. Damn guess I'll just have to listen to this cd without much bass and the treble is a bit bright. Wait a minute I have a tone controls-AH much better now! If you are lucky enough that every record or cd sounds fine and you don't want to adjust the bass or highs on certain cds or songs then you are really lucky. But when I listen to a cd and it is lacking in bass or it has too much highs or not enough then why suffer? Because the sound engineer at the recording studio or the band decided it should have weak bass, or too bright--wrong I don't think so. I would rather degrade the sound by a degree that I cannot hear and adjust the bass and treble and enjoy the song. When you go see a band live who is alway somewhere in the audience? The sound guy who adjusts the way the band sounds with a really cool, really big tone control board. Again this is how I feel and I'm not saying tone controls are for everyone! One of the things that can be interesting about this hobby is everyone hears things different. One amp, preamp, type of tube, type of speaker,tone controls, etc can sound incredible or like cr@p depending on the person. Oh yeah it's Christmas, have a great one!! Xman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yaffstone Posted December 25, 2005 Share Posted December 25, 2005 The driver section of the amp makes a huge difference as well. Was this tube amp used or new? Older models need their caps looked into. I rebuilt and modified an old Dynaco ST-70 and it blows doors on most any SS I've owned. It did not start out that way when I got it 40 years old and stock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.