They are very good sounding amps for the money, but reliability has been an issue. I own the 100 and it is very good for the money, but have had some minor problems with it. I know others that have had more significant problems with their older Bedini amps.
Anybody have some experience with Bedini amps?
I need a power amp for my Shahinian Obelisk speakers, and Shahinian recommends Bedini.I like natural,liquid,relaxed,but dynamic,musical sound with "be there",live feeling,bass must be exellent ,full and detailed, and i allways prefere analog to digital.I like all kind of music.I am thinking about Classic 100 , or older models.
65 responses Add your response
I had a pair of 25/25s for almost 18 years and I loved them. Never a problem. I replaced them about a year ago due to old age, some transformer hum and my desire for something new. That Bedini magic is hard to replace. The 45/45 was a good amp, but not as sweet as the 25/25. Talk with the people at HiFi Farm in Virgina. They are rather straight forward about the new amps. |
The bedini amps are underated.For solid state nothing touchtes for under $5000.00 grand.For intimate late night vocals i prefer my 30 watt aloia amp.But if you want a live presentation of the recoding tis is the amp. This is the fastes amp i have owened.Better than cj,bryston etc.This company does not give into politics no advertising kind of blackballed in press because of it.I was introuduced to my first bedini amp on a trade for my adcom 5800. 150 mk 11. Check out prices f0r bedini classic 25/25 sold for $800.00 try to find one for sale under that price. good luck i hope i beat you to it.I have a 200 classic noting under $5000. touches it.My aloia amps can beat it if not looking for high spls.neither of these companys sleep with reviewers |
I think that the Audio Exchange in NY used to have a pretty good collection of used Bedini's at one point in time. They were pretty inexpensive for the amount of power involved. Never heard one myself but know others that have said the 25/25 was the best of the bunch. The bigger ones were said to be good, but not "magical". Sean > |
Bedinis and Shahinians are a magical combination. I have read that the Bedinis have a high damping factor lending to great bass. It makes intuitive sense that an amplifier with good bass control would be important to a speaker design employing passive radiators. Why not pick up a used Bedini 803 pure class A 250 watts/ side. They run around $900 used. Then you will have enough power if you decide to upgrade to Diapasons. |
I have collected Bedini amps for years and presently have two of the 100/100 1 meg amps, one 25/25 one Meg, a 50/50 DE amp/ a 10/10 a 25/25 a modified 100/100 in a one meg chassis origianlly made by New American Sound C.Fischer and reworked by John recently. Also have John's 801 amp and 800 preamp. Good stuff. Check out his www.bedini.com |
Another success with Totem Model 1 and Bedini 25/25. I tried other high watt mid-ends before, also older Levinson ML9, etc. Finally found this beat-up looking, cracked binding posts & power outlet 25/25 at quite a good deal. This is a modified unit with all silver solder. Decided to give it a try.. Boy.. was it smooth. Rich and warm. This little amp also runs hot. Then that ambience & harmonic, not a roomful but behind speakers, due to its limited power. Good depth too. A tad too sweet (over silver-soldered?) Tube like? But you could never get too much sweet from SS right. Only if the previous owner hadn't modified the amp. I should have got a bit more impact. Describe this amp in one word? Like a lot of reviews on this thread. Magic. |
I have an old Bedini 100/100 DE. In my opinion, this is one of the best amps out there. I've recently had sent mine into Bedini for the upgrade. It cost me over $400 after shipping, but the upgrade did wonders for the amp (which reminds me that I need to call Bedini and see where my ultra clarifier is!). I'm so happy I decided to do the upgrade. I've tried many other amps, but I couldn't find anything in the sub $5K range that came close in terms of an amp that was smooth, warm, and at the same time, detailed. I just wish this amp wasn't 18 years old because I don't know what I'm going to do if it ever goes out completely! This amp may not be for everyone because I think some may find it a little dull, but it's the perfect amp for my ears. Take a look at www.bedini.com for the upgrade package. I know that $400 is a lot to pay for a upgrade, but if you can pick up a 25/25, 50/50 or 100/100DE at a decent used price, you'll have a hard time finding anything even close at the price for the upgrade and amp- Not Pass Labs, not McCormack, not Threshold... |
Nice to see some of the better Bedini amps getting their due, I had an upgraded 100/100 for about 15 years. Always thought it was great. I tried to sell it here last year for $400 because I thought I needed XLR inputs, (what a knucklehead). The ad expired and nobody bought it. Eventually I sold it locally and the guy who has it loves it too. It was clearly better than the CJ, Levinson 9, and a Bryston in the amp shoot outs we did. |
