[beowulf]

Hey guys, reading the First Watt/Omega thread got me thinking about another company I have recently heard of called Bakoon Products.  Like Nelson Pass' First Watt, they are a low wattage solid state amp, but rather than the J2 sound, the Bakoon sound is more closely related to Pass' SIT-1 amplifiers (they take a different path to get there, but they sound quite the same according to the reviewer).  I'm not sure if you've ever read the 6 moons review of the SIT-1 and SIT-2 amps, but you would think they are the best thing since someone thought to slice the bread before putting it in the bag.   Anyways, they were so highly thought of by the reviewer Srajan Ebaen - that he sold off all his tube amplification to purchase the SIT-1 monos ... and this is coming from a guy who has had some seriously expensive and esoteric tube and solid state gear come and go through his hands over the years. 

Quite a few months later Ebaen reviewed the Bakoon AMP-12R and said they were every bit as good as the SIT-1 and he would have purchased the AMP-12R had he not already bought the First Watt SITs.  Although Ebaen can get pretty flowery in his reviews I do think he's pretty good and I can't think of many products that he recommended to not live up to their expectations sound wise (that I've heard at least). The Bakoon amps were highly spoken of at the Munich High End 2013 show as well where they were paired up with another semi/full range speaker (that were too expensive for me to even think about though).  So at only 15 watts, the Bakoon AMP-12R isn't for a majority of speakers out there, but I bet they would pair up nicely with the Omegas!

As for a little info on the amp - the AMP-12R is a 2 box design - one for the amp, the other for the power supply and they come with the stand (which is supposed to be very high quality). The engineering aspect of what makes these stand out is an interesting circuit design called the SATRI which the link provided goes more in depth on their website. They are about the same size as the Mac Mini and they are also less expensive to Pass' SIT-1's by a fair margin and (IMO) far sexier. 


Anyways, there are no dealers around in my area, but I was curious to hear some feedback from any owners out there and/or if anybody had the chance to at least demo them?

Thanks!

[Good Times]

I've heard one with some WLM Divas, alongside a Red Wine Audio Signature 16. I preferred the RWA which is what, about 1/5 the price? I found that it had a better bottom end authority at the slight expense of resolution.

[Louis O]

Hi beowulf,

They sure look great and really like the styling. I haven't heard them though. How much do these cost?

Thanks,
Louis

[chrislagv]

I have an older version of the Bakoon amp (only 10W). It is a wonderful amp, clear as a mountain creek. I sold my power amp from KR Audio because i prefered the Bakoon. Have not heard it with Omega speakers though.

I once heard WLM Divas with a 10W solid state and that was not a good combo. Despite their claimed high sensitivity, WLM speakers seem to need at least 30W to work well.

[jonbee]

I've heard it driving a pair of Daedalus Athenas, ~96dbw sens., compared to a Shindo stack. The Shindo was wetter and more spacious sounding (perhaps artificially so), while the Bakoon had better, deeper more controlled bass, and was more neutral sounding overall. Very nice sounding- very clean and clear. It seemed to have enough power for the speakers in a medium sized room.

[Canada Rob]

I have never heard the Bakoons, but they sure look nice.  The only place I could find a price on them is from a dealer's website in Australia and it is $5995 so are quite pricey (I think the U.S. and Australian dollar are quite close).  I see no reason why they wouldn't sound incredible with any Omega or Hoyt-Bedford speaker.  All of Louis' current offerings that I have heard are pretty amp friendly.

[beowulf]

I have never heard the Bakoons, but they sure look nice.  The only place I could find a price on them is from a dealer's website in Australia and it is $5995 so are quite pricey (I think the U.S. and Australian dollar are quite close).  I see no reason why they wouldn't sound incredible with any Omega or Hoyt-Bedford speaker.  All of Louis' current offerings that I have heard are pretty amp friendly.

Canada Rob, I think you are right on the money ... $5995 Jaguar Audio Design out of Seattle carries them for that price.  They are a bit pricey, but they do come with the stand, a separate power supply and have the same foot print as the Mac Mini though which I could see would add to their cost.  No preamp from them as of yet, but it should be an interesting compliment to the amp.  I could possibly see a DAC and Mac Mini to have a complete system (digital anyways), but they do have a separate phono stage as well.

I've heard it driving a pair of Daedalus Athenas, ~96dbw sens., compared to a Shindo stack. The Shindo was wetter and more spacious sounding (perhaps artificially so), while the Bakoon had better, deeper more controlled bass, and was more neutral sounding overall. Very nice sounding- very clean and clear. It seemed to have enough power for the speakers in a medium sized room.

Considering the comparison, I would take that as a definite positive!

I've heard one with some WLM Divas, alongside a Red Wine Audio Signature 16. I preferred the RWA which is what, about 1/5 the price? I found that it had a better bottom end authority at the slight expense of resolution.

Thanks for the comparison, I haven't heard the RWA, but I know a lot of people are fans for sure.  I would say price wise it's more like 1/3 the price, however the Bakoon is only an amp and the RWA is an integrated (so I could see the value of the RWA in the difference).

[chrislagv]

Beowulf, the Bakoon is also an integrated. And with a great headphone amp included as a bonus!