I happily ran the BHK pre for 3 years along with the 300 mono's. I think it's a great preamp for the money, and I really liked the tube rolling flexibility for system tuning. But I am an itchy audiofool, too, and my budget has recently increased (kids all through college! house paid off!) so I tried out the Luxman C900u pre and it plainly revealed to me how much more informative a preamp could be, but obviously at a higher price in this case. Once I heard that much more musical info, I didn't want to go back, even though the Luxman C900u proved to be too "neutral" for my system and tastes (I run TAD CR-1's that need to be pulled back a bit from getting too hot). Next up was an ARC Ref 40 tubed pre, and it is still riding well in my system. It has all that musical information, but with a bit more harmonic fleshing out, which is hitting my system really well right now. So, if you are willing to spend more money, there's more to be had, but it's no "revolution", "wipes the floor with it" kind of thing. The BHK gear is the real deal, IME/IMO, delivering a really good musical experience. I could have happily lived with them both for years if my budget hadn't expanded. |
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The ARC Ref 6SE was a big step up from the BHK in my system. Everything is better fleshed out, especially voices, it sounds more real, and detail resolution is improved. The BHK sounds flat in comparison. I was able to improve its performance with Amperex 7308’s. But the BHK is a good preamp, and it bested others I’ve tried from Pass Labs and Rogue. |
I moved from the BHK to an Art Audio Conductor when I signed on to be the importer for Art Audio. I am deciding on a new preamp now as I sold the Conductor (sample was 18 months old) and am choosing between the following and expect to get two of these: Art Audio Conductor Art Audio DM VPS AVM PA 5.2 AVM PA 8.3 KR Audio P-135 It helps that I am a dealer and/or importer of all of them as the lower price gives me a safety net in terms of mistakes. I only used the stock tubes with the BHK for about 10 minutes. They were awful. I rolled in NOS Tunsgrams and was happy. Tonally, with the Tunsgrams the BHK and Conductor were similar. The Conductor had more presence than the BHK. It had fuller sound across the entire frequency range though bass was slightly less refined, BHK was definitely tighter. The BHK warmed up much faster and I did find the volume control a little annoying. The Conductor is also a brilliant headphone amp and gain can be customized. In all cases, I was using single ended amps (Art Audio Carissa, Carver TFM 15-CB). If the amps had XLRs (Rogue Hydra, VTL MB-185s, Art Audio Quartets), they weren’t fully balanced. With a fully balanced power amp, the BHK likely would have been the better option. In my list above, I am almost certainly going to get a DM VPS more because I need to do a photo shoot and want to get one in to play with at least for a little bit. The AVMs are fully balanced so I am not sure I will get the most out of them but I have the MA 8.3 Mono Blocks here for a bit and they would be incredible together. The KR is one I have been dying to try as I think 45s are an interesting tube to use in a preamp and the reviews are insanely good. |
@aberyclark I own the BHK in a second system and have played around with it a lot. In honesty, with the right tubes it can really come alive, and has a wide, deep, 3D soundstage that most other preamps don’t have. I compared it against an Arc Ref 6 SE like others above, but I felt the ARC to be too “lit” and did not have the warm harmonics that the BHK makes possible. It was good in other ways, but not good enough to justify replacement. I also tried a Cary SLP-05 Ultimate, which retails for double the BHK, and the BHK easily bested it. If Gold Lions are the best tubes you’ve tried in the BHK, you’re missing out. Did you know you can switch the current and voltage settings internally? With a proper adapter, you can use 6SN7s. My favorite is a pair of Sylvania VT-231 - really opened up the preamp in every dimension while adding dynamics and authority. There are many other great tubes, like Tungsram 7308 and Psvane T-II CV181. Also, if you haven’t yet, try a Synergistic Research blue or orange fuse in the BHK. That makes as much or more of a difference than tube rolling. I’ve since also purchased an Allnic L-3000 Mk 2. It, too, is an incredible preamp, but different. The Allnic is a tad bit more euphoric with the midrange bloom - it’s just gorgeous, but the soundstage isn’t as wide as the BHK. Still worth keeping at the price I got it for. After investing in the fine tuning, the BHK isn’t going anywhere. |
