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Thread: FS: BKS 128 Supreme Ribbon Hybrid speakers

  1. #1
    Join Date: Jun 2015

    Location: London/Durham

    Posts: 6,869
    I'm Lawrence.

    Default FS: BKS 128 Supreme Ribbon Hybrid speakers

    With great sadness I'm selling off these speakers, they are some of the best I've heard full stop but I've decided I want something with a bit more oomph in my big double reception room. I upgraded from the 107s which though sounding great just did not have enough range - think LS3/5a. These are another kettle of fish though, the bigger cabinet and 1.5-2" of woofer make all the difference. The ribbon is also 3x longer so it could cover more of the frequency range which also helped. The cabinets are granite sided which seems to help the bass as good down further than you'd expect for the size of woofer (6.5" I think). This pair is a special order granite black with reflective flecks which is far nicer than the grey speckled stone most of them had which I found very 90s kitchen worksurface. They are also the upgraded crossover "Supreme" version.

    I'm asking a very reasonable £SOLD for them, less than I sold my first pair of 107s for and a bargain compared to the original price of c.£2500. Collection only from North London near the M25.

    Sent from my BLN-L21 using Tapatalk
    Last edited by Lawrence001; 23-06-2018 at 13:15.

  2. #2
    Join Date: Jun 2015

    Location: London/Durham

    Posts: 6,869
    I'm Lawrence.

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    I forgot to say I have the original box but it's not much use for couriers as the speakers go top to tail in a single box with no filling other than the cardboard.

    It's worth noting these are rear ported and like to be at least 9" away from a rear wall. The ribbons are also dipole (there's a fixed fabric over the top half of the back) but I've put a velvet strip over it to give you the option of stopping the rear radiation from bouncing off the wall. I usually prefer the wider soundstage you can get from it, but sometimes it's nice to have the option. It's attached to the granite sides with Velcro so easily reversible if you don't want them on.

    Dimensions are 128h x 26w x 31d base / 5d top (trapezoid shape)

    Weight 45kg each according to this website:

    http://hanstedaudio.nl/?page=shop/fl...52adbceabd4b1a

    Note that mine seem to have better woofers than the ones shown (mine are doped and mounted with 6 screws), that might be part of the supreme upgrade.

    On the same website I found this description of the 175 Supreme, much of the description applies to mine:

    The BKS HYBRID 175 Supreme is made from selected materials. For example the side panels is made of 20 mm high gloss granite (Nero Africa as standard). Front- and rear panel is made of MDF plate laminated with 3mm high gloss acrylic plate. This combination secure a incredible "dead" enclosure (= non coloring of the sound), together with the trapeze-formed enclosure, it secures the best condition for the optimum sound reproduction. The choice of material and the form of the enclosure all together gives a very elegant design, that appeal to most people and their living rooms. The loudspeaker is a 2,5-way system, [NOT MINE, THEY ARE 2 WAY] and the crossover network is a 1. order type (6 dB). We have chosen this kind of cross-over network, because it's the simplest network which is phase linear and impulse-correct. Not to ruin the fundamental good qualities of crossover-network, we only use high-end components in the filter-network. In the high-pass section we only use capacitors from the high estimate "Mundorf MCap", bypassed with a super-capacitor "MCap Supreme", also from "Mundorf". In the low-pass section we use "Cross-Coil" coils for the upper-bass (1200 Hz) and for the lower bass (500 Hz) and in the RC-circuit we also use "Mundorf MCap" capacitors together with a non-inductive power-resistors from B.I. Technologies.
    The connection terminals gives you the opportunity for Bi-Wiring alternative Bi-Amping. The terminals are taking 4mm banana-plugs, spade-connectors or thick cables direct and because the gold-plated nuts are hexagonal, it gives you good opportunity to make a safe connection. In connection with the ribbon we have mounted a fuse. The fuse-holder has silvered contact surface to give the best connection.

