Bryston SP3 Preamp-Processor

[James Tanner - Bryston]

Originally Posted by dbphd

James,

IIRC, it had to do with the zero feedback design used in those components. Charles Hansen was adamant about not inserting anything between the KX-5 Twenty preamp and VX-5 Twenty amp. Of course, they are my components, so I could try it anyway. Freeing the LS50s of LF duties might more than compensate for any zero feedback nicety. I assume the 10B is fully balanced, is that correct? Perhaps it's time to unpack it -- I've seen only photos.

At Hansen's suggestion, the unbalanced output from the preamp goes to a Velodyne SMS-1 bass manager that provides acoustic room correction for a pair of HGS-10s. I doubt high-passing to the LS50s would affect that arrangement.

db

Hi

Yes it is a fully balanced design and on the used market the 10B would sell well even if you open the box.

I think the benefits the 10B would offer would far outweigh the negatives Charles is concern about but he knows his products best.

james

[dbphd]

Charles Hansen died earlier this year, but as he had predicted the Ayre preamp and amp gave me much of the sound I enjoyed with 20-watt Cary CD 572 SE monoblocks without the PITA tubes. The setup with the LS50s is all Ayre, a C-5xeMP disc player, QX-5 Twenty digital hub that gets files from Roon via ethernet, the KX-5 Twenty preamp, and VX-5 Twenty amp. But I think I am going to try high-passing to the LS50s with the 10B. Do you have any recommendations about settings?

db

[James Tanner - Bryston]

Originally Posted by dbphd

Charles Hansen died earlier this year, but as he had predicted the Ayre preamp and amp gave me much of the sound I enjoyed with 20-watt Cary CD 572 SE monoblocks without the PITA tubes. The setup with the LS50s is all Ayre, a C-5xeMP disc player, QX-5 Twenty digital hub that gets files from Roon via ethernet, the KX-5 Twenty preamp, and VX-5 Twenty amp. But I think I am going to try high-passing to the LS50s with the 10B. Do you have any recommendations about settings?

db

Usually you set the crossover point at the 3db down point of the monitors in both the low pass and high pass position.

Then start with 18db per octave rolloff in both low and high pass.

james

[dbphd]

I'll try those settings. When I unpacked the 10B, I was surprised by how big and heavy it is. It appears to be a serious piece of equipment.

db

[James Tanner - Bryston]

Originally Posted by dbphd

I'll try those settings. When I unpacked the 10B, I was surprised by how big and heavy it is. It appears to be a serious piece of equipment.

db

Its pure Class A discrete circuits throughout - I will be surprised if you are not wowwed !!

james

[nicoff]

Questions for James regarding the SP3:

Background:
I am feeding a stereo analog signal to the SP3 via balanced inputs. I am using the 2ch-bypass bypass switch in the SP3 and I have the crossover set to 80hz.

Questions:
Does the SP3 still sends the full (20-20k) content to the L-R mains?
Or does SP3 only feed the mains with content above 80hz (that is, sends all contents below 80hz to the subs only)?
Thanks!

[James Tanner - Bryston]

Originally Posted by nicoff

Questions for James regarding the SP3:

Background:
I am feeding a stereo analog signal to the SP3 via balanced inputs. I am using the 2ch-bypass bypass switch in the SP3 and I have the crossover set to 80hz.

Questions:
Does the SP3 still sends the full (20-20k) content to the L-R mains?
Or does SP3 only feed the mains with content above 80hz (that is, sends all contents below 80hz to the subs only)?
Thanks!

Hi

The analog 2 channel bypass would send a full range signal to the mains.

james

[nicoff]

Originally Posted by James Tanner - Bryston

Hi



The analog 2 channel bypass would send a full range signal to the mains.



james

Thank you James! I was hoping that that was the case. [emoji1317]

[dbphd]

I've reintroduced bypassing front LR from the SP3 to a Parasound JC 2 BP preamp, and sending balanced analog from my Ayre DX-5 DSD disc/USB player directly to the JC 2 BP. That setup seems to sound a bit better than the SP3. Roon through the Ayre sounds great. (I have an Ayre K-5xeMP preamp that I plan to sell since I bought a KX-5 Twenty, but I think first I'll try it as an alternative to the JC 2 BP -- it also has by-pass capability.)

db

[nicoff]

Originally Posted by dbphd

I've reintroduced bypassing front LR from the SP3 to a Parasound JC 2 BP preamp, and sending balanced analog from my Ayre DX-5 DSD disc/USB player directly to the JC 2 BP. That setup seems to sound a bit better than the SP3. Roon through the Ayre sounds great. (I have an Ayre K-5xeMP preamp that I plan to sell since I bought a KX-5 Twenty, but I think first I'll try it as an alternative to the JC 2 BP -- it also has by-pass capability.)



db

So... you are converting an analog signal back to digital and then to analog again (analog->digital->analog) and it sounds better?