[R. Daneel]

I connect my CD player to my Bryston DAC with a RCA to BNC cable. The BNC end connects to the DAC. The nice thing about BNC is that it is a locking connection, making it very solid. The cables are made by Bryston and I ordered them with my equipment. The cables are well made, reasonably priced and sound great. If you can purchase one of these cables, I would stick with the BNC connections on the DAC. It is better to use a BNC cable because they are more accurate in achieving the necessary 75 ohms.

Oh yes, I think their cables are excellent too. I just wanted to have four identical inputs on the BDA-2 so they agreed to use four RCA connectors. They are more common and like Mr. Tanner said, I doubt I could detect any difference providing source component uses the RCA as well. If the source had a BNC output, then using a BNC-BNC connection might prove to be a better connection but since BDA-2 has input transformers that compensate for impedance mismatch, even this should be difficult to detect. In my specific case, I don't own a BNC-equipped digital source so I can't have BNC-BNC connection even if I wanted to.

But tell me, do the RCA connectors on BNC cables have locking mechanisms? I think I have seen something similar a few years ago. I don't know which cable it was but the sleeve part around the RCA connector was screwed onto the chassis and the cable could not have been removed before unscrewing this sleeve.

[James Tanner]

[R. Daneel]

Thank you James!

That cable really looks high quality.

The one I mentioned was from some other company but I don't know which one. The connectors were RCA on both ends and they had a sleeve similar to the one on your BNC connector shown in the picture.

Does Bryston make their own connectors or do they source them from elsewhere?

[James Tanner]

Thank you James!

That cable really looks high quality.

The one I mentioned was from some other company but I don't know which one. The connectors were RCA on both ends and they had a sleeve similar to the one on your BNC connector shown in the picture.

Does Bryston make their own connectors or do they source them from elsewhere?

We source the cable and the connectors - the cables we offer are really not aimed at the more 'esoteric' part of the cable market.  We are just trying to provide our customers with a good quality scientifically based cable and they can experiment with more up market cables from there if they wish.

james

[Phil A]

The cables look nice.  Are those Canare connectors?

[James Tanner]

The cables look nice.  Are those Canare connectors?

I believe so and the RCA is a true 75 ohm version.

james

[Phil A]

James, thought so as that's what I use.  With the Canare tools, they are easy to make.

[SHV]

James, thought so as that's what I use.  With the Canare tools, they are easy to make.

I do the same thing; Canare, Neutrik connectors and Canare, Mogami, etc. wire, high quality, low cost and I know that the impedance is correctly matched.

Steve

[Phil A]

For digital cables, I used Belden 1506A, which is precision video cable.  It takes the Canare '4' size connectors (the crimp tools come with different dies that screw in and out to crimp the pin that goes on the cable and the clamp that holds the connector to the cable).  I've tried a few boutique cables but have not found anything I prefer better.  At one point I was going to go into the cable making business and was up to the point of thinking about experimenting with digital cable design after I had gotten settled on analog stuff but just dropped the stuff.  The Bryston stuff looks like nice basic stuff that will work very well.  I use Canare cable for video cables.  Their connectors ('F,' RCA or BNC) are nice for the money and easy to work with.

[SHV]

"I've tried a few boutique cables but have not found anything I prefer better."
******
About ten years ago,  a friend gave me 6-8 single boutique interconnects to play with.  Ten years ago, they retailed for high 100s to several thousand per pair.   Underneath the fancy covers, the "guts" were pretty mundane.  The second most expensive cable had cold solder joints and the most expensive, with a "special", sealed box as part of the cable, had a few cheap resistors and caps connected in a non-functional configuration.  Cured me of my high end wire envy.

Steve

[Phil A]

"I've tried a few boutique cables but have not found anything I prefer better."
******
About ten years ago,  a friend gave me 6-8 single boutique interconnects to play with.  Ten years ago, they retailed for high 100s to several thousand per pair.   Underneath the fancy covers, the "guts" were pretty mundane.  The second most expensive cable had cold solder joints and the most expensive, with a "special", sealed box as part of the cable, had a few cheap resistors and caps connected in a non-functional configuration.  Cured me of my high end wire envy.

Steve

Steve, although I make my own and buy some cables since I think they may sound a hair better than mine and I don't feel the need to upgrade other things in the system, I have one that's better.  I met one of my friends who lives not too far away by helping to deliver his system with a friend who worked at a high end store.  I believe they gave him 10% his cables since he bought a whole system.  Electronics wise it was a Bryston SP1.7 and 9BSST.  I believe the retail of the (balanced) cables between his (left and right channel of the) amp an preamp was $1,095, the single ended cables between his CD player and preamp was $650 and the left and right channel speaker cables were $1.8k.  One day he borrowed an SACD player (with multi-channel capability) from the store and brought it home Saturday night and the store is closed Sunday and Monday.  He forgot to bring home cables and the store was closed.  He asked me if I had 3 identical pairs of cables.  I can easily make my cables look like boutique cables (I believe I have a couple of shots in my Gallery).  I had separate SACD and DVD-A players and had a Sony TA-P9000ES (multi-channel preamp with level controls) going into my SP1.7 at the time.  Since the cables could not be seen, they looked home made.  I brought them over and he pretty much laughed looking at them.  The next day he called me and asked me to come over and he had done an A/B initially with the CD player (which had two identical pair of outputs) and it was a night and day difference and mine was the better one.  He then replaced the cables between the amp and preamp and it got better again.  He asked me what I would charge to make him cables and he almost fell over when I told him just the cost of parts and $35/pair.  He now has replaced everything with my cables.

[Grit]

Hey Phil,

I sent you a PM with some questions about homemade cables.

- Garrett

[Phil A]

Hey Phil,

I sent you a PM with some questions about homemade cables.

- Garrett

Thanks, got it and replied.

[R. Daneel]

I believe so and the RCA is a true 75 ohm version.

james

Hi James!

If the RCA connectors are true 75 Ohm connectors, then it eliminates the need for BNC connectors, right? Or am I completely wrong?

[R. Daneel]

Fellas, you are really amazing!

Could someone direct me to where I could look at these Canare cables you spoke of?

Thanks!
Antun

[Phil A]

Fellas, you are really amazing!

Could someone direct me to where I could look at these Canare cables you spoke of?

Thanks!
Antun

In the US, Markertek and Have, Inc. both are Canare Distributors and sell the cables, pins (which crimp on the center conductor) and connectors.  I know Have, Inc.  (I believe in Upstate, NY), will make up cables too.  I've not used the Canare Cables for Digital Audio but I do use them for video cables for composite, component or RF cables.  Canare has a website - http://www.canare.com/

[SHV]

"In the US, Markertek and Have, Inc. both are Canare Distributors and sell the cables,"
*****
Markertek also has a large selection of pre made cables using Canare, Neutrik, etc. components, at a fraction of the cost of boutique.  Markertek is a commercial supplier of A-V stuff, so the selection is huge.

Steve

[R. Daneel]

Thanks very much guys!

The selection is huge indeed! I spend two hours just looking at all thos wires. They have an immense list of options. I must find something good in the SPDIF RCA range.

Cheers!
Antun

[R. Daneel]

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

[R. Daneel]

Hi fellas!

Do the Bryston digital components come with a measurement sheet of the actual unit like the analog components do?

Cheers!
Antun