[brucek]

Because I was a bit overwhelmed by the cost of the Y-splitter cables, I asked again and these were advised to me

Don't take this the wrong way, but you're making this more difficult than it needs to be.

Simply purchase a decent splitter, and then add a couple XLR cables and the jobs done. Under $70.

brucek

[SHV]

Don't take this the wrong way, but you're making this more difficult than it needs to be.

Simply purchase a decent splitter, and then add a couple XLR cables and the jobs done. Under $70.

brucek

I agree...I usually make my own cables with Canare, Mogami, and/or Neutrik parts but even pre assembled from premium wire and connectors, it shouldn't cost more than $70.

Steve

[Marius]

I wont  was the exact splitter I had previously found. My idea was just your suggestion.
Guess I will try this, and if it's no good, no fortune is spilled.

Thanks for your support.
Marius

Don't take this the wrong way, but you're making this more difficult than it needs to be.

Simply purchase a decent splitter, and then add a couple XLR cables and the jobs done. Under $70.

brucek

[Marius]

Hi Steve ,

I'm no good doing that.... The aspect of connecting the two machines with the splitter is what started me doubting. Will see if it's indeed no good and deteriorates the quality if sound, requiring the galvanic separation, or whether theory and practice are not the same after all.

Thanks,
Marius

I agree...I usually make my own cables with Canare, Mogami, and/or Neutrik parts but even pre assembled from premium wire and connectors, it shouldn't cost more than $70.

Steve

[bobNL]

Hi James,

As I mentioned (of topic) on another tread, I was going to audition your headphone amp. Did so today. Brought my own Grado GS1000 headphones and my Lehmann headphone amp for comparison. Also listened to the Sennheiser HD800.

I fully expected a big difference in character between the Grado and the Senn. What I was not prepared for was the actual difference between the Lehmann and BHA-1. I used to think that I had one of the best headphone amps out there, Sennheiser even used them at the demo during the launch of the HD800. However, the sound from the BHA-1 was much more open and so much closer to “being there”. The Lehmann had an abundance of high’s and low’s, but sounded much more clinical. The BHA oozed music and was much more “3-dimensional” if you will. What a machine!

IMO the difference between the phones was more a matter of taste than an actual difference in quality, both having an astounding level of detail. For classical music I definitely preferred the airiness of the Sennheiser, but the directness of the Grado was great for Jazz.

Needless to say I ordered  the BHA-1 (and a HD800 for good measure). Had already decided on the BDP/BDA combo. For headphone music this is about as good as it gets! Now all I need is an aftermarket XLR cable for the Senn!

Cheers,
Bob

[brucek]

My idea was just your suggestion.
Guess I will try this, and if it's no good, no fortune is spilled.

It will be good and there will be no loss in sound quality. My suggestion was the path of least fuss, providing a single cable to accomplish the task at hand. It had little to do with sound quality and was somewhat predicated on an assumption that people that purchase Bryston equipment will pay big for convenience. hehehe

XLR's offer a very positive connection, so the extra set of connections as a result of the splitter will not deteriorate your signal.

brucek

[James Tanner]

Hi James,

As I mentioned (of topic) on another tread, I was going to audition your headphone amp. Did so today. Brought my own Grado GS1000 headphones and my Lehmann headphone amp for comparison. Also listened to the Sennheiser HD800.

I fully expected a big difference in character between the Grado and the Senn. What I was not prepared for was the actual difference between the Lehmann and BHA-1. I used to think that I had one of the best headphone amps out there, Sennheiser even used them at the demo during the launch of the HD800. However, the sound from the BHA-1 was much more open and so much closer to “being there”. The Lehmann had an abundance of high’s and low’s, but sounded much more clinical. The BHA oozed music and was much more “3-dimensional” if you will. What a machine!

IMO the difference between the phones was more a matter of taste than an actual difference in quality, both having an astounding level of detail. For classical music I definitely preferred the airiness of the Sennheiser, but the directness of the Grado was great for Jazz.

