Rawsonte 4ch BPA200 (200wpc x 4)
Gaara
Posts: 2,415
Rawsonte BPA200 x 4 – $600 + shipping
Description:
For those of who are unfamiliar with gainclones here is a quick summary. 47 Labs made the popular Gaincard amp, which some DIYer opened up and found a surprise. There were very few parts and at it's heart a inexpensive LM3875 op-amp. It was estimated that parts were around $100 total, yet the amp sold for over $3k. Fast forward, the design started being copied and diy audiophiles were finding they could make simple great sounding amps for ~$150. These amps had very few parts with the shortest signal paths possible. At least one member uses a commercial gainclone from Audio Zone, his impressions can be read here.
This is a custom amp made by gainclone master Tim Rawson. It was used to power my surround speakers in my HT, and for a while to bi-amp a pair of LSi9s in a 2ch rig. It uses 4 of the BPA200 chips and outputs ~ 200wpc. For those of you who aren't familiar a BPA200 is comprised of 4 LM3886 chips, most clones use 1 per channel, this monster uses 4 or 16 total. The LM3886 chip is a higher current version of the LM3875 chip used in the Gaincard amps.
Parts wise it is powered by a Plitron 750va transformer with 90,000uf of Panasonic tsha Caps. The binding posts and rcas are from Vampire Wire, and the internal wiring is high purity OFC. This unit has a rear power switch for a clean look, and utilizes a soft start circuit to prevent current thump as well as judicious use of heatsinks.
As for sound quality, I tried ALOT of amps before settling on this one including brands like Earthquake, Parasound, B&K, Sunfire and Rotel. I choose the BPA-200 because it had the best sound quality of the bunch, with punchy bass, liquidy mids, and nice detailed highs. If you have heard gainclones before think that sound but with better bass and more dynamic power.
Condition:
I am the original owner of this amp and it was purchased July 2007. It has been used for most of it’s life as a surround amp driving 8 ohm speakers at modest levels. Physically it is in good condition with only slight wear and tear, see pics for details.
Terms:
This will be shipped in the original box w/ nothing but the amp. Accepting Paypal (add 3%), money order, or personal check. I will only sell to a buyer with verifiable good feedback. I have feedback on Head-Fi, Club Polk and on Audiogon. For sale in the US only.
Description:
For those of who are unfamiliar with gainclones here is a quick summary. 47 Labs made the popular Gaincard amp, which some DIYer opened up and found a surprise. There were very few parts and at it's heart a inexpensive LM3875 op-amp. It was estimated that parts were around $100 total, yet the amp sold for over $3k. Fast forward, the design started being copied and diy audiophiles were finding they could make simple great sounding amps for ~$150. These amps had very few parts with the shortest signal paths possible. At least one member uses a commercial gainclone from Audio Zone, his impressions can be read here.
This is a custom amp made by gainclone master Tim Rawson. It was used to power my surround speakers in my HT, and for a while to bi-amp a pair of LSi9s in a 2ch rig. It uses 4 of the BPA200 chips and outputs ~ 200wpc. For those of you who aren't familiar a BPA200 is comprised of 4 LM3886 chips, most clones use 1 per channel, this monster uses 4 or 16 total. The LM3886 chip is a higher current version of the LM3875 chip used in the Gaincard amps.
Parts wise it is powered by a Plitron 750va transformer with 90,000uf of Panasonic tsha Caps. The binding posts and rcas are from Vampire Wire, and the internal wiring is high purity OFC. This unit has a rear power switch for a clean look, and utilizes a soft start circuit to prevent current thump as well as judicious use of heatsinks.
As for sound quality, I tried ALOT of amps before settling on this one including brands like Earthquake, Parasound, B&K, Sunfire and Rotel. I choose the BPA-200 because it had the best sound quality of the bunch, with punchy bass, liquidy mids, and nice detailed highs. If you have heard gainclones before think that sound but with better bass and more dynamic power.
Condition:
I am the original owner of this amp and it was purchased July 2007. It has been used for most of it’s life as a surround amp driving 8 ohm speakers at modest levels. Physically it is in good condition with only slight wear and tear, see pics for details.
Terms:
This will be shipped in the original box w/ nothing but the amp. Accepting Paypal (add 3%), money order, or personal check. I will only sell to a buyer with verifiable good feedback. I have feedback on Head-Fi, Club Polk and on Audiogon. For sale in the US only.
Post edited by Gaara on
Comments
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Don't think a polkie will take a chance on this as gainclones never were big on CP but here is hoping.
Do a search on gainclones, these amps are phenomenal for the money with the only issue being power output, as most are ~50wpc. This bad boy is 200wpc and you can definitely hear the difference.
P.S. The only reason for the sale is heat output. Check my threads I have bought and sold many amps trying to find one that had plenty of power, excellent sound quality, and low heat output. The BPA200 had the first 2 and was good on the 2nd one, but not good enough. Because of this I commissioned Tim Rawson to build me a icepower amp, which replaced the BPA200. They were close and sound quality and the ice runs cold, so it wins. -
I'm surprised this amp hasn't sold in general, though. Especially with Tim "retiring". If he sticks to his guns and stops building equipment like he's said he's going to, I can't see the prices on his stuff going anywhere but up.
I bought a pre amp from Mr. Rawson recently, for those that don't know him he builds very solid designs for a fraction of what you'd pay elsewhere. Perfect solution for someone with a champagne ear on a beer budget.Wristwatch--->Crisco -
I'm surprised this amp hasn't sold in general, though. Especially with Tim "retiring". If he sticks to his guns and stops building equipment like he's said he's going to, I can't see the prices on his stuff going anywhere but up.
