The reduced size of the Nagra BPS phono preamplifier is the immediate result of using completely solid-state technology, less costly to implement than for the valve version.

The BPS electronics consumes so little that it operates on a single 9-volt battery with a life expectancy of about 100 hours. It is thus possible to renounce the usual Nagra very-low-noise external power supply that is complex and expensive to manufacture.
The Nagra BPS enjoys an attractive positioning thanks to a simplified approach as regards functions. Nagra however retained the popular load adaptation found on the VPS model, which allows to obtain, with small plug-in modules, the desired matching between the phono preamp and the specific cartridge used on the turntable arm.
The equipment supports either moving-coils (MC) or moving-magnet cartridges (MM) by means of appropriate switching.

Assembled on a single motherboard, the electronics use exclusively discrete and military-type components (JAN standard). The amplification is provided by selected and matched bipolar transistors. The capacitors on the signal path are of audiophile quality and the precision resistors are MELF (Metal Electrode Leadless Face). Versatile, simple and easy to use, it is intended to work with the best modern turntable units.

Nagra BPS – Stereophile Jun 2009 – PDF Click to download