New (to me) B&K Amplifier

reeltrouble1

My new (used) B&K 7270 is in Jacksonville, Fl, and is supposed to be at my house in Gerogia tomorrow. I have been tracking it for a week, what a wait from Ca.

Anyway, the amp weighs in at 77 lb, my Bello rack is rated at 62 lb, on its glass shelves. Any ideas on how to boost the shelf weight? I thought about another piece of glass to sort of layer the shelf but wondered if the pin and ball configuration the shelf rests on would eventually bend. It is a very nice rack I got from Mantis and I like it alot.

I could just take the bottom shelf out and put the amp on the floor but thought it might look funny.

Right now I have the Monster power cond. on the bottom shelf.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

brettw22

Heaviest piece on the bottom, then go up from there. The LAST thing that you wanna have hapen is for the B&K to crack through a few shelves taking everything with it below. Not that that is entirely probable, but I'd just stick it on the lowest shelf and you should be fine.

bikezappa

Get thicker glass with the same width and length.

F1nut

Thicker glass will only add to the problem. Put the amp on the bottom shelf with added support under the glass. This could be anything from books to wood blocks, just be sure to place said supports evenly under the glass.

RuSsMaN

Buy a $100 amp stand from audioadvisor and call it a day.

bikezappa

If the glass were thinner by 50% then the load capacity would be less. I assume that the vertical structural legs can support much more than 50 lbs. The weak link is the glass. Thicker plywood is stronger than thinner. And yes always put the heavest part on the bottom.

F1nut

This is the problem, not the glass per say,

"but wondered if the pin and ball configuration the shelf rests on would eventually bend."

Emlyn

I agree with Russ that an amp stand is the best idea although I have my 7270 sitting in my Bello rack right now and the company rates it at 50 pound weight capacity for its shelves. However, the glass shelf mine is sitting on has two aluminum tubes supporting it all the way across rather than the pin configuration on most of the other shelves. I think the weight rating for Bello's shelves is not because of the tempered safety glass, but because of the support structure for the shelves. For example, I have another rack that has a weight rating of 100 lbs on its top shelf for a TV and it has thinner glass than the Bell'O rack. It's hard to find manufactured racks that companies will claim to be able to support large amplifiers. My guess is that your rack would support the amp fine.

Another concern I'd have about the amp is whether there is enough air clearance above it in the rack. B&K amps put out a lot of heat because of their design, so an amp stand makes a lot of sense if you wouldn't have about 4-5 inches to spare above the amp if it is in the rack.

reeltrouble1

hehehoho,

Russman I did not get the WAF and if I spend one more nickel on something new this month, well I dont want to think about it. Figured I could slide a piece of glass without rousing suspicions.

I thought about supporting the glass like was suggested. It would be easy to do as the rack is on a hardwood floor. Here is a pic.

I have not told her yet that now I need a new pre/pro.:D

F1nut

Yep, add some wood supports under the glass and you'll be fine. Are those two subs right next to the rack? You've got to get them away from the rack, too much vibration going on there.

reeltrouble1

Well, I really had not noticed any vibration the rack is a triangle, but I will move the subs over a bit as I have some room, added a hard disc recorder for xmas and took all the wire down, noticed it in the pic. Did not bother to put it back up since I knew soon as the amp came I would be moving things, will try moving the subs a bit then. Those stacked 450's rock pretty good, if I push away to much to the corner may get boomy. But fun to play with everything.

Thanks for the suggestions.

bikezappa

Consider moving the rack not the subs. How does vibration affect the electronics?

mantis

Man first off lets talk about some wire management...HOLY!!!

Well use the bottom shelf where the hts5000 lives.It will hold the amp as I put 100+Krell amps there with no problems.DO NOT I will repeat NO NOT put it on any other shelf.It will hold but at risk of breaking the balls.It was scary putting the B&K avr307 on there but it held it allday.

Dan

TroyD

I think that I'd follow F1's advice, just to be safe.

BDT

George Grand

Yeah, hide the wires. You don't want anybody to think you have audio equipment in that room. Plus, you WANT the opportunity to introduce a wicked 60 cycle hum into your system.

George Grand (of the Jersey Grands)

F1nut

Bikezappa,

Vibration is the enemy, it causes distortion. One of the big differents between low/mid-fi gear and the better stuff is all the effort put into getting rid of possible vibration related distortion. Pick up a cheap amp, maybe 15-20lbs. Now pick up one of the better amps, probably 50lbs minimum. Lots of extra bracing and heavier/thicker panels are used to protect the sensitive electronics.

pjdami

Yep, add some wood supports under the glass and you'll be fine. Are those two subs right next to the rack? You've got to get them away from the rack, too much vibration going on there.

I agree with F1 on this one. Put the amp on the bottom shelf and add some wood supports and you'll be fine.

I would also imagine that there is some overdesign built - into the shelf spec that they don't mention but I would still sleep better with the amp on the bottom shelf. The extra supports are just a great "piece of mind" factor.

