B&K Components Reference 2220 Amplifiers
B&K Components Reference 2220 Amplifiers
USER REVIEWS
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[Mar 04, 2004]
94fxsts
Audio Enthusiast
Strength:
All the power and control most people will ever need. Better than most amps twice the retail.
Weakness:
None at this price. One strong, good sounding amp. Similar Products Used: Parasound SAE Denon |
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[Apr 10, 2003]
vrizhevs
Audio Enthusiast
Strength:
Very musical, tube-like sound, amazing basses, good value for the money.
Weakness:
AC noise insulation is not perfect. As a part of stereo power amp evaluation I picked up this piece at Tweeter at discounted price since the product was discontinued. Honestly, I did not plan to keep this box beyond 30-days trial period since I did not give it a lot of chances against Aragon 4004 MKII which I have been listening for a week and inclined to make a purchase. Basically, I just wanted to confirm Aragon's supremacy to make my separation with $700 a bit sweeter. So I brought this little (42lbs vs. Aragon's 78lbs) underdog home and turned it on ... Oooh man! How wrong I was! My room suddenly filled with clean well balanced sound, with a bass I never thought my Axiom M60Ti's can produce. This amp has very warm tube-like sound with no detail loss. No harshness at high volumes as I used to notice with Aragon. It also has some 3D imaging that my Denon-3802 completely lacked and the Aragon 4004 MKII just hinted on. Also I forgot to mention ROTEL-980 which I rejected after 10 min. of auditioning. It had pronounced bass but not punchy as the B&K does and failed to reproduce fine details of the music. My only concern with B&K is barely noticeable noise from the right channel speaker (the one close to the AC input) but I doubt that would prevent me from keeping this beauty for my enjoyment. Similar Products Used: Denon 3802, Denon DRA-685, ROTEL-980, Aragon 4004 MKII |
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[Dec 07, 2002]
ournewceleb
Audio Enthusiast
Strength:
Great soundstage, great bass
Weakness:
For this price, none COuldn't resist demoing this unit when it was on clearance. I noticed an improved soundstange compared to my Rotel RB-965mkII. I now use the B&B for my two front speakers and the Rotel for the center and surrounds. Another benefit of the B&K is a very tight bass. The combination of the REL subwoofer and this particular amp is an impresive one. Similar Products Used: Rotel RB965-mkII |
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[May 01, 2002]
putkowski
Audio Enthusiast
Strength:
Plenty of current.
Weakness:
75 watts of power at idle preclude leaving it on all the time. "flow through" cooling (no fan) might cause an issue in a closed cabinet. I knew the vintage ADCOM 545 was not up to the task when I upgraded TV speakers, so I bought this amp because of hi fi buys 30-day return policy. (I warned the salesman I might fry it with low-impedance.) what the hey? at least I had something to use while I shopped. I was pleasantly surprised when I hooked-up the new TV speakers (Dynaudio Audience 72''s) the amp if very fast and I didn''t catch it rolling-off on the low-end (The Fifth Element opening from laserdisc is my house shake test.) since I couldn''t really blast these speakers until after break-in, I decided to stress-test the amp with my main music speakers (Infinity Reference 9 Kappa''s.) These (five-way) speakers are very difficult loads, varying to 1.5 ohm and the amp showed no sign of strain, though after 45 minutes at a slightly higher than half volume (Astronauts and Heretics,) it got quite toasty. Sound quality and staging were good, especially after both the amp and the speakers warmed-up. Quieter vocals ("In Real Life"- David Goodman) with instrumental wash were very nicely done. Real bottom-end (Wrecking Ball- Emmylou Harris) is very tight until deafening volume. In short, it looks like the amp can stay. It will be hooked directly to the variable outputs of Sony XBR and will run the Dynaudios (which are also a handful.) The bright side is that I can now use my Velo woofer in my bedroom... Similar Products Used: various ADCOM amps Carver t-400 JBL MPA-400 |
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[Jan 16, 2001]
Mark Lamb
Audio Enthusiast
Strength:
Super sound staging with robust power that really keeps the woofers under control. Very natural sound. (this amp did take about 100 hours to lose its grainy sounding flavor)
Weakness:
Relatively plain looking, but I kinda like its no nonsense look. I use this amplifer to drive my main speakers in my new and improved home theater setup and so far it has been seamless with the B&K Ref 7250 that drives the center channel, surrounds and surround backs. Similar Products Used: Denon POA-5200 |
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[Dec 01, 2001]
Govind Rangrass
Audio Enthusiast
Strength:
Heavy, Lots of Bass, doesn't heat up, quality not lost at low sound level
Weakness:
plain looking, but a no nonsense amp This is a fabulous amp. you can add a subwoofer if you want but if you buy nice speakers (I have B&W DM603 S2s), you don't need a subwoofer. Quality is better than any reciever i have ever heard! |
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[Jan 15, 2002]
jim
Audio Enthusiast
Strength:
very high current,supplies a full/tight bass.runs surprisingly cool,even after on for hours at high levels.also have nice 5 way binding posts.super nice/tight bass.
Weakness:
haven't found any yet.not fancy looking,but solid performer. very impressed with the extra bass it draws from my "maggies".very spatial and well delineated sound.i thought my carver amp was good until i got this unit.together with my tube pre amp{cj 10A},i now have a nice lush/sweet sound. Similar Products Used: carver 500T amp. |
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[Oct 10, 2001]
Jason C.
Audio Enthusiast
Strength:
This amp has power to spare. It has a nice, warm sound to it. I love this amp. As with the rest of the B&K products that I own.
Weakness:
This is meant as an amp to power much bigger speakers, the surrounds that I use really can't handle the amperage that this amp puts out. Front/Center/Right amplification: B&K Reference 220M Similar Products Used: B&K Reference 220M |