BRYSTON BHA-1 HEADPHONE AMPLIFIER

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rob80b

Re: BRYSTON BHA-1 HEADPHONE AMPLIFIER
« Reply #1140 on: 13 Jun 2018, 02:27 pm »
..........
But my understanding is that there  is not much of a difference between inline attenuators on the input to power amp, and reducing the gain on the power amp, but I am not sure about that.
It could help to know the BHA-1 voltage on balanced, outputs and what is acceptable input range for 2B LP but I cannot find this info anywhere

Think of an in line attenuator  as a fixed  single "stepped attenuator" using stepped resistors, they're  highly coveted but expensive but are way more precise and less prone to failure than a variable potentiometer.
So yes it would be better IMHO to have at least one of the components fully open, in this case the 2B and use the -15 attenuator to reduce its input as I explained earlier.


Both the BHA-1 and 2B are fairly robust and will handle almost any input, if I'm not mistaken.

2BLP specs
Input sensitivity: .775v for 60W @ 8Ω
Input impedance: 50KΩ unbalanced 10KΩ balanced

The BHA-1 schematics may help
http://www.bryston.com/PDF/Schematics/BHA1_SCHEMATICS.pdf
and this one..
http://www.bryston.com/PDF/Other/2BLP_GAIN.pdf

Maybe James can facilitate. : )



wormcycle

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Re: BRYSTON BHA-1 HEADPHONE AMPLIFIER
« Reply #1141 on: 13 Jun 2018, 04:06 pm »
Thank you
I was thinking in line Shure attenuator. To keep the 2B LP gain fully open I would have Shure set to - 15dB between 2B LP and BHA-1 and then I will have have some room on the bha-1 volume control. Otherwise it gets very loud  when volume knob at 9

rob80b

Re: BRYSTON BHA-1 HEADPHONE AMPLIFIER
« Reply #1142 on: 13 Jun 2018, 04:11 pm »
Thank you
I was thinking in line Shure attenuator. To keep the 2B LP gain fully open I would have Shure set to - 15dB between 2B LP and BHA-1 and then I will have have some room on the bha-1 volume control. Otherwise it gets very loud  when volume knob at 9

That would be the best arrangement IMHO.  :thumb:

Pundamilia

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Re: BRYSTON BHA-1 HEADPHONE AMPLIFIER
« Reply #1143 on: 26 Jun 2018, 04:09 am »
@James

Given that headphones are now hotter than they have ever been and the BHA-1 is about five years old, what is the likelihood that we will be seeing a BHA-2 in the near future (on a probability scale of 0-1)?

Thanks.

James Tanner

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Re: BRYSTON BHA-1 HEADPHONE AMPLIFIER
« Reply #1144 on: 26 Jun 2018, 10:12 am »
@James

Given that headphones are now hotter than they have ever been and the BHA-1 is about five years old, what is the likelihood that we will be seeing a BHA-2 in the near future (on a probability scale of 0-1)?

Thanks.

Hi

No plans there.  Unless we see a way to build a better version of a piece of gear we have now we do not just build a new version to call it 'new' without a measurable performance advantage.

james

Pundamilia

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Re: BRYSTON BHA-1 HEADPHONE AMPLIFIER
« Reply #1145 on: 26 Jun 2018, 02:39 pm »
A very "sound" policy that helps to engender the loyalty that Bryston owners share.

I take it then that recent developments, including the Salomie Circuit, are not relevant to the design of a headphone amplifier?

rob80b

Re: BRYSTON BHA-1 HEADPHONE AMPLIFIER
« Reply #1146 on: 26 Jun 2018, 04:08 pm »
Can't speak for James but a while back I proposed a minor facelift by eliminating the rarely used dual 3 pin XLRs (one can buy an adapter if need be) and implementing another 4 pin XLR  (the most widely used) but with an independent attenuator...facilitating the simultaneous use of two balanced pairs of different impedance and efficiency.


Armaegis

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Re: BRYSTON BHA-1 HEADPHONE AMPLIFIER
« Reply #1147 on: 27 Jun 2018, 06:09 am »
In another thread there were some murmurings of a new dac/preamp combo unit with built in headamp. All in the theory stage at the moment though, as far as I know.

CanadianMaestro

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Re: BRYSTON BHA-1 HEADPHONE AMPLIFIER
« Reply #1148 on: 27 Jun 2018, 12:17 pm »
Can't speak for James but a while back I proposed a minor facelift by eliminating the rarely used dual 3 pin XLRs (one can buy an adapter if need be) and implementing another 4 pin XLR  (the most widely used) but with an independent attenuator...facilitating the simultaneous use of two balanced pairs of different impedance and efficiency.

Good idea, but Bryston can't build one -- for engineering reasons (independent vol controls are problematic with present circuit). Understandable.

