Bryston BHA-1 Headphone Amplifier

Description

MY TAKE:

Without a doubt, my favorite headphone amplifier at the price. Excellent performance across the board, really no weaknesses at all and backed by an industry-leading twenty-year warranty and a company that's been in business for over fifty years and! - Galen Carol

The Bryston BHA-1 headphone amplifier is specifically engineered as an audiophile solution for those who take their headphone listening very seriously. The BHA-1 is a fully discreet dual mono design which uses proprietary Class A circuitry. The BHA-1 will drive traditional 1/4" and 1/8" headphone inputs as well as fully balanced, and often less efficient, 4-pin stereo and dual left/right 3-pin output models. These connections are gold-plated for optimal connectivity. The BHA-1 is backed by Bryston’s legendary 20-year warranty.


REVIEWS:

Secrets of Home Theater and High-Fidelity: “The Bryston BHA-1 is an impeccably designed and solidly built amplification device for speakers that you just happen to wear on your head. It has a fastidiously clean and neutral sound quality with an abundance of power and connectivity options that will allow almost any headphone to shine on its own merits. If you are in the market for a top-class headphone amplifier and don’t need a built-in DAC, you really cannot go wrong with choosing the BHA-1. Highly recommended.”  – Carlo Lo Raso, Senior Editor.


Best Headphone Amplifier of 2017 - Secrets of Home Theater and High-Fidelity

 

Enjoy The Music: "Even from my very first sit down impression. The BHA-1 can recreate a huge amount of dynamic contrasts. This Can Jammer amplifier has tons of gain and sounds very nimble; it is quick clean and transitions loud and soft contrasts with ease.

"If I had to pick a winner here it would have to be the Bryston. It is a close match to the best in performance while offering superior versatility and value. It is the least expensive of the headamps here that support balanced operation, which I have found invaluable. Frankly I think it is under priced and with the recent addition of balanced preamp outputs I doubt it will stay at the original $1295 for long. I predict a smash hit for Bryston." - Phil Gold, Enjoy the Music. Headphone Amplifier Shootout


Home Theater Review: "Although there are many headphone amplifiers in the market, few have the features and performance of the Bryston BHA-1." - Steven Stone


Tone Audio: "At $1,395, this has to be one of the best audio buys going. The tonal quality, versatility as a headphone amplifier and the fact that it makes a killer preamplifier are three great reasons why the Bryston BHA-1 deserves one of our Exceptional Value Awards for 2013." - Tone Audio


The Audio Beat: "Subtlety, in fact, is one of the essential strengths of the BHA-1, whose remarkable satisfaction level is achieved not by overturning basic concepts of musical sound, but by living up to them. In this instance that means enabling any headphone connected to it to live up to its own full potential. It shows the recordings at their fullest and best, and overall provides the clarification and vividness that enable the listener to be more fully and happily engaged with the music than with the electronics involved in delivering it -- though very reassuringly aware of the improvement this unit provides, at a price that has little relation to its value." - The Audio Beat

FEATURES:

• Dual mono design
• High quality Noble volume control
• Fully discrete Class A Bryston op amps
• Balanced parallel outputs
• 4 pin stereo and dual left/right 3 pin outputs
• Stereo 1/4 inch and 1/8 - inch single ended stereo outputs
• 14dB gain available
• Plus or minus 33-volt rails
• Perfect for difficult-to-drive headphones (16 ohms and higher)
• Gold plated input and output connectors
• 50k input impedance

SPECIFICATIONS:

• 2 Ohms output impedance for each op-amp driver.

Load @ 600 Ohms

• Hi - 10.9V Out @ 001% Power 200 mW
• Lo - 5.45 V Out @ 001% Power 50 mW
• Lo - 2.50 V Out @ 001% Power 10 mW
• Lo - 788 mV Out @ 001%¹ Power 1 mW

Load @ 300 Ohms

• Hi - 10.8 V Out @ 001% Power 390 mW
• Lo - 5.40 V Out @ 001% Power 50 mW
• Lo - 1.79 V Out @ 001% Power 10 mW
• Lo - 583 mV Out @ 001%¹ Power 1 mW

Load @ 80 Ohms

• Hi - 10.4 V Out @ 002% Power 1.35 W
• Lo - 5.20 V Out @ 001% Power 383 mW
• Lo - 887 mV Out @ 001% Power 10 mW
• Lo - 345 mV Out @ 003% Power 1 mW

Load @ 32 Ohms

• Hi - 9.65 V Out @ 0.150% Power 2.9 W²
• Lo - 4.84 V Out @ 002% Power 732 mW
• Lo - 578 mV Out @ 001%¹ Power 10 mW
• Lo - 185 m V Out @ 005%¹ Power 1 mW
• Lo - 4.00 V Out @ 001% Power 500 mW³