Needless to say I ordered  the BHA-1 (and a HD800 for good measure). Had already decided on the BDP/BDA combo. For headphone music this is about as good as it gets! Now all I need is an aftermarket XLR cable for the Senn!

Cheers,
Bob

ENJOY Bob 

james

[Joker]

Hi James,

As I mentioned (of topic) on another tread, I was going to audition your headphone amp. Did so today. Brought my own Grado GS1000 headphones and my Lehmann headphone amp for comparison. Also listened to the Sennheiser HD800.

I fully expected a big difference in character between the Grado and the Senn. What I was not prepared for was the actual difference between the Lehmann and BHA-1. I used to think that I had one of the best headphone amps out there, Sennheiser even used them at the demo during the launch of the HD800. However, the sound from the BHA-1 was much more open and so much closer to “being there”. The Lehmann had an abundance of high’s and low’s, but sounded much more clinical. The BHA oozed music and was much more “3-dimensional” if you will. What a machine!

IMO the difference between the phones was more a matter of taste than an actual difference in quality, both having an astounding level of detail. For classical music I definitely preferred the airiness of the Sennheiser, but the directness of the Grado was great for Jazz.
Needless to say I ordered  the BHA-1 (and a HD800 for good measure). Had already decided on the BDP/BDA combo. For headphone music this is about as good as it gets! Now all I need is an aftermarket XLR cable for the Senn!

Cheers,
Bob

Hi Bob, am just about to get my BHA and HD800. Will have the cinch of the standard cable cut off and connect a 4-pin Stereo XLR, see pin specs in an earlier thread here. The cut-off / new connector way was actually a Senn HQ Germany reco. Senn will shortly also offer a balanced cable themselves, but they don't know yet when. So unless you want to continue to use the original unbalanced setup as well, you can even save an aftermarket cable.

[RLL1]

Hi James,

As I mentioned (of topic) on another tread, I was going to audition your headphone amp. Did so today. Brought my own Grado GS1000 headphones and my Lehmann headphone amp for comparison. Also listened to the Sennheiser HD800.

I fully expected a big difference in character between the Grado and the Senn. What I was not prepared for was the actual difference between the Lehmann and BHA-1. I used to think that I had one of the best headphone amps out there, Sennheiser even used them at the demo during the launch of the HD800. However, the sound from the BHA-1 was much more open and so much closer to “being there”. The Lehmann had an abundance of high’s and low’s, but sounded much more clinical. The BHA oozed music and was much more “3-dimensional” if you will. What a machine!

IMO the difference between the phones was more a matter of taste than an actual difference in quality, both having an astounding level of detail. For classical music I definitely preferred the airiness of the Sennheiser, but the directness of the Grado was great for Jazz.

Needless to say I ordered  the BHA-1 (and a HD800 for good measure). Had already decided on the BDP/BDA combo. For headphone music this is about as good as it gets! Now all I need is an aftermarket XLR cable for the Senn!

Cheers,
Bob

I visited my dealer today and ordered the BHA-1, along with the HD800's as well. Seems like a popular pairing.

Rick

[Joker]

Hi Steve ,

I'm no good doing that.... The aspect of connecting the two machines with the splitter is what started me doubting. Will see if it's indeed no good and deteriorates the quality if sound, requiring the galvanic separation, or whether theory and practice are not the same after all.

Thanks,
Marius

Hi Marius, I will connect my BHA via RCA using the tape-out (of my GamuT DI150). I have recos from both Bryston and others, who had a bit of a look at the BHA setup and say, that the RCA connection will actually produce a very very good result. Initially I tought I must go balanced in this connection as well, but don't think so any longer. So I will get myself a decent RCA cable and am sure this will be it. But you can for sure maybe try both and see what fits your taste best. I just think all the splitter considerations may in the end turn out to be too much of a worry.

[bobNL]

Thanks Joker,

Will see if I can get it with the XLR cable from Sennheiser directly.
Just as Marius I am hesitatant to cut the factory cable to pieces.

