It arrived safely (and quickly!)… It seemed plenty heavy on the handtruck but lighter than I thought it would when the front or the rear was lifted by either of its two pairs of handles.
The carton has those nifty side latches that go thru the three layers of the sides and flaps; squeeze them and away the sides of the carton fall!
The P20 does indeed get quite warm; tonite I spaced each of the three shelves above it up an inch or so to increase the space above the p-con.
After about eight hours of warming, a quick listen to two movements of the Tchaik. Sym. 5 tells me that the system sounds slightly better–more spacious and the violins are smoother…I think.
@jeffreybehr - I have a laser thermometer I use when building cars I use to analyze the coolant system. ETEKCITY - LASERGRIP 1080. Relatively inexpensive; F/C and measurement hold so you don’t have to be looking at the LT display when you take the measurement.
I just reconfigured my rack MON, placing my BHKPRE under my P20 and I wanted to make sure there were no thermal issues. I like to space components at least 4in from shelf top for thermal relief. The pre has 4in of space. The P20 has about an inch space above and I wanted to make sure after replacing the BHK250 w/ BHK300s there would be no thermal issues. So, from a year ago with BHK250 to yesterday with a set of BHK300s, temps are very similar.
Measurement Data:
16hrs full on, averaging 300-400 watts on P20 display - 115F heat sink center (hottest spot); 98F at corners; 95F front, not display.
Turn all components to standby @ 10:00PM and remeasure the same locations @ 6:00AM - 110F, 93F, and 90F.
Context
In relative terms, EE components are usually specified from 70C max (commercial) to 110C max (military). The P20 is seeing about half the max temp of industrial rated parts. Since I assume most of the components are industrial rated (85C), I think the P20 is doing pretty well. If there are any commercially rated (mix) components, the temps are OK. The internal P20 is a little higher.
@amsco15 - I had a black BHK250 on the bottom shelf and just upgraded to dual BHK300s. However, they are silver so I made a cover (hand sewed) over the weekend, just in case my wife wanted all black. The walls are grey so she loved the colors…
@Matchbox - this is a tough comment cause many things are going on early this week. After making sure the new BHK300s were operational, I changed the tubes to a matched quad set of PCC88 “special” Kevin Deal tubes. In addition I added Herbies tube dampeners. I then added (2) Shunyata Research Alpha NR power cables to the BHK300s and then Isoacoustic Bordeaux pucks in (2) days. The tubes have 4hrs on them…
Background - BHK250 had special tubes w/ 1325hrs, Herbie’s tube dampeners w/ PSA AC12 power cords. The BHK250 sounded amazing; I love that AMP, period… However, I’m an audiophile equipment whore and someone sold me crack (BHK300s) at a really good price.
Initial thoughts when I functionally tested the BHK300s on MON evening after I unboxed them was “Holy Shit”, Paul was not bullshitting… PRESENCE (especially in the lower octaves) is all I can say… an athletic analogy: I was breathing just after I decided to get off the couch (BHK250), never have trained aerobically. Then I spent 2 years training to race Ironman… (BHK300s). If you have ever went through that your breathing is very shallow when you start training and breathing after Ironman is non labored and very, very deep expending very little energy. Your aerobic platform is spectacular… going BHK250 to BHK300s is just like that in terms of sound… Don’t get me wrong, I would still own the BHK250 if I did not get the crack… I now have to be careful cranking it up. The good news is that I only have one neighbor and they love my music… especially the REL subs…
Thoughts after all that BHK300s modifications (yesterday afternoon) - sounds a little harsh, SS is a little less… “HOLY SHIT” do these BHKs sound amazing… like the band was in my music room. I am listening to vocals w/ PRE at 70 and DSD at 70 and hard to stay in room and no distortion last night at 10:00PM… wife came in music room and caught me giddy…
I will let you know down the road… word of caution: the high lasts for a relatively short period of time and then every equipment whore is on the prowl…
Indeed… The system still sounds FABULOUS, so it’s doing no harm…but of course it had all of 8 hours when I listened attentively last nite. It’ll be running 24/7, so we’ll hear soon.
400W needs a P20? I wanted to ask a serious opinion since this was brought up. Do you folks mind mixing black and silver components? I was so happy to have all silver finally then my headphone amp only came in black.
You keep asking the “need” questions. I get it, you hope the truth is no one needs to spend very much to get great sound. I didn’t need a DSD Sr as I had a DSD Jr. Now I have both and I am very happy about it. I didn’t need a P20, but now I have one and I really like the results. It didn’t need a great power cable, but mine has one and I am glad. You don’t need to keep asking the need questions, because need isn’t the issue. The issue is can YOU appreciate the difference in sound a piece of gear can offer. And the only answer to that is to listen to the gear for yourself and decide.
My headphone amp is black. It’s a Woo WA5-LE. 2nd shelf from the bottom of the rack. It was the only one my dealer had. Not many people who are into headphones have the real estate for two chassis that weigh 70 lbs. I love the sound out of this amp with the DSD as a source.
I auditioned a number of speakers before I bought these. They are KEF Reference 201/2’s. They are three way and built like a tank, These are the predecessors to the current KEF Reference 1’s. My room is quite small and I’ve had a hard time finding anything that sounds better that is priced within reason. I’m waiting for the new AN series. These are never leaving my possession. I like them that much.
