Is this news?:
Curious about what might be next!
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It caught me by surprise, I donât recall seeing any chatter leading up to the closeoutâŠ
Me tooâŠ
Does anyone remember when the BHK preamp first came out?
So my BHK Pre and BHK 250 are no longer. Makes me sad (purch in 2019 & 2020) but excited about what comes next! They still sound great though!
I got my BHK Pre in November 2017 and Iâm pretty sure that was at least a year after being introduced. Not entirely surprising they are replacing it, but what with? The same was done with the BHK250, so they must be working on a new line. Theyâve been much better at keeping this a secret compared to previous efforts. I would bet the replacements will not use tubes âŠ
So, the Stellar Gold preamp is now $500 more than the BHK. Anyone care to comment on the relative value here?
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Is it possible PSA just closes the line without a replacement? With DS Mk2 they let DS owners to trade in first, so this is very interesting.
I sold my BHK pre three months ago close to the âclosed outâ price, and it turns out to be a lucky decision.
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The Stellar Gold Pre is supposed to quite good, in some cases preferable to the BHK Pre. But itâs the Stellar line, the PerfectWave line is supposed to be the next step up. Perhaps the Goldâs performance led to the demise of the BHK? It will be a significant task to make that next step.
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Letâs hope they donât use the MK2 DAC interface out front.
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Happy cake day @dchang05
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Looks like resale value just took a big hitâŠ
Things get old and become somewhat obsolete. Itâs called progress and is the cost of any endeavor.
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That doesnât negate my comment.
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Not really a comment, more of a whine!
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I beta-tested the SG Pre and did a side-by-side with the BHK pre. Hereâs what I said:
âBetween the SG Pre and the BHK, I have decided, surprisingly (at least to me), it is the Stellar Gold Pre, not the BHK, that will stay in my system. I went into this upgrade process sure that however good the SG Pre might be, the BHK would be even better.
But in my systemâŠwith my taste in music (largely jazz, rock, and pop), and my room (smallish 10x10 listening area), the combo of the SG Pre and SG DAC came closest to recreating the sound of music played live with me in the room. In comparison to the BHK, the SG Pre pulls me into the music more, almost compelling me to follow it wherever to chooses to go. Donât get me wrong: the BHK is terrific, and I would easily have kept it if I had not had the SG Pre to compare. But I did, and it won me over.
The SG Pre is dead quiet â almost like negative noise. Music produced through it had an airiness and crispness that the warmer BHK did not quite match. It was not fatiguing, brittle or analytical in any sense â just fresh and clean. On a track like âSo Whatâ by Miles Davis, (192/24 via Qobuz), the cymbals in the background at the start of the piece sounded more like cymbals in a club, while with the BHK the resonances seemed more muted. Similarly on tracks from Bill Kopperâs Octave Records release Ancient Rhythms (DSD 128), the music seems more alive.
My wife, who is not much into audio, also listened to the two pre-amps, heard (without prompting) the differences, and preferred the SG Pre.â
As I recall, Chris Brunhaver also preferred the SG Pre.
Bob
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You disapprove of my comment? Thatâs okâŠno worries!
I just read the glowing review of the BHK preamp by Stereophile magazine from a few years back. Painted a picture of a preamp capable of performing virtual magic with an audio signal. Iâve read about the Stellar Gold preamp as well. It has been well received to but Iâve read nothing that implies that it operates at those extreme heights. Makes me wonder about those early reviews. Were they hyperbole, were they just reacting to the price tag or was it really special? Maybe technology has advanced the state of the art kind of performance to a much lower price level now? Maybe the BHK really is better. I havenât heard either so I really have no way to know except for comments like the one from rcf051 above.
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This will really cut down on activity in the âtube rolling with the BHK Preampâ thread, lol.
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Agree. Same thing happened with the DSD mk1. I wouldnât be surprised if there is a TMR factory refreshed sale on BHK preamps.