I must say, the Bryston BHA-1 is the best headphone amplifier I have ever heard and I’ve heard a lot of them. I bought mine in 2012, right after Bryston introduced the “revised” version with balanced preamp outputs which, I believe, was done starting with the unit S/N 301. The price then was 1300 € and was about to be increased to 1400 € because of this added feature but because I bought mine so early, the Vienna distributor was able to sell the revised version at the “old” price. Even though this was really generous, I was still on the fence because, hey, 1300 € was a lot of money and still is! But looking at the prices now, I think I got an absolute bargain!!
Sonically, it’s quintessential Bryston, I think – clear like a bell, powerful yet nuanced, with a great talent for serious excitement.
But, one the most fascinating things about it is the way this understated simplicity works with ANY headphone. I once connected a Grado SR-60i (Grado’s entry-level model) to it and ended up listening to it for several days. I could not believe it could sound so good!
I also own a BDP-2 player and a BDA-2 D/A convertor and really do consider this to be a system. The BHA-1 is very revealing of partnering equipment and to me, there’s really something special about this combination.
A very, very nice amplifier. Here's to ten more years!
Cheers,
Antun