PS Audio BHK lacking..

Fertguy

Great choice on the Telefunkens from 1958. Those tubes should sound fantastic. I’ll bet those weren’t cheap. My Telefunkens were date coded from 1962 and they were just amazing. It took that BHK preamp to a whole new level. Let us know what they sound like after you’ve had a chance to listen to them for a month or two, I think you’re in for a real surprise. Enjoy.

Scot

Hi fertguy

If you try some high quality nos tubes in the BHK Signature preamp it will transform that preamp into a very good sounding preamp. Either a 12 volt 12au7 from either Telefunken, Mullard, Amperex or Siemens from the 50’s or the 60’s should sound great. If you change the two jumpers to the 6 volt settings and the 5 milliamperes bias settings then either a pair of 6922’s, 7308’s or 7dj8’s will sound great as well. BHK’s favorite tubes are the Tungsram 7dj8’s from the 60’s. Any of these nos older tubes will elevate that preamp to a whole new level. Best of luck.

Scot

Surfmuz

I owned a Parasound JC2 for several months. I kept it long enough to make sure it was completely broken in. I couldn’t wait to terget rid of it. I found it to be just mediocre at best. Very polite and very boring. 

With regard to your question about a hybrid design, the reason BHK designed it like that is it’s quieter. You still get the tonal color and accurate timbre from a tube design but because it only uses 2 tubes, there is much less noise (tube rush). Best of both worlds. You have to remember, BHK has been designing preamps for 50 years!

I bought the BHK preamp and it just blew away the JC2 even with the factory tubes. After about six months I decided to try some nos Telefunkens 12au7’s from the early 1960’s and those tubes elevated it to a whole new level. Those vintage tubes made a world of difference to the point of it was almost unrecognizable. I’ve had the BHK for over two years now and the more I improve my system, the more I appreciate how good that preamp is. For $5995.00, I don’t know what would beat it. They come up on Audiogon every once in a while for $3000 - $3500.00. Get one and get some old nos tubes from Mullard, Telefunken, Amperex, Siemens, just make sure the tubes are from the 1950’s to the 1960’s and you will be amazed. Good luck.

Scot

Hi fertguy

I want to start by saying something is very wrong. I’m not going to list all the preamps I’ve owned in the last five years but I can honestly tell you that in my opinion, my BHK preamp is a tremendous value and just a killer performer. After about six months of using it and making sure it was completely broken in, I bought a pair of nos vintage (1960’s)  Telefunken 12au7’s and you would think it was a different preamp. Those tubes transformed that preamp like you wouldn’t believe. I’ve owned it for about two years now and I realized that I like the 6 volt tubes you are able to use in it better than the 12 volt tubes. (there are two jumpers inside that have to be changed, one for the voltage and one for the bias).This 6 volt family of tubes consists of 6dj8, 6922, 7308,  or cca’s. 

If if you try a pair of vintage nos tubes and it doesn’t sound much better, then something is wrong with yours. I have had preamps that cost three times what the BHK costs and I like the BHK better. IMHO dollar for dollar, it’s one of the best sounding most musical preamps out there with the right tubes in it. 

If you put in a pair of good nos vintage tubes in it and it doesn’t blow you away, then I would send it back to PS Audio and have them figure out what’s wrong with it. Good luck.

Scot