my Bryston demo

[shafesk]

I thought that it would be nice to share my experiece demoing Bryston kit in the hope that this will get more people to post their audition experiences. This was my first Bryston experience. The dealer didn't have a Bryston 4bsst2 at hand so he arranged for us to demo at an accomodating client's house. The setup consisted of Bryston's top of the line BP26 preamp, middle of the range Bryston 4bsst2 power amp, Dynaudio Contours I think (a high end floorstanding model which is no longer made), a sony blueray player and some japanese xlrs which cost 1500 pounds per pair! :O

All the kit looked beautiful, the built is solid, tank-like even. I could see why Bryston proudly offer a 20 year warranty. So the music began, starting off for some Norah Jones. The sound was on the warm side of neutral, oodles of bass, clean and smooth treble and vocals were better than your average solid state. I should at this point tell you that the way the speakers were setup and the blueray player harmed the audition a bit. The speakers were only about 5 feet apart, which might be fine for small bookshelves but way too close or largish floorstanders such as these. We were sitting about 7 feet from the center of the speakers. The speakers weren't really given the opportunity to reveal the wonderful Dynaudio soundstage that a lot of Dynaudio fans talk about. As a result I felt the soundstage closed in, not enough room for vocals to be centered. I also suspect the Bryston pairing didn't help the unruly bass. Its sad really to have a setup like this and not getting to enjoy it to the max.

I will try to subtract the setup deficiancies and tell you what I can. The Bryston power amp has loads of power, it can possibly drive any speaker ever made, hell it can probably drive your car too >). It had control too and could be subtle when required. There was great detail on display even with the limited abilities of the source. I think given a great source and fast sounding speakers one could have a great setup. I don't think it will be one for tube fans though, there just wasn't the same silky midrange and the feeling of "being there" as with tube amps. If I was spending this kind of money, I'd probably wait till I could buy a Grypon Diablo. It has a lot of the same qualities but the vocals are much more tube like. But each to his own and I'm sure this amp will make many users very very happy.

 

[El Hefe]

shafesk,

The best demo I had with Bryston amps are with PMC speakers...and also their new inhouse brand Model T Signature speakers. Yes, their amps are built like a tank (even the headphone amp that I have). And is capable to drive demanding speakers.

 

[Macspur]

I thought that it would be nice to share my experiece demoing Bryston kit in the hope that this will get more people to post their audition experiences. This was my first Bryston experience. The dealer didn't have a Bryston 4bsst2 at hand so he arranged for us to demo at an accomodating client's house. The setup consisted of Bryston's top of the line BP26 preamp, middle of the range Bryston 4bsst2 power amp, Dynaudio Contours I think (a high end floorstanding model which is no longer made), a sony blueray player and some japanese xlrs which cost 1500 pounds per pair! :O

All the kit looked beautiful, the built is solid, tank-like even. I could see why Bryston proudly offer a 20 year warranty. So the music began, starting off for some Norah Jones. The sound was on the warm side of neutral, oodles of bass, clean and smooth treble and vocals were better than your average solid state. I should at this point tell you that the way the speakers were setup and the blueray player harmed the audition a bit. The speakers were only about 5 feet apart, which might be fine for small bookshelves but way too close or largish floorstanders such as these. We were sitting about 7 feet from the center of the speakers. The speakers weren't really given the opportunity to reveal the wonderful Dynaudio soundstage that a lot of Dynaudio fans talk about. As a result I felt the soundstage closed in, not enough room for vocals to be centered. I also suspect the Bryston pairing didn't help the unruly bass. Its sad really to have a setup like this and not getting to enjoy it to the max.

I will try to subtract the setup deficiancies and tell you what I can. The Bryston power amp has loads of power, it can possibly drive any speaker ever made, hell it can probably drive your car too >). It had control too and could be subtle when required. There was great detail on display even with the limited abilities of the source. I think given a great source and fast sounding speakers one could have a great setup. I don't think it will be one for tube fans though, there just wasn't the same silky midrange and the feeling of "being there" as with tube amps. If I was spending this kind of money, I'd probably wait till I could buy a Grypon Diablo. It has a lot of the same qualities but the vocals are much more tube like. But each to his own and I'm sure this amp will make many users very very happy.

Thanks for sharing your experience with us... crazy the guy having such great amps and such poor source.

Where next for you... Gryphon?

Mac

 

[Frank Harvey]

Yes, that sort of kit deserves a better sounding source. The Bryston kit also deserves a better pair of speakers too. As good as some of the Dynaudio models are, the Contour range is getting on a bit now, and things have moved on. I suspect the warmth heard would mostly be coming from these, as I find Bryston pretty neutral.

 

[frogfish]

If you happen to visit Singapore you are welcome to stop by and listen to my Kef Bryston combo...

 

[dragon76]

Yes, that sort of kit deserves a better sounding source. The Bryston kit also deserves a better pair of speakers too. As good as some of the Dynaudio models are, the Contour range is getting on a bit now, and things have moved on. I suspect the warmth heard would mostly be coming from these, as I find Bryston pretty neutral.