Thanks to all of you guys,Cellorover, i spoke with European Bedini distributor(Pear Audio-Mr. Mezek),and he told me about this reissued classic monoblocks from Bedini.He told me that Bedini will make one tube version of vintage project 10/10,and he said also that these monos are exellent match, not just for my Obelisks , but (beleive it or not)also for top of the Shahinians range -big Diapasons(of course Mr. Mezek have these in his home system). What all of you think (or know) about that?I am now waiting for these reissues to come to Europe , but i still do not know anything about prices. |
Blkadr, after reading that same rewiev last year (HIFI+)i heard (tested)that amp (Dynavector HX 75) with matching Preamp in my system ,i also have a pair of Shahinian Obelisk speakers(like rewiever).I liked more my existing amp and preamp(Korato -top of the range valve preamp and their first ever amp- SS ,"model one"- www.korato.com ), they are much more musical, involving,"real", more "be there",with better and fuller "bottom",(and i was looking exactly for more of that) despite that Dynavectors exellent resolution ,high level of micro information, silence and linearity.It is in my opinion realy very good amp, but i would say just very good HIFI ,very possibly better than Naim , but not in the leage of allready "HiEnd" Koratos, and i hope even more "HiEnd"(or if you dont like therm HIEND -"close to the sound of real music" ) Bedinis.Dealer for both Bedini and Dynavector, has told to me that it was not even worth of trying to test HX75, if i have the possibility to buy Bedinis, but i wanted to hear for my self Dynavectors, and i send it back.I am now waiting for 10/10 to come here in Europe and to test it with my exellent Korato preamp. |
Cellorover, I've spoken with John many times over the nearly 20 years I've owned his amps. I had been contemplating building a pair of tube amps myself, but after we talked at length about this new (old) project, I said let's go for it. They should be here next week, I'll check back with some impressions compared to the 802. BTW, Gary said he was putting some *new* photos of the KT-88 monoblocks up on their site this weekend. |
My 10/10s arrived about a week ago. I also own a Bedini BA-802 so I had the benefit of comparing Bedini SS to Bedini tube. Initial impressions - well built, nice finish, retro 50's styling (ala dynaco). Documentation was straight forward and bare bones - on to the music. For informational purposes, the associated gear in the system was as follows: Analog source - Rega Planar 3 / RB300 / Dynavector 10x4 MkII Digital sources - Levinson 390S, Tascam DA-P1 (via 390s) Preamplifier - Threshold Fet9 (for analog only) Amplifier - Bedini BA-802 Amplifier - Bedini 10/10 KT-88 monoblocks Speakers - B&W 802 Matrix III w/ Sound Anchor stands When listening to digital sources the amps were wired direct to the 390s. Analog playback was via the Fet9 preamp. The KT-88s are very musical, with superb imaging and tonal balance. On acoustic material and vocal selections they were exceptional, even edging out the 802 in some respects. Outstanding performance for their "modest" price. The only drawback I found was they were slightly underpowered and only with respect to controlling bass response when compared to the SS amp (hard to call that a fault). My speakers (92db sensitivity) were also not the best mate for these little marvels, but even so they perfromed remarkably well. I would like to hear these driving some horn tweeters, etc. Best case, biamped with the 802 amp driving the bottom end. Careful matching with an efficient pair of speakers would prove ideal. I've heard these are ideal to drive the Shahinians - maybe some day? |
Hi folks, i bought that 200/200 Classic, and i think that i finished my search for ideal power amp for my Obelisks, i simple cant imagine something better than this.I never before heard so liquid, efortless,easy going music(excepting alive-off course).Control above everything, power, instruments separation,huge and deep soundstage, full bodied sound, linearity, nor minor sign of agressivity(also on very high levels),on very little volumes you hear everything- you dont need to hear it loud to hear all of the music,i discovered that some old LPs (which i considered before like bad, agressive recordings)are in reality very good recordings, with so much detail in all of the spectrum ,especialy in top end.I didnt know that such top end is possible to hear in artificial music reproduction, .I think that this amp is so cheep(also new retail price) for that performance.I dont know if Bedinis are so magical also with other speakers , but with Shahinians it is almost unbelivible I have it just for two days, and i didnt yet tryed to play games with power cords ,etc,etc.(it is at the moment Yamamura 6000 - it just replaced my previous amp in my system. Maby,that i will later have to tell you something more, but at the moment, thanks to everybody,i apreciate so much your advices and answers. |
Ziva, Good for you! Dick Shahinian, a gentleman of good taste and with extensive knowledge of classical music, has been using and recommending Bedini amps for a long time. I've had a Bedini 25/25 for several years and find it to be a superb match with Quad 57s. Enjoy your newfound treasure! Brian Walsh |
