No worries. It does feel a little plasticy because of the pebbly finish, but it’s a solid chunk of machined metal.
BHK Preamp Beta-First Impressions
I followed the PS audio forums on and off over the years, and bought many products from them. In fact I was one of the beta testers for PS Audio PerfectWave DAC when it was first introduced in 2009. Since then I have bought many PS Audio products, and have followed Paul McGowan’s daily briefings and newsletters closely. I started appreciating his honesty and willingness to improve products based on reviews from the members on the forum. In fact, his opinions started to hold more value to me than those of famous Audiophile journals. I have limited technical knowledge, but over the years I have started exploring and learning about audio equipment and gradually acquired a taste for sonic details. When Paul announced his search for beta testers for the BHK preamp, I emailed him to consider me for the group. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that I was included in the list of beta testers.
I received my preamp three weeks ago and did not find any issues with the packaging, set up, or operation. I found the remote control to be all-inclusive but would have liked the size to be a bit shorter with more rounded edges that didn’t have overhangs. Unfortunately, the remote managed to scratch my leather seat mildly. The functionality, however, is superb! I have a digital set up consisting of a Synology Server and Auralic Aeries streamer connected to Guardian Maximus hard drive, with both connected to PS DirectStream DAC. The amplifier is vacuum tube, class A, TRS-854 SE integrated, connected to B&W 802 diamond speakers. The control software for Synology is DS Audio, and Lightning DS for Auralic. I used to use vacuum preamp, TRX-1, in between DAC and TRS Amp, but due to humming problems, I removed the preamp from the digital side. My vinyl set up consists of the TTW GEM turntable with a Jelco tone arm and Koetsu black cartridge. The phono is a vacuum tube TRV-EQSE, connected to a TRX-1 tube preamplifier, and then to D-Sonic mono blocks, which are class D amps.
Initialing I hooked up a BHK preamp to D-Sonic monoblocks, and was hesitant to increase the volume too high without damaging my tweeters, which occurred previously. I was not too impressed with the sound, but was possibly too cautious with the volume increase. I went up to a maximum of 60 on the preamp. The DAC volume always maintained at 100. I knew there was something wrong, but I was reluctant to turn the volume up. I replaced monoblocks with the integrated amp. I was able to turn up the volume on the preamp judiciously since I could control the final volume on the integrated amp. Once I started turning the volume on the amp up slowly, the sound reached well beyond my satisfaction. I listen to all kinds of genres, but mostly to Bollywood and other Indian music. I have my favorite test tracks that I use to test equipment. One of the tracks is a song from the film, Jodhaa Akbar, composed by music director A.R. Rahman, who was the music director for Slumdog Millionaire. This track is six minutes long and is excellent to test lows, mid, and high range. Its starts with a bugle and gradually various instruments are introduced with a constant drumming in the background. The arrangement of instruments is extraordinary and the pitch of music changes dramatically throughout the song. One is able to appreciate the timbre of different instruments, depth of the stage, and the dynamics. To me, the true reproduction of this song is a litmus test for any new equipment. In fact I bought the current set of pre and integrated amplifier based on testing this track in RMAF in 2010. After I played some jazz and classical music for about an hour with the new BHK preamp, I played the test track and found the sound to be dramatically different. I was in awe throughout the track. The vocals, which used to hit me face-on, had moved back, and the depth of the stage increased while the instruments had the opportunity to express themselves. The bass got certainly tighter, and the timbre of the tabla and other Indian percussion instruments never felt so natural. I generally invite my wife to give her opinion when I notice something different in a system. We listened to this track many times and started to appreciate the finer details and declared that it couldn’t get any better. However, she was literally blown away after listening with the new BHK preamp. I generally test mid-range by listening to male singer such as Rahat Fateh Ali Khan from Pakistan and female singers, Shreya Ghoshal and Richa Sharma from India. A song by Mr. Khan from the film Dabangg, called “Tere Mast Mast Do Nain” possessed an intense clarity which evoked all of the emotions conveyed by the song. What a true reproduction of his impeccable voice! A song by Shreya Goshal from the film Saawariya, called “ Sawar Gayi ”, composed by Monty Sharma is a true testament to the good mid-range handling. Richa Sharma’s opening in a song called “Jag Soona Soona Lage” from the film Om Shanti Om is an unbelievable test of vocal cord control. BHK preamp certainly scaled up to reproduce all the high and low notes, true to the original, and made the listening experience feel better than any live recording.