Everyone's points about not judging the merits of the BHK using the stock tubes are right on. I should have mentioned that I optimized mine, for my system and tastes, with Amperex 7308's from the early '60's. These were importantly better for me than the NOS Tungram 7DJ8's that BHK himself reportedly liked. And every tube of the 10 different pairs I tried in the BHK were significantly better than the stock tubes. You've got to try others, for sure. |
Did you know you can switch the current and voltage settings internally? With a proper adapter, you can use 6SN7s. My favorite is a pair of Sylvania VT-231 - really opened up the preamp in every dimension while adding dynamics and authority. Kinda crazy they don't advertise this more prominently (and just put the switch on the back). |
@smodtactical the Don Sachs is not better nor more revealing than the 6SE just different in presentation. The 6SE is fantastic and very flexible but I am on a path to minimalization thus the DS. I think this cycle repeats every 8 to 10 years. |
The AUDIO RESEARCH 6SE also benefits from tube rolling......try some 6N6P in both the power supply and in the other areas where the 6N30 (“Super tube”) are used. Also replacing the 6550 in the power supply can yield positive results .... The overall effect is for a “Less Lit” sound, but one that sounds smoother, a little more “liquid”, and “dense”, but still maintaining that ARC sense of transparency that they are famous for, and with no loss of apparent detail and timing (PRAT)..... Cheers |
You guys need to be careful with the adaptor and 6SN7's as multiple owners on the PSA forum have had to send the unit back to the factory with board issues caused by this. Just because BHK's "personal" unit works fine with them doesn't mean the production units have the same exact parts or tolerances as his. So do it at your own risk. If you want a 6SN7 preamp their are plenty out there like the Sachs and the Supratek's. |
Ditto to Jackd's comment above on the BHK / SN7 tube rolling,. depending upon the adapter used (and who made it), the heater arraignment will not necessarily be complimentary to the circuit,.. for example I had purchased an noval>sn7 adapter but they had just grounded one heater leg but not the 9th pin on the Noval side,.. which is fine if the circuit in play uses DC for the heater V,.. not good if it's AC or if you have a switchable heater circuit like in the BHK that needs to ground the 9. Just be careful and fully understand what you have and how the circuit will be completed with the adapter,.. I personally found that switching to a sn7 on the BHK did not make for a positive enough difference to leave in and take a risk of some type of failure. I owned a BHK for ~2 years. Sold the BHK and purchased a LCR Cortese (Supratek). Really happy with the Supra. A different sound for sure. Alot more lively sounding than the BHK, which sounded much less engaging or overly smooth by comparison. Yes, I rolled a number of different tubes in the BHK as well. All in all a great pre but like anything in this hobby, synergy will exist between certain components and room setups and there really is no 'one shoe fits all sizes' type of purchase at this level of gear. Been my finding at least... |
@jslateiv The Supratek is definitely one I’m curious about, nicely done. Regarding the 6SN7 adapter, I use a good one from garage1217.com. They’re not cheap at about $60/pair shipped but they are audiophile grade. http://www.garage1217.com/garage1217_diy_tube_headphone_amplifiers_012.htm |
hey @thiefoflight I have that adapter and it's the one I had to rewire with a jumper in order to get it to properly work with a Decware unit that runs the heaters on AC,... just be aware,.. They assume that most all modern tube gear runs DC heaters which is def. NOT the case. I personally think the SN7 is not best suited for the BHK anyway.. BUT.. like anything in this hobby ymmv. PM me if you want, I can try to find the original correspondence I had with 1217 and exactly what I did,.. but essentially I had to cut the 9>7 trace and jumper 5>7,.. This is specifically for an AC heater circuit though, so just be aware.. The Supra's are excellent, a very clear sounding and engaging pre. Lifetime warranty, built like a tank. Not beautiful inside but purposefully built and the sound shows it! The Cortese has an excellent phono stage if you need one. I've had the opportunity to listen to a number of older Supra models (recently) verse my current Cortese and while they are all good and a little different, Mick's current circuit offerings, in my opinion, are def. a step up in terms of clarity and instrumental separation within the soundstage. Just very clear and concise without sound analytical. Very lifelike. |
