What friends are for...

Drenis

So as some folks on the forum know, I've had been dealing with some rough times over the past two months but things are slowly going back to normal. During this time, I was forced to start selling gear. A thank you goes out to those folks who offered there support and wishes. This community has become a daily part of my life it seems and it's the kind of family I want to be a part of for many years to come.

I've had my RTiA9's sitting idle against the wall for the longest time since I got my 3.1TL's trying to sell them locally but no bites. Well my best friend has always been jealous of me since I bought the A9's since they are his dream speakers. He has a Monitor 40 5.1 surround setup off a Onkyo AVR. RTiA's were the next and final step. Well we were able to come to an agreement and trade. The look on his face made me quite happy that even though I was going through a rough time, I could still bring joy to others and make their dreams come true. The grin and smile as we loaded them up in his car, drove an hour to his home and set them up was worth it. He has been paranoid as I told him he will NEED an amp for these and to ditch the Onkyo down the road. I told him that this is just the 1st and 2nd component to which will start a journey for him into this hobby. And so it began...

He sat down in what would be his sweet spot and listened for 20 minutes with no interruptions from myself. He's never done this before but was so amazed at the music and difference from his previous setup to this. We then started discussing an amp for his application. He asked me to find something locally with a budget of $300 max... I laughed and said good luck. After coming back with 3 selections, the best of the bunch was a minty old Phase Linear unit for $280. I told him to let me "find" him an amp and to just give me the cash. He finally caved... Today arrived a B&K ST2140 that is flawless looking. Not a mark or imperfection; not even a mark on the rubber feet. It looks like it was taken out of the factory box today for the first time. It came from a very good home 8 hours away. A cool $300 to my door made this a easy decision. So I hooked it up...

Wow. Really dug the B&K sound. There was differences between that and my Carver. My Pioneer Elite AVR seemed to synergize with the B&K so much better and it sounded wonderful? HUH!:eek: Yeah... really dig the sound. And so will my buddy. He'll be taking this bad boy home tonight to bring his now A9's back to life. I'm so happy I could help him even when times were so tough. Down the road, I must get my ears on more amps. Headroom is not everything as I know that B&K sounds better then my Carver. It's sad to say that but a hell of a product.

It's been a wonderful week. Things are better then they have been for a while. Hopefully in another month I will have my speakers all hot-rodded thanks to some wonderful members on here who have been so generous and patient. You guys deserve some beers on me. Have a great weekend folks!

EndersShadow

Drenis wrote: »

You guys deserve some beers on me.

If I am ever in the area I will take you up on that .... Or better yet a nice audition of the 3.1's :biggrin:

Oldfatdogs

I'm glad things are looking up for you,It does feel good to set a friend up with good tunes.Dan

72RR

Ain't it great?
I've been out of work for a little over a year, haven't really been in contention for too many positions since then.
But having free time has given me the opportunity to help so many others that are in worse shape than me right now.

Systems

I love the ST2140.
I bought one a couple of years ago in the condition you mention.
They respond very well to upgrades (power cable/fuse), and if you replace the rca input jacks and binding posts they are simply an excellent sounding amp.

Before mine arrived, I had the notion that I would sell it and upgrade to another amp.
That never happened, and I still have the ST2140 and I think I always will.

Silverfang2340

Unfortunately, one of my good friends tells me I'm stupid for spending $800 on polk speakers (A7's). How I can get Cerwin Vegas for cheapers that are 100x better. He nags me about his Cerwin Vegas, how they will rattle the roof on my house, literally. He mentions how they're loudspeakers because they're meant to be played loud, sorry friend, you misunderstand the definition of a loudspeaker. To be honest, they're not that great of a set of speakers, sure they've got 12' woofers, but they are muddy to me and no clarity whatsoever. I'm not a basshead, I just prefer the idea of a subwoofer > woofers in floorstanding speakers for LFE and bass in general.

Drenis

EndersShadow wrote: »

If I am ever in the area I will take you up on that .... Or better yet a nice audition of the 3.1's :biggrin:

Sounds good. You can take the Carver home too. :razz:

pepster wrote: »

I love the ST2140.
I bought one a couple of years ago in the condition you mention.
They respond very well to upgrades (power cable/fuse), and if you replace the rca input jacks and binding posts they are simply an excellent sounding amp.

Before mine arrived, I had the notion that I would sell it and upgrade to another amp.
That never happened, and I still have the ST2140 and I think I always will.

Sure sounded great. It was that noticeable on initial listen. I can't really do any upgrades on the Carver. I could... but I'm not wanting to go that far with this one. At least not at this time.

I'm quite jelly over my buddies purchase. I even lent him a set of my MIT EXP1 cables to use. I'm sure he's going to be quite happy tonight.

tonyb

Well, you did your buddy a huge favor showing up with that B&K. Always loved their sound and how musical they are. Just goes to show you don't have to spend alot to get a decent amp. Nice find btw too.

On the flipside, I'm glad you posted this for another reason. Some here think all SS amps sound the same, or should anyway. Your post proves them sooo wrong. Hope things work out for you Drenis, hard times for sure for alot of folks. Chin up and all that.

Willow

There is a town 1hr outside of Winnipeg? beside Kenora? Seems like good things came around. I too, well I donated my gear that I had for sale to a family member who was hit hard with difficulties. You will find yourself out of your tough spot soon enough.

Drenis

Willow wrote: »

There is a town 1hr outside of Winnipeg? beside Kenora? Seems like good things came around. I too, well I donated my gear that I had for sale to a family member who was hit hard with difficulties. You will find yourself out of your tough spot soon enough.

Kenora is 2 hrs east. How fast do YOU drive? :razz:

Thanks for the kind words. It's slow, but steady.

Willow

Drenis wrote: »

Kenora is 2 hrs east. How fast do YOU drive? :razz:

Thanks for the kind words. It's slow, but steady.

You are not surprised I know what Kenora is? Right it is about 2 hrs. been about 30yrs since we've done the drive I was a kid back then and I didn't drive.

Slow and steady wins the race.... you seem to have the right mind set. keep it up!

Gadabout

Welcome to the B&K fanboi club. They sound great with the Polk RTi line.

I have that same amp powering my RTi10's in the HT. I love the synergy between the two. I even added 2 B&K's to my Audes, swapping out an Adcom. The Adcom is still in the bed room rig, but one of these days it will transition out of there also.

I'm sure your friend will enjoy that combination for years to come.

Scott