bryston bp-26 VS cambridge 840e

I have seen a diagram of a Bryston pre amp with XLR inputs. Funny thing is, the pre amp is not of a balanced design. I don't know if they changed that. But I always feel kind of cheated when an amp or CD player has balanced in and outputs but the design is just a standard design and the use an IC to convert XLR to RCA.

having owned a variety of Bryston products over the years and a BP-26/14BSST combo (the preamp on loan) I can attest to the synergy between their preamps & amps. Never having listened to the Cambridge its not really fair of me to say you are moving backwards but if the BP-26 is too "neutral" for you (which BTW its designed to be) then maybe you are looking for a "different" type of presentation?

I agree that if you want to stay with solid state and don't want to change your amp there are other choices out there and not necessarily better ones. You might want to consider a tube preamp if you are looking to warm (some people say color) things up a bit?

If reviews mean something to you you should review all the great reviews on the Bryston website

What are you looking for that you think the BP-26 is not providing?

I've had the BP-6 in my system, which is identical to the BP-26 minus the balanced connections and separate power supply, and I found very little if anything to fault. I would think you'd have to go much further up the price chain to get substantial improvements, but if you demo the Cambridge I'd be curious to hear what you find.