I had a small gathering at my house yesterday and one of the guys (OgOgilby aka Greg) was nice enough to bring over his BDP-1/BDA-1 combo. We directly compared it to my Modwright Transporter with all upgrades + NOS tubes.
Let me cut to the chase...the Bryston combo clearly outperformed the Modwright in every way and took my system to a new level!
The Bryston combo had a very black background, which helped it produce a fast, detailed, and authoritative sound, while maintaining a very wide and deep sound stage. Highs were crisp, detailed, and extended and made the Modwright sound muted and blunt by comparison. The mid-range was crystal clear and it was easy to pick up all the little nuances and cues in the music we played. As for the bass...it rocked!! The heartbeat from the start of Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" felt like it was literally shaking my foundation! And this wasn't one note bass...it had speed, texture, and body. You could hear and feel the depth of the bass, whether it was in the piano, upright bass, or percussion instruments.
I thought going into it, that the Bryston combo might be too analytic or thin sounding, (especially since I am big time tube guy) but it wasn't. I would love to figure out a way to get more than a few hours with the combo so I could further evaluate its performance in my system (hint, hint James).
With all of the sonic accolades, there are a few issues on using the Bryston combo in my system.
I don't believe you can hook up a NAS device to the BDP-1. I have almost 7000 albums, and the thought of using 3-4 smaller external drives doesn't really appeal to me. Using 3-4 drives means that I have to use the front usb ports. Which means I have to see the cables plugged in. I now this sounds a little silly, but I don't like how that looks.
The BDP-1 can't output via USB. While the BDA-1 sounded very nice, I might want to pair a non-Bryston DAC with the BDP-1. Some of the DAC's that are on my short list sound best via their USB input (we briefly tried the BDP-1 with an Antelope Zodiac Gold DAC - it sounded better on some songs and not as good on others - more on that it a later time).
Overall, I was very impressed with the Bryston combo. It is very solidly made, is pleasing to the eye, and was easy and straightforward to use. I was sad to see Greg packing it up at the end of the day. It took my system to a higher level of performance and showed me that my weakest link is my digital front end.
Here are the components that make up my system:
Vandersteen 5A's in Birdsye Maple
Atma-Sphere MK 3.1 MA-1 amps with all upgrades and NOS tubes on Silent Running Audio platforms
Atma-Sphere MK 3.1 MP-1 preamp with almost all upgrades and NOS tubes on a Sistrum SP-4 rack
Modwright Transporter with all upgrades and NOS tubes on a Sistrum SP-4 rack
Furman Sound IT-REFERENCE 20i power conditioner on a Sistrum SP-4 rack
Pi Audio Uber Buss on a Sistrum SP-1 platform
Speltz Zeros in Birdseye Maple on Sistrum SP-4 platforms
Morrow Audio SP4 speaker cables (two runs)
Morrow Audio SP6 xlr ic's
Kaplan Cable conditioner power cords
Real Traps acoustical panels (8 Minitraps, 6 Tri-Corner traps, 2 Mondo traps, 3 Diffusors)
George
My Main System:
My Main System with the Bryston Combo:
