What a nice surprise this amplifier is ! I had never had the chance to listen to B&K products so I bought it by good reviews I'd read only and - WOW ! - connected to PMC Twenty 24 speakers, HEED preamp and REGA Apollo CD player, this amp is fantastic ! Tight bass, great soundstage, coherent sound over all, I was very impressed and, for the price, it is a steal !!! The sound is different from my usual McIntosh MC2100 but no less pleasant, which, to me, says a lot.

Just picked up a used st-1400 II. Traded my Adcom gfa555II to get it. What a good decision I made. Bass is much more pronounced and tight. The B&K is a much more musical Amp than the Adcom. I can hear where each instrument is. It makes my Infinity Kappa's sing.
So happy I made the decision. Great Amp!

Solid build,Sound quality,premium components, dual inputs (RCA/XLR), heavyduty binding posts.

Faceplate is very simple but not ugly. Power switch and light very ordinary type. Balanced & unbalanced switch could be on the front panel. Requires upgrade of some aging components.

Got this amp (second hand) from my tech. friend with AVP3000 pre-amp combo,both model 1996. I didn't take a second thought to take the units thou i knew they are several years model. It's a rare opportunity to meet this brand (new or even second hand) in my place. The dealer have already stopped selling this product few years backed 'coz of the Japanese names are dominating the market. This is my first separate amp.to power up my Paradigm Refence Studio 60v2 front channels (bi-wired with Cat-5e TNT-TTS configuration) and ease up the load of my Denon AVR-2802 for multi-channel reproductions. I could not compare with other amps 'coz I did'nt have the opportunity to test A/B between other amps and the best reviewed names are not available for compararison. All i can say is the overall improvement it made to my system. It rounded up the bass line, more detailed midrange, improved imaging, wider soundstage and crisper treble. I could not test its limit coz, my place is not favorable to do it or cops might be knocking on my door in few minutes. It is even smoother when my AVP3000 pre-amp is connected via XLR connections. It's a real music when i play my reference discs of different music genre, SADE's and EAGLE's DVD using my AVR-2802 for DD decoding. My only caveat is the balanced and unbalanced switch is shorted, I still hear sound when balanced or RCA cable is connected but the switch is off or vice-versa, so it means there is signal leakage in the switch. Associated Equipments: Denon Avr2802 (A/V-Pre/pro/Amp) - 90W X 6 B&K AVP3000 (Music Preamp) B&K ST-1400 (Power Amp) - 125w X 2 R&D VP300X (Power Amp) - 100w X 2 (bridgable) Technics ---- (Tuner) Panasonic RV32S (DVD/CD/MP3 player) Pioneer CTW503R (TapeDeck) refurbished JVC Hifi VCR JVC Interiart TV Paradigm Reference Studio 60 v.2 (Front) Bose 301 - II (Surround) - cone edge replaced JVC "mini sp" (Surround Back-Atom 1st choice) Optimus (Center-soon 2b replaced w/ cc-170) Monster Cable & Homegrown interconnects Cat-5e Homegrown Bi-wire speaker cables Accoustic Research & Proel SP Connectors Tripplite Power Adapter/Line Conditioner Stavol Power Stabilizer

Similar Products Used:

VP-300x amp use to power the Suround-Ex (american made),aging pioneer contempo model. audioned (MA-500, NAD-216THX, Denon POA-T10, Rotel amps (very expensive but rolled out from China plant of cheap l

Great power, definetley clean, Very tough to beat for the price

none that I have found

I recently purchased a B&K ST2140 & a B&K PT lll pre amp/tuner. I've had no problems with either. The amplifier drives my Klipsch 45G'S with ease. The amp is both powerfull and clean. I am more than happy considering the price. I spent a good deal of time listening to Amplifiers that cost three times as much that didn;t sound any better. If you like good clean power at a great price give the B&K a listen.

Excellant clarity,dynamics,highs and lows. Great build quality.Removable power cord. Plent of power.

None so far.

This review is for the ST 2140 amplifier with the silver face.I bought this unit brand new from a fellow on audiogon.It is very well built,has solid connectors,etc.The sound is excellant. Plenty of low end power,excellant highs and lows.It really made my voice of the theatre speakers sound great.It will make a good CD sound great,and you will notice if a CD is recorded poorly.But that is what you should expect from a quality amplifier.It has excellant detail and clarity.And at 140 wpc it has more than enough power to drive any speaker. I currently have a very old pioneer CD player hooked up to this amp and it still sounds wonderful.I can''t wait until my new AMC CD8b arrives.I am sure it will make the amp sound better. My system: Audio Research SP6b pre-amp. Mirage frx-s8 sub. Altec Lansing Voice of the theatre speakers. B&K ST 2140 amp AMC CD8b Cd player soon to arrive.

