Are they shipping now? I lost track of time but they should be at this point, although I imagine supplies are tight.
They begin shipping again in week three of July.
Paul McGowan said They begin shipping again in week three of July.Thanks Paul.......Is there presently a back-order?
timequest saidI am keenly interested in 'hearing' about comparisons with known solid state contenders (and 'champions')...................I consider these amps as true champions/how-is-ted-coding-the-fpgaenders: The Krell Evolution series (especially the Evo 402e), the Pass labs "X series" and "XA series" (especially the XS 150).....................
Can some of you point me to the appropriate thread(s), provide me with your opinions, or even arrange to 'pm' me.Yes, I'm also keen to see some direct comparisons with the types of Amps you've mentioned.Thanks.
_Ben
I’ve heard the Krell 402e, which to my ear was nice, but not worth the cash (even heavily discounted run-out floor stock).
One place has the Pass XA but I don’t kick tyres and I knew I wouldn’t buy them. Already had bought much cheaper (second hand) Parasound Halo JC-1 Mono’s, which are also pretty cheap in the USA. For mine, the JC-1’s killed the Krell (& also the Bryston 28B-SST2).
All the more so, since I expect the likelihood of hearing any floor stock of the BHK’s in Sydney will be right next to zero. Would love to hear I’m wrong about that last point - if anyone knows of a dealer in Sydney that has committed to taking them on ?
To the ‘betas’ - does the BHK amp shut down when pushed to relatively high volume levels (but within the clipping range)?
I could not make BHK250 shut down using music, but it did go into the protection mode when I pulled out an XLR connector (the “pop” was not loud at all).
timequest said To the 'betas' - does the BHK amp shut down when pushed to relatively high volume levels (but within the clipping range)?Mine does, but PSA will be changing the settings and relays to fix this.
Mine hasn’t but my room is small and if I played it that loud it would hurt my ears.
Curious…Does the BHK Signature 250 actually double down…The website states, “250 into 8 ohms / 500 into 4 ohms,” but much of what is written in the press - that I’ve read online - says the amp will provide 250 watts into 8 ohms, but only 400 into 4 ohms. Can someone verify…
Thanks
_Ben
Elsewhere, much earlier, Paul mentioned that the BHK’s are not strictly linear regarding the resistance / power output curve. But that the figures being quoted were linear in this regard, by adjusting down the higher resistance figures.
The mono’s producing 300w each might be revealing in this manner. i.e. 500 into 4 ohms; rated 250w into 8 ohms but perhaps really producing 300w at 8 Ohms.
That’s also how I recall from memory it being expressed, at that time.
The post would be available in one of the BHK forums. One of Paul’s posts.
timequest said Curious..........Does the BHK Signature 250 actually double down......The website states, "250 into 8 ohms / 500 into 4 ohms," but much of what is written in the press - that I've read online - says the amp will provide 250 watts into 8 ohms, but only 400 into 4 ohms. Can someone verify...Thanks
_Ben
The website’s correct.
Paul McGowan saidtimequest said Curious..........Does the BHK Signature 250 actually double down......The website states, "250 into 8 ohms / 500 into 4 ohms," but much of what is written in the press - that I've read online - says the amp will provide 250 watts into 8 ohms, but only 400 into 4 ohms. Can someone verify...Thanks
_Ben
The website’s correct.
Thank you!
Thanks!!!
How much ventilation space is recommended above the BHK-250? Nothing specific is mentioned in the manual. My planned space will have about 2" above the amplifier. Is that enough?
That should be just fine.
bstanwick said How much ventilation space is recommended above the BHK-250? Nothing specific is mentioned in the manual. My planned space will have about 2" above the amplifier. Is that enough?I hate to contradict Paul on this but this sounds potentially marginal. How much space would there be to each side of the amp? And is there an opening in the back of the space? On a hot day in the summer, the inside of my house gets up to 80+ deg F. The heat sinks on my BHK-250 in a totally open space around it gets up to close to 120 deg F which is pretty dammed toasty.
Bascom’s right, it does require ventilation, but I have seen many situations where 2" is just fine as long as you maintain good airflow around the amp. For example, if it’s in an enclosed shelf with little airflow, 2" is not enough, nor is 10".
This would be on a shelf underneath my TV with a solid panel to the right and open in front, behind and on the left. If needed, I can rearrange things to get more air space on the right. This is a fixed height shelf.
My alternative is a variable height shelf underneath this one where I can vary the open air space on top. I have a digital thermometer that I can use to measure the cabinet temperature. Is there a safe/recommended temperature that I should not exceed? This variable height shelf is only half width so sliding it to the left to get more air space on the right is not an option due to a center dividing post.
My third option is to remove the right side panel to get better ventilation on the right.
As Bascom had correctly pointed out, the unit does get hot and requires as much ventilation as you can. Install it as best you think you can do and then keep a watch on its temperature. My test has always been to make sure it never gets too hot to touch. In my music room the amps get good and toasty - hot to the touch - but never so hot I feel like I am getting burned.
I also make sure the amps are always on, but left in standby when not in use, through the front panel logo light button.
Personally, I would go for the last option - particularly if you can readily reinstall it if it does not work for you. The space on top is close, but I think that if you have free airflow on both sides that it is probably okay. Open front, back and sides is the more important factor - particularly the sides because that is where the heatsinks are and where the air really needs to flow most freely.
Now… if you tend to listen at a very high sound/power level a lot then you do need to monitor the amp closely for a while to make sure that is is not getting too warm in this still somewhat confined space. If it does get too warm, the options are fans (yuck) or moving the amp to an open space with more room all around including above. (Obviously) the ideal is in the open, sitting on a amp stand such as the PowerBase. 
I can go one better than that for passive cooling, but a chimney really should not be necessary unless your room is really warm. Hmmm… that might actually be an option to increase airflow inside the rack. Get back to me if the amp is running too warm in there - you may not have to move it. 
J.P.