mungkiman Posted June 5, 2006 Share Posted June 5, 2006 Has anyone heard, or does anyone use Bogen amps? Here is a picture of a DB20 monoblock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mungkiman Posted June 5, 2006 Author Share Posted June 5, 2006 Shot from the front... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mungkiman Posted June 5, 2006 Author Share Posted June 5, 2006 ...and one from the rear. I have also seen green rather than gold paint, and hope someone hear can speak to the differences. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mighty Favog Posted June 6, 2006 Share Posted June 6, 2006 One of my brothers has a DB230 burried in a closet but, geez, I haven't seen that thing in 20 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duke Spinner Posted June 6, 2006 Share Posted June 6, 2006 I'm a " Challenger " man, myself ..... 6L6's all the way, baby .....[] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mungkiman Posted June 6, 2006 Author Share Posted June 6, 2006 3 x 12AT7 1 x 12AU7 1 x 5U4G 2 x 6L6G/GB Duke, Challenger is 60 watt? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rplace Posted June 6, 2006 Share Posted June 6, 2006 Give Thebes a yell or wait for him to see this. He just rebuilt a pair. In talking to him I think he had a blast, learned a lot and likes the sound a lot. I heard them thought they sounded darn good. He has done some more work on them since then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Posted June 6, 2006 Share Posted June 6, 2006 I thought they were more PA than hifi amps... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DRBILL Posted June 6, 2006 Share Posted June 6, 2006 When I was in high school (50's), the shop where I worked did a very big business in PA rentals. I did routine maintenance on our Bogens. They were built for PA use. My impression was that they had a fairly narrow bandwidth. The treble was supressed to minimize feedback. The bass was also missing because it was useless in a PA system. It might be that this deficiency was deliberate and reversible. They were built like a boiler --really tough. DRBILL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fletcherkane Posted June 6, 2006 Share Posted June 6, 2006 IN the PA world, Bogen is unaffectionately known as "Bogus" Even their semi decent stuff is just cheap knockoffs of other companies gear. I have mostly seen it used in PA's at campgrounds with it hooked up to a couple of 70volt megaphones so that they camp director can holler some announcement or two, or holler that dinners is ready in the mess hall... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankphess Posted June 6, 2006 Share Posted June 6, 2006 I tried a DB212 (6 watts a side i think) on the cheap. I believe it did have connectors for a p.a. but I have a manual for it and it was for in home use. I used it with a CD player for a while. It was rather old, and being stock took some time to warm up and of course did not have enough juice for RF-7's. I planned to use it for soldering practice, but of course never got around to it. Right now it's sitting in the garage gathering dust. If anyone would like to try it, I would not be opposed to letting it go. It seems I find listening to music more enjoyable than working on equiment. The photo attach doesn't seem to want to work. E-mail me if interested in a photo. frank.p.hess@sargentlundy.com Tube compliment= (2) 7199 RCA Electron blackplates (2) Motorola 12AX7's (4) RCA 6V6GT's & (1) Matsushita 6CA4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacksonbart Posted June 6, 2006 Share Posted June 6, 2006 I think they are made in Paramus New Jersey. Now if they were made in Trenton, you would have yourself an amp. As the saying goes, 'The world takes, Trenton makes'. I believe the saying about Paramus NJ is 'As the crow flies, it dumps in the vicinity over Paramus, oh and watch out for pick pockets'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mungkiman Posted June 6, 2006 Author Share Posted June 6, 2006 Interesting to hear your opinions. Now, has anyone actually heard a Bogen DB20DF? What little literature I have found indicates that this model was TOTL, and made specifically for home hifi use, while most of their other amps are for PA/paging applications. On the rear, there are jacks for tape in/out, radio, aux, low mag., and high mag. On the front, the selector knob includes: LP, AES, NAB, RIAA, EU78, AM78, POP, RADIO, AUX, and TAPE. Haven't cleaned it up yet, but it sounds as good as my Mac (SS) gear listed below. Anyone else want to chime in? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mungkiman Posted June 6, 2006 Author Share Posted June 6, 2006 Does this help any of you enlightened ones? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacksonbart Posted June 6, 2006 Share Posted June 6, 2006 That looks like a map of Paramus NJ? (Seriously, all that matters is that you enjoy it congrats) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebes Posted June 6, 2006 Share Posted June 6, 2006 It looks to me to be an integrated amp, therefore you're basically stuck with mono, although one second thought, I guess there must be some way to make them into stereo if you pick up another one. Also looks like it may have a choke on top which I understand is always a good sign because installing one involves additional expense to the manufacturer. Couldn't comment on this model, since I only have experience with Bogen MO-100A amps being played through a Conrad Johnson pre-amp. These have been converted to EL 34's (orginally had higly sought-after 8417's but they are too rare and too expensive hence the conversion). I have replaced the power and coupling caps,, voltage doubled and the speech /music circuits removed. In this combination they actually spank my very,very sweet Craig re-built Scott 299 and are not far off the pace of my Marantz 8b amp-7T pre combo. No less a personage then our own Leok pronounced them to be very good. My partner in crime on the rebuild, MikeBSE2A3 theorizes that the primary reason is circuit design and that good transformers were readily available during those days.. The PA part of the circuits on these PA amps is easily removed. These MO100a and many other Bogen types, most notably the Challenger series are often converted to guitar heads. Early Quicksilvers were based on the circuit design of the Bogen MO100A and this ciruit is very similiar to those used in the Marantz 8B and Model 9's. If updated properly based solely on my own very limited experience these can be killer sound producers. Hook it up and see how it sounds. Of course if you have a variac brining it up on that first would be an even better idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mungkiman Posted June 8, 2006 Author Share Posted June 8, 2006 Thanks Thebes. Interesting stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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