Bryston BCD-3

[music_man]

I was wondering how this is as a transport. I am testing the Yamaha S2100 and S3000. Which are the same as a transport. Not sure if I should consider the Bryston?

I do not want to spend a lot on a spinner in this room. I have better ones elsewhere.

The Yamahas look better built to me which is what counts for a transport. the dealer says I should look at the Bryston as well. It may sound very good out of it's own outputs but it does not look that impressive to me. Although looks can be deceiving.

 

[music_man]

I see this is not popular. I might be more interested in the little Mcintosh transport. Which is probably much better built. I was not sure if the Bryston is over priced or what but it seems no one has discussed it anywhere. The drawer does not look great either but better than most CD-Rom drives. The two poles should keep it from flexing but that is cheating imo. Apparently they are not big enough to design an in house mechanism. Sure Meridian uses CD-Rom drives but that is a different story. Somehow they pull off great sound. I am afraid the Bryston just is not worth $3,500. You can buy better built machines for that unless you are in love with it's sound.

 

[treebug]

I have the BCD-3. Build quality is excellent, feels solid. The disc tray is all metal according to Bryston, although it does have a plastic feel about it. It does open and close smoothly and quietly on metal runners though. The buttons are plastic, which I was a little disappointed about considering the price. Also, considering the price I feel the remote control (BR-2) should have been included (UPDATE 2023: a metal remote control is now included!). Great sound though. Wide soundstage, detailed, you hear what's on the disc. I'm very happy with it but in my opinion it is over priced.
UPDATE 2023: I sold this player and then came back to it last year. Will be keeping it now as it's my favourite player, having tried many others of similar price.

 

[music_man]

I did not see this, thank you. I would gather the Yamaha is better. Issue is limited height. they have an open box so maybe ill just get it. The tray is what I was worried about and you just confirmed it. I also do not know what transport it is. This is very important to jitter. If you say it sounds good though, does not matter. I do agree new it is over priced. Look at the Yamaha S2100 and a different quality level for same price if you have room. It is physically much larger than the Bryston.

 

[treebug]

Transport is the StreamUnlimited JPL-2800, if that helps! Works quickly and quietly when loading a disc and playing. The disc tray is all metal, not a cheap flimsy thing. I was just surprised at this price level at the amount of plastic on the player and thought the buttons would be metal. I have tried Yamaha's in the past but was never all that thrilled, well detailed sound but I found timbre was lacking. Well built though. The one I tried (forgotten which model) had a solid aluminium disc tray and was very smooth.
Edited 2023!