BHK 300

Hi I am getting ready to purchase the BHK 300 mono blocks. I have the Goldenear Triton Ones along with the Marantz 8802a preamp. Unfortunately there is no dealers close to me. The closest one is four hours away. So I am trying to read all reviews that I can find, there is a couple , but not a lot. So I am reaching to members that have these amps to find out if anybody is using these on the Triton Ones, to see if they are a good match together. I also was wondering if anybody is using these amps for home theater as well, or are these amps better suited for music only? I read an article about tube amps not being good for home theater usage, but it didn’t mention anything about hybrid amps. So I would appreciate it if some members would let me know if they are using these amps for home theater as well, and how do they perform for that duty. Thanks for the help.

I had the Triton Ones hooked up to the BHK 250 once in the store.

The Triton Ones are so sensitive that I wasn’t expecting it to benefit from such good power. It did.

Excellent. Did you also have them hooked for home theater, or was it 2 channel only? Thanks.

Sandy Gross, the owner of GoldenEar speakers uses a pair of BHK Monoblocks on his Tritons and loves them

A wonderful recommendation given the superb sound of his speakers.

Another option considering how efficient your speakers are, get the BHK 250 and a BHK preamp. It has a HT pass through. With the generous trade in allowances, you could get both for less than a pair of 300s. Maybe enough to add a Direststream Jr. With your speakers that would be an awesome system.

And you could still have a full functioning home theater too.

Did you know that you can buy directly from PS Audio with an audition period? And look on each product page, it shows the max they allow for trade in on each component, when you click on the trade in link. You could clear out any working audio gear no longer in use, or being replaced.

Paul McGowan said

Sandy Gross, the owner of GoldenEar speakers uses a pair of BHK Monoblocks on his Tritons and loves them


Thanks Paul, that reassures me that I am making the right decision. Sandy was very helpful when I bought the Tritons, he always responded to emails quickly and he actually called on the phone a couple of times. So it feels good knowing he uses the BHK 300 for his system. Do you know if he uses them for home theater also? Can you give me your opinion if they work well for music and home theater, are there any trade offs doing it that way? My plan is to buy these now and later on to add one more 300 for the center channel. Then I would use my current amps for surround and atmos duty. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thank for the help.

DoggieHowser said The Triton Ones are so sensitive that I wasn't expecting it to benefit from such good power. It did.
I am considering the purchase of a pair of Tritons, either One or Two. I had the same question, basically whether the BHK 250 would be overkill given the sensitivity of the Tritons and their built-in subwoofers. As things stand now, I never run my BHK preamp at a volume higher than 50 (usually more like 35). So thanks for sharing this!

Have you heard the Triton reference ? I just demoed the 1 and Ref, and the Ref is in another league:) Now it’s gonna take me longer to save up :frowning:

Wondering if anyone has heard Wilson Sophia’s, more expensive of course, and could compare to the Reference ?

Although I don’t have BHKs (I have a Rogue Audio Pharaoh integrated), I like the Triton Ones a lot. I demoed the References compared with the Ones with several different amps at the dealers and I couldn’t justify the $4000 upgrade cost for the References versus the Ones. But they are both excellent speakers.

For the record, I used the BHK250 for stereo playback in the system…

I don’t see why being a great stereo amp somehow diminishes the BHK250 in HT duties.

milmaker1 said

Thanks Paul, that reassures me that I am making the right decision. Sandy was very helpful when I bought the Tritons, he always responded to emails quickly and he actually called on the phone a couple of times. So it feels good knowing he uses the BHK 300 for his system. Do you know if he uses them for home theater also? Can you give me your opinion if they work well for music and home theater, are there any trade offs doing it that way? My plan is to buy these now and later on to add one more 300 for the center channel. Then I would use my current amps for surround and atmos duty. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thank for the help.


He uses them for his main 2-channel setup and not his HT, though there are quite a number of people using 300s in their theaters. They are excellent for both.

magister said

I am considering the purchase of a pair of Tritons, either One or Two. I had the same question, basically whether the BHK 250 would be overkill given the sensitivity of the Tritons and their built-in subwoofers. As things stand now, I never run my BHK preamp at a volume higher than 50 (usually more like 35). So thanks for sharing this!


Overkill is certainly a tough word. On the one hand, a speaker of this sensitivity doesn’t need all that power, technically speaking, but on the other hand, when you’re interested in getting the best sound quality, then going this large and this quality is all about overkill. You get headroom, you get effortless reproduction of sound and to me, that’s hardly overkill. It’s what’s needed to get to nirvana.

I have a BHK 250 that I use for 2 channel music and to drive front left and right speakers in home theater mode. The pre-amp in home theater mode is a cheap Yamaha with pre-outs that connect to a Cary SLP-05 pre-amp. The Cary SLP-05 has an automatic bypass that sends the home theater signal directly to the BHKs even when it’s off. I use a two relay trigger circuit I designed to auto turn on the BHKs when the Yamaha or Cary are turned on.

The bottom line is it sounds great even in home theater mode. I recently purchased the American Epic CD set and several individual HDTracks downloads from the series. I have listened to the set several times and am astonished by the sound from 1920-30s recordings. I also recently watched the first episode of the PBS series (streamed through an Apple TV to the Yamaha). Even through my Yamaha is not in the same class as my Cary, the American Epic TV show sounded great.

The first episode primarily deals with The Carter Family and The Memphis Jug Band. The episode was appropriately titled, “The Big Bang” named after the Bristol TN recording sessions from 1927. Fascinating story and great sound.

Edit. One last point. If you’re looking for some flowery AB comparison from me, I’m not your guy. I can’t think of anything more tedious or uninteresting then ABing anything. I go for an enjoyable experience be it Bourbon or stereos and try to leave it at that.

DoggieHowser said I don't see why being a great stereo amp somehow diminishes the BHK250 in HT duties.
It does not. Not in the least.
Paul McGowan said . . . when you're interested in getting the best sound quality, then going this large and this quality is all about overkill.
The entire hobby is overkill. :)

As has oft been observed, the quality of the first watt is paramount. Then, if the first what is perfect, the next watt matters almost as much. Your amplification can never be too good.

Thanks to both Paul and Elk. If I do get the Triton Ones, I won’t worry about the BHK 250 being “too much” – I’ll just enjoy it. It is definitely the best-sounding amp I have ever owned.

I have been very impressed with Goldenear’s offerings, despite the corny name. They are an incredible buy.

I say, Buy Them!

(It is delightful fun spending others’ money.)

Yes, spending other people’s money is great fun.

I am debating what to do about speakers. My Von Schweikert IV-jr’s are 15 years old and still sound great; they really are superb speakers for their size and cost (when new). But they don’t go as far down as I need for organ music. I’ve looked at subwoofers, but there is no space for them and the idea of more boxes and cables isn’t appealing. The Triton 1 (or possibly even the Reference, although that’s a stretch) with the built-in subwoofers might be a solution.

Recreating anything close to a pipe organ is a difficult goal. Your current speakers are excellent. It will be fun to learn what you decide.