Woke up this morning and realized. . .

AndyGwis

. . .that in the heat of the moment, about 8 beers into the evening, and discovering my tax refund had been deposited directly into my checking account earlier in the day, I decided to put a bid on a B&K st-202 amp (150 @ 8ohms, 200 @4ohms).

Long story short, bidding got intense, my competitive side kicked in (with liquid courage spurring things on) and I ended up winning it for $330. Looks great, we'll see what she looks like when she gets here.

Anyway, just looking for some feedback from the forum. Feel free to write back saying "wow, great buy!" or "I've never seen that amp go for under $500" or something, that would be great. I don't even know where I'm going to put it, just figured it would be a good start to my future 2-channel rig. Will probably have to sell one of my smaller carver amps for fundage and to make some rack room.

Thanks in advance for providing me peace of mind. If anyone has this amp or a similar one, feel free to pass along feedback, tips, etc. What does it mean if it doesn't have a 12V trigger?

AndyGwis

BTW, I've already paid and am looking forward to hooking this baby up! I'm not trying to get out of anything, just want to hear opinions from respected polk members.

mrbigbluelight

Reviews on the net are very favorable, with some mention of tube-like qualities.

Price-wise, it is a good/very good deal.
Found a "Buy it Now" deal for $399.

http://cgi.ebay.com/BK-B-K-ST-202-STEREO-POWER-AMPLIFIER-AMP-RACK-TO-PREAMP_W0QQitemZ9707995399QQcategoryZ39783QQcmdZViewItem

Be happy. Live long. Prosper.

Zen Dragon

B&K are very nice amps. Good current O/P ability and lean towards the warm side. I have used the ST-140 in the past and presently run the B&K EX-442 Sonata to run my SDA-1C's.
The price seems ballpark correct for that model. You definitely did not overpay. I think you'll like it, and if not you can flip it in a similiar price range.
Enjoy

tonyb

At that price point,it's hard to beat.You should hear a vast improvement
over your carver.B&K makes some good sounding stuff and they never seem
to run out of steam.Nice catch,enjoy!!

AndyGwis

Thanks for the feedback, guys. I feel a little better about my purchase now and have been keeping track of some other ones to see where they're going at. For a "perfect" condition one, I think $330 was very reasonable. Others are going anywhere from $250-$400, so I am right in the middle.

Any ideas on a pre? I have some time before needing one, but for B&K, the Pro-10MC looks like it's more highly regarded than the Pro-5. If I can find a good/great condition Pro-10 for $200 or less (with black/gold colors to match), I may have to jump on it.

Anything else I should look at used in that price range?

GATOR3000

Congrats on your new toy!…………and a good deal too.

I picked up B&K AV5000 amp a couple weeks ago. Pics in thread below. I get only 105WPC and this amp sounds sweet and transparent.

http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=39901

Does your amp looks like the pic attached? If so those caps are huge.

Enjoy...............excellent piece.

Gator

AndyGwis

Hey Gator,

Yeah, from the pics I've seen on other st-202 listings, that's what she looks like under the hood. It's rated at 150@8 and 200@4 (not sure why it's not alittle closer to 1.5X or 2X as much on 4ohms, but oh well), which should be sufficient for years to come.

My two carver tfm-6cbs are just sitting there right now, not being used as I couldn't get them integrated into my HT setup effectively.

I'll likely sell one of the carvers, use the other in bridged mode to power my center channel, and have the B&K on my fronts. Should wake up the HT setup quite a bit as well as give me very good 2-channel sound. Later, I'll use the B&K along with some higher end speakers, a pre, and a better source for a dedicated 2-channel rig. . . just in case you were curious what my plan was

AndyGwis

BTW, your AV5000 looks great! I'm sure you got a good deal on it as well and are enjoying the hell out of it. Congrats on your purchase!

This hobby may be time consuming, expensive, addicting, detrimental to work/relationships, etc., but it sure is fun!

Tour2ma

Have not seen many 202's. Ones I have seen went in the low $300's, so you did fine...

George Grand

Yes, he may realize a difference between a 150wpc stereo amp, and a 60wpc Carver amp. My daughter could tell you that.

$2 a watt for a 20 year old amp is fine if you really want the amp.

GATOR3000

AndyGwis wrote:

This hobby may be time consuming, expensive, addicting, detrimental to work/relationships, etc., but it sure is fun!

All the above, but very rewarding.

AndyGwis

George Grand wrote:

Yes, he may realize a difference between a 150wpc stereo amp, and a 60wpc Carver amp. My daughter could tell you that.

$2 a watt for a 20 year old amp is fine if you really want the amp.

Thanks, George. But, can you or your daughter tell me if my new B&K st202 (150 wpc) will outperform said Carvers in bridged mode (200wpc) ?

Also, is there a general rule of thumb for dollars per amp per age? My purchase was impulsive, but it did seem in line with historic price for that amp, and it looks to be in very good condition.