Controls and Connections
The BDP-1 weighs only 12 lbs, and its outer dimensions of 17" wide by 2.75" high by 11" deep match those of Bryston's BCD-1 CD player and BDA-1 DAC. Its aluminum front panel features two USB (A) ports grouped at the left. Toward the center of the panel is an infrared (IR) sensor that can be used with Bryston's BR-2 remote control ($350). A two-row alphanumeric display sits at the center of the panel. Farther to the right is a diamond-shaped file/folder navigation keypad with which the user can find music files stored on user-supplied USB data devices. To the…
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First, I was directed to connect the BDP-1 to the Internet. I ran a CAT5 patch cable from the BDP-1 to my home network's router. Then I had to access the player's internal software from a networked PC. The manual explained how to display the BDP-1's network-assigned numeric IP address (192.168.1.7) by simultaneously pressing the Up and Left keys on the front panel. Plugging the IP address into my browser instantly brought up the BDP-1's internal home page; from there, I could pull up its settings menu for upgrading the player.
Then I was asked for the BDP-1's user name and password. I…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Digital music-file player running modified Linux operating system. File formats accepted: AIFF, FLAC, WAV, MP3, M4A, OGG. Word depths supported: up to 24 bits. Sample rates supported: 44.1–192kHz. Digital input ports: 4 USB 2.0. Digital outputs: S/PDIF (75 ohm BNC, female), AES/EBU (3-pin XLR, female). Control inputs: RS-232 port via 9-pin subminiature connector; two 3.5mm 2-conductor phone jacks for implementing remote 12V power on/off trigger. Output impedance: 75 ohms BNC, 110 ohms AES/EBU. Jitter: master-clock standard deviation, <20…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Digital Sources: USB 2.0 flash drives, external USB HDD; NetGear WN-350 wireless router connected to BDP-1 with Ethernet cable; iPhone 4 used for control; Bryston BDA-1 D/A converter.
Preamplifier: Bryston BP-26.
Power Amplifiers: Mark Levinson No.334 & No.532H.
Loudspeakers: Snell Phantom B7, Quad ESL-989.
Cables: Digital: Bryston, Hosa AES/EBU; Wireworld Starlight Coaxial S/PDIF. Interconnect: Mark Levinson Silver, Red Rose Silver One, Totem Acoustic Sinew (single-ended); Pure Silver Cable, Bryston (balanced). Speaker: QED X-TUBE 400…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I examined the measured behavior of the Bryston BDP-1 using the Audio Precision SYS2722 system (see www.ap.com and "As We See It" in the January 2008 issue), as well as the Miller Audio Research Jitter Analyzer. I played test tones, at various sample rates and bit depths, that I'd copied to a USB memory stick and plugged into one of the BDP-1's two front-panel USB ports. For the analog-domain jitter measurements (footnote 1), I fed the BDP-1's AES/EBU data output to our original review sample of the Bryston BDA-1 D/A processor (serial number 00100) via the 2'…
The name Ayre Acoustics is always associated in my mind with preamplifiers; the Colorado company's second product was the K-1 preamplifier, which was reviewed for Stereophile by Wes Phillips in March 1997, and it followed the Ayre pattern in being fully balanced and using no overall loop negative feedback. Ayre's cofounder and chief engineer, Charlie Hansen, hates feedback with a passion.
The K-1 cost $5250 when it was introduced at the end of 1996, which was not inexpensive. By the time Paul Bolin reviewed the K-1x in 2002, the price had risen to $6750; and in 2007, when WP wrote about…
I wasn't happy about a decrease in the measured performance of an 'upgraded' product, no matter how much better it sounded. So we went through a long period of developing a circuit using bipolar transistors that would sound as good as the JFETs. We were finally able to do this, but at the cost of an extremely complex circuit. The final result was a great-sounding design [it's used in the QB-9—Ed.], but it was simply too complex to retrofit to the K-5xe in a manageable fashion.
So we are plundering our precious stash of Toshiba JFETs to make the MP upgrade to the K-5xe. It measures great…
But inserting the K-5xeMP into my system was a pleasant surprise, in that much of what I had appreciated about the much-higher-priced preamps had been preserved. In particular, the palpability of images and the sense of musical flow that had so impressed me with both the Simaudio P-8 and the Ayre KX-R was present with the K-5xeMP. Its deathly quiet backgrounds allowed the K-5xeMP to step out of the way of the music. Although it's become an audio-reviewing cliché, the Ayre's "blacks" were indeed blacker than the norm.
This allowed me to both clearly hear faults in recordings and, having…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Solid-state, remote-controlled line preamplifier with: 2 balanced inputs, 2 unbalanced inputs, balanced and unbalanced outputs; 66-step FET-switched volume control with 1dB step size; integral Ayre power-line RFI filter; and Theater mode. Frequency range: DC–200kHz. Maximum voltage gain: 4dB unbalanced, 10dB balanced. Maximum input level: 4V RMS unbalanced, 8V RMS balanced. Input impedance: 20k ohms unbalanced, 40k ohms balanced. Output impedance: 55 ohms unbalanced, 110 ohms balanced. Power consumption: 10W.
Dimensions: 17.25" (440mm) W by 4.75…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Digital Sources: Ayre Acoustics C-5xeMP & DX-5 universal players; G4 Mac mini running OS10.5.8, iTunes 10, Pure Music 1.74; Shuttle PC with dual-core AMD Athlon processor running Windows 7, Foobar 2000, Adobe Audition 3.0; dCS Debussy D/A converter.
Preamplifiers: Ayre Acoustics K-5xe, Parasound Halo JC 2, Simaudio Moon Evolution P-8.
Power Amplifiers: Classé CTM-600, Lamm M2.2 monoblocks; Musical Fidelity AMS100, Simaudio Moon Evolution W-7.
Loudspeakers: Harbeth P3ESR, BBC LS3/5a, Thiel SCS4T, Audience Clairaudient 2+2, Linn Majik 140.…