CD / DVD players are another group of components most susceptible to vibration. I think moving the subs is also a grea idea if you have the room. A lot of the aftermarket products available for cd players try to reduce vibration like those sorbothane (sp?) feet and different type of cd player feet isolators. A jumping laser can cause some havoc on sound quality.

reeltrouble1

UPS tracking says the AMP is at my back door. Expensive piece to leave sitting outside. But yahoo!!!! at least it is here. Sure hope it works,

Now that it has been mentioned the vibration of the components makes sense and I think I will just move the rack to the other side of the TV.

I expect the B&K to be able to blow away the Onk as far as amplification, afterall that was idea in buying the thing. The Onk has been a decent performer but time to move on, looking forward to a new pre/pro later this year and of course I now have enough power to drive the lsi.

I still want a nice 2 channel rig but need to think about how I want to put it all together in the main listening room.


Those wires:rolleyes: a sort of pain, had everything tucked up and separated by wire type then added a new component and bam had to undo everything:eek: Most of those wires were bought on a Mantis sale so thought you might like a look at them Dan!!:D

polkatese

Congrats, Reel! that is a great amp indeed. Just make sure that you have enough air circulation since it will get hot (a side advantage in the winter time, I suppose)

TroyD

Originally posted by George Grand
Yeah, hide the wires. You don't want anybody to think you have audio equipment in that room. Plus, you WANT the opportunity to introduce a wicked 60 cycle hum into your system.

George Grand (of the Jersey Grands)

George,

You know I admire you and all but let's face it, we need to leave the weight calculations and wire management to the pro's.

BDT

paymontana

My problem was different than yours but solution is same. I needed a way to hide my new amp from the mrs. So i hid my b&k 5125 behind the rack and daisy chained it. I never have to touch it and she never has to see it. What she doesn't know won't hurt her. So if you don't have to show it off (which i understand) you could hide it. Just my opinion.


CJ

mantis

You know I admire you and all but let's face it, we need to leave the weight calculations and wire management to the pro's.

First off stupid wire management isn't just for looks.HELLO thats exactly what you want to avoid,having power wires ran with low voltage ....... think before you type.2nd thats MY old rack and I know exactly what can go where and why.....

Wire management class 8pm starting at 120.00 an hour.

TroyD

Stupid?

What special shielding is in the notches of the rack? Do tell.

120.00 an hour, eh? Gotta pay for that Kimber 8tc for 7.1 somehow, I suppose.

Has anyone seen pics of Dan's new pad? Did he post some that I missed, I'm interested to see his mega-theater.

BDT

mantis

Troy,
did you lose some brain cells?Are you getting dumber with age?The things you write man........HOLY!

On a lighter note want picks of the pad and theater to be???Send me your Email and I'll fire some to yeah.

Lets lighten up,I'm not for the fight...tired and busy

Dan

reeltrouble1

HEHEHEHEHOHOHOHO, never a dull moment!!!!!!:D

I got the B&K hooked up and listened a bit, of course WOW, things sound different. After I have had a chance to adjust, tweak, and let the newness of this amp on me wear a bit, I will post on it.

Immediate immpession however is that I have made a good pick with this one.:)

TroyD

Dan, specifically, WHAT difference does it make stuffing the wires into the little notches or the way they are in the pic? How would the notches protect from a ground loop?

Far as the pics go, you can send them to the same address that you flooded with the 'F*&K YOU' diatribes to.

BDT

VR3

Concerning Vibrations to the Rack...

Depends on the rack...

THe rack I purchased has the glass shelves attached by rubber suction cups, the rack is also seperated from the floor with heavy duty legs. THen a 1 inch MDF board then metal rods for the sides and back. In other words, my rack vibrates very little.

However, just in case I used the rubber feet that came with my towers to uplift the CD Player off the glass shelves. I also did that to my VCR (more for receiver ventilation purposes).

Now to the vibration part. My subwoofer sounds good in one spot in my room, and where is this spot?? DIRECTLY behind my rack.

Does this cause a problem?? Nope...

Sounds the same, works the same, everything.

mantis

Dan, specifically, WHAT difference does it make stuffing the wires into the little notches or the way they are in the pic? How would the notches protect from a ground loop?

Your kidding right???Stuffing what where?I don't know what you be saying.I don't un derstand the words that you type.But.....

Keeping power wires away from low voltage helps reduce interference..Tip#1.

Far as the pics go, you can send them to the same address that you flooded with the 'F*&K YOU' diatribes to.

Again I don't know what you be saying.......

But if your really concerned,the new house is really nice.Warm as well.We have alot to do.Even being new,theres so much work to be done.This spring we are going to repaint some rooms to our taste.The builder painted the entire house bone white with Satin white trim.It works as he didn't want to paint colors I wanted except the master bed which I did in pure white.

Dan

mantis

Let me try this

mantis

ok here is what I call wire management.All my systyems come out looking like this.And there are no power wires running with low voltage wires.They have there own hole to route out of.

VR3

well arnt you speshil...