Greetings all. I’ve been aware of PS Audio for a few years through “Ask Paul” but am new to the forum.
I’m beginning to seriously consider building a competent 2 ch system and would appreciate your impressions of a BHK preamp + M700 combination.
Assuming for argument sake that I have equally competent speakers how well do these pair at low to moderate SPL (40-60 dB) to produce reasonably full sound?
Thank you!
Welcome @allan.thunes !
I had that combo and for the money it is hard to beat. The synergy is great and the headphone amp in the BHK is also a really good piece.
You will have no problem driving any speaker at those volume levels. I was using a set of Tekton Electrons and it was a great match.
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I’m running M700s and BHK pre into Paradigm Studio 20 v5 (stand mount). I also listen at low volume levels. At 65 db peaks this setup sounds rich and full. It’s quite difficult to get full sound at lower volume levels and I believe the speakers you choose are a big factor. You can only evaluate speakers in your room. Happy hunting!
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Thank you for the welcome Elk!
Thank you for sharing your experience. Late night is occasionally spent on the headphones so it’s good to know this is a strength.
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Many thanks. Besides all the other magic it’s that richness at moderate levels that I’m looking for. Besides simply enjoying music at less than wall rattling levels the wife and neighbors don’t want to hear me all day. I work from home and have classical going all day every day. Even as background I’d like some character.
Allen, you haven’t mentioned your room size. A few years ago I was talking with the owner of Take5audio (retired and sold) specifically about low level listening and he said if I had a little bigger listening room (12’x18’x7.5’) Wilson Sabrina’s could be the perfect pairing.
Welcome. I too have the M700s but with the SGCD. I’ve been extremely happy with my gear. I had considered the BHK but had an opportunity to pick up a PP3, and opted for that with the SGCD. Sounds great. BHK may be in my future though.
Wilson Audio. I can take that off the long list of audio companies I’ve not come across. Thank you. The room that will evolve into a listening room is about 14’x20’x8’. If that little bit bigger is enough I’ll need to lose some more sleep coming to know the Sabrina.
Thanks for the welcome. The SGCD looks and reads like great gear. I’ve assembled a couple of modest integrated component systems in the past couple of years but I’ve wanted separates since my teens, which was longer ago than I care to think about. So this time around I’m all wound up about complete separates.
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And what is the first thing I see on the Sabrina page? Retired in 2020. The search goes on…
You should be able to find a set of Sabrina’s on the used market if you watch for them. You might also look at open baffle speakers as they do a great job of filling the room at low volume levels. I have a set of Spatial Audio X5’s and they are really good at that job.
Intriguing. I’m aware of open baffle designs but know nothing about them. That will have to change. Browsing Spacial’s site I like what I see though they, or something like a Sabrina, are realistically likely beyond my reach. But I hadn’t used. Thank you.
If you have woodworking and soldering skills take a look at GR Research open baffle speaker kits. You will get great performance for about half the money (or less).
To me, the speaker hunt is the hardest part. Everyone hears differently and ALL rooms sound different. To find what fits your ear and fits your room takes lots of visiting and a bit of luck.
You’ll find no shortage of M700 lovers here, myself included, unless they’ve opted for the M1200s. Except for @81dave and @Baldy , you may find it harder to locate a lot of users who pair the BHK preamp with them, but that’s probably only for budgetary reasons.
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That has certainly been my experience. All gear also seem to have their own sound characteristics.
My current 2ch set up I was changing gear and speakers at the same time. Getting the right combination was an exercise in frustration that was better suited to a DOE if you know what that is.
I finally just picked an integrated amp that wasn’t even in the A/B rotation (Schiit Ragnarok) and speakers whose designs I have experience with (Dennis Murphy/Salk Supercharged Song Surrounds) and called it done. I’ve been quite happy with the pairing but have a lot less invested in that combination than the next power amp will cost.
This time around I’m going contrary to the typical advice of getting the speakers right first then work on gear. I want to start with gear I trust is capable of delivering the micro dynamics and all of that other holy grail 2ch magic. I’ve not experienced all that magic so I don’t even know what I’ve been missing so building that trust is crucial. For me developing that trust is really what this thread is all about.
Though I need to look into the whole open baffle thing, I’m less concerned with speakers. I’ve come to trust a couple or three names where I’m confident I’ll find something to complement the gear.
As Paul says, thanks for listening.
I believe micro dynamics have a LOT to do with your speakers. They either reproduce them or not. If you are looking for that holographic sound, I can tell you that my PP3 regenerator, the DS dac and the BHK Pre all added significantly to that effect. Keep asking questions. The forum members here are great about helping answer them!
Many thanks! That PP3 is something I noticed the other day and have in mind to add to a system development “plan”.