Atoll PR300, $3100 Atoll actually designs and builds its products, in its own house in France, with a 3 year warranty. PR300 is Atoll’s new balanced preamp and can go in the best of systems. Let’s take a look. First of all, the $3100 price tag is in line stage configuration. Atoll doesn’t know if you want phono built in or not….

I’ve written about how Bryston contracted Axiom, a friendly Canadian speaker company down the road, back in 2009, to create the ground breaking Bryston Model T speakers. Model T is a full range tower of prodigious performance. Its bass is deep and defined. The midrange and top end are Steinway Smooth. There’s no bite or edge to Bryston’s sound. The combination of…

What a coincidence that all the products of this system happen to to have the 100 designation. When you put these individual products together to form “System 100” a true synergy occurs. Each product shines through when linked with ideal price/performance stable mates! Axiom M100 Speakers, $3000 Per Pair {47.5h, 9.25w, 17d, 92dB SPL, 4 ohms} Axiom’s new M100 is Bryston’s “workingman’s…

What a coincidence that all the products of this system happen to to have the 80 designation. When you put these individual products together to form “System 80” a true synergy occurs. Each product shines through when linked with ideal price/performance stable mates! Axiom M80 Speakers, $2300 Per Pair {39.5h, 9.25w, 17d, 94dB SPL, 4 ohms} Axiom’s new M80 is Bryston’s “workingman’s…

Axiom M80 Speakers $2300 Per Pair (39.5h, 9.25w, 17d, 63 lbs, 94dB SPL, 4 ohms, Walnut, Black, Boston Cherry) Bryston contracted Axiom to build its design brief of the Model T speaker in 2009. The success of that project built a fruitful relationship between the two companies and they merged. The resulting company is simply called Bryston. Bryston decided to recognize Axiom’s…

Axiom M100 Speakers, $3000 Per Pair (47.5h, 9.25w, 17d, 81 lbs, 92dB, 4 ohms, Walnut, Black, Boston Cherry) Bryston contracted Axiom to build its design brief of the Model T speaker in 2009. The success of that project built a fruitful relationship between the two companies and they merged. The resulting company is simply called Bryston. Bryston decided to honor Axiom’s contribution…

Bryston and Axiom speakers just arrived!

Atoll MS120 Streamer/DAC, $1600 (3.7h, 12.6w, 8.27d) Atoll’s new MS120 Streamer/DAC is my favorite streaming device. It’s a Swiss army knife as well. Finally we have a GREAT Streamer/DAC that is enough better than a Bluesound that I’m happy to recommend it. I’ve enjoyed Bluesound Nodes as streamers. They work well with few hiccups. They work especially well when you run digital…

If you start shopping for speakers at this price point, you’ll probably Google, “Best Speakers for $2k.” What comes up? In alphabetical order the most common brands are: B&W, Dali, Fluance, GoldenEar, JBL, Kef, Martin Logan, Monitor Audio, Wharfedale. What do all of these have in common? They’re all made in China and have big advertising budgets. Most of these are made…

It would be nice to get the top candidates lined up to do A/B comparisons, but it’s just not realistic. So how should you wisely shop for your new $2k ish integrated amp? Spend a few minutes learning what is under the hood. Performance doesn’t come down to magic and potions. You absolutely, positively CAN make sense out of how an amp…

Atoll 50 Series Package Atoll IN50 Integrated Amp, $1200 (50×2) Atoll’s great 50 Package starts with a price defying integrated amp. Literally everything else in this price strata is a Chinese bucket of chips and wire the size of dental floss. IN50 has a large toroidal transformer, generous power supply caps, MATCHED MOSFET output transistors- and is made in Atoll’s own house…

How much horse power do you need to drive your speakers well? Most of our customers read nonsense online that leads them to think they need X number of watts. Getting dynamic and exciting performance from your speakers boils down to control, not the wattage rating. Think of strong water pressure from a fire hose vs weaker water pressure from your garden…

Bryston at Montreal Audio Expo, 2025

Review of Bryston BP-19

Bryston Mini T-10 Speakers, $6000 Per Pair {22.5h, 10.5w, 10d, 42 lbs, 4 ohms, 86 dB SPL} Bryston has just updated its venerable stand mount Mini T loudspeaker. Mini T has been a classic KICK FANNY work horse monitor for over a decade. While there are a myriad of upgrades, the most noticeable is the custom tapered midrange/tweeter diffraction plate. The plate…

Atoll absolutely steps away from its similarly priced competition in construction quality. These improvements are choices Atoll makes to attain superior sound and reliability. Virtually all competitors in Atoll’s price range are pumped out of job houses in China. They don’t use the same level of parts or clean, efficient layout. These Chinese built products don’t sound as good or last as…