A valve amplifier against a solid-state one. They are not really rivals: they differ in character, in what they will drive and in what owning them involves, so start there rather than with the watts.
| Area | Better | Why |
|---|
| Power | A | PS Audio BHK Mono 300 has more power - 300W against 150W into 8 ohms. That is about 3dB, so it plays usefully louder before it runs out and has more in hand on peaks. |
| Grip on hard loads | A | PS Audio BHK Mono 300 holds up better into a 4-ohm load: its output nearly doubles to 600W, where the other increases strongly. That matters with demanding speakers far more than the 8-ohm figure does. |
| Built-in DAC | B | Naim Nova PE has a DAC on board; the other needs an external one, which is another box, another power lead and another purchase. |
| Analogue inputs | B | Naim Nova PE takes more analogue sources - 2 against 1. |
| Use with a TV | depends | Only Naim Nova PE has HDMI ARC, so the television can drive it directly and one remote controls the volume. If the system is for music only, this changes nothing. |
| Headphones | depends | Only Naim Nova PE has a headphone output. Worth something if you listen late, nothing if you never do. |
| Amplifier type | depends | PS Audio BHK Mono 300 is Hybrid and Naim Nova PE is Solid State. Valve designs are usually warmer and softer at the limits and need their tubes replaced eventually; solid state is the lower-maintenance choice. This is a taste and ownership decision, not a quality one. |
| Shelf space | depends | Naim Nova PE takes up about 26% less shelf area (1145cm² against 1544cm²), and it is 91mm shallower, which is the measurement that decides whether a rack door shuts. |
| Price | A | PS Audio BHK Mono 300 costs less - $8,499 against $9,999 at list. |
| Watts per dollar | A | PS Audio BHK Mono 300 is the cheaper watt - about $28 per watt against $67. A blunt measure, and it says nothing about how either sounds, but it is the honest one for raw output. |
A PS Audio BHK Mono 300 B Naim Nova PE
depends neither is better in the abstract - it turns on your room, your system or how you will use them. Only specs published for both amplifiers are judged; anything missing on either side is left out rather than guessed.
Which should you choose?
PS Audio BHK Mono 300 has the edge on paper, though not by much. The rows marked "depends" are more likely to decide this than the score is. If your speakers are a difficult load - 4 ohms nominal, big woofers, or a sensitivity in the low 80s - PS Audio BHK Mono 300 is the safer partner, because how an amplifier behaves when the impedance drops matters more than its 8-ohm rating. Start with the room. In a large or open-plan room, or with speakers that are hard to drive - low sensitivity, or an impedance that dips - PS Audio BHK Mono 300 has the headroom, and headroom is what stops an amplifier hardening up on peaks. At desk distance or in a small room, 150 watts is already more than most people ever use, and the extra 150 watts would be headroom you pay for and never hear - we rate PS Audio BHK Mono 300 poorly for near-field use for exactly that reason.
What a spec sheet cannot show: how either sounds with your speakers, how the controls feel day to day, and what the app is like to live with - which is where most all-in-one amplifiers are actually won or lost. Power figures are the manufacturers' own and are not measured to a common standard, so treat small differences as noise. If you can hear both, that will tell you more than any row above.