it does what it does and it does it well,but nothing about it overshines any other preamp in its price area.....
I think this requires a bit of comment. The BP-26 is based on the “straight wire with gain” philosophy, with a presentation that shares the characteristics of Bryston’s other products (clarity, ‘colorlessness’, cleanliness and macro-dynamics). I think what you’re trying to express is that a number of people want an active pre-amp to add additional characteristics to the presentation (greater ‘shading’, ‘body’, ‘bloom’, for example, apologies for the vague terms). However, if you plug your CDP direct to the amp, and then compare how the sound changes with the BP26 in the chain versus others, chances are that the BP26 sounds closer to the directly plugged CDP - it may not necessarily be the most ‘enjoyable’ or 'easy' to listen to on less than perfect recordings, but it proves its “straight wire” design philosophy, which is exactly its point.