[James Tanner]

Hi All,

The Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity on line Magazine is doing a comparison of LP's vs CD's. Should be interesting. I will povided you with a link to the article when it goes online.

We loaned them a BP26/MPS-2 DAC Preamp and a BP1.5 Moving Coil Phono Stage for the test.

james

[Levi]

Thanks James.  This is going to be interesting.

Which CD player are they comparing it to?

[James Tanner]

Thanks James.  This is going to be interesting.

Which CD player are they comparing it to?

McIntosh MCD-201 and Classe CDP-10.
He has asked for a BCD-1 as well.

james

[Stu Pitt]

Sounds very good.  Any idea what turntable(s) and cartridge(s) they'll use?

[Phil A]

Should be very interesting.  I haven't heard the McIntosh or Classe.  A personal observation (and note I haven't owned a turntable in many years but have friends who have them) is that some CD players I've heard seem to intentionally make their players sound more analog (not that I find something wrong with that).  When I auditioned and bought the BCD-1, the audio store owner hid the hook-ups from me and put a disc in each player on the same track no. (so I couldn't tell what was playing) and it took about 60 seconds, if that, to tell him which was playing.  The other player was very pleasant sounding and definitely could make certain things that were not particularly well recorded sound less objectionable.  On good recording it had what I would call a laid back smoothed over more recessed sound (perhaps a little bit tube like).  I don't necessarily view one as better as I can see why someone might prefer one over the other.  To me it didn't sound as accurate.  I've heard some expensive vinyl set-ups (when my friend worked at the high end store and I did installs with him) and some of them sounded really good.

I still personally would not own a turntable at this point (I worked that out of my audiophile problem a long time ago - when CD reached a certain point - the Adcom GCD-575 - I listened and make the decision to live with the differences and sold my vunyl collection and equipment - not that it was a big issue to me as I had about 40 audiophile albums in great shape and many hundreds of other older albums not in such great shape).  I guess with everything else it may be dependent on what they use in making the comparison.

[mr_bill]

Should be very interesting.  I haven't heard the McIntosh or Classe.  A personal observation (and note I haven't owned a turntable in many years but have friends who have them) is that some CD players I've heard seem to intentionally make their players sound more analog (not that I find something wrong with that).  When I auditioned and bought the BCD-1, the audio store owner hid the hook-ups from me and put a disc in each player on the same track no. (so I couldn't tell what was playing) and it took about 60 seconds, if that, to tell him which was playing.  The other player was very pleasant sounding and definitely could make certain things that were not particularly well recorded sound less objectionable.  On good recording it had what I would call a laid back smoothed over more recessed sound (perhaps a little bit tube like).  I don't necessarily view one as better as I can see why someone might prefer one over the other.  To me it didn't sound as accurate.  I've heard some expensive vinyl set-ups (when my friend worked at the high end store and I did installs with him) and some of them sounded really good.

I still personally would not own a turntable at this point (I worked that out of my audiophile problem a long time ago - when CD reached a certain point - the Adcom GCD-575 - I listened and make the decision to live with the differences and sold my vunyl collection and equipment - not that it was a big issue to me as I had about 40 audiophile albums in great shape and many hundreds of other older albums not in such great shape).  I guess with everything else it may be dependent on what they use in making the comparison.

Phil,
What was the other cd player?
The Bryston BCD-1 is very highly regarded!

[Phil A]

It was an Ayre

[Stu Pitt]

Phil,

Mac and Classe both make excellent gear.  I don't have as much experience with Classe as I have with Mac, so I won't go into too much detail about it.

Mac and Classe are very well built.  I'd say even with Bryston to be honest.  But neither carries the warranty, nor do they have a gentleman who frequents places like these and offers help   .  They both support just about everything they've ever made, like Bryston does.

Mac is a very different sound than Bryston.  Relatively speaking, its laid-back and smooth.  Bryston is more forward and aggressive.  Bryston is more punchy and pacey, whereas Mac has a more liquid like flow to the music.

Bryston and Mac are equally musical, they just take opposite approaches to it.  I really can't afford much from either company if brand new, but if a Mac came up for sale at the same time the B60 did, and both were priced equally, I'd have had a very tough time deciding.

In the end, I bought a B60 without any regrets.  It was the right piece at the right time for the right price.  I've never second guessed my decision.  If it had been a Mac, I'd have been just as happy, and had no regrets either.

Just my opinions.  Sorry for side tracking...

[vegasdave]

Hi All,

The Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity on line Magazine is doing a comparison of LP's vs CD's. Should be interesting. I will povided you with a link to the article when it goes online.

We loaned them a BP26/MPS-2 DAC Preamp and a BP1.5 Moving Coil Phono Stage for the test.

james

James--

Very cool, James...I can't wait to read the results. I prefer LP myself. The MM phono section in my BP6P sounds great!

However, I did hear the BCD-1 at CES, and I was impressed. CD can sound pretty good if done right.

