I received my BP-26 last Thursday and I was out of town Friday through Sunday, so I have not had much time with it yet. However, I have made some early observations.
1) Like my 7B-SST amps, the BP-26 has excellent build quality.
2) The preamp chassis surprisingly weighs just as much as the power supply chassis, i.e., 19 pounds.
3) The remote control is solid aluminum and fits the hand much better than the Pass Labs X1 remote, though still not as nice a feel as the Audio Research LS-12 remote.
4) Like the LS-12, the BP-26 requires some warm up time. The second playing of a CD sounds much better to me than the first. The X1 is left on all the time, so it does not have this feature.
5) The ergonomics of the BP-26 are much more to my liking than the X1. In many respects the BP-26 reminds me of the LS-12.
6) The only negative comment I have at present is that the BP-26 has way too much gain driving M&K reference monitors in my 17' x 17' x 12' room. The X1 has two selectable gain settings. The lower setting is good for music and the higher setting works well for DVD movies.
The X1 is being kept in tune in a friend's system while the BP-26 loosens up in mine. I intend on trying to make some level matched comparisons between the two units in a couple of weeks. Just based on memory, I'm guessing that once both are at operating temperature they will be difficult to tell apart.
As it stands now, I hope my buddy wants to purchase the X1, because the BP-26 is what I was looking for in a preamp. It'll bring more value to my system once the outboard DAC is available.
James, please tell everyone involved: Job Well Done!
-- Bob