I then turned my attention to Vinyl Rig. I always use Jazz in the Pawnshop, Proprius-7778-79, as my test LP. The live feeling was astounding with the BHK preamp. The timbre and air around the saxophone never felt so real and palpable. It was like sitting in the jazz club and listening to a live performance, while people were chatting at nearby tables while waiters were taking orders and serving food. I was never able to appreciate so many details before. I am presuming that the improvement in details was due to a drastic reduction of hum from the system. I did not understand how this was possible, but I suspect removing the TRX-1 vacuum preamp from the chain might have accomplished this. I am not sure if BHK preamp did some magic, but I take this serendipitous development as a bonus after struggling with hum for years.
After I completed listening to test tracks, I listened to recordings from various genres over the last few weeks. I am so impressed with the preamp that I ordered the BHK 300s and P10. I cannot wait to match the preamp with my new BHK 300. Thank you Paul, Bascom, and the company for including me in the beta group. This is an amazing piece of equipment!
Suresh
1 Like
Great review, Suresh, and welcome!
wglenn said "I wonder if beta testers are getting a BHK signature?"Not sure that I understand the question, exactly, but the Beta units are essentially the same as the production ones but do not have an actual signature on them. If the question is, “are we keeping them?” I suspect that the answer for most is “yes”
I was hoping to get a signed unit but that has now been answered.
My second question was - can we update firmware at home? It’d be good to have the tube hours counter.
So, still listening and warming up headphone amp.
I want to ask other people if they’ve had this issue “without remote”. When you grab volume knob and turn slowly I’ve had the volume never change from 58-59, or other numbers after over 1/2 a knob turn. I had this happen a few times the other night when listening to headphones and decided to try again. The amount of “clicks” to volume change are all over the place on the unit I have in house. If you turn the volume knob faster, it appears to be more responsive. This is a weird unpredictable volume knob physically. With remote it’s one push, one click, one number change.
On other pre’s it may be a few clicks to change the volume, but this is more like a totally unresponsive volume knob. This does not happen with remote. IMO, if the volume knob is to be so unresponsive it should be left off the unit. Programming issue? I can shoot a short video if anybody needs to see and email to factory.
Regards,
Christan Griego
Streets Still Works saidFirst I need to sell my PassLabs x1 pre which I do not use since I upgraded from PWD to DS (PWD sounded better with x1, DS without). And after BHK250 I have no doubts that BHK pre will smoke x1, even that x1 is a fantastic pre-amp. Then I was going to replace PPP with P10 (what must be done anyway). But all these reviews came at the wrong time and with the wrong excitement grade. I secretly hoped (Paul and Bascom, do not read!), that some of the testers would still prefer direct to the amp, and I would happily live with the DS and BHK250, but no... These PS guys do not make our lives easier ....Alekz said Yeah, reading all the reviews makes me think ... I did not intend to buy any new preamps, since I'm quite happy with the DS directly to BHK250, and my system requires power line/filtering redesign. But now... Hmm.....I know, bummer, isn't it? Just when I thought everything was in place with the last final component (BHK 250) along comes the preamp and I have to decide if I want to yank out the LS 26 and reprogram the universal remote for the BHK.Of course, with the VW dieselgate rebates coming (exactly when, I don’t know) there may be some funds available for the preamp. Hopefully the preamp production line will remain open until I can get the rebate from VW . . .
billg saidwglenn said "I wonder if beta testers are getting a BHK signature?"Not sure that I understand the question, exactly, but the Beta units are essentially the same as the production ones but do not have an actual signature on them. If the question is, “are we keeping them?” I suspect that the answer for most is “yes”
I was hoping to get a signed unit but that has now been answered.
My second question was - can we update firmware at home? It’d be good to have the tube hours counter.
No, unfortunately not. Anyone wishing new firmware for the betas will have to return the preamp to home and we’ll reflash the new firmware.
Paul McGowan said No worries. It does feel a little plasticy because of the pebbly finish, but it's a solid chunk of machined metal.'Doing a little work around the house. I put fake brick wallpaper over a real brick wall, just so I'd be the only one who knew. People come over and I'm gonna say, "Go ahead, touch it...it feels real." -- Steven Wright'
Looking for an expert opinion…
Just purchased the BHK 250 on Friday. My only source is the DSD. Right now I have a W4S preamp in between the DSD and the amp. I needed it before I purchased the BHK. At this point I will either
-
remove the preamp altogether and just run the DSD into the amp OR
-
Purchase the BHK preamp.
Given that I only use a single source does it really make sense to use any preamp in between the DSD and the BHK? The BHK is driving a pair of Sonus Faber Liutos.
Thanks in advance. 
RadioRadio said Looking for an expert opinion...Just purchased the BHK 250 on Friday. My only source is the DSD. Right now I have a W4S preamp in between the DSD and the amp. I needed it before I purchased the BHK. At this point I will either
remove the preamp altogether and just run the DSD into the amp OR
Purchase the BHK preamp.
