Bee Pre 2 with power amp

blackharp · 1976

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Offline blackharp

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on: January 27, 2023, 07:24:56 AM
Will the Bee Pre 2 pair well with a Citation II power amp? Or, would the best combo be with a lower powered SET amp? Wondering if I should start saving for when you release a new monoblock. 



Offline Paul Birkeland

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Reply #1 on: January 27, 2023, 09:09:38 AM
The answer to this question would depend rather substantially on the speakers you intend to use.

Paul "PB" Birkeland

Bottlehead Grunt & The Repro Man


Offline blackharp

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Reply #2 on: January 27, 2023, 09:16:05 AM
Altec 604Ds in large cabinets with a powered sub
« Last Edit: January 27, 2023, 09:22:21 AM by blackharp »



Offline Paul Birkeland

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Reply #3 on: January 27, 2023, 10:39:48 AM
When you have very, very sensitive speakers like the 604D and a high gain amp like the Deuce, you are asking for problems with hair trigger volume.  This means that when you turn up the volume pot on your preamp just a tiny bit, you will immediately be at full listening level.

It is very common for people in this situation to blame the preamp for this issue (my preamp has too much gain is the usual complaint), but in reality your speakers can't make use of more than 4-5V or so of signal coming out of the amp, and the Deuce will produce that level with a few tenths of a volt of signal at the input, so your preamp needs at most 0dB of gain to function properly under these conditions.

If you switch your speakers out to some Magnepans, life would be peachy without any issues. 

A pair of -10dB Rothwell attenuators plugged into the inputs of the power amp would likely make all this work reasonably well. Running those Altecs off the 4 ohm taps on the amp is also not a bad idea.  Most SET amps also have lower overall gain, and this helps a lot with sensitive speakers.

Paul "PB" Birkeland

Bottlehead Grunt & The Repro Man


Offline blackharp

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Reply #4 on: February 07, 2023, 06:15:57 AM
Thank you, Paul. I was afraid of that. I have wired the II in triode mode, but it is still quite powerful. I was really leaning toward your monoblocks, but those are out of production.

Do you think there is a significant increase in performance in your mono blocks over something like the Kaiju? I may wait until you have a new mono project out... But unsure how long the wait may be...



Offline Paul Birkeland

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Reply #5 on: February 07, 2023, 06:21:03 AM
The gain of the II in triode mode is likely to be the same as it otherwise would be because the global feedback loop will set the gain in either mode.

Your speakers are certainly appropriate for use with a Kaiju.

Paul "PB" Birkeland

Bottlehead Grunt & The Repro Man


Offline blackharp

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Reply #6 on: February 07, 2023, 06:35:08 AM
So you don't want to leak any mono block details yet?!  :)



Offline Paul Birkeland

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Reply #7 on: February 07, 2023, 06:53:50 AM
Your speakers are far too sensitive to need the kind of power that we are aiming for.

Paul "PB" Birkeland

Bottlehead Grunt & The Repro Man


Offline Paul Joppa

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Reply #8 on: February 07, 2023, 11:02:19 AM
As wikipedia often says, "disambiguation:"

Two monoblocks are being tossed around, the MonAmour (now retired) and the nameless not-yet-announced product now in development.

Paul Joppa


Offline blackharp

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Reply #9 on: February 25, 2023, 04:14:33 PM
As wikipedia often says, "disambiguation:"

Two monoblocks are being tossed around, the MonAmour (now retired) and the nameless not-yet-announced product now in development.

Thank you for the info!



Offline blackharp

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Reply #10 on: March 07, 2023, 08:51:46 AM
I just wanted to update anyone reading. I finished the Beepre 2 and with the II, it sounds great. The volume doesn't need to be very high, but I do not detect any loud hums or impedance issues without the attenuators. I did order the Kaiju, though, for shits and giggles.