tkyc

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
Less than 1 month

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 1.00 votes

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
I am writing a review for a B&K 202+ that I purchase on Audiogon 2 weeks ago for $375. I thought I would give a more updated review of the product should any one be in the market in 2009. At first, I was not impressed with the sound relative to my Adcom 555 and 5500. Something just was not right even using a PS Audio Punch power cord. After days and days of fiddling, I found by accident that on of my receptacles on my power supply was compromised. Trying again, I was blown away by the sound. Treble was now sweet and smoother than with my Adcoms. Mids were excellent with great detail and imaging. Bass was also quite good, however, I was bi-amping with my GFA-5500 handling my subs. This is one great amp but you must use a good power cable with it. Using a stock-like cable (the original cable was not supplied) the sound stage was lacking in depth and vocals were more forward and a little bloated. THe Adcoms are very good, as well, but I would have to say in the end the B&K won out. Take a chance if you can find one.

K-Bob

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
Less than 1 month

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 3.00 votes

Price Paid:  $230.00 from ebay

Summary:
B&K ST-2020

Been wanting an amp such as this for a long time and did serious shopping and research for 9 months prior to purchase. Note, however, that almost all of this was online and/or archival reviews of vintage products. As well as relying on my auditory memory.

Seriously considered Rotel RB-980BX or similar, Yamaha M-60 or similar, Acurus A150, Sumo Polaris among others. As it turns out this amp is a very good match for my system, in fact, I cannot imagine any of the other amps I was considering (except maybe the Rotel) to sound as good in my system.

It has exactly the sort of interior layout that I wanted: power supply in middle and separate amp boards along each side. And those caps are HUGE; they look like oil filters! When I plugged it into a regular wall outlet for initial testing the lights dimmed when I turned it on. As installed, it is plugged directly into the hospital grade outlet on the audio system's dedicated 20A 10ga circuit using a PS Audio Plasma power cord.

It is quiet, powerful, smooth, satisfying, full, open, and has good soundstaging. The most impressive thing is that it sounds the same at all volume levels: background, normal, cranked--it always sounds the same. Also it is very quiet, there is no hiss or hum even with the volume pegged.

Notice I'm NOT saying it is "warm" or "tube like" or whatever. All I know is it mates very well with my Canadian bookshelf speakers. It has a full sound with plenty of bass authority and never gets shrill.

Of course there are a few cons, but none of these (even all together) are dealbreakers, even if I had known about them ahead of time. It has rather small binding posts that only accept like 16ga wire, which forced me to buy a set of banana plugs in order to hook it up. It gets pretty warm at idle. There is a turnoff click and pop through the speakers, although this is mild. The mains and rca jacks are on opposite sides compared to every other peice of gear I own, requiring cord rerouting around the amp. The power specs for all the older B&K amps are given in DIN instead of FTC RMS, which means that this 150w amp is really more like a 135w. But the 225w dynamic power still stands!

Overall I am extremely happy I bought it.

Associated equipment:
NAD C542 CD player
Rotel RC-970BX preamp
Energy Conissour C-2 speakers on matching sand filled Target stands
Wire: WireWorld Orbit III+, pre to power; XLO/VDO ER-5, CD to pre; Monster Standard 4-16 doubled for 10ga effective total


I checked with B&K and the 2020 has the newer style output devices so if it blows a full retrofit is not required.

Selected Specs:
8 ohm power = 150w DIN
8 ohm power = estimated 135w RMS
dynamic headroom = 1.5 dB
8 ohm dynamic power = estimated 225w (or 200w if being super conservative)
current = 36 amps peak to peak
damping factor = 180
input impedance = 24.3 Kohms
TIM = .09%
THD = .09%
slew rate = 14v/microsec
S/N = 95 dB
w,d,h = 17,5.75,15.5
weight = 30 lbs

Strengths:
full, open, satisfying sound with good bass, 225w dynamic power, huge caps, sounds the same at all volumes, excellent match to Canadian bookshelf speakers

Weaknesses:
smallish binding posts, turnoff click and pop (mild), mains and rca jacks on opposite sides as most other gear, stays pretty warm at idle

Similar Products Used:
Harmon Kardon 70w, Marantz 60w

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rbsnoddy

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 1.00 votes

Price Paid:  $600.00 from Three Rivers Audio

Summary:
I've owned my B&K ST-202 amp since the early 1990's. I am very satisfied with the performance of tha amp. I presently have the B&K PRO-10 MC as my pre-amp. The amp sounds very smooth and provides adequate power/performance.

Strengths:
Good power, no maintenance issues.

Weaknesses:
Speaker connections are a little to low for use in my rack. Connections should propbably be a little higher to allow proper connections when amp is utilized in a rack set-up.

Similar Products Used:
Pioneer SX-780 receiver

74cuda

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 4 of 5

Used product for
Less than 1 month

Price Paid:  $0.00 from Agon

Summary:
Well what can I say?I bought this amp on a whim and a prayer.I searched for all the info I could get on it,here and elsewhere.I needed a "decent"2ch amp with a little power.This sleeper has exceeded my expectations with headroom to spare.I only hoped I could live with it in a second set up for a while but I can tell you its no 2nd rate amp.I own Rotel and Parasound and prefer this amps sound over either one.The dynamics are outstanding,I love to crank up my music but with this amp I get the same great dynamics at all volumes.Its hard to describe but its one of the few amps I've ever had that sounds so loud even at low volumes. This amp has convinced me that new tech and more money(both of which my other amps have) does not = better sound.The inside of this thing is beautiful in its simplicity,a couple oil filters and power supply and cables but what a glorious sound.I had a 125.2 and it did NOT sound like the 202,it did have a trigger but for this sound I can walk 15ft. If you find one I don't see how you can find better for the money.

Strengths:
Dynamics,nuanced,good reliable build and just flat out a great sounding amp and did I say Dynamic?

Weaknesses:
The only possible weakness is no trigger but you can't rewrite history.For this sound at this price I prefer to walk.

Similar Products Used:
Rotel,Adcom,Parasound,HK,Marantz other BK's and many more.

Price Paid:  $250.00 from Audiogon.com

Summary:
This review is for the ST-202+, which is a 200 wpc stereo amplifier. Overall the amplifier was a step up for me. I replaced my GFA-535 60 wpc high current amplifier amp. The sound is much less strident, more tubelike. Where I really, really noticed it was on light transients, such as when someone taps a tom tom lightly. I did have a problem with the amp where one channel would cut out when the ambient temperature was hot. I repaired that for a $120, so the overall price was still very good. It's a good deal if you can find one. I can say that even though the amp is rated at 200 watts, and it tested out at 200 watts, I have still gotten it to clip before I expected. It must be me.

Strengths:
Fairly transparent, very musical.

Weaknesses:
It's not that big a deal, but it's a large amp.