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BHK Signature Preamplifier - Refurbished

BHK Signature Preamplifier - Refurbished

Preamplifiers are at the heart of any high-performance music system. They are the critical controlling interface between our sources of music and our loudspeaker chain. Most preamplifiers do a fine job of control and isolation, but only a rare handful make magic happen. Add the BHK Signature Preamplifier into your system and suddenly you are enveloped in a wealth of musicality you’ve not yet experienced: deeper, wider, sound staging, improved separation of instruments and voices, subterranean bass, extended highs, and an openness you're unlikely to have experienced without this instrument in the system.

You have 14 calendar days to audition a Refurbished item from the date you received it. For more information on PS Audio Refurbished units click here.

Regular price $5,249.00 USD
Regular price $6,999.00 USD Sale price $5,249.00 USD
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  • Design

    The BHK Signature Preamplifier features two 12AU7 dual triode vacuum tubes in the input stage that act as a zero feedback balanced input amplification pair. A combination of an input stepped attenuator, built around the highest quality passive components for coarse volume adjustments, coupled with controlling the actual gain of the vacuum tube for finer steps, turned out to be the most sonically transparent level control we have yet heard. Finally, the output stage is a high-bias class A MOSFET design that is unaffected by cable and power amplifier interface challenges.

  • Application

    Preamplifiers play a critical role in any separates audio system, strategically positioned between sources of music: CD players, phono preamps, DACs, tape recorders and tuners—and your power amplifier—the preamp serves essential roles of control and isolation. The BHK Signature Preamplifier features 5 identical balanced and single ended inputs, and converts all input signals into a balanced signal for the lowest possible distortion, and can be used in a two-channel audio system or as part of a home theater system. The high-bias Class A MOSFET output stage ensures unmatched performance with any cable and amplifier interface.

    Technology

    The BHK Signature Preamplifier is one of the most remarkable musical instruments in the world. It is the perfect interface between your sources and power amplifier. Designed by Bascom H. King, the BHK Signature distills Bascom’s 50 plus years of high-end audio design experience into a single masterpiece of audio amplification. “This is the best sounding preamplifier I have ever designed or heard,” and that’s saying a lot for a man of Bascom’s experience. Preamplifiers play a critical role in any separates audio system, strategically positioned between sources of music: CD players, phono preamps, DACs, tape recorders and tuners – and your power amplifier – the preamp serves essential roles of control and isolation. Control is simple in concept, but extraordinarily difficult to design in an acoustically transparent manner. Control duties such as input switching, volume, balance, and amplification can place unwanted acoustic thumbprints on the music if not designed with extraordinary care. The challenge in any design is to do as little damage to music’s purity as possible. What our Master Designer, BHK, has built will not only stand the test of time, but represents one of the finest musical instruments ever built to honor the music.

    • ZERO-LOSS VACUUM TUBE INPUT STAGE
    • 12V AND 6V TUBE SWITCH
    • COUPLED & BALANCED MOSFET OUTPUT STAGE
    • THROUGH-HOLE CONSTRUCTION
    • PRP RESISTORS IN SIGNAL PATH
    • 5x RCA SINGLE ENDED INPUTS
    • 5 XLR BALANCED INPUTS
    • SINGLE ENDED & BALANCED INPUTS
    • FULLY BALANCED INPUT TO OUTPUT
    • OVERSIZED POWER TRANSFORMER
    • BHK DESIGNED MOSFET VOLTAGE REGULATORS
    • BHK DESIGNED MOSFET HEADPHONE STAGE
    • REMOTE CONTROL
    • STANDBY BUTTON FOR VACUUM TUBE STAGE
    • -3dB > 200kHz
    • VOLUME & BALANCE THROUGH GAIN & ATTENUATION CONTROL
    • 2x OUTPUT DC CONTROL TRIGGERS
    • EASY ACCESS TO TUBES FOR CUSTOMIZATION
    • EACH INPUT CAN BE SET TO HT BYPASS
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    Specifications - BHK Signature Preamplifier

    Physical

    Unit Weight 22 lbs [9.97 kg]
    Unit Dimensions 17” x 14” x 4” [ 36cm x 43cm x 10cm]
    Shipping Weight 31 lbs [14 kg]
    Shipping Dimensions 20.5”x 24” x 10” [52cm x 61cm x 25cm]

    Power requirements

    Input Power Model specific 100VAC, 120VAC, or 230VAC 50 or 60Hz
    Power Consumption 60W

    Audio inputs

    Coaxial RCA single ended
    XLR Balanced
    5
    5
    Input Impedance
    Unbalanced (RCA)
    Balanced (XLR)
    33KΩ minimum
    66KΩ minimum
    Sensitivity Unbalanced 1.3V/33KΩ
    Balanced 1.3V/66KΩ

    Audio Outputs

    Coaxial RCA single ended
    XLR Balanced
    2
    2

    Analog Audio Output

    Output level 4.0 Vrms
    Output Impedance <100Ω
    Frequency Response
    20-20KHz
    +/- 0.1dB
    THD&IM @ 1KHz (full scale) <0.03%
    Bandwidth -3dB 0.1Hz - 200kHz

    DC Triggers

    +12V 2

    Headphone Performance

    Output Power
    300Ω
    16Ω >
    >200mW
    4.0 Watts
    S/N Ratio >90dB (1KHz)
    THD & IM 1 volt out <0.02%
    Output Impedance <0.5Ω
    • Juan C. Ayllon, Prairie Audio Man Cave

      The Signature is the most transparent and neutral of the active preamps, giving added life and expression, but otherwise stepping out of the way of the music. Bottom line, the PS Audio BHK Signature Preamplifier is the ultimate witness to the music: It tells the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth

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    • Dave Clark, Positive Feedback

      Synergy and magic. Right now here in our listening room...Way deeper bass, way more open, way less whatever being in the way of our music… way more music. Dynamics… try My Disco's "1991" or anything from Lustmord. Happy times

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    • Karl Sigman, Audiophilia

      What the PS Audio BHK Signature Preamplifier brings to the table is a significant achievement. For me, it seals the deal, and I believe it will satisfy audiophiles on both sides of the aisle (digital versus analog, tubes versus solid state), and those in between. Taking into consideration its price, simplicity of use, extraordinary quality of sound, design and features such as an included internal headphone amp, I must honestly say, 'There is no preamp like this preamp'. Very highly recommended

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    • Jim Austin, Stereophile

      PS Audio's BHK Signature preamp is one of the finest audio components I've had in my home. It didn't raise the dead, but it could conjure in my listening room the spirits of dead musicians, or fine facsimiles thereof. It didn't solve my problems, but it could sure distract me from them—and, with the right recordings, even trigger catharsis or philosophical insight

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    • Erich Wetzel, Soundstage!

      In the BHK Signature preamplifier, Bascom H. King has designed, and PS Audio has built, an outstanding performer. It possesses the top-quality fit and finish that one would expect to get for $5999. Its sound was beautiful and alive, re-creating three-dimensional soundstages that were the largest I've heard in my room. Its excellent clarity of sound let me easily decipher even the most complex music, its bass was superbly firm, deep, and controlled, and its treble extension was clear and

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    Questions?