how does the membership here find Bryston? *

Made my day! Thanks!

D.D.

 

Too forward and clinical for my tastes.

 

I really don't know what "clinical" sounds like?
Could you describe a clinical audio sound.

 

Lol wtf

 

clinical is analytical?

kind of like a primary/high grade school student reading a essay vs a DJ speaking during broadcast. lack of emotion, mid-voice, rhythm, dynamism against details, accuracy, etc

 

If that's what my bryston sounded like I would use them for boat anchors but gladly they don't IMHO .
So I'll enjoy them
And thanks for the directions to Peterborough Ontario

 

Again, they're very detailed (clinical is the wrong word really, there is emotion there) not "warm and fuzzy" at all...which I suppose (not sure) is more your tastes.

 

When I wanted to buy magnepan 3.6 speakers, I realized one of the most suggest to use amps were Brystom.
Lucky for me my local dealer carried both brands.

My previous amp, a Forte' 4a was very musical, and had a lot of positive reviews testifying to such.
Mainly I am a big treble freak, and the treble has to be perfect for me to be happy. Plus clarity.
Listening to the Bryston I was pleased with it. It was better sounding than the Forte' 4a.

IMO the Bryston is very neutral. Any upgrades I add through it, the amp passes on through with ease.
Ditto for the Bryston BP-26 preamp.

I would not say the earlier amps, like 4B are in the same league.

I did add a VAC Standard tube preamp as a glorified tube buffer for my digital stuff. Spending the money on the tubed device instead of a larger fortune i=on better digital gear. (and I am very happy with the results)

 

Cold, analytical, not musical.

 

Looks like typical forum consensus to me, Steve.

 

"Hate music"? I didn't know electronics had feelings.

What Bryston products do is to not add anything, euphonic or dysphonic. If the recording is harsh, you hear harsh. The machine is doing what it is told to do.

That said, with phono stages, matching the cart to the input is everything, and with the standard RCA cable from the table to the pre, there is deliberate longitudinal imbalance (a telecom term, please Google it) and you often get not only a mismatch but an asymmetrical mismatch. So, depending on the type of cartridge, arm wiring, cables and the characteristic impedance of the front end of the phono stage, it could well be that the Bryston might not be an ideal match at all. I have no idea of what their circuits look like, as I recall they don't publish schematics until the beast is old enough they are out of warranty if I remember right.

 

Their speakers are getting great reviews. And (even though they are not what you would call inexpensive) I've heard feedback that they punch way above their price class.

 

I got a 14BSST when they first came out, and I've been happy with it for about 12 years. It is unflappable, exceedingly clean, has incredible bass control, and to my ears it's very musical -- and I do NOT like icy, clinical, or etched sound. It replaced a conrad-johnson MOSFET amp, and was better in every way.

I recently heard an all-Bryston system (BDA-2, BP-26, 4BSST2) driving a pair of Aerial 7Ts, and the sound was fabulous. Authoritative, musical, spacious, and clean.

 

Ive learned a new terminology to describe an audio sound.
"Clinical"
Have never heard that one before and if the definition of it is indeed cold -analytical - not musical then why are so many others on this thread not saying the same.
People on this site seem to throw descriptive around like it is easy for someone else to make sense of something they've got in there head.
If anything the opinion of bryston's sound being clinical is a clinical opinion in itself.
IMHO .
Thanks for asking Steve.
Your's truly
"One of Steve's guys"

 

Btw...
I find bryston by going to my living room and standing in front of my stereo system...

 

I find them accurate reliable transparent. As is the case with many solid-state amps. Some people don't like that and want distortion.

 

"'Steve Hoffman' guys", did I miss the memo? How do you join?
If I find Bryston, am I in?

 

NOW THATS FUNNY!!!

 

Use 6 of them and crossovers to power a PMC rig. They sound great! Very reliable too. We leave 'em on all the time...

 

That's the standard reply from about the Bryston house sound from Bryston, Bryston afficionados and frankly, I've used it myself in the past. It's like the mythology around the incredible synergy between Bryston and PMC speakers which in reality has its roots in the fact that Bryston was the PMC distributor for North America until a few years ago while PMC continues to be the Bryston distributor on that side of the pond. The gear has a house sound, make no mistake. It's less pronounced in the recent SST2 amplifiers than it once was but it's still there and an all- Bryston system really brings that sonic signature to the forefront. If you like that sound, than you're going to be really happy. What I realized when I compared my Bryston monoblocks against some other amps was that for all the talk of detail, the resolution wasn't all that stellar. Much fine detail was being lost or smeared. The soundstage was not particularly impressive. The bass wasn't all I had thought it to be and the top end ... well, that's usually what gets people going about Bryston. For a reason. But you don't notice all that until you side-by-side with other gear if it's what you've grown accustomed to.

The power conditioners are re-badged Torus so hard to go wrong.

The digital stuff? I owned a BCD-1 and it was a quirky little machine that was good value when it came out but got pricey and then got pulled when the Phillips Redbook-only drive which it was built around ceased production. I know several people who have either the BDA-1/BDP-1 or BDA-2 /BDP 2 combos. the BDA is much improved now that they've gone to the new chip. The BDP's work well if you avoid Bryston's balky, nasty software.

I auditioned the Model T speakers when they first came out. Personally I found them to have an over-emphasized bottom and the tweeters were not good. They've since changed the tweeters so I guess I wasn't alone. The cabinetry on the pair I auditioned ( which were covered in vinyl with veneer available for an upcharge ) was visibly flawed. They weren't at a low-enough price point to make that kind of fit and finish anywhere near acceptable but one would hope it was an isolated example. Still, how did that get past Axiom's QC?.

I think I've expressed my opinion already about the preamps and I stand by it. Including ( and especially ) the SP3.

Look- this is largely a matter of personal taste as far as the sonics are concerned. And as I said, the gear is good value for money - the amps in particular are a lotta watts for not much money in comparison to a lot of high-end gear. I just have heard too much of the Bryston gear in too many systems and know too many people with Bryston systems to buy into that "ultimate neutrality "
argument anymore. It just isn't so.


D.D.

 

I used a 3bst with a tubed pre for quite a while. Enjoyed it before I wentall- tubes

 

If Bryston could only find a way to get those cool blue VU meters on their amps, like my McIntosh have, then I might re-consider them, otherwise, those drab looking silver boxes that they call amps, are "el-stinkeru"!