Bob

[zeiter]

I did cut mine last weekend, just replaced the plug with a 4pin xlr. I'm extremely happy with the results. I did exactly the same few weeks ago with my Denon AH-D7000 and very satisfied also. According to the tech who did the mod for me, the HD800 have a very high quality cable from factory, copper with silver plating, so it's a waste to replace it . But, like  with interconnects, to each his own. I like both headphones with the BHA-1 ( they're completely different ), and the amp drives both very well. Can't comment on the HD800 improvment, as I purchased them after the amp, and never used them with anything else. But the AH-D7000, I've had for a couple of years, and used with different amps, they're much easier to drive compared to the HD800, having 25 ohms compared to 300 ohms, and more sensitive, but regardless, they never sounded as good as with the BHA-1. My sourcs  are  the BCD-1 balanced , and the BDA-1 unbalanced for now.  I would say with the HD800 and  BDA-1 unbalanced, you have to increase the volume quite a bit, as I  loose already  6 db to balanced connection as James explained it. Once I'm balanced, everything is perfectly OK, even having 300 ohms. Denons, not an issue  with any input. End result, I'm in love with that amp.

[Marius]

HI Joker, Bob,

I ordered an extra factory Sennheiser cable, to replace the Jack of one of those with the 4-pin XLR according to Bryston's and Sennheisers scheme. Will have both connections that way, and I am very anxious to hear the various advantages/differences.

Great to read you all are so very happy with the BHA1 (and hd800). Hope to join you soon!

Marius

Thanks Joker,

Will see if I can get it with the XLR cable from Sennheiser directly.
Just as Marius I am hesitatant to cut the factory cable to pieces.

Bob

[Marius]

You're probably right. I guess we will have to decide which of the connections is served best with the balanced BDA1 route: BHA1 or BP26. Hope the backorder won't take too long to come to Holland.

Cheers!
Marius

Hi Marius, I will connect my BHA via RCA using the tape-out (of my GamuT DI150). I have recos from both Bryston and others, who had a bit of a look at the BHA setup and say, that the RCA connection will actually produce a very very good result. Initially I tought I must go balanced in this connection as well, but don't think so any longer. So I will get myself a decent RCA cable and am sure this will be it. But you can for sure maybe try both and see what fits your taste best. I just think all the splitter considerations may in the end turn out to be too much of a worry.

[schugh]

Any chance of a simpler plain headphone amplifier? One without all the balanced inputs and outputs etc?
I wouldn't use them and I am not going to spend money re-cabling my headphones.

-- Sanjay

[James Tanner]

Any chance of a simpler plain headphone amplifier? One without all the balanced inputs and outputs etc?
I wouldn't use them and I am not going to spend money re-cabling my headphones.

-- Sanjay

No plans at this point Sanjay.

james

[zeiter]

Any chance of a simpler plain headphone amplifier? One without all the balanced inputs and outputs etc?
I wouldn't use them and I am not going to spend money re-cabling my headphones.

-- Sanjay

Sanjay, no need to recable. I just purchased the 4pin XLR  Neutrik plug at $6, you can change the plug yourself or have somebody do it for you. And if you don't want to, just use the standard 1/4" up front, and unbalanced RCA inputs in the back. Now for the price of the BHA-1,  IMO I still find it reasonably priced compared to other amps, and given its performance, and warranty offer.

[mkaiser]

Today just turned into a great day. My local dealer called and said the BHA1 has arrived at his store. So, I am heading out shortly to collect this unit and will report back in a few weeks with a review of what I think of this long awaited acquisition of the Bryston family . 

Mark

[bjski]

That's great,enjoy! My dealer notified me yesterday saying mine is on it's way.
Now about that splitter.

[Chrisart]

I was wondering if someone knows how many headphones the Bryston BHA-1 can drive.
I have 12 Sennheiser HD650's I am using for a high end multiple listener experience.
Could it drive this many?

Thanks in advance,
Christopher