[vegasdave]

Phil,

Mac and Classe both make excellent gear.  I don't have as much experience with Classe as I have with Mac, so I won't go into too much detail about it.

Mac and Classe are very well built.  I'd say even with Bryston to be honest.  But neither carries the warranty, nor do they have a gentleman who frequents places like these and offers help   .  They both support just about everything they've ever made, like Bryston does.

Mac is a very different sound than Bryston.  Relatively speaking, its laid-back and smooth.  Bryston is more forward and aggressive.  Bryston is more punchy and pacey, whereas Mac has a more liquid like flow to the music.

Bryston and Mac are equally musical, they just take opposite approaches to it.  I really can't afford much from either company if brand new, but if a Mac came up for sale at the same time the B60 did, and both were priced equally, I'd have had a very tough time deciding.

In the end, I bought a B60 without any regrets.  It was the right piece at the right time for the right price.  I've never second guessed my decision.  If it had been a Mac, I'd have been just as happy, and had no regrets either.

Just my opinions.  Sorry for side tracking...

Both McIntosh and Bryston are first class companies...but Bryston is tops in my book. On another forum, people say Bryston is bright and dry. Also, reports that Rotel and Adcom (ha!) are just as good. They're dead wrong. Bryston is very accurate, so component matching is crucial. Once that's done, you have a very musical experience.

[Stu Pitt]

Both McIntosh and Bryston are first class companies...but Bryston is tops in my book. On another forum, people say Bryston is bright and dry. Also, reports that Rotel and Adcom (ha!) are just as good. They're dead wrong. Bryston is very accurate, so component matching is crucial. Once that's done, you have a very musical experience.

I've heard the same things you have.  In a way, they're right.  Bryston can sound bright and dry.  Adcom and Rotel can be just as good.  When does this happen?  When they connect inferior gear to it.  Use a bright and dry source or recording, and Bryston will give you bright and dry.  Compare Adcom or Rotel directly to Bryston using the same bad source or speakers, and Bryston will sound just as bad.  It doesn't add or take away anything.  That's what gear should do, yet so many other companies mess it up.

People ask me what synergizes best with Bryston.  My answer - everything.  Its about as neutral as it comes.  Whatever is connected - on either end - will sound the way it was designed to sound, for better or for worse.  I've heard Bryston gear with just about everything, and it always sounded as good or bad as what it was connected to.  No more, no less.

[alexone]

 cool!

 as a vinyl fan i am tensed what the results will be.

[predrag]

Yes, the same with me, can´t wait to see the result!
Two nights ago I had opportunity to hear
Rega P3-24 + BB 301 + Elys
B100SST
PMC OB1i (with new tweeter)

Sounded nice and warm with Pink Floyd´s Dark Side Of The Moon.

Could anyone experienced give me the recommandation for a good turntable combo (turntable + arm + cartridge + phono preamp) that works well with my system. Blues and rock mostly listened to.

[AliG]

Give Kevin at kabusa.com a call, he's an extremely helpful guy... can't recommend him enough.

Yes, the same with me, can´t wait to see the result!
Two nights ago I had opportunity to hear
Rega P3-24 + BB 301 + Elys
B100SST
PMC OB1i (with new tweeter)

Sounded nice and warm with Pink Floyd´s Dark Side Of The Moon.

Could anyone experienced give me the recommandation for a good turntable combo (turntable + arm + cartridge + phono preamp) that works well with my system. Blues and rock mostly listened to.

[James Tanner]

Link:

http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/features/technical-topics/vinyl-vs.-cd---a-running-commentary.html

james

[vegasdave]

Very informative! I look forward to reading the rest...

[vegasdave]

Both McIntosh and Bryston are first class companies...but Bryston is tops in my book. On another forum, people say Bryston is bright and dry. Also, reports that Rotel and Adcom (ha!) are just as good. They're dead wrong. Bryston is very accurate, so component matching is crucial. Once that's done, you have a very musical experience.

I've heard the same things you have.  In a way, they're right.  Bryston can sound bright and dry.  Adcom and Rotel can be just as good.  When does this happen?  When they connect inferior gear to it.  Use a bright and dry source or recording, and Bryston will give you bright and dry.  Compare Adcom or Rotel directly to Bryston using the same bad source or speakers, and Bryston will sound just as bad.  It doesn't add or take away anything.  That's what gear should do, yet so many other companies mess it up.

People ask me what synergizes best with Bryston.  My answer - everything.  Its about as neutral as it comes.  Whatever is connected - on either end - will sound the way it was designed to sound, for better or for worse.  I've heard Bryston gear with just about everything, and it always sounded as good or bad as what it was connected to.  No more, no less.

Exactly. I auditioned a pair of $2000 Phase-Tech speakers, and they sounded closed-in and muffled. It wasn't my Bryston gear at fault. Because I then bought my current speakers (JBL Studio L890s) and they are open and alive.

They're not the greatest speakers, but with the 4BSST and BP6P behind it, they sound comparable to speakers costing twice as much.