John Darko PS Audio BHK 300’s

Wilson are far less demanding than Focal. I tried a pair of Focal at home, but my dealer told me I really needed more power to get the best out of them. So you are probably well served by BHK 300.

Dealer open days with presentations by manufacturers (usually the top person and/or chief designer) are done regularly by two very successful dealers near me. They are relaxed, no pressure, very informative and give you a good idea what is possible. They sow the seed.

It depends on the Focal and on the Wilson.

For example, both the Focal Sopra No.3 and Wilson Sasha DAW are difficult to drive, equally so.

My dealer had recently attended a Focal dealer event & in thanks Focal sold him (and each dealer that attended) one pair of Sopra 2’s at a substantial discount. He passed that savings on allowing me get acquire them for under 10K USD (15K MRSP at the time). Just one more benefit in establishing a good relationship with a first class dealer.

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That’s a very good deal. Here if the dealer has a good relationship with their suppliers they tend to get in new demo stock quite often and have a good turnover of demo stock, at a 20% discount. There is very little discounting by dealers that I know of.

It depends on the design of the amplifier and its ability to handle difficult loads. Nic Poulson (founder and engineering genius behind Trilogy, Isotek and Isol-8) is as good as they get. Roy Gregory reviewed the Sasha DAW when released and used the Trilogy 995R in valve mode, saying:

“The other amp that proved spectacularly effective with the Sasha DAWs was the new Trilogy Audio 995R, a 50-watt hybrid (solid-state output), class-A monoblock. Its open clarity, transparency, focus and dynamic range are reminiscent of what made the original Krell KSA-50 so popular when it first appeared. Of course, back then nobody was proposing pairing the WATT/Puppy with the KSA-50, KMA-100s being the default choice. The massive acoustic space and towering dynamics generated by the Trilogy/DAW combination are yet another indication of just how the world according to the WATT/Puppy has changed. That change might have started with the Sasha 2, but the DAW has added serious impetus and momentum.”

http://www.theaudiobeat.com/equipment/wilson_audio_sasha_daw.htm

There are owners threads listening big meaty amps from D’Agostino, Naim, AR, Pass, Krell. All those were available, but the 995R combination was simply astonishing.

The 995R are not cheap, £23,000 for a pair in the UK, so expect to pay about $30,000.

Exactly my point. As I noted, the Wilson Sasha DAW is not an easy speaker to drive. It needs the amplifiers you heard them with which are expensive amplifiers capable driving difficult speakers with a great deal of current. Or in other words:

Nope. Not easy to drive. Not even close.

Many Focals are similarly difficult for an amplifier.

In this case attending dealers were offered new speakers not demo stock.

It seems Kanta 2 loves 70 watts per channel! So, should we classify that as highly demanding? Edit: Uniti Nova is 80wpc

Focal recommends 40–300W for amplification, but power requirements alone do not dictate whether a speaker is difficult to drive.

A speaker is particularly hard to drive when it exhibits low impedance simultaneously with a high electrical phase angle where the impedance magnitude is low. The Kanta No. 2 exhibits this characteristic in the mid-bass, dictating an amplifier which can comfortable drive a 4 ohm speaker and able to respond to significant current demands.

Naim’s 80 watts almost double at 4 ohms. Focal has forever been promoting the Kantas with Uniti Nova.

Naim’s Uniti Nova is specified as delivering 80W into 8 ohms and 155Wpc into 4 ohms (your post previously cited a much lower value into 4 ohms, but you changed it.) :slight_smile:

Upon testing, Stereophile found the Uniti Nova delivered 103Wpc into 8 ohms at clipping (1% THD+N) and 160Wpc into 4 ohms (19dBW).

Based on specs alone, the Naim appears to be a fine choice to partner with the Kanta No. 2.

(You edited your post during the forum’s alloted editing period while I was responding, changing the cited specs of the Naim. My post now has a different context, but it still reads OK.)

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Thank you for your input Elk. I used to think Focal remained in the high sensitivity 8 Ohms school, but never looked at their impedance while driven.
One of the reasons I chose Dynaudio is their impedance stability. They would drop by half ohm or so. They’re not easy to drive though.

Excellent choice. I recall Dynaudio as being less sensitive than average, but with friendly impedance. I have heard Dynaudio with tube amplification resulting in superb sound, very nice.

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The reason why John Darko is so popular, is because he performs his reviews in a small living room that is so typical for a very huge part of audience‘s living environment. A apartment fitted with normal income IKEA Kalax furniture representing the reality for many of his audience.

He distinguishes himself by reviewing systems that don’t need large living spaces or large or dedicated empty review / listening studios that many can not afford.

When I noticed the BHK300 in his videos. On a dolly indeed, not in his IKEA Kalax rack. I was also wondering which speakers he would pair and if he is doing it in his town-apartment.

The BHK300 will certainly sound really good in large rooms with IRS 5 sized speakers or indeed Focal Utopia sized speakers.

John Darko‘s systems are about attractive looking really good sounding solutions that allow you to keep your apartment a living space.

It would however not surprise me if John Darko does it for the very same reasons above. Such a big system is in so much contrast to what he has been showing and promoting till date and he doesn’t seem a narrow minded person to me.

So let’s see what is going to happen.