I must confess that I have owned and heavily auditioned various well known audio manufacturers "please see the list below"! The purpose of this post is to share any questions concerns I can with you through my personal experiences. Before we get started I do want to mention that I have no affiliation with any manufacture other than my addiction to audio lol. I currently have P.S. Audio BHK 300 Monos, BHK Signature Preamplifier and the P.S. Audio DirectStream Dac playing through a pair of Focal Sopra ll's in a treated room 12 deep x 15 wide. I am 100% digital playing Tidal & Quboz MQA, Hi Res 24 bit, and DSD. I have tried tube rolling in my preamplifier and now the BHK 300 Monos. I have listened my system with my P.S. AUDIO DiresctStream Dac only as well as with my BHK Signature Preamplifier and Dac to snuff out any doubt or theory about what sounds best with this setup as well as with my ARC 160S Tube Amp.
Here is I list of amps that I have *owned as well as auditioned for many, many hours.
Curious your thoughts on the Direct Stream as a pre amp / DAC combo. Looks like the Direct Stream is from 2014, is this old tech and should wait for an upgrade? Would possibly be pairing this with amp only.
My opening statement after reviewing highly acclaimed dacs is that the PS Audio DirectStream Dac with its FPGA updates is that it constantly being upgraded over the air. The hardware is definitely to notch offering excellent connectivity with the Mconnect app makes this a Dac Steamer a force to be reckoned with at much over it 6k retail price tag and never mind the pricing I've seen on the used market. So now, as far as using it as a Dac Pre it can definitely suffice with either BHK amps having enough gain to make it work. Now I have tried it Dac only with my ARC 160S and you have to push the volume above 80 to get it to sound right in my room. After testing this dac only vs preamp dac I like Bascom and Paul have to agree that the pre opens up the musicality and sound stage quite a bit more. Never mind the air around the mids and highs and the force it gives the bass. Now if you really need to make it work and get more at that point I recommend playing with your power cord and cables.
Blumartini, With all due respect to WC that’s just one person’s opinion. I submit his, mine, or anyone else’s opinion isn’t more valuable than the end user. There are no absolutes in Audio, only preferences no matter what any of us say. Just because I prefer a component doesn’t mean someone else will.
PS AUDIO BHK 300 MONOBLOCKS: Amazing amps. Tons of detail and really amazing midrange. the bass is amazing too.”
Well, he wrote the above for dozen other amps too.....as others have pointed out there are no absolutes in audio, it just boils down to preferences, budget and how we put together our audio system.
IMO, you don’t need anyone else validation on what you like and prefer in your system.
Gentlemen, @whitecamaross has owned and auditioned, done panel blind test on more high-end and super high-end audio than most audio enthusiast in the world could ever dream of. He is now soon going to be doing a shoot out with Pass Labs Ultimate 85K X300 Monos VS Dan D’Agostino $65K Momentum M400. Lets give this guy some credit for taking the risk and agony of lifting and uncreating these massive amps and taking the time to depict and share his and his panelist findings as accurately as possible. P.S. this thread is not intended to validate it was intended as I stated in the post " The purpose of this post is to share any questions concerns I can with you through my personal experiences" I respect whitecamross as well as his huge following so I thought I do an Honorable mention with his permission 1st. of course.
I ask all who comment to keep the post positive and informative as possible.
I too use the PSA BHK Pre and Direct Stream DAC but amplification is Coincident Frankie-II SET monoblocks. Tried multiple other pre/dac combinations and just dac direct but seam to always come back to the BHK + Direct Stream. Some tube rolling is necessary to dial in personal preferences but that is part of the beauty of the design.
They are truly a perfect match and never mind the ease of tuning the sound with a tube change. I have tried mix matching dac amplifiers tube, Solid State Class A, A/B, Class D and it was guessing game at my expense. Bascom H. King nailed it with his Hybrid Solid State Tube design.
I have experimented with various top end brands components some that worked well and some that did not no matter how much money I through at it, no question that component system matching by manufacture makes things perform optimally from head to toe. Now on the other hand I have to admit that there is huge magic when you blend tube and solid state together whether it be a class A,AB, or D amp with a Tube Preamp or S/S Preamp Dac with a tube Amp. Hence the reason I doubled down with P.S. Audio BHK Hybrid Amp and Preamp along with S/S DirectStream Dac. It has it all no guess work or money poorly spent in a guess tweaked by Bascom H. King Designer Tuner for 90K systems and above for Constellation Audio along with many other great companies and now for himself and P.S. Audio with his Signature Line Amps. and Pre.
Great Product Great Price and a Steal on the used market while the renaming dealers deplete there current inventory subject to P.S. Audio's decision to go direct no more dealers model.
Been playing with the PS Audio DirectStream Dac direct to the BHK 300 Monos. I swapped out the factory 12AU7 tubes in the BHK 300's to the Tungsram PCC88 and let everything settle in before I really sat down to listen and boy what a surprise. The soundstage nearly tripled in size with detail in the mids popping with sparkle and some tingle in the highs a departure from the stock tubes intament warm sound and smaller but just right soundstage. So for those who want to bypass a preamp and go direct you can definitely do it and tweak your desired sound preferences with a quick swap of the tubes. Best bang for the buck you ever have without having to add a preamp to the chain. Although it's nice I still prefer the magic the the preamplifier brings to the table.
Connected my BHK Signature Preamp in with Stock 12AU7 left the Tunsgram PCC88 tubes in the BHK 300 mono's. Immediately noticed that everything became more musical and less edgy and a lot less effort. Everything now is tighter musically less haze less edge better air around the instruments wash better under soot light on a wide soundstage. Mids are open and revealing highs are naturally sparkling when called for, cymbals are phenomenal and clear and just the right amount of tingle. Voice moved more center with a noticeable bump in texture in the vocal scale. Now for the bass, all of you that may know or knot know Bascom said "Oh and the Bass" in his expression of how powerful and forceful it is can be altered and tuned to your liking by swapping the stock tubes to these Tungsram PCC88's. Bass is awesome with the Stock Sylvania 12AU7 if you like bass with a warmest across the spectrum, the Tungsram PCC88's seem to tighten it up more opening up from the darker warmer side either is great and Neither is a bad thing. I will also maybe move the speaker's closer to the back wall in effort to get the best optimal tune:)
I will be making some additional tweaks maybe putting the Tungsram PCC88's in the Preamp and popping in the stock Sylvania 12AU7's back into the BHK 300 monos. Will keep you all posted on findings but till then.
Thanks for starting this thread. I know it has been awhile but I am curious to hear you impressions on the BHK Monos vs the ARC 160s that you both own. How would you describe the sonic differences between the two and which in your system is the better performer.
I’m considering either going PS Audio BHK pre/power or ARC Ref6 and 160s. Your insights would be very helpful. Thanks.
I have found that using an amp and preamp combo from the same manufacturer provides the best results and synergy in any system. That's not necessarily true with respect to ancillary components.
I have a question about the PS audio BHK 300 monoblocks. They are connected to Soundlab A1PX speakers. Recently, one amp has turned off twice (clipping) at about 90 DB once using phono and once streaming. With that much amplifier power I am surprised by the amp turning off. Any thoughts on why. The speakers are a difficult load but still I would have thought the amps would manage the load.
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