I'm new on this board (as a writer) but I wanted to share with you my experience with my new BDA-1. I have quite revealing speakers (Monitor Audio Platinum) that will let you hear every nuance of the music but they will also show any weaknesses in your system. Like many people, I wanted my system to reproduce high frequencies without brightness, just clear and good highs. Unfortunately, some records were causing my ears to bleed (almost
). When talking to knowledgeable people, to were referring to my Bryston 9B-SST amp as the potentially problematic component. They all said that Bryston amp have bass to die for but because they have a more "forward" sound compared to other amps, that may overemphasize the edginess of the sound. It's all about synergy they said. The rest of my system is composed of an Anthem D2 processor and my source is a modified Denon DVD-5900 player. The Denon is not a "real" CD player but has a lot of qualities as a source (DVD-A and SACD) and its analog output stage has been completely rebuilt (professionally) a few years ago. Its DAC are very good and I prefer them to the ones of my D2 which isn't a bad machine to say the least. I've tried for a while to improve the quality of the high frequencies in my system, changing room configuration, changing cables, etc. I was using Nordost cables and going to copper-based cables helped a lot (MIT, Cardas). But that wasn't enough: sound was very good but not excellent for a sound system of that price.
Having read lots of good press about both the BCD-1 and BDA-1, I decided to try the Bryston DAC. Et voilà! My problem is fixed. The BDA-1 is just a little bit warmer and at the same time more extended (sounds contradictory I know) at the top end than the Denon. The sound is more relaxed and my amp is no longer a "problem". I would estimate that the BDA-1 is no more than 10% better than my Denon in term of definition, clarity, timing, etc which means than the Denon is a very capable player and that's why modified versions of that unit were popular. But the 10% improvement provided by the Bryston is sufficient to justify the price tag according to me.
Another thing I realized: my "warmer" cables are no longer needed. I tested my MIT Shotgun RCA against my Blue Jeans cable Canare XLR. Guess what? The BJs performed a lot better than the MITs which are 10X more expensive! Soundstage was wider and the sound was clearer, more transparent and more detailed with the BJs. It was not like night and day but my wife who is not what I would call an audio enthusiast was able to distinguish both cables easily in a A-B test. So cables make a difference!
(Don't want to restart the eternal debate though). The only aspect where the MITs were better is voices. They were more refined, they had slightly more body. That's what I expect from a 500$ cable. Bottom line, I think that a very neutral and inexpensive cable should do the job for me. Anyway, that's what cables should be: as less colored as possible.
Well done Bryston!
Guy
