I have been a long-time fan of Paul and his team @ PS Audio. Having the opportunity to meet him during CES and experiencing the PerfectWave DAC/Transport I was immediately absorbed by the concepts and approaches he was taking. It would be many years later before I owned my first PS Audio product(s), but the seed had been planted.
When I heard of the new BHK amplifiers I immediately emailed the local distributor to find out the ETA on units and the clock began until they would grace my system with their presence. I continued to read about and watch the several videos posted by Paul regarding these very plain but sophisticated looking amplifiers..
Finally I got the call, the amplifiers had hit the land down under and a BHK300 demo unit was on its way. Excitedly I cleared a space in my rack the night before and was up early and down at the local hifi shop, coffee in hand ready to take them home to hear what the balanced differential vacuum tube input and balanced differential MOSFET power outputs had to offer.
Extract from the PS Audio Website “The power amplifier is technology always present in stereo systems. Yet, despite the fact everyone uses them, few appreciate the power amp’s critical role in preserving music’s nuanced details, because most amplifiers fail to preserve them. Overtones from plucked instruments, subtle cues defining placement, depth, soundstage width, and transient decays are often lost in the power amplifier. The BHK Signature power amplifiers are unique in their ability to faithfully pass even the tiniest of details. The first listen to the BHK is like pulling a blanket off the loudspeakers. Suddenly revealed are the tiniest of details that now ring clear through the BHK, perfectly preserved through its extraordinary bandwidth, low feedback, vacuum tube and MOSFET design.”
It was TIME! I arrived home and unloaded. These are definitely no light weights, each box weighing 92 lbs.As with all the PS Audio products, the packing was first rate, double boxed with extra padding for transit and lazy handling.
The BHK300’s are identical to the P10, the finish is very simple but excellent none the less. Once they were installed in my rack, I double checked all the connections between the Wireworld Gold Eclipse 7 XLR interconnects and the Mcintosh C220 and powered them on. As these were their first power on since leaving the factory, I set Roon Labs to ‘Play All Tracks’ and the volume to 45 and left them for 8 hours to break in period.
When the music began to play I had a feeling they would require at least 200 hours break-in much like what I had experienced with the DirectStream. The DAC went through a bright sounding period that until the 100 hours mark before gradually settling into a smooth and detailed sound. I would only be able to demo them for five days due to work travel commitments so I was fearing that the experience could be ruff.
From the first song, the BHK’s exhibited a very detailed sound it wasn’t bright at all, and the soundstage seemed more upfront and fuller, rather than relaxed sound of the McIntosh. The transparency, timing, resolution and dynamics was very encouraging straight out of the box, but I continued the break in process for the next 4 days running them between 8-14 hours each.
At the end of the fourth day, it was now time to sit down and do some critical listening and compare them against the MC501s. First things first, I level set both amplifiers to ensure I was playing them both at the same volume. Using an SPL Meter and Pink Noise the levels results were:
65dB – BBK (22) / MC501 (31)
70dB – BBK (26) / MC501 (37)
80 dB – BBK (37) / MC501 (47)
90dB – BBK (47) / MC501 (65)
I decided to select a mixture of music, but keep it to a minimum:
1. Adele – Hello 24/192
2. Eagles – Hotel California 24/192
3. Leonard Cohen - I'm your man 24/44
4. Cyrill Lutzelschwab & Martin Hess – Boxenkiller 16/44
I tested the cable change overs a few times, as I was aiming to keep the gap between under 45 seconds.
To be continued…
