BGW amp 750B anyone familiar with it ?

[hongyingdang]

BGW amp 750B anyone familiar with it ?
I saw this has been short a temperature induction line, whether this does mean has been serviced?
In this website, has this power amplifier picture, please help to appraise. Thanks.

http://www.tubebbs.com/viewthread.ph...ght=BGW+750B

 

[hongyingdang]

This is the internal picture

 

[hongyingdang]

The hope can obtain the American friends' help. My English proficiency is not good, forgiveness.

 

[dshoaf]

I've always loved BGW from afar. That is, I have not had one to play with myself but would love to do so.

They were well respected in their day and even today have a small following due to the lack of distribution they had overseas.

I'd suggest you check the archives (ie: do a search) to see some of the other discussions about BGW.

Wish I could help more....

Oh, and your english is _far_ better than any other language I have to communicate. I salute you for checking in here and appreciate your wish to find more about BGW. Where are you located, sir?

Cheers,

David

 

[hongyingdang]

I from the Chinese Fujian Province, welcome you to China.
BGW in China's appraisal is very good, some high quality's specialized power amplifier is obtaining many people to pursue holds. European and US's second-hand sound, has the very good appraisal in China. I use now am JBL 4410A.
I have STUDIOMASTER 1200B, the performance am also very good.

 

[hongyingdang]

The Internet, lets the world continually in same place, I know you very happily in here. Believed that we can have the very good exchange.

 

[bill114]

I was in a AOR rock band in the 80s and we had a couple of these amps (among others) in our PA system.We drove them hard-They worked and sounded great but I'm not sure how this amp would sound in a home system

 

[bowtie427ss]

but I'm not sure how this amp would sound in a home system

Absolutely excellent, and better than many "hifi" amplifiers.

It suffers the same caveats in the home as most commercial/industrial amplifiers, it's rack mount, won't have RCA inputs, and has a fan that will possibly make "fan noise". If you can work around these caveats, 750 is a very good amplifier for critical listening/monitoring/ home audio.

Just my .02.................

 

[GordonW]

BTW- when BGW went out of business, Peavey (the musical instrument and PA company) hired many of the engineers from BGW, and bought much of the documentation from them. The Peavey CS800- the original model, as seen here:

... IS just a BGW 750, with a few mods for durability and usability in a PA environment (more aggressive protection scheme, compressor/limiters built in, and such).

So, if you can find a tech that's familiar with the CS800, they can pretty much inherently work on the BGW 750, should it ever need service. The same caveat as the CS800 applies here- you do need to remove the top cover, and blow out the dust once in a while... that heatsink design seems to just catch dust and hold it, until it piles up into a "carpet" and smothers the heatsink. Barring that, they're nearly indestructible, from a normal-use standpoint...

Regards,
Gordon.

 

[bowtie427ss]

Urban legend that CS-800 is the same amp as BGW-750B, i used to believe this too, but have been more accurately corrected. Electronically, the CS 800 is probably the closest to the original 750. The 750 was revised many times with the later E, G and H versions offering significantly more power as well as pretty much totally redesigned circuitry.

FWIW, and IMO, they're both truly "great ones" in the history of amplifiers.

There is a legitimate connection and similarities, but too few to call them "same". There were no lawsuits after all.

It seems the reality is that the BGW 750, and original series CS-800 chassis sheet metal and heat sinks were sourced from the same vendors, and possibly even some design "sharing" went on, but most likely it was all about economics.

I have a BGW 1000, the first BGW product, and the amp that started it all where BGW is concerned. From a few years of casual research i have learned that the original engineer of the RCA transistors used in the 1000, was also the designer of the BGW 1000 and probably the original 750, 500, and 250 models. AFAIK, this is just one person. originally an engineer from RCA, and possibly also a close friend of Brian G Wachner's. Too bad Mr Wachner isn't still with us and able to shed more factual light.

 

[GordonW]

Tech here has had both the original BGW750 and a CS800 apart on the bench at the same time. There's a LOT of similarities, not just in the hardware, but in the preamp driver board design, as well. Circuit, other than protection and first stage/preamp, is virtually the same, plus or minus transistor substitutions that Peavey made (some less expensive parts, to keep costs down)...

And it's a verified fact that Hartley Peavey hired a number of BGW engineers and designers... BGW wasn't the only company he "raided" for talent, either. He was (is) a smart man- smart enough to know that he needed the right people designing for him...