I bought a pre amp from Mr. Rawson recently, for those that don't know him he builds very solid designs for a fraction of what you'd pay elsewhere. Perfect solution for someone with a champagne ear on a beer budget.
Ben, I'm impressed, didn't think anyone on this forum knew who Tim was, let alone heard about that.
I can see him calling it quits for good. Tim's biggest problem is that he charges to little for labor, so in the end the consumer gets a phenomenal deal...but he gets very little in return for his time/effort. I currently have 3 amps in my possession from him, all are stellar and perform well beyond what I expected for the $.
As for pricing, I foresee prices rising. You see people already reselling his own stuff for ~25-50% markups sometimes more. With him gone I won't be surprised to see people reselling for 2x what they paid. -
I figured this would fall flat...but I will persevere. Bump.
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It's a bad time to sell anything right now."He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you." Friedrich Nietzsche
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It's a bad time to sell anything right now.
Tell me about it. At least I found my perfect surround amp.
$575 for polkies. -
$550 for Club Polk.
I threw this up on Agon and got some interest, but mostly tire kickers it seems. At least I didn't get the usual slew of "I pay 1/2 for it, you ship. Paypal included" from the 0 feedback crowd. -
So how much heat does this give off compared to a 100lbs Class A/B?"He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you." Friedrich Nietzsche
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So how much heat does this give off compared to a 100lbs Class A/B?
Depends the amp. It runs a decent amount cooler then the Parasound and B&K amps I have used, but runs warmer then the Rotel or Earthquake. So I would say roughly average for a A/B amp. One thing to mention though is it is smaller then your average amp at only 12in deep, therefore it has less surface area to disperse heat.
As I mentioned before the reason for the sale didn't have to do with sound quality, I just wanted a amp that would run cold at all times, and when I say cold I mean you can't even tell it is on. -
Some interest here and elsewhere, but nothing solid yet. Still available.
The question came up of bridging to make one crazy 2ch amp. I do not believe this is possible with this amp, as BPA stands for Bridge Parallel Amp. I believe it has 2 chip bridged and 2 run in parallel, hence I don't believe this can be bridged.
Oh, and $535 to make sure polkies have the lowest price. -
Hello
Gaara and I have been talking a little about this amp.
Does anyone here know if this amp will play nicely with my SDA's 2.3 or 1.2's. Gaara was honest and said he was not sure if it would play nicely with the sda because of the common ground? Can anyone shed some light on this for me?
I am definitely interested in this amplifier but before I want to make sure it will be OK for them.
I would use this to replace a Integra m5030 amp.
Thanks for the help and a BIG thank you Gaara for being an honest seller!Klipsch The Nines, Audioquest Thunderbird Interconnect, Innuos Zen MK3 W4S recovery, Revolution Audio Labs USB & Ethernet, Border Patrol SE-I, Audioquest Niagara 5000 & Thunder, Cullen Crossover II PC's. -
Yep. If it helps anyone HERE is a ton of info on the amp.
Its all latin to me, if anyone can figure out if this thing is common ground it would be much appreciated. I can take close up pics if there is some way physically to tell if they are common ground, as my limited knowledge on the topic makes me think someone who knows what to look for could. -
You have a volt meter? See if there is continuity between the grounds."He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you." Friedrich Nietzsche
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I'm pretty sure that it's NOT common ground, but Face gives the simplest test. The reason why it runs a little hot is that it appears to be in a bridge configuration- also why it wouldn't be common ground.Gallo Ref 3.1 : Bryston 4b SST : Musical fidelity CD Pre : VPI HW-19
Gallo Ref AV, Frankengallo Ref 3, LC60i : Bryston 9b SST : Meridian 565
Jordan JX92s : MF X-T100 : Xray v8
Backburner:Krell KAV-300i -
You have a volt meter? See if there is continuity between the grounds.
Nope, but I can borrow one.I'm pretty sure that it's NOT common ground, but Face gives the simplest test. The reason why it runs a little hot is that it appears to be in a bridge configuration- also why it wouldn't be common ground.
Yep 2 of the chips are bridged, which makes sense why it runs warmer then my LM3886 gainclone. Dam.
Just got a PM from Ben, he thinks it is not common ground as well. Dam. -
Normally I would just pick this up to give it a try but man, the economy is so bad right now... Someone should grab it anyway.
madmaxVinyl, the final frontier...
Avantgarde horns, 300b tubes, thats the kinda crap I want...
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I would like to thank Gaara for his honesty and for not selling me this amp because he found out it would not be suited for my SDA's. He could have just sold it to me without me knowing but, he made sure I knew about it before hand.
Someone needs to buy this from him. He is an honest seller that is for sure!
Thank You again!!Klipsch The Nines, Audioquest Thunderbird Interconnect, Innuos Zen MK3 W4S recovery, Revolution Audio Labs USB & Ethernet, Border Patrol SE-I, Audioquest Niagara 5000 & Thunder, Cullen Crossover II PC's. -
I would like to thank Gaara for his honesty and for not selling me this amp because he found out it would not be suited for my SDA's. He could have just sold it to me without me knowing but, he made sure I knew about it before hand.
No biggie. Honestly, I think most anyone here would have done the same thing.
Big shout out to all my polkies who helped me figure this stuff out. Appreciate it Mike, Ben, Fred, and Unc. -
$525 anyone? This is my last piece of reserve gear, once it is gone I am done for the year, no more buying/selling anything...unless the PS3 price drop in April happens.
