Bryston speakers

MEMO: To All Bryston Customers
SUBJECT: BRYSTON MINI T SPEAKER

BRYSTON MINI T - REPORT FROM THE TRENCHES:

Very first impressions initial listening: Direct swap out from B&W 802 setup: Using Naim HDX as source Listened to progressively more detailed, complex, and wider octave ranged music, about 20 tracks, about 2 minutes each on B&W first, then quick swap for Bryston Mini T.

On lighter, but very well recorded music, Mini T seemed lighter weight, BUT vocals were amazing in accuracy, depth, and even possibly clearer. As the music moved down into the 200hz range, with some drum work, conga, and newer recordings that weren’t studio compressed speakers seemed to come into their own.

Going to some re-mastered Rock, the speakers got fuller, but seemed in my mind to be about 2 dB shy of output of 802, which I was surprised as the 802’s suck up power. (Pot was at same level). Detailed, but less forward jazz music seemed to favor the B&W…but of course we are talking cabinets that have 3X the volume, more drivers, and cost 4X as much as the Mini. So I decided to goose the volume pot a drop…VOILLA ! WOW, these things COOK! I have a few very strenuous tracks in my test run, from Jaco Pastorious, to Airto & Micky Hart, and finally Pancho Sanchez who along with his percussive works, has an organ that moves your innards.

I could not believe the output of these little speakers. Not bloated, not tubby, and as much as I tried all type of vocal, I think they might be slightly better than the 802 in this 200hz-1000Hz range. Crossover components ? Driver ? Combination ? but a hair more articulate. I tried all type of male from the Velvet Fog, to james Taylor, Mick Jagger, Satchmo, Ray Charles & more…to many old school female voices, to the newer ones like Krall of course…VERY SMOOTH clean at about 88dB, and very articulate.I did play a remake of the famous test disc from the 80’s, Limehouse blues, from Jazz at the Pawnshop, that I think I have heard 100 times, if I heard it once. the background noises, were extremely clean and articulate. Al the speech was well defined. I attribute this to the cross-over points, not effecting the critical vocal range, and what is obviously a very tight patterned mid-range driver. I am assuming the distortion on this driver is very low.

For this price, this is a grand slam of a product in the World Series of speakers !

More to come.
Wayne
 
James Tanner - Bryston said:
Have not got my copy yet but the November issue of Absolute Sound has a review of the Bryston Mini T speaker.

james
Click to expand...

James,

I received my printed issue today, the same day you emailed about the Mini T review. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed! Not a negative comment in it. He describes the monitors as studio monitors in the best sense, and has nothing but praise and admiration for your approach to accurate design throughout the review.

Congratulations!

I hope some reviews are in the works for your full-sized monitors as well.

Cheers,

Bob Sykes
 
Hi Folks,

Working on some new pictures of the Bryston Speaker products – please see attached ... a sample.
Walnut finish Model T Signature with XL Outriggers.

James


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MEMO: To All Bryston Customers
SUBJECT: Bryston Full System Customer Report

BRYSTON MINI T LOUDSPEAKERS

Hi Folks

Musical jewels!

That was my impression after an active listening of this Mini T model. Wow. It was magical. I've passed a wonderful 3 hours (I will have to return as it wasn't enough long) with Rick Bastedo, sale agent, Hi-Fi Specialist of Cox's Audio in Fredericton (New Brunswick).

I'm in process to buy a complete new sound system. Start from the beginning as I just have right now my Apple (computer with ITunes Library) and the Sonos Play 5 (bought there, at Cox's last year). Everything we have listened yesterday night was Bryston (including the DAC and the converter) except the CD Player. I had a bias perception against Bryston amplifier and other of your products. Don't know why exactly, perhaps some Magazines Critics in the past. Who knows?

But this listening session yesterday with some of my favourites CD and records was astonishing. Unfortunately, I don't have the budget right now to buy the Mini-T, your integrated amplifier and the converter and the DAC. So I will have to choose.

Again, bravo for this accomplishment. You have a pretty good salepersonne with Rick Bastedo, of Cox's Radio. He knows your product very well. I'm still flabbergasted by the superiority of your DAC and Converter compare to a listening with a CD. Wow. Marvellous. Indeed, Canada is going to become an audiophile and Hi-Fi product reference - A world leader in this sector Why not? Again, bravo for this so good Mini T Bookshelf speakers. Their bigger brother should be a jaw dropping experience when you listen to it.

Keep the good work!

Beno ït A. Lanteigne
 
BRYSTON MINI T SPEAKER - CUSTOMER FEEDBACK

November 2013

1. SNORGY • 2 days ago:

Having just bought a pair of Mini T’s , with stands, several months ago, what I can say is that the Mini Ts play much larger than they look.
Listening to them on their stands, blindfolded, a person would have no way of telling them apart from a pair of high quality floor standing towers. If the person was then to remove the blindfold, he or she would find it difficult to believe that *THAT* came out of *THOSE*.

