PTP Audio – Blok20

When I asked Peter Reinders about his Blok20 amplifier he gave me this answer : “I consider it a valve amp without valves. Soundwise it is much closer to a good valve amp than to other solid state amps. No need to change (and invest!) in new valves, much more reliable.
It is ultra minimalist. No Zobel network, no input capacitor.

It is also developed to sound good on the same kind of speakers valve amps like. (relatively) efficient, simple crossovers. Although for instance it works a treat on Rogers as well (as tried in Beauvechahttp://anamightysound.com/shop/amplifiers/ptp-audio-blok20/in).”

Well we know that as we were quite surprised by the result on HUGE PMC Audio studio monitors which normally hungers for watts !

Formal presentation

This amp is an accident. We never planned to make amplifiers, let alone a solid state one. After all, turntables are our core business and as amplifiers go, we like valves.
But when PTP Audio’s owner and designer, Peter Reinders, was given a few LM1875 chips one day, he had to try them. With a few leftovers from the parts bin he built an extremely minimalist amp. Expecting nothing at all, he tried it. And fell in love with it. In his own system it replaced a single ended valve amplifier which hasn’t returned since.
Once we decided to turn it into a PTP Audio product, we took our time to refine the amplifier further, both electronically and visually. In the end this has resulted in the Blok20 you see here.
Soundwise it is above all musical, with a very natural flow that is never fatiguing. If you like idler drive turntables, you will like this amplifier.
The amplifier was designed to work best with high(ish) efficiency speakers with simple crossovers, but it has shown to do surprisingly well on others too.

Please also check our first French review in Haute-Fidélié magazine of June 2017 here !

Technical Summary

• 2x20W Minimalist Integrated Solid State Amplifier
• Built around the LM1875 amplifier chip
• Minimal parts count (the amplifier circuit is 1 chip and 3 resistors)
• Non PCB, point-to-point wired amplifier section
• Extremely short signal path
• 3x line level input
• 50k input impedance
• Ultra fast recovery rectifiers
• Huge 300VA toroidal transformer
• All wiring is high purity silverplated copper with teflon insulation
• 4mm Aluminium backpanel with integrated heatsink
• 170(H)x175(W)x200(D)mm solid Corian housing to minimise resonances
• A wide range of colours to choose from
• 230V and 115V versions available
• 8kg.