Good thing I have only one noggin' for one pair of cans at a time.  :lol:

rob80b

Re: BRYSTON BHA-1 HEADPHONE AMPLIFIER
« Reply #1149 on: 6 Jul 2018, 03:45 pm »



The BHA-1 and BCD-1 combo doing a great job making Massdrop and Sennheiser 's current collaboration, the HD58X Jubilees, sounding better than any $150 headphone has the right to.  :D

ngamountains

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Re: BRYSTON BHA-1 HEADPHONE AMPLIFIER
« Reply #1150 on: 15 Jul 2018, 07:37 pm »
Just picked one of these up used. I don’t have any great phones yet but couldn’t resist! 

95Dyna

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Re: BRYSTON BHA-1 HEADPHONE AMPLIFIER
« Reply #1151 on: 16 Jul 2018, 03:25 am »
Just picked one of these up used. I don’t have any great phones yet but couldn’t resist!

I can recommend a "great" headphone that is a wonderful match for the BHA-1. The Grado PS2000e. I've had the combo for about 9 months now and have no desire to hear anything else. Great soundstage and imaging, tremendous bass both mid and extended and a uniform frequency response from top to bottom devoid of the U shaped response of many competitors. Mine is connected balanced end to end starting withe the Esoteric K-05 onto the fixed balanced out from my Esoteric F-05 integrated amp using WireWorld Silver Eclipse 6 IC's to the BHA-1 then 4 pin balanced Cardas Clear HP cable to the phones. 

alegar

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Re: BRYSTON BHA-1 HEADPHONE AMPLIFIER
« Reply #1152 on: 16 Jul 2018, 02:09 pm »
I can recommend a "great" headphone that is a wonderful match for the BHA-1. The Grado PS2000e. I've had the combo for about 9 months now and have no desire to hear anything else. Great soundstage and imaging, tremendous bass both mid and extended and a uniform frequency response from top to bottom devoid of the U shaped response of many competitors. Mine is connected balanced end to end starting withe the Esoteric K-05 onto the fixed balanced out from my Esoteric F-05 integrated amp using WireWorld Silver Eclipse 6 IC's to the BHA-1 then 4 pin balanced Cardas Clear HP cable to the phones.

To see a picture of Grade PS2000e & BHA-1, I have the PS-1000e re wired with balanced ions 3 tips per channel.




ngamountains

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Re: BRYSTON BHA-1 HEADPHONE AMPLIFIER
« Reply #1153 on: 16 Jul 2018, 04:12 pm »
Those look like nice setups, guys!  I went to AXPONA this year and though it wasn't my focus during this visit, I remember literally dozens of places where you could sit down and listen to 'phones and 'phone amps.  I think next year I will make that more a focus of my visit before breaking the bank on any real expensive pair of 'phones.  In the meantime, yesterday I bought a pair of Focal Elears at a significant discount based on pretty positive reviews I had seen, to tide me over until I take a more reasoned (and more expensive!) next step.  Happy Listening!

Grit

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Re: BRYSTON BHA-1 HEADPHONE AMPLIFIER
« Reply #1154 on: 17 Jul 2018, 05:34 am »
To see a picture of Grade PS2000e & BHA-1, I have the PS-1000e re wired with balanced ions 3 tips per channel.




Is there any advantage to a separate L/R balanced in vs the stereo balanced in?

rob80b

Re: BRYSTON BHA-1 HEADPHONE AMPLIFIER
« Reply #1155 on: 17 Jul 2018, 02:14 pm »
Is there any advantage to a separate L/R balanced in vs the stereo balanced in?

With the BHA-1...none what so ever.


http://bryston.com/PDF/Schematics/BHA1_SCHEMATICS.pdf

alegar

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Re: BRYSTON BHA-1 HEADPHONE AMPLIFIER
« Reply #1156 on: 17 Jul 2018, 09:58 pm »
Is there any advantage to a separate L/R balanced in vs the stereo balanced in?

Any

rob80b

Re: BRYSTON BHA-1 HEADPHONE AMPLIFIER
« Reply #1157 on: 18 Jul 2018, 01:18 pm »

ngamountains

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Re: BRYSTON BHA-1 HEADPHONE AMPLIFIER
« Reply #1158 on: 22 Jul 2018, 07:40 pm »
As mentioned above I am a headphone neophyte but received my BHA-1 Friday and Focal Elears Saturday and enjoying this first taste very much. Later maybe some balanced cables if/when a good opportunity presents itself, and auditioning some more models at my next show, but for me this pairing, considering prices paid, has been a great place to start.

Grit

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Re: BRYSTON BHA-1 HEADPHONE AMPLIFIER
« Reply #1159 on: 23 Jul 2018, 02:38 am »
Is there any advantage to a separate L/R balanced in vs the stereo balanced in?

Sorry, I meant separate L/R balanced output vs single/stereo balanced output.