I first paired them with a vintage HK PM665 integrated amplifier, and I can honestly say it was, to my ears, the most perfectly matched amplifier-speaker combination that I have heard in three decades. They do want power, but if the power is available - within reason - these things will scare you before you scare them.

Simply put, these are the best "small" speakers I have heard in a long, long time.



2. Steve Michaelson - 6 hours ago

Heard these last month along with the ModelTs. The Brystons are amongst the best speakers I have heard at any price. Literally stunned me.
 
Hi Folks,

I got a copy of a review in a major magazine that reviewed the Bryston Mini T's, BP17 Preamp and 28B SST2 amps as a complete Bryston system.

Here is a sneak preview:

My experience with this system (Bryston Mini T speakers, BP17 preamp and 28BSST² amplifiers ) has forever reshaped my reference and I look forward to comparing other systems to this benchmark.
 
MEMO: To All Bryston Customers
SUBJECT: Bryston Mini T Speaker Review – Soundstage Magazine

Hi Folks,

New review from Soundstage Magazine on the Bryston Mini T loudspeaker!

My favorite comment:

“Their sound was uncolored -- neither forward nor recessed, fat nor thin, romantic nor analytical. In what was basically an all-Bryston system, the Mini Ts were simply conduits at the end of a disinterested signal chain that reproduced music with clarity, a sense of ease, and excellent soundstaging”.

Please see link:
SoundStage! Access | SoundStageAccess.com (GoodSound.com) | Bryston Mini T Loudspeakers

James Tanner
Bryston
 
The Bryston Mini T – A New Reference

Over four decades ago, I took my first steps into a special form of insanity: I became a novice audiophile. It is a craziness that consists of reaching for an unreachable end, the sound of “live” music through a process that is entirely artificial, manufactured, in other words, reproduced sound. It is not unlike the insanity of trying to find the “real” potato chip in a highly processed one. The processed one can be delightful, but it can never be a real one. It is an image, a reproduction designed to imitate a real one. Being a audiophile is to become Jason pursuing the Golden Fleece, but knowing that it is unattainable. It is the chase and the stops along the way that keep you going. And on that journey, you have lots of good times and some bad ones. On occasion in chasing the Fleece, you get distracted and end up being fleeced purchasing gimmicks touted to have magical effects.

As a novice audiophile, I was advised to start with the speakers. Buy the best ones you can afford, with best meaning the ones whose sound you like the best, and then buy the electronics. It has been good advice to which I've adhered. I've owned a number of speakers and a lot of excellent electronics, most of which bear the Bryston logo. But the greatest changes always have come with changes in speakers. Early on, I looked for speakers that were linear or balanced, meaning that no frequency range dominated over any other. It was only years later that I added other useful criteria: accuracy, transparency, depth in the sound stage, pinpoint imaging. One knowledgeable audiophile has noted, correctly I believe, that a reference speaker for consumers means the one they like the best. If you are an audiophile, it also is a good idea to like speakers that are accurate, transparent, etc. because the whole point of your hobby (obsession?) is to get a close as possible to what the producers of the sound recording decided to release. If you're on the quest to get near the Golden Fleece of “real” (meaning to get out of the recording exactly what was put into it) you need to have the elements of “real” in as part of your mindset. Ironically, you can love the sound of your speakers, but they should not have any sound of their own. You don't want your glasses to be rose coloured unless all you want to see is roses. You don't want speakers that are all bass unless all you want to hear is bass.

Several years ago, I bought, twice, very expensive and beautiful sounding speakers that were highly coloured (a bass bias). Seduced by a beautiful sounding, but not accurate bass, I had drifted from my early goal of linear and when I finally heard much less expensive but very linear speakers in a side-by-side test, it was a shock. Being out many thousands of dollars, it was difficult to admit that I had misplaced my love. Those beautiful speakers are now gone. It was a pricey mistake, but through it I re-learned that in audio price is not a predictor of performance. This lesson was first taught to me as a Bryston owner. In the high end audio market, there is a segment that caters to those customers who equate price to performance because there are enough rich people who do as well. Bryston, on the other hand, apparently believes there are enough people who are willing to pay for the highest quality product possible, even if that means charging a price lower than could be gotten from rich people. And Bryston has never been willing to squeeze an extra buck out of its customers by attracting them with bling.

It's not surprising then that I was one of the early buyers of the fabulous, bling-free Bryston Model T. It is driven by an all Bryston system: a pair of 7BSST2 amplifiers, BDA1, BDP-1, BIT15 Power Conditioner (under the Torus label). My sound room is fairly good in size and shape, if not ideal.

The Model T is now my reference speaker. Linear, accurate, etc. All I wanted. And more. A critical “more.” Presence - the sense that musicians are playing in the room. I never heard that before in my present or past sound rooms, or indeed in any demo of any speaker I've heard. If the elusive Golden Fleece is to hear “real” music, it is hard for me to conceive how much closer an audiophile can get to this.

