Montreal audio show

[James Tanner - Bryston]

MEMO: To All Bryston Customers
SUBJECT: Montreal Audio Show - Review




Montreal 2014 Show Report

In the Bryston room, the main setup was familiar – similar to what was shown last year. The system consisted of a full set of Bryston equipment, including source player (BDP-2), DAC (BDA-2), preamp (BP26, $2 with MPS-2 power supply), amplification (28B-SST2 x2) and speakers (Model T Signature).



Talk about synergy – you could basically say that this system was made to match.
The speakers were in a gloss white, a finish I hadn’t seen before and presented themselves well, sitting just outside the massive flagship 28B-SST2 mono-blocks, which have an amazing 1000 watts/8 ohms or 1800 watts/4 ohms output capability.

The sound as always was graceful but undeniably powerful and gave the impression of unrestricted dynamics and ultra-low distortion.

Within the room was basically Bryston’s whole line-up of products, including their rather new A-Series loudspeakers: Mini A bookshelf and A1, A2, and A3 Towers . Bryston’s impressive looking subwoofers were also on display, including their T SUB 3×8” driver, 600 watt sub and their Mini T SUB 2 x 8” driver, 600 watt sub.
The boys at Bryston seem to have it down when it comes to setup at shows.

 

[James Tanner - Bryston]

MEMO: To All Bryston Customers
SUBJECT: Enjoy The Music Montreal Show Report





So I strolled into the Bryston room that I had completely missed last year, and plopped down into a listening chair next to James Tanner of Bryston.
I said to him as the music played "You know, you've got a problem here." He looked at me askance as if I were suggesting there was something wrong with the sound. I said, "Yeah, it is hard to find this room. The doorway is obscured by the posters out front and no one sees it." There really weren't very many people in the room at that moment and he looked worried as though perhaps I were right. "Yeah," I continued, "you need to put a sign above the door." He turned his head, raised his eyebrows and looked at me as if I were a bit off my rocker. I looked him in the eye and said with a straight face, "Free beer!" He cracked a smile from ear to ear, not expecting that from someone south of the border.



We kicked back and revealed in some Dire Straits. The tall Model T in a gloss white finish sounded even better than I remembered them in Toronto where they showed the same speaker in a vinyl finish, I believe. James confided that they have switched the tweeter since late October. As it stands now, the A series and T series use the same drivers and crossovers, but the A series is in a conventional rectangular column with vinyl wrap and the T series has a tapered, shaped column with real wood veneer, except when they do the gloss white or black thing. This allows you to get on board with a less expensive speaker when you're still paying off your student loans and housing free range children, and graduate to a more elegant finish when the timing and career are right. The Model A1, for example is $3495 while the T version in piano gloss white that was playing is $7495. With a full range frequency response of 25 Hz to 20 kHz (+/-3dB) and ability to put out 118dB, this is a kick-ass speaker that will hold its own in any barroom brawl. It should do quite nicely in your living room, too. If your room or budget is smaller, models down the line will be just as big a value. The only question left to beg is "How do they sound with tubes?" And to answer that you will need to search beyond the very fine Bryston electronics.

This was one of the Best Rooms at the show!

Rick Becker
Enjoy The Music.com

 

[James Tanner - Bryston]

MEMO: To All Bryston Customers
SUBJECT: BEST OF THE MONTREAL AUDIO SHOW 2014




Bryston room

Bryston was showing no brand-new products, but they did exhibit an updated version of their Model T Signature speaker, which sells in Canada and the US for $7495/pair in vinyl veneer (add $1000/pair for a real-wood finish).



Each Model T Signature and Model T Passive has two tweeters, two midranges, and three woofers, and what’s new are the tweeters. According to Bryston’s James Tanner, the new tweeter is supposed to offer smoother on-axis response and better-controlled dispersion. Indeed, the sound from the Model Ts was notably cleaner and smoother in the top end than I recall hearing from them before -- and the clean midrange and ferociously deep bass that both Model Ts have long been known for were undiminished.


The electronics used in this system were, no surprise, all from Bryston: 28B SST2 mono amplifiers, BP-26/MPS preamplifier, BDA-2 DAC, and BDP-2 digital player. When I asked about the interconnects and cables, Bryston president Brian Russell said it wasn’t brand-name stuff, mainly because the company doesn’t believe in going crazy on exotic cables, preferring to focus instead on the electronics and speakers. Fair enough -- the sound in the room was great!

Doug Schneider
[email protected]