Given that I only use a single source does it really make sense to use any preamp in between the DSD and the BHK? The BHK is driving a pair of Sonus Faber Liutos.
Thanks in advance.
For now, run the DS DAC directly to the BHK amp.
There’s an immediacy and transparency with such a connection and the volume control on the DS DAC is one of the very few that I find better than MOST analogue pre-amplifiers.
That said, I now use an Audio Research Reference 5SE and IMHO it has that incredible “live” feel to the music with a much more expansive soundstage. It does lose that fractionally better delineation of instruments or what I call resolving capability of the DS DAC directly connected but it is something I can live with.
I’m waiting for the BHK Signature Preamp to see how it stacks next to the 5SE.
Welcome, RadioRadio!
Unfortunately, no one can be sure without trying both and comparing. I do not know how the opinions here tally out. Many prefer with a preamp and a good number prefer without. My intuition is that there are more who prefer a good preamp, but this will may be because I am in this camp.
I suggest waiting for the amp to arrive and becoming accustomed to it first (or do you have it already?). Run the DS into the amp directly so you are familiar with the sound (and also play with the Wyred 4 Sound unit you have and see if you like running this preamp better). Then pick up the BHK preamp and test it out. If the preamp does not do magical things for you, you can return it.
With my scenario you have a bit of work to do. 
And let us know what you think of the amp!
Thanks all for the responses.
I do have the amp in my system but I haven’t listened much, still breaking it in. It’s much better than the W4S amp it replaced (at 5x price it should be). Over the years I have always preferred a preamp to a passive attenuator. IMHO there just isn’t enough slam without a preamp in between the source and amp. I’m not technical enough to know why that is though I’ve read everything from it’s an impedance issue to just not enough voltage out of the source. Whatever the case I haven’t heard a system without a preamp that had enough “balls.” I’m not saying there aren’t any just that I haven’t heard one. I think I’ll try to DSD directly into the BHK tomorrow to see what it sounds like.
The only thing I could dislike on the amp would be the size. I don’t have long enough cables to position the amp between the speakers and while it’s fine on a rack, it will be kind of a PITA to roll tubes. Don’t think I’ll do that very much.
Passive preamps have never favorably impressed me. I want to like them; the concept makes sense, they are inexpensive, they should exhibit tremendous clarity. But I find them lifeless.
Good to hear you like the amp.
doggiehowser i am very keen to hear from you how BHK preamp will compare to REF5SE as I am having ref5 too, please update us with your findings thx
maniac said doggiehowser i am very keen to hear from you how BHK preamp will compare to REF5SE as I am having ref5 too, please update us with your findings :) thx
Yeah I am also very keen to hear it.
I love the Ref5SE but there are a few things I think could be improved - which I think weren’t addressed in the Ref6. The major bit is the volume control. I remember testing Ayre’s VGT preamp volume control which really really wowed me. It used a disc with individual transistors that clicked into place when you switched volume levels. The transistors were matched for left and right (the preamp is dual mono in design) - and provided variable gain for volume control but maintained the same impedance throughout the volume range. You should see the demo units with a clear perspex cover which showed you how the volume control worked. Really cool.
In conventional preamps, the impedance seems to change depending on the position of the volume knob and I’ve noticed on the Ref 5SE that you had to dial it up pretty high to get the dynamics I look for.
The thing was I still loved the sound of tubes so it was something I lived with, and returned the Ayre.
I know the variable gain transistors on the BHK Pre is receiving some flack for the clicking noises 
but that seems to be the right way to go. On the Ayre, even at low listening levels, all the dynamics remained intact. It was something to behold.
Oh and one other thing - the Ref5/5SE/6 all use a tube rectified power supply - which I think does sound pretty special. The BHK I gather doesn’t. I guess there are advantages or disadvantages to that approach. I do swap out the 6550s on my Ref5SE pretty quickly because I use it in HT bypass mode a lot. So that may be one area the BHK Pre with a solid state power supply might come in handy. I’m hoping it isn’t at the expense of sound quality 
RadioRadio: Several of us have gone from no pre to BHK Preamp with favorable results. I can say that in my system the addition of the BHK Preamp was nothing short of spectacular. Pee-in-your-pants good.
Pee-in-your-pants good.
I think this statement should be in the technical literature, it certainly elicits a response of how good it must be.
magicknow
wglenn said RadioRadio: Several of us have gone from no pre to BHK Preamp with favorable results. I can say that in my system the addition of the BHK Preamp was nothing short of spectacular. Pee-in-your-pants good.
Does that mean PS Audio needs to include diapers along with the white gloves?
Depends
Ouch