Κώστας Φ.
Truth hurts. Here's a teddy bear.
- Μηνύματα
- 8.978
- Reaction score
- 895
Το "όλα σε ένα" είναι μόδα απ'ότι φαίνεται... Όλο και συχνότερα βλέπουμε τους hi-end κατασκευαστές να παρουσιάζουν λύσεις πανάκριβων ολοκληρωμένων, φορτωμένων με καλούδια όπως DAC, phono κ.α. Η Βryston δε μπορούσε να μείνει έξω απο το χορό. Πάντως, κρίνοντας απο το παρακάτω review, δεν φαίνεται να έχουν κάνει παραχωρήσεις όσον αφορά την ποιότητα κατασκευής και την απόδοση της συσκευής.
Oh, τιμή του υπο δοκιμή ενισχυτή: $4400
Απο τον Larry Greenhill του Stereophile.
"...the Bryston B100-DA SST, which is three separate components in one slim chassis: a DAC, a preamplifier, and a 100Wpc power amplifier. (An MM phono module is also available.) Has serving all of these different functions compromised its sound?
...
The power-amplifier section of the B100-DA SST ($4395 as reviewed; I didn't specify the phono option) is based on the 2B-SST, Bryston's 100W basic two-channel power amp. It offers dual-mono architecture with two 250VA toroidal transformers; a third, smaller toroidal helps power the B100-DA's digital module. The amp contains over a dozen regulated or stabilized voltage supplies.
Ρemoving the B100-DA's top panel revealed excellent build quality: minimal point-to-point wiring, high-quality resistors and capacitors, and thick, double-sided, glass-epoxy printed-circuit boards with clear markings. The B100-DA's analog preamplifier uses multiple-pole relays to switch sources, and an integrated resistance network is used to control the unit's volume. All analog signal circuits are fully discrete and Bryston uses 0.1% metal-film resistors, polystyrene capacitors, and selects and matches transistors by hand to keep noise and distortion to absolute minimums.
The B100-DA's DAC is described in an article written by one of the company's customers, Jeff Switzer, that appeared in Vol.8 No.3 of the company's online newsletter . A digital signal input through the S/PDIF jacks on the B100-DA's rear panel is fed via impedance-matching transformers to a Cirrus Logic C58420 digital interface chip. This reduces jitter and upsamples the data from 16-bit/44.1kHz to 24/96. As Switzer states, "the upsampling process doesn't add any new data to that which came off the CD but it puts the data in a form which can better be used by the DAC." Another advantage is that a "new clock signal is applied which causes a significant reduction in jitter."
The D/A conversion is handled by a Crystal CS43122 chip. A digital low-pass filter is applied to the signal before its conversion to analog, and an analog filter afterward. The DAC's performance is tightly regulated by a separate filtered analog power supply with carefully routed grounds. The same circuitry can be found in Bryston's SP 2, the five-channel preamplifier and digital processor reviewed by Kalman Rubinson in his "Music in the Round" column in September 2006 (Vol.29 No.9). The only difference is that the B100-DA's DAC reclocks and resamples the digital input.
...
Conclusions
I'm excited about Bryston's B100-DA SST integrated amplifier. Not only is it a rugged and reliable amplifier with a 20-year warranty, it's small, compact, and with the DAC option, it will integrate well with an audio system based on a centralized, wirelessly delivered music library. Whether playing music from a hard drive, or downloaded, or streamed from such services as Pandora.com or Rhapsody.com, the owner of a B100-DA will be able to tap an excellent sonic source.
Sonically, the B100-DA has much of the 4B-SST's character, with its bass definition and speed, openness of high frequencies, and soundstage width, lacking only the 4B-SST's deep-bass punch and greater macrodynamics.While it's easier to warm up to an amplifier with a seductively captivating midrange, such as the much more expensive VTL S-400 ($20,000/pair), the B100-DA is much more neutral and can also throw one of the deepest, broadest soundstages of any amplifier I've heard.
And for streaming digital sources, I'll take the B100-DA's tonal neutrality, conveniences, small size, easy installation, built-in DAC, and backlit remote. Combine all of those features with the B100-DA's bass definition, wide soundstaging, and open highs, and I can hear the music's subtlest details through my Quad ESL-989s. Like Bryston's own 14B-SST and 4B-SST, their little B100-DA SST integrated amplifier connects me to what I truly love in my music collection, and proves that multiple audio functions can work well in a small package."
Και απο το κομμάτι των εργαστηριακών μετρήσεων:
"The Bryston B100-DA offers a lot of functionality for a relatively modest price. Commendably, its performance has not been compromised in any one area to achieve that functionality. The amplifier should not be used by those wanting to play their music at high powers with loudspeakers whose impedance drops much below 4 ohms, but that's not really a significant limitation. I was impressed by what I found." -- John Atkinson
Full Review