That's exactly what I thought when reading this post! Bryston are very much neutral, so partnering with speakers is critically important. On my own opinion and based on my limited experience with Bryston I can say that the brand is somewhat overpriced. I do not want to comment on their amps, but I clearly found its DAC and streamer are not best buys in their price ranges.

 

[shafesk]

shafesk,

The best demo I had with Bryston amps are with PMC speakers...and also their new inhouse brand Model T Signature speakers. Yes, their amps are built like a tank (even the headphone amp that I have). And is capable to drive demanding speakers.

I know that WHF use them with PMC speakers too as their reference. Haven't heard the Model Ts but might be a good idea to match them then, I do believe they work well with Dynaudios just not the one I was listening to.

 

[shafesk]

I thought that it would be nice to share my experiece demoing Bryston kit in the hope that this will get more people to post their audition experiences. This was my first Bryston experience. The dealer didn't have a Bryston 4bsst2 at hand so he arranged for us to demo at an accomodating client's house. The setup consisted of Bryston's top of the line BP26 preamp, middle of the range Bryston 4bsst2 power amp, Dynaudio Contours I think (a high end floorstanding model which is no longer made), a sony blueray player and some japanese xlrs which cost 1500 pounds per pair! :O

All the kit looked beautiful, the built is solid, tank-like even. I could see why Bryston proudly offer a 20 year warranty. So the music began, starting off for some Norah Jones. The sound was on the warm side of neutral, oodles of bass, clean and smooth treble and vocals were better than your average solid state. I should at this point tell you that the way the speakers were setup and the blueray player harmed the audition a bit. The speakers were only about 5 feet apart, which might be fine for small bookshelves but way too close or largish floorstanders such as these. We were sitting about 7 feet from the center of the speakers. The speakers weren't really given the opportunity to reveal the wonderful Dynaudio soundstage that a lot of Dynaudio fans talk about. As a result I felt the soundstage closed in, not enough room for vocals to be centered. I also suspect the Bryston pairing didn't help the unruly bass. Its sad really to have a setup like this and not getting to enjoy it to the max.

I will try to subtract the setup deficiancies and tell you what I can. The Bryston power amp has loads of power, it can possibly drive any speaker ever made, hell it can probably drive your car too >). It had control too and could be subtle when required. There was great detail on display even with the limited abilities of the source. I think given a great source and fast sounding speakers one could have a great setup. I don't think it will be one for tube fans though, there just wasn't the same silky midrange and the feeling of "being there" as with tube amps. If I was spending this kind of money, I'd probably wait till I could buy a Grypon Diablo. It has a lot of the same qualities but the vocals are much more tube like. But each to his own and I'm sure this amp will make many users very very happy.

Thanks for sharing your experience with us... crazy the guy having such great amps and such poor source.

Where next for you... Gryphon?

Mac

I do have quite a craving for the Gryphon but its just too much money for me to spend on an amp alone. I'm currently talking to my dealer about Cayin monoblocks and another dealer about Icon Audio monoblocks. I think I should stick to Cayin since I like their house sound already. However, if I have 12000 euros to spare I wouldn't think twice about a Gryphon. Any sane person would probably never need to change amps after that.

 

[shafesk]

Yes, that sort of kit deserves a better sounding source. The Bryston kit also deserves a better pair of speakers too. As good as some of the Dynaudio models are, the Contour range is getting on a bit now, and things have moved on. I suspect the warmth heard would mostly be coming from these, as I find Bryston pretty neutral.

Hi Frank, well I agree with you regarding the better speakers part. As I have not heard Bryston kit before I could only tell you what I was hearing in total and not describe the sound of individual components. If Brystons are neutral then those Dyns are way to warm for their own good. I am a big fan of Dyns like the dm2/6 excite x32s and focus 16 though and they have a better balance.

 

[shafesk]

If you happen to visit Singapore you are welcome to stop by and listen to my Kef Bryston combo...

thank you, I will be coming to Singapore next month actually so I might take you up on your offer.

 

[shafesk]

Yes, that sort of kit deserves a better sounding source. The Bryston kit also deserves a better pair of speakers too. As good as some of the Dynaudio models are, the Contour range is getting on a bit now, and things have moved on. I suspect the warmth heard would mostly be coming from these, as I find Bryston pretty neutral.

That's exactly what I thought when reading this post! Bryston are very much neutral, so partnering with speakers is critically important. On my own opinion and based on my limited experience with Bryston I can say that the brand is somewhat overpriced. I do not want to comment on their amps, but I clearly found its DAC and streamer are not best buys in their price ranges.

Well from my demo I would say that it wasn't great value for money too and both myself and the owner of the system agreed that my system got more things right than his despite being a lot cheaper. I think it shows that system matching is quite a bit more important than buying expensive kit.

 

[Rimse]

which dyns ?as far as I know contour lines "s" still in production

center imaging mostly depends on amplifier.In my case krell splits widely image while technics combo centers images .It doesn't matter if contour s1.4 or C1 connected to amps

Well I like what contour line does -punchy gusty sound in bass and beats,lets say massive sound followed by nice separate bass gituars lines or something like that. It doesn't matter if s1.4 or s5.4 After listening B&W803D and Monitor Audio Pl300, s5.4 won my sympathies