Hello!
Okay, yesterday I was informed that the BDA-2 has arrived and that it was waiting for me. So today I went to Zagreb (the capital of Croatia) which is 220km away and took it home. It is now safely connected on the stereo rack and has been playing music ever since it was first turned on three hours ago. I must say, I am guite impressed. Of course, I have listened to it before but never in the confines of my home and away from the hush and rush of everday life. It is dark outside but I somehow feel well and rested even after a long trip. Well, it has much to do with the performance of this machine.
It is very neutral, I will say that. Not just in terms of the response because that is not difficult to do. What is difficult to accomplish is a neutral tone where certain instrumnets sound like real live instruments. That is just one of the criteria I set when I decided to invest in a digital source component. I must say that this machine does that and does it in such an effortless way that it is almost insolent.The overal character of the sound is very smooth throughout the range and I am impressed with the way how high end is handled. Even on recordings that weren't mastered really well, it manages to stay in control of the things and not cause any damage with aggressive filtering. It extends pretty high too and electronic instruments seem to like it. Imaging is exceptional. Very, very realistic and with a sound stage that has adequate width, depth and height.
Technically, it is a very accomplished project. Once the input has been selected, it locks onto the incoming signal instantly which is quite impressive because that has certainly not been my experience with other machines. Build quality in general is excellent and the quality of connectors is excellent as well. My particular BDA-2 has 4 RCA inputs and this is what I asked for. They delivered, no doubt.
I do have one questions. Apparently, the finish on the top and sides of the BDA-2 is not as smooth as the surfaces on the BHA-1 headphone amplifier. The bottom of the BDA-2 is the same as all other surfaces of the BHA-1 however so this a bit puzzling. The BHA-1 finish (which seems to me is an anode-type scratch-resistant plating but I could be wrong) is noticeably smoother.
Cheers - Antun