So now my main system, the Sound room/Model T/Bryston electronics system, is my reference. I recognize that various applications and their respective environments inherently will be different from my main system environment. But still, I weigh the performance of my car stereo, my headphones, my home theatre my mobile devices with my headphones against my ModelT-based system. Where I find differences, I adjust these other systems, often through equalization, to achieve a closer approximation to my reference system. For example, after buying a number of headphones, I have found that Shure's new SE846 to be as close is possible for a headphone to get to the Model T sound, without EQ. They now are my reference headphones against which I judge other headphones, recognizing that no headphone can sound exactly like speakers that use walls instead of ear canals for acoustic effects.

Recently I decided to attach better speakers to my laptop. Using an Outlaw receiver and B&W 685 bookshelf speakers I got a good result. I added an AudioQuest Dragonfly DAC and it got better. But the audiophile itch is always there. How to make it better? My answer usually has been Bryston, and I was impressed by a recent review by a professional in audio mastering who used Bryston Mini as near field speakers, which is what speakers are in my computer set up. That set up is located at the far end of my sound room. The Mini Ts are about 3-5 inches from an angled wall. Not a great arrangement when compared to the placement at the other end with my Model T. I knew that sound driven through a noisy laptop and a receiver is going to be handicapped when compared to my main system. The B&W 685s sounded good. Voices were trust forward, and as is typical of B&W, the sound, especially in the treble region, was sweet. But to get anything approximating the Model T set up, I had to do quite a bit of equalization, and even then (or because of it) it was not very good bass.

In view of the limitations of the location and the associated electronics, I bet the Mini T would perform better than the B&W685, but not as well as it does.

The Mini T instantly solved the bass problem, as I expected and hoped. Very close to the Model T sound, albeit without (again as expected) as much depth and weight. I was worried about that the rear ports being so close to the wall would mess up the bass. No problem: no flab or boominess. Visceral. Robust. Controlled. Enchanting. And not a smidgen of EQ. It is not surprising how many reviewers have commented on the T bass in all models. Despite all the other problems using speakers in this location and with these electronics, the Mini T more than approximated my Model T sound in terms of linearity, transparency accuracy, and pinpoint imaging. They may as well be Model Ts. But there is no overcoming the unavoidable reality of this placement and application. The depth is more shallow and the width of the soundstage is narrower. These differences are inevitable.

There is one major point where the Mini T does not approach or approximate my Model T setup. Presence. I believe this is because of the placement lacking the dynamics of normal distances from walls. It may be if I were to set the Mini Ts where the Model T is now, I might find that it, too, has presence. Some reviewers have been so impressed with the Mini T that they prefer it in some respects to the Model T. I doubt that this would be my preference, especially given the inevitable differences in the bass end, where the T has three 8” drivers to the Mini's one. Moreover, I don't expect or need this use of the Mini T to produce an exact copy of my main system's sound. I can turn around, get up, sit in my easy chair, and crank up the main system and listen to the reference Model T system. The merit of getting close to the sound quality and sound signature of the main system is to use a different application, as I do my Shure SE846 with mobile devices over WiFi, without feeling I've sacrificed a great deal.

What is not sacrificed at all with the Mini T used with my computer system is the kind of enjoyment I get with the Model T system. There are telltale signs when the sound is right to my ear and consistent with my predilections. First, in listening to my raft of old favourites, I get the “shiver.” That knee-jeck emotional response that makes music great and systems that produce it so appealing. The Mini Ts in my testing did this over and over. Second, if I am doing something while listening to music (reading, writing pieces like this one), and the sound draws me away to it, I know I have something special special. This is one the qualities that the Model T and Mini T share in equal measure.

The bottom line is this: the Mini T is a terrific speaker that can make even bad locations, standard electronics, and plain Jane computers sound wonderful. It is now my reference computer speaker, and I wouldn’t be surprised that for many others it will become their main system reference speaker.

Dave
 
Thanks James. Can you give us MSRP on the "A" lineup? They look like winners!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
 
Sent: Friday, January 31, 2014 7:56 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: OCF –Bryston Mini T's

“Hi James

I had the opportunity to listen to a pair of your Bryston Mini T speakers.

They have ruined me as now everything else (speaker wise) I listen to sounds pale in comparison.

Well done on your foray into the speaker market.”

Charles Morrisey
Via the Bryston Contact Form
 
Hi Charles,

Thank you for your kind comments - I will pass them along.

Where did you hear the speakers?

James

Hi.

Thanks for the reply. Last weekend I was in Fredericton visiting friends, one of whom is Rick Bastedo who works for Cox Electronics. He mentioned he had some speakers that were really worth auditioning, so I did. I was amazed at the level of detail, the sound-stage and imaging.

Overall, the sound the Model T's produced was astonishing. I have decided to buy a pair this Spring.

Best,
Charles Morrisey
 
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