MEMO: To All Bryston Customers
SUBJECT: Toronto AudioFest 2018 – Bryston Demo
Toronto Audiofest 2018 Simplifi'd
Written by Gordon Brockhouse
Highlights
Bryston had a wild demo system in its room. For each channel, there were two Model T Active speakers, stacked vertically in line-source configuration.
The rest of the all-Bryston system consisted of a BAX-1 active digital crossover, a BDP-3 digital player, a BDP-3 DAC, a BP26 preamp, and a pair of 21B3 three-channel power amplifiers.
Not surprisingly, this system had astounding dynamics. A big honking saxophone note in Zoot Sims’s rendition of Johnny Mandel’s “Emily” -- it sounded as if the mike was right in the bell of his horn -- almost blew me out of my chair – Superb!
Of greater relevance to Simplifi readers was a silent display of Bryston’s Wireless series of powered speakers.
These are based on Bryston’s Mini A three-way passive shelf-mount, and the Model A1 and A2 floorstanders.
The Mini A has a single 6.5” woofer, a 3” midrange, and a 1” tweeter. The Model A1 has three 6.5” woofers, two 5.25” midrange drivers, and two 1” tweeters. The smaller Model A2 has dual 6.5” woofers.
Wireless-series models have the same internal crossovers as their passive counterparts, and one amplifier in each speaker.
All three models ship with a Wireless four-in-one transmitter that permits streaming over Wi-Fi via Apple AirPlay or UPnP. On the rear of the transmitter are a line-level analog input, digital optical in, four USB ports for connecting external storage devices, and an Ethernet port. It also incorporates a Raspberry Pi Linux-based computer, which makes possible network playback from NAS drives and supported streaming services, under control of a Web-based interface that can run on iOS and Android devices.
Shipments of the Wireless models have just begun
Gordon Brockhouse,
Simplifi Soundstage
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