2. digital
  3. 1267276479

Bryston BCD-1 compared to more expensive players?

Just wondering if anyone has compared the Bryston cd player to players well beyond its price point..Like 4-5 times its price?? I currently have one on loan and I'm thinking it is quite amazing and have yet to hear anything as good around its price but have only directly compared it to an onkyo dx7555(completely out of the brystons league) and a Classe Cdp202-which I think it is also much better than, besides the Classe being a lot more expensive.
Any comments?

camali
foster_9
1,638 posts
 
I had a BCD-1, but I can only compare it from memory to a Sim Audio Nova, and the Modwright Sony 999. These players are nowhere near 4-5 times the cost of the BCD-1. They are however comparable at retail price. I would say that if it sounds good in your setup (you used the words "quite amazing"), to me that says the BCD-1 is a really strong match in your setup. Matching components well goes a long way towards achieving optimum performance. In fact, the toughest task in building a satisfying system is matching components well. The BCD-1 wasn't as good a match in my system, but I could still recognize its quality. Since it sounds "quite amazing" my advice is to buy it.
smargo's avatar
smargo
52 posts
 
i have had bcd-1 for at least 10 months - to me it is one of the top 3 players i have ever owned - i don't know if it compares to players 4-5 times its price - but it def sounds very good and it has hard hitting dynamics and has great seperation

It doesn't make bad recordings sound good (the old cliche) - but on good recordings it sounds marvelous
hazard
55 posts
 
I have a Bryston BCD-1 and I absolutely love it. I haven't compared it to anything else more expensive nor do I feel the need to. For one thing, I couldn't afford anything more expensive so it would be a waste of time. As far as I'm concerned, it's the best bang for the buck. I was using a Rotel RCD-1072 and the Bryston is far superior.
don_c55
1,025 posts
 
The Sony SCD-XA5400ES beats the Bryston BCD-1 at half the price in a head to head comparison!
stevecham
3,340 posts
 
Not to say anything negative about the Bryston, I previously owned Bryston pre and power amplification and was very happy with it until I evetually upgraded to the Krell FPB cx series. I did audition the BCD-1 last year and did some careful listening and feature comparisons to the Cambridge Audio 840c. While I felt they were close in audible performance, I also concluded that the feature/performance/$$$ ratio favored the Cambridge player and so I purchased one. The Bryston player's performance was solid though. It's just that I was looking for the sound and DACs that I got with the Cambridge.
More to discover