JamesH in the "flesh"

Check it out: BHK 600 Unboxing - YouTube

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This couldn’t be more fitting now.

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Well there is that tall, bald guy working with you . . .

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i must say, with that title, I waited until everyone left the room before clicking on the thread.

:face_with_peeking_eye:

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That was pretty good! Normally I think “unboxing” videos are kind of silly, but this one has lots of useful information. The packaging is quite clever, it may not be new (P20?), but it’s the first I’ve seen it. Nothing worse than having to lift a heavy piece of gear out of a box. The wheels are a nice touch too. I was surprised when Peter said that they can’t say “Standby”, presumably some other company/person has trademarked this or otherwise held it for their own.

Well done!

I should add that James is a great guy, I’ve met him a couple of times, very friendly and customer oriented. I’ve never met Peter, but I think he likes to talk!

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I would leave the room after 5 minutes with Peter talking. He neglected to tell us which end of the knife to hold while cutting the straps and tape. Oh oh, litigation coming1 Kudos for hanging in there James!

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I liked the fact that you and Peter stated that the “performance” was not rehearsed. This is true for everyone who purchases this wonderful piece of equipment. It will be everybody’s unrehearsed first time. In the comment section someone posted that it is already 13 minutes into the video and it is still in the box. Made me chuckle.

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Wonder why BHK wanted a rectifier so badly? It’s interesting because the video properly states that it is quite unlikely to change the sound. I have amps with rectifiers. Anyway…

This is not James debut. He has already graced the pages of Stereophile in past PS Audio ads.

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My take on it was tube rolling the rectifier is unlikely to change the sound. I found it surprising that they are using NOS rectifier tubes, that could be why they doubt tube rolling will help. I would also assume they have a rather significant supply of these tubes. Not typical of PS Audio or many other tube electronic manufacturers to supply NOS tubes from the factory. Of course, at the price of these amps ($30k+) they won’t be selling like hot cakes …

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imho the video was way too long…

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Is there a YouTube video which is not waaaaay too long?

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I laughed when I saw the black socks with white shoes.

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Peter was incorrect. That rectifier tube has a HUGE impact on the sound and we spent a great deal of time getting the right one.

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The packaging is brilliant!

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Try experimenting with different rectifier tubes. You’ll likely hear a big difference.

I am not surprised. I have a tube headphone amp with a separate power supply which incorporates tube amplification. It readily responds to different rectifier tubes.

I readily admit I do not understand why. I am well aware of the arguments that the rectifier tube cannot make a difference unless it is poorly matched and allows voltage sag in response to large transient signals.

But there you go :slight_smile:

In my guitar amps, if I want a stiffer sound with as much headroom as possible, I use a solid state rectifier.
Tubes can alter the sound and I think it is the “sag” that does it.
With the right tube rectifier, at higher volume, you get a more horn-like, sort of “reed” sound, which some (I) find very pleasing for single line soloing.

There is more to it than just voltage sag, I can use 2 866a mercury rectifier tubes or 2 3B28 tubes in my preamp and they both sound different, voltage sag doesn’t even come into play with either of these tube types.

Guitar amps are specifically designed to create and actively respond to voltage sag for the purpose of changing the sound. Audio amps are, of course, designed differently.