@jslateiv Thanks for the info on both fronts! I will definitely look into the safety of using these adapters. Also, I do agree that in general 6SN7s can be a hit or miss with the BHK. I tried rolling a few, and the Sylvania VT-231 was the set that came out winning over the other 6V or 12V tubes. I’m not trying to recommend 6SN7 as a whole for the BHK - more just that it is possible (if done correctly, as you point out). And with tube rolling, it’s all system dependent. We recommend the things that work out for us, with the rest of our chain, in our rooms. I’ll definitely consider the Cortese when I have the itch down the road, as it has come in my view in the past. I hear nothing but great things. |
@thiefoflight how did bhk beat the cary? Like detail and speed or tone, euphonics richness, imaging ? Thx |
@smodtactical I had the Cary with ultimate upgrade, and even beyond that, I suited it up with very neutral and open tubes such as Sylvania VT-231 and Psvane CV-181. I used Synergistic Research Blue fuses. I used a very good aftermarket power cord. My speakers in this second system ranged from high efficiency Zu to Quad 2805, both which are very revealing despite their different characters. The Cary was slow as sludge. Warm? Yes. Euphonic? Yes. But the lack of blackness and speed was a huge expense, and being able to hear the dynamics, resolution and imaging the BHK delivered, in addition to the musicality and soul, there was no comparison. I couldn't unhear what I heard with the BHK to make me like the Cary one bit. No disrespect to Cary... I've owned some of their other products which I absolutely loved. I did consolidate that second system since, but I did move on from the BHK to something else in a much higher price range - a T+A P3000 HV, and that made it into the spot of my primary system. |
@thiefoflight is the T+A unit SS pre ? Thanks for your thoughts, appreciate it! |
@smodtactical Yes, the P 3000 HV. I got an incredible deal off it last year from a fellow friend. Probably the most musical, resolving, natural, all-in-all wonderful preamp I ever heard and owned. And I’ve owned a lot of preamps. Loved it so much that I ended up getting the matching and power supply from him, too. I might be set for life. |
@thiefoflight Pretty awesome when SS can sound better than tube because then you get the convenience and stability of SS ! :D
C900U vs T+A would be a nice SS pre shootout. |
@smodtactical The T+A is “blacker” than the C900u, and the C900u is more refined overall. T+A is more emotional, exciting and engaging in my opinion. But everyone’s preferences vary! |
I have some insight to share about using 6SN7 tube types in the PS Audio BHK Preamp. While it's true that the PS Audio heater circuit is not quite up to the challenge of supplying the necessary DC current to the 6SN7 tube, I have used a work around successfully for about 6 months now. The mod can be implemented entirely using pin savers (no actual preamp mods) by removing the heater leads on the pin-saver. I am feeding an external 12 volt DC power supply to two 6SN7's with heaters wired in series to the top-side of the tube pin-saver. I use a 12 volt relay (DC rated) controlled by the trigger circuit built into the BHK set to zero time delay in preamp setup. Finally you need to buy a quality 12au7 to 6SN7 adaptor. The negative pin coming from your power supply must be grounded to avoid hum. Like others I have found Sylvania 6SN7GTB chrome domes to sound amazing. I use the 5 ma jumper setting. If you look at the tube bias charts 6SN7 tubes with these relatively low B+ voltages can become non-linear at 4 ma bias setting. YMMV. I will not get into all the opinions about various tube types. For me the journey was worth the small amount of work to get the 6SN7 working well in the BHK. I'm not saying this comes without risk but if you know what your doing it has proven safe in my setup. Of course it will void your warranty if you have any left. Enjoy!
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