I have the original one I believe since it just says av2500 on the front. This is an amazing amplifier. I have the BK 200.2 which I love and drive a pair of apogees. I was looking for something to power my KEF bookshelf speakers in my guest room and found this. I was using a nice Yamaha integrated amplifier that sounded a bit unrefined. I can't believe how much this amp makes any speakers I throw at it shine. I have it hooked up to a shiit DAC that has a Mac mini hooked up to it. I have R and L splitters from the DAC into 1-4 (2 for L 2 for R) speaker inputs and have the KEF (iq3) bi-amped with 2 channels going to each speaker for a total of 120 watts per side. I only use it for a simple stereo setup and LOVE the musicality of this amp. If I was to incorporate this into my HT I would most likely use 4 channels for my towers in bi-amp mode and the 5th to my center speaker and allow something like a inexpensive Sony, Yamaha, Marantz, ect.. as the preamp and power the surrounds which need much less power. This has a really nice warm (not harsh or bright sound) and would be great for all speakers but with only 60 watts would be ideal for something like a Klipsch set up that is very efficient and 8ohm. it would also tame the horn fatigue some feel with that brand. The Kefs I have it hooked up to are nice and get VERY loud with them bi-amped. (I have not hooked them up with jumpers since the jumpers are a pain to connect to I only bi-amp them). the kefs have a metal tweeter than can be a bit harsh with some amps(the Yamaha I had), its sounds silky smooth with this. Don't be fooled with manufactures stating large watt numbers, b&k is if anything understated and made in NY, USA and a great gateway into the hifi realm without spending tons of money. Also the versatility, you can drive 5 speakers anyway you want with decent power, patio speakers OK, in ceiling speakers with different zones OK, HT setup OK, stereo bi-amped OK, even use with stereo and power 2 passive subs for stereo subs and speakers OK, Its small and discrete enough to hide, but hide with caution, all good amps need breathing room, good power=heat so keep some airflow wherever you keep it. I hide it under my desk with a DIY keyboard type shelf screwed to the rear of the desk.

depending on what type of speakers you have and the size of room the 60 rated watts might not be enough for you if you are planning on using this to power watt hungry hifi speakers, but that would be dumb. For most it should be enough but if you are running large towers/bookshelfs that are low impedance this is not the amp for you. Its mostly meant for home theater type speakers that have nominal impedance (8ohm) if you want to use this for music (with 8ohm & decent sensitivity) the best thing to do is to ditch the 5th input and do what I did with biamping your speakers with 2 channels each to get a total of 120 watts split in half to the tweeter and low end. Its really tightens the bass up and makes your speakers play music effortlessly. I will say tho that its best to use speakers that have a sensitivity higher than 90ish if using in a very large room. The higher the better. I hooked these up to a pair of very low impedance 4ohm and 86 db speakers (kef reference), just to test when I first got it, and they do not get very loud without distorting it gets loud enough for near field listening but will distort when pushed hard because its really only meant for 8ohm. But if you want to push 2-4ohm hifi speakers you are dumb to push it with this amp, its not designed for it. My set up HT 3 carver m200t and B&K 50 preamp 3 kef ref CLR / IQ1 for surround / 2 carver 8 inch sunfire subs Man Cave - B&K 200.2 and Apogee stereo office B&K 200.2 w/ B&K pt5 KEF ls50 with crown 2 channel amp 2 12¨emencice open baffle woofers guest room/wife office B&K avr2500 with KEF iq3

does exactly what is supposed to do
Small size
plenty of clean power
configurable -- want to use to drive two rooms in stereo and an patio speaking in mono, can be done, want to bridge can be done (see below)

American made audio

not the answer to low impedance speaker or difficult loads. can be bridged BUT bkcomp.com recommends against bridging any products.

Bought this off ebay a couple years ago, haven't had any problems so far. I am using by HK receiver as a front end and to power remote speakers. The B&K drive the main fronts and surounds. this is the little amp that could! it drives the full range custom built L&R without a hitch. midrange is sweet and clear, bass may not be the final word in tight; it is close. but then again I built the speaker and won't ever blame them for sloppy bass.

This amp keeps up with whatever I throw at it 2 channel analog, five channel movies and in a large (28*19*12) room to beat. have a common midfi reveiver with preouts and not enough juice -- this is a great way to step up: compact, powerful and clean sound.

Made in USA

Customer Service

haven't had the need

Versitle, If this is 60w a channel then all receiver mfg.'s are big fat liars!

Pretty much an 8 ohm speaker amp

I bought this amp because I was disappointed in the sound quality of Sherwood Newcastle R-925, especially the center channel. I am using the B&K for the three front channels and slaving the rears to the receiver. I'm not bridging it, unless you have high impedance speakers (ie: 16) I don't see the point. There is no free lunch, why double your THD spec?

The B&K is a stout little thing. It has gain controls for all five channels, which I think is great. To bridge the unit you have to open the cover and flip a bunch of DIP type switches-a real short comming IMO versus the Rotel. Also, to use this unit as a mono amp(I don't know why you would do this unless you really didn't think out your needs when you bought it) you have to bridge speaker outputs with speaker wire on the back of the unit.

My Take:
Music: (stereo) the first thing I noticed was how tighter the imaging was- hadn't expected that. The second was the dynamics; the third was the midrange. I'm running Paradigm Atoms (with a pair of PDR-10 subs). I bought them because the midrange was so nice (led to them by numerous reviews and audiozine picks), at least in the store. With the Newcastle they always seemed to be a little flat. The B&K allows them to perform to my expectations.

Surround: (DD 5.1) Finally I'm getting the experience I was looking for three and half years ago when I bought the Newcastle. DYNAMICS. There is no way that the Newcastle puts out ANYWHERE near the wattage and current of the B&K. If the Newcastle is 100w x 5 then the B&K must be 200 not 60/wch. The Mosfet design didn't seem to have any problems with demanding passages. I'll never own a bipolar amp again-no comparison in the sound quality IMO.

My midfi set-up, all bought used or highly discounted ("I won't pay a lot for that...." we are damn cheap in WI.

Sony DVP7000
Sherwood Newcastle R-925
B&K 2500 II
Paradigm Atom's x 4
Paradigm 150 center
Paradigm PDR-10 subs x 2
Sony Wega 32"
Homemade DIY "Piano 1" interconnects (see www.TNT-Audio.com for recipe)
Marshall Sound Runner speaker wire

Similar Products Used:

Adcom, Rotel