    The woofer are two [ONE] 6,5" super-units from VIFA, which takes care of the sound scale from below 35 Hz to the crossover point on 1200/500 Hz, where the ribbon of 980 mm (24 mm wide) takes over (made by BKS AUDIO). Because the ribbon is ultra-light, it secures a high-note reproduction far beyond the ability of the human ears. The ribbons bearing-foil is only 3 micron thick and made of a material that has good sound qualities and is heat-steady too. The ribbons supreme abillity to reproduce the high notes is caused of the incredible low diaphragm-weight in connection with the comparatively big diaphragm-area. Because the ribbon are fixed only in the top and bottom you won't have any bad influence from the diaphragm-edge as you have from conventional dome-tweeters. Coming to the point where we are talking about detail abillity and distortion in the high notes area the ribbon is out of competition. If you use ribbons for the deep bass notes, they get very big and therefore very hard to handle and place in your living room. Furthermore they also have problems in the deep bass. We have chosen to use a more conventional woofer for lower midrange and the bass area, because it do it very well and on a far less place. To get two so different systems to work well together has always been known as a big problem, but we think we have managed to do it. We aren't the only ones who think that, also many reviewers praise them for having a perfect seem-less integration of the ribbon and the conventional woofer.

    So,- if you are for high-end sound and also want to have something nice to look at, you may consider to see and look after at the BKS loudspeakers


    Sent from my BLN-L21 using Tapatalk
    Last edited by Lawrence001; 23-06-2018 at 08:14.

  3. #3
    Join Date: Mar 2017

    Location: West Sūþsēaxe

    Posts: 2,015
    I'm Edward.

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    I've had the pleasure of listening to these very speakers at Lawrence's place for a few hours. Were it not for the fact I've got far too many speakers at the moment I would get these in a heartbeat. Absolutely awesome scale and presence. This is particularly true at whatever volume level they are played at. They are tallish but the dimensions make for an elegant appearance. The granite finish is of course first class.
    Current: [P20] Roon/Tidal > Custom PC> Chevron Paradox NDF16 > Phast Pre > Neuro. 686 > Tannoy Berkley (RFC tweaks)


  4. #4
    Join Date: Jun 2015

    Location: London/Durham

    Posts: 6,869
    I'm Lawrence.

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    Thanks for the vote of confidence Edward, I'll really miss these when they've gone, I have had more pleasure out of them than most of the 50 or so pairs I've owned put together, including some much bigger ones.

    Sent from my BLN-L21 using Tapatalk

  5. #5
    Join Date: Jan 2011

    Location: Bristol, UK

    Posts: 278
    I'm Stephen.

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    I used to have this model. The finish is called star galaxy granite.

    Don’t they go in separate boxes? I thought it was the smaller 107 that both go in the same transit box.

  6. #6
    Join Date: Jun 2015

    Location: London/Durham

    Posts: 6,869
    I'm Lawrence.

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    Quote Originally Posted by cyclopse View Post
    I used to have this model. The finish is called star galaxy granite.

    Don’t they go in separate boxes? I thought it was the smaller 107 that both go in the same transit box.
    Thanks for the info. I'm pretty sure they came in a single box, it's somewhere up in the loft. Yes the 107s also had a single box, I've had 3 pairs of 107s loved them but kept selling them on as I couldn't live with the limited range of the 4.5" woofer after a while.

    Sent from my BLN-L21 using Tapatalk

  7. #7
    Join Date: Jun 2015

    Location: London/Durham

    Posts: 6,869
    I'm Lawrence.

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    Sold. There were 2 boxes, my memory is going with old age. However, only a bag between the speaker and cardboard, not ideal. If dropped there would have been chipped corners at least.

  8. #8
    Join Date: Apr 2012

    Location: N E Kent

    Posts: 51,624
    I'm Geoff.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Lawrence001 View Post
    Sold
    Ah, good. Saves me agonising over whether to buy them . I do like ribbon speakers.

  9. #9
    Join Date: Jun 2015

    Location: London/Durham

    Posts: 6,869
    I'm Lawrence.

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    Quote Originally Posted by walpurgis View Post
    Ah, good. Saves me agonising over whether to buy them . I do like ribbon speakers.
    Glad to have been of assistance

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