Looking for opinions of the B&K ST 125.2


and PT 5. I'm contemplating purchasing them, but I haven't heard anybody talk about them good or bad. My dealer says they are good, but of course, he's trying to sell them.

Anybody have any experience with either? I'm figuring I'm pretty safe considering they are B&K, but I'm left wondering a bit by the total lack of discussion.
jd1319
I too cannot see why B&K products are not discussed more. I am running Vandersteen 2CE sigs through a B&K PT3 Mk2 and a reference 4420 (225/ channel). Sound is warm, nuetral and I can listen for many hours without fatigue. I had purchased a Sunfire Symphonic reference pramp that was supposed to "blow away" units worth thousands more. The way it turned out alleast in my listening room was that the PT3 blew away the Sunfire. I sold it about a month later. Maybe it is because a B&K AMp and Pre match well together but, with the Sunfire in the system, the highs rolled off, transients were not real sharp and the midrange was hard sounding especially the voices. I just purchased from a fellow audiogoner a counterpoint SA 3 to use as a phono pre. Curious to how this will turn out. Curious to see if anyone will challenge my opinions here....

Eagleman
I have owned a ST-202 Original model which was modified for 15 yrs.. Actually I blew a channel about a year ago,but it was considered the finest amp they ever made.

B&K I feel makes the best entry level gear you can purchase. There will always be exceptions,but they are made of good material and the only other gear I would consider at their price level would be used gear that hasa shown or known to be of great sonic quality. Forte ClassA amps(used) I would recommend other than the B&K's. Anthem is another good entry level amp ,but you will pay more. After that I would look at Coda,Plinius,Monarchy and a few others.

BTW I mated my B&K with an FT Audio Passive Controller and a Modified ART DAC which for the $$ was great to listen to. When you use a Passive you need to ensure that the output from the source is high.On the level of 6-7v. It worked amazingly well until I sold the DAC and a few other pieces in order to just use a Panasonic Digital Reciever which is also a remarkable piece for the $$.

The B&K you are considering I think is their entry level amp which might have less watts than the 200.2 or something and uses a few less output trannies.Still if you do not need the power they are good pieces.

It is hard to get good MOSFET amps as most people use Bi-Polars,but B&K make them or implement them well.

Anyway good luck and I cannot see anyone being offended by the B&K sound.WHen it comes down to B&K or Adcom I always would go with B&K because their sound is sweet as opposed to Dark.

Larry
www.nearsota.com
Thanks for the information, it is very much appreciated. Since the intended speakers are going to be either Paradigm S2's or S4's, and it's not intended for window shattering bass, I thought the 125.2 would be more than adequate for my use.

Is anybody familiar with the PT5?
A B&K thread !! I'm in good company !!
I run a pair of modified M-200's and a Counterpoint SA-5000A.
Everyone thats heard my system can't find any faults what so ever, they love it.
Above posters,wave your flags !!
I wanna see more B&K stuff posted here, they sound fabulous after some John Hillig mods.
I've had excellent experience with B&K products and their customer service. I own several pieces I'm using in various rooms. A vintage ST140 amp and CS117 pre, 2 AVP3090 processor preamps, and a AV5125 5 channel power amp. I bought one of the AVP3090s and the AV5125 for my home theater, and was blown away. So I bought another one (used off ebay) for the living room. I've called the company for questions and support on this equipment - they actually answer their phone, and you can speak with someone who knows what they're talking about. And then we can talk about the build quality . . .
For the money their stuff is hard to beat.