Regards,
Gordon.

 

[bowtie427ss]

is virtually the same, plus or minus transistor substitutions

No argument intended here Gordon, but this can also be said for at least a few other amplifiers(Kustom, Crest, Cerwin Vega, etc) of the same time period, lots of similarities as solid state was still young by today's standards, and there weren't that many differing "proven" big solid state amplifier circuits at the time.

Too bad these things can't talk, since with the two amplifiers in question there are what seems to be too many similarities for them to all be just coincidence. Once a fella sees those modular amplifier sections and octal connections in both amps, it's hard not to call them the same from that aspect alone.:yes:

I need to add a correction to my 1st post, seems the fella who designed the circuits for the RCA transistors actually went to work for Peavey, BGW also used those circuits as well as dozens of other amplifier makers of the time period.

 

[biglittledog]

Yes, those were/are great PA amplifiers. We used to have them in a rock band I played in. I've even seen bass players use a preamp and then go through a BGW into a 4x10 and single 15. Very clear sound and never a lick of trouble! Interesting to think of it in a home stereo...that's a lot of power on tap. If you ever got it cranked up in a house, you'd blow your ears off your head.

 

[hongyingdang]

In China, the BGW 750B popularity is also very high, the quality is good, the price amounts to 400 US dollars. In the ordinary circumstances, is the 22000UF80V filter electric capacity replacement is the RIFA 33000UF70V electric capacity, has obtained the good improvement, is mainly to the high frequency improvement.

 

[hongyingdang]

This is the power amplifier which I use now, STUDIOMASTER 1200B, Britain produces.

 

[Elliot Thompson]

BTW- when BGW went out of business, Peavey (the musical instrument and PA company) hired many of the engineers from BGW, and bought much of the documentation from them.

Hi.

Jack Sondermeyer (the developer behind the BGW 750 & Peavey CS 800) worked for RCA. Peavey hired Jack Sondermeyer in the mid 70’s as their chief designer for their amplifiers.

This is why, Peavey offered larger versions of the Peavey CS 800 (CS 1000, CS 1200 and so forth) whereas, BGW had to move to a different design once the BGW 750 was not strong enough in the sound reinforcement market.

The co-relation of the BGW 750 & Peavey CS 800 occurred when Jack Sondermeyer worked for RCA. The amplifier designers from BGW & Peavey acquired the design from Jack Sondermeyer.

BGW marketed the 750 as a “high line” amplifier whereas, Peavey promoted theirs to the up and coming musician. It’s BGW’s high line mentality became their downfall for, the designer that made them highly respected now, worked for Peavey. They made numerous designs post dating the 750. However, none of them left a lasting impression like the 750.

Jack Sondermeyer stayed with Peavey from the Peavey CS 800 A to the CS 800 X in which he retired.

Speaking of RCA, I have two out of twelve CS 800s that still are functioning using the original RCA Transistors.

It just goes to show how the power of suggestion can influence the average consumer. Many would turn up their nose on the Peavey CS 800 yet embrace the BGW 750.

Best Regards,

 

[sfox52]

I don't mean to sidetrack the thread, but I have a BGW 500D, and the service manual for my model and the 750A model. The only difference I can find between the two models that I can see is the 500D has two 10000 uF PS caps while the 750A has two 21000 uF PS caps- could that be right? The amp sounds damn good & drives my MMG's with authority.

 

[Elliot Thompson]

I don't mean to sidetrack the thread, but I have a BGW 500D, and the service manual for my model and the 750A model. The only difference I can find between the two models that I can see is the 500D has two 10000 uF PS caps while the 750A has two 21000 uF PS caps- could that be right? The amp sounds damn good & drives my MMG's with authority.

That's right.

The 500 pre-dated the 750. BGW modified the 750 throughout the years and, abandoned the 500. If I remember correctly, the 500 is around 50 watts less than the 750.

I might add power amplifiers of that era were rated lower than what they actually delivered.

Best Regards,

 

[sfox52]

Thanks Elliot! Yep, the spec for the 500d is 200 into 8
ohms, 251 into 4 ohms. The 750a is 200 into 8 & 300 into 4. Mine does seem like more than that, and it so happens that I have some 21000 uf caps that will fit the 2 inch mounts.

 

[elgato8905]

I used to use a 750 in my main system and it sounded damn good. The amp is heavy as hell though (not that there's anything wrong with that).