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B&K EX-442 Score

Just grabbed a B&K EX-442 amp off of CL for $100. In good shape, aside from the common power switch light (not illuminating at all), and a couple of scuffs. Hooked it up in place of my custom 40 watt tube amp and am favorably impressed. I know that B&K amps are known to be "tubey" sounding, and my initial impressions are just that. Not at all etched or forward sounding.

One question I have concerns which EX-442 model this is. I see that the early models used Hitachi metal cans, and the newer ones Toshiba. There are some other minor differences in the specs (early models have a bit more dynamic headroom). Does anyone know how to tell one from the other? Will I have to remove the top to figure it out?
reedchan

Showing 1 response by lou_setriodes

lou_setriodes's avatar
lou_setriodes
692 posts
 
Congrats! That is one heck of a score. The later version was the EX442 Sonata which looked much different then the orig EX442. The Sonata went 200 into 8 & 360 into 4 with 75 amps peak to peak I believe. The original Sonata I don't believe was as powerful into 4 ohms but may have had more headroom. Could be that the very early EX442's may have had a push button for the power switch whereas the latter models had the rocker switch for power, just like the ST-140's had...at any rate, this is an awesome amp. I had the Sonata version many years back and a/b'd it against a pr of Paoli M60 tube monos (totally moded dyna MkIII's w/8417 outputs) and you couldn't tell the 2 amps apart - that's how tubey the EX442 Sonata is.

BTW, what is your custom 40 w tube amp like? I'm looking for a more powerful tube amp. thanks
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