rbsnoddy

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 4 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 originally had the B&K Pro-5, but upgraded to the Pro-10 pre-amp. Really enjoy yhe unit and have had no problems with it. The sound being generated from this unit is smooth and sweet, especially the female voice (Cowboy Junkies). I presently am running the B&K ST-202 as the amplifier and feel matched with the Pro-10, the combination is very effective.

Although I'm sure there are major improvements which have been made in the past 15 years or so (since I've owned this pre-amp), I'm satisfied and will not upgrade anytime soon. Highly recommended.....

Strengths:
Smooth sound, cosmetically pleasing, quality construction.

Weaknesses:
None

Similar Products Used:
B&K Pro-5, Pioneer SX-780 receiver (still have)

94fxsts

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 4 of 5

Used product for
1 to 3 months

Visitors rate this review
4.50 of 5, 2.00 votes

Price Paid:  $900.00 from Lee Hartman & Sons

Summary:
They stopped making this unit a while back. I was going too purchace my dealer friend's demo but he found a new one in his stock room. I like the way this unit looks and sounds.

Strengths:
Better than people give credit.

Weaknesses:
No remote. Guess you'll live longer if ya get off the sofa from time too time.

Similar Products Used:
Parasound SAE

Price Paid:  $250.00 from ebay

Summary:
Before buying this pre-amp I have owned the Carver C-4000 holographic pre-amp and Monarchy SE-100 Delux monoblock amps. The day I brought home a pair of factory rebuilt Magnepan 1.5QR speakers, I heard colorations and lack of detail in my system compared to the system the speakers came from. I wasn't financially in the position to make significant changes to my system, so when I saw this B&K pre-amp, I thought I'd give it a try. The reviews on this site and from others I knew, convinced me it was worth trying. The coloration was gone. The detail was impressive. It removes itself from the system sonically and you hear the source component itself. I tried swapping a few CD players and I can distinctly heard the ways in which each one was different! I've never heard that big of a difference in source components before. This was all in the passive mode. The active mode (which I use for phono only), has very minimal coloration only (nice job B&K!). I haven't played around with swapping phono cartridges, but this is a good phono stage. It's better than the Rotel and Creek phono stages you see for $100-150 used. Lots of detail, if any weakness, it's a slight lack of dynamics. Although what one person calls dynamics, another would call inaccurate or colored sound. I don't know where the line needs to be drawn, but the phono stage could use a little more punch. Clarity, resolution and detail are there, though. Makes my old Carver phono stage sound really, really mucky and bad. Will I keep this pre-amp? Yeah, definitely. At least until I finish auditioning source components. I feel I can trust the clarity this pre-amp offers to base my decisions. I will audition other phono stages, but honestly, I feel I'll have to spend over $400 on a used phono stage to hear much of a difference. I would recommend this pre-amp to anyone who currently uses "old-school" 70's Pioneer, Marantz or 80's Carver equipment. Nostalgia isn't everything. Also, anyone leaving the world of mid-fi equipment like the kind found in nationwide chain electronics stores, you can get this pre-amp and build a system around it, knowing it will serve you very well. I gave it 5 stars on value because I honestly didn't think I could find something this good at this price. I gave it 4 stars overall because if the phono stage doesn't have the punch I'm looking for, though the clarity is great. It could be my phono cartridge (Benz Micro Glider)... that remains to be seen.

Strengths:
Very clear pre-amp. Really lets you hear detail from source components. Great phono stage for the money. Gold plated connectors, lots of inputs, seperate power supply to minimize noise, balanced output jacks as well as two sets of RCA jacks for bi-amping.

Weaknesses:
Some sound cross-bleed. I left the VCR on and had it switched to the CD player, I could still hear the VCR very faintly through the speakers. You have to turn off other sources to avoid this. No remote also.

Similar Products Used:
See above.

Price Paid:  $100.00 from Ebay

Summary:
This is the old Original B&K pro-10mc black face with the silver handles that matched the ST-140 of the late 80s. I bought this preamp broke of ebay and fixed it up the RCA's on the back were all loose and some had broke wires from being twisted and I found one Capacitor on the board loose and the contact needed re soldered. But after I got it fixed not to much work. This is a very good preamp for a budget minded person. very simple design No tone Controls to mess up the sound has a desent soundstage and great dynamics and nice bass I do enjoy listening to it. The only real bad thing I noticed is bad bleed through of other componets if you turn it up loud with nothing playing with what you have selected you will here the other componenets such as the Tuner bleeding through so I keep others off when I'm not listenig to them.

Strengths:
Nice sound for the Budget minded

Weaknesses:
Bad Bleed through of other componenets

Similar Products Used:
NAD 1300, B&K pro5 much worse, Adcom Rotel,

Price Paid:  $350.00 from don't remember

Summary:
I auditioned several pre-amps and integrated amps including Rotel, NAD, Parasound, AMC before someone recommended the Pro10MC. I was attracted to the fact that it had a phono stage. I paired it with an Acurus A150 to power some NHT 2.5s. I've been using it for 8 years and really have no complaints. In bypass mode, it's extremely uncolored. Using the gain is a necessity with the phono stage. The gain is also a must when rockin' out. There is a slight veil added when using the gain stage, but the dynamics are tremendous.

Strengths:
Bypass mode. Phono stage. Tape monitor. Dynamic, uncolored sound. Hi-end, low cost product.

Weaknesses:
None at the price.

Similar Products Used:
NAD, Rotel, Parasound, AMC.