Beresford Bushmaster DAC

[jandl100]

Whee! 100 pages!

Not directly, Hamish, but I've tried a number of sources from my new Pioneer Blu-ray player as a transport (CDs, DVD-As, SACDs) and they all sound very good. The BM can't match my Ayre C-5xe MP player with its minimum phase filter, but then that's a very unfair comparison (£4k versus £200 = 5% of the price). What the BM loses to the Ayre is ultimate dynamic clout.

Interesting comment, Martin.

I guess I am not an "ultimate dynamic clout" kind of listener. I know a lot of folks are, though.
Having said that, I do listen to a bit of Big Music and I haven't heard any shortfall with the BM - on the contrary, as Martin says with his AV listening, it's very impressive!

For me, the transparent view into the recording space, the subtleties of low level detail, the insight into the musicians' intent, now that I am getting more familiar with the BM's presentation place the BM at the top of the digital pedestal for me. And that's compared to some very expensive competition.

As always, it depends on what you want and what you are listening out for. And system synergy probably counts for a lot, too.

The Ayre CX-7E cdp I had was certainly a pace'n'rhythm king, but it didn't do it for me in other ways. But then your 5XE is a fair old step up from the 7XE, I think.
EDIT: see post below also.