Similar Products Used:

adcom 545 amp,audio research D52b amp, linn LK100 amp,yamaha M45 amp.

none that am aware of

This review actually applies to the ST 2140 (for the model year 2001). The ST 2140 is the successor unit for the ST 1400 SII.

I do not have much to add, given the below reviews. However, I would note that the build quality of my unit appears to be quite good. After 100 hours of playing time, I have not experienced any problems with the unit; visually, the unit seems very sturdy and durable.

BTW, the sound it produces is superb: very revealing of the source material (a blessing and curse, considering the widely varying sonic quality of CDs) and muscular (the unit is very powerful and controls the low, mid and high musical ranges very well). I have not found that it colors the music at all. As much as I liked the NAD C740 that this amplifier replaces, it has transformed my system: it has significantly improved the dynamics and detail of music. It is like I have gained new speakers and CDP along with the amp. Given its price, this is a great amplifier.

Finally, I need to provide a plug for Roger Zabak at Tweeter (Kirby Drive location), who was very helpful and thoughtful.

System:
B&K pre/amp
B&W CDM1SE
NAD

Similar Products Used:

Marantz, Rotel, NAD, Anthem

3D, Good detail, Smooth, Fatigue free sound.

None.

After auditioning other amps. I settled on the B&K 1400 II AMP, and the PT3 PRE AMP. Don't waste your time and money auditioning expensive equipment. The return shipping is a pain and expensive. The difference in sound is also subtle. I will stop now ( fear of being carpet bombed ).

Smooth, liquid midrange with somewhat laid-back high-end. A good match for speakers with aggressive metal dome tweeters that tend to be harsh. Powerful bass for an amp of this power and price range.

Quality control is a bit questionable.

I purchased a new ST1400 Series II after using the AV5000 Series II in my home theater system for about 6 months. The ST1400 is driving a pair of PSB Status Gold's in an audio-only system. I had an original ST140 that I sold a few years ago and have regretted it ever since. The new ST1400 II has many of the same qualities but in a newer package. My unit worked and sounded great out of the box. This amp is musical rather than analytical -- a somewhat tube-like midrange and high-end with solid-state control of the bass. Right after installation, I found some fragments of a power resistor on my equipment rack. When I opened up the cover of the amp, I discovered that a power resistor had broken (but was still reading the correct resistance). The screws that hold down the heat sink/pc board were not tightened at the factory and the board had been bouncing against the power supply caps during shipping, breaking the resistor. I picked up a new power resistor rather than sending the amp back for repair. Otherwise, a great amp for the price.

Similar Products Used:

ST140 and AV5000 Series II

Musicality

Somewhat glossed-over details; occasional transistor hum

The amp is used in conjunction with a B&K Pro 10 MC pre-amp, connected with Wireworld Eclipse II interconnects. Source is a Marantz CC-65SE CD changer. AudioQuest Emerald X2 links it to the pre-amp. Monitor Audio 903 speakers and Wireworld Atlantis II bi-wire speaker cable. Monitor Audio MAS-1 subwoofer connected to pre-amp by Interlink Discover IC.
The ST 1400 Series II has a musical, "organic" sound, which I prefer over a more audiophile, analytical, "harsher" sound. Inherently smooth music, such as some Brazilian stuff, sounds very seductive. Having said that, I sometimes wish it had a tad more detail, as transients seem a little "rounded" sometimes. Perhaps lack of ultimate "attack" could further describe the sound. At least in my system, as currently configured (and quite possibly not the St-1400's fault), it provides an enjoyable, musical listen, but you'd never be able to fool yourself into believing you're at a live event.
However, the compromises it makes are well chosen, and if you're more a music lover than an audiophile, you may like this product.

Similar Products Used:

N/A

Sounds great cold, balanced inputs, wonderful sound!

None that I can think of!

This is my first real power amp; my previous system was a Kenwood receiver and B&W 302's. I bought this amp new, but priced as a demo as my local audio store was making room for new inventory. Either way, I would gladly have paid full price. Couple with the B&K PT3 pre-amp and PSB Stratus Bronze speakers, I am in heaven. Before I bought the amp, I listened to seaparates and integrateds from Parasound, Adcom, Myriad, NAD, Rotel, Marantz, Creek and stuff I couldn't afford just for comparison (like Sunfire, BAT, McIntosh, etc). I have to say that nothing was as good as the B&K. It's surprising to say, but even the more expensive sounding equipment didn't sit me back in my chair and have me enjoying the music as much. I had always been aware of the equipment in some way. It was "bright," or "warm," etc. Couple with the PSB speakers, the music is just there. My CD player is the lowly Sony CDP-C345 5-disc carousel and it has never sounded better. I don't think I'm even going to upgrade it until it conks out on me.

I'm using Tara Labs "Prism 33i" (from pre-amp to amp), Transparent "The Link 100" from my CD player and Tara Labs Prism Omni speaker wire.

Similar Products Used:

None, really.