I use a Phillips DVD963SA as a digital source and prefer the 2 channel bypass over digital. The digital input has good detail and sounds very clean but sounds a little thin. The analog bypass gives much more "air" around the instruments. Everything seems more like real instruments in a real recording space. Instruments seem to have more "weight" with the bypass. I had just the opposite results with an AVP2 that I previously had. That sounded significantly better through the digital input.
I don't mean this as a knock on the digital input of the Bryston, I just think that the analog input is extraordinarily good. One of the great things about this preamp is you have the option for analog bypass on every input. Overall I agree that the SP1.7 is an excellent preamp, especially if you have quality analog inputs (ie vinyl).
I don't mean this as a knock on the digital input of the Bryston, I just think that the analog input is extraordinarily good. One of the great things about this preamp is you have the option for analog bypass on every input. Overall I agree that the SP1.7 is an excellent preamp, especially if you have quality analog inputs (ie vinyl).