Yes sir, the Bedini amps seem to fly way under the radar. I too concurr with Mr. Walsh on the little Bedini 25/25. My favourite of the vintage Bedini's, It truly makes beautiful music. I too ran a pair of them into stacked quad 57's for years[1 channel per panel]. Although I am not certain it will drive the Shahinians.... I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if it did though? It certainly did a very credible job with a pair of acoustat 2+2's in an average sized room. Perhaps one of their bigger amps may be more applicable though. While I can't vouch for any of their later examples [never heard], I do remember their biggest amp in their line up at the time [the 250/250 class A] In fact it did share a lot of that beautiful 25/25-like voice,and more 25/25-esq than any of the other Bedini amplifiers back in the day. Back when I was using the acoustat 2+2.... It was my preferred amplifier over the other class A designs from Krell, Classe[Dave Riech era] and the Threshold 400a. Not sure how many were made or still in service out there, can't remember seeing one offered for sale but you might want to check with the Bedini company site or perhaps place an add in the "wanted to buy" here at Audiogon. Bedini still services, updates or rebuilds all their products. Best of luck! Cheers...david |
If you can find a 25/25 jump on it. I sold the Oblelisks to move to the Diapasons, and the little Bedini could drive them but honestly not well. After several years of using other Bedini gear I moved up (and I do consider it a move up) to an AVA FetValve Ultra 550. I consider this amp a head and shoulders improvement in driving my Shahinians over any amp I've heard in my system - including the Bedinis. |
Hi, After reading the posts, I too had a 25 25, and regretted letting it go. Back in .81,, John used to come over to a house where I was staying. The guy sold stereo equipment out of his house. John brought over an amplifier that was so he said built using only diodes, no transistors. The bass I remember was very tight, and the rest really nice. Don't know what ever happened to that little amp. He was ahead of his time. |
Any news regarding Bedini? Did anyone buy a Bedini new in the last years? What is available? I use two BA-803 in biamping for my Shahinian Diapasons with Kimber 8TC, also in biwiring for both double eagle parts. Maybe some suggestions for improvement, amp and/or cable? Did anyone compare Bedini and Plinius (100, 250, 102, 103, Ref.)? |
Yes, the news is that Bedini is gone....the website is still up, but no one has answered a phone in months, and no response to emails. It's rather unfortunate, because you see Bedinis for sale on ebay or here, but you'll no longer be able to get them factory serviced. Local techs won't be able to get the matching capacitors needed for these amps, so we're screwed. I, too, use a Bedini 803. Had it redone, so will probably not ever sell. Bedinis do work well with Shahinians, as do other amps with as much current, like the Plinius you mention--also Dynavectors. I've never compared a Plinius, so can't answer that. I've never liked the look of the Plinius gear, it would have to sound marvelous for me to budge. Kimber is nice and loyal, but you can do better. What preamp do you use? |
Very sorry to see Bedini gone. I recently demoed my 25/25 feeding Linn Isobariks to a friend and then came online to see if we could find a fair priced 25/25 for him, but no luck. He'll keep looking from his end, including coming here. I, too, will not be selling my 25/25, purchased new in 1986 and still performing flawlessly. What a wonderful instrument it has been. |
I have had a 25 25 in & out of my system for almost 30 years. it has never failed to impress & has never once required service. (It does run hot around 140 degrees at the heat sinks! ) I have heard rumblings that Bedini amplifiers were not necessarily the most consistent amplifiers made, for various reasons. My amp simply sounds Great ( I am in the industry & have had literally dozens of amps roll through the system over the years, but the 25/25 sounds as relevant today as ever & even amazes new visitors to the room on a weekly basis.) Perhaps a bit of a cautionary used purchase ( I'd advise hearing one in your system first. ) My experience has been nothing but wonderful !(it's back to being the main amp with a very current Meridian front end) (speakers powered over the years include, various Acoustats, various Apogees, Eminent technologies and the occasional Quad on the planar front, Shaninian's, Energy Veritas, Mirage M1's, currently driving Canton's Reference 7.2, & many more boxes in-between. |
Hello Breezer and Chashas1; About 1.5 years ago Bedini did a check up on some amps for me. At that time the company was in transition. One of John Bedinis interests over the years has been electromagnetic motors and battery charging processes. He has formed a new company called Energenx. http://www.energenx.com They are located in Idaho at 208 772 3303. I am not sure if he is still servicing or selling amps, but I am guessing you could reach him there. |