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Bryston Preamp: BR20 $6800

Bryston’s BR20 is a state of the art preamp/DAC that competes nose to nose with the most expensive gear on the market made in Switzerland- and sells for a dozen times less money. Yep, I’ve said it and I mean it.

Pairing BR20 with whichever Bryston power amp makes sense for your speakers- yields truly premier echelon transparency and musicality.

BR20 has Bryston’s state of the art DAC on board. It is PERFECT for shaking hands with your streamer (please buy a Bluesound Node) or CD player. Check out Dave’s Faves for BR20 particulars. It’s my favorite preamp on the market!

If you want BR20 with an array of HDMI inputs, add $800. Add another $1k if you want MM built in.

Bryston BCD-3 CD Player $4500

CDs are still my favorite method of listening to music! If someone tells you CDs are dead, they’re full of… well, they’re sadly mistaken. These same people probably believed the LP was dead in the 80s. How did that work out?

More CDs are sold than LPs every year- despite the fun revival of records. While record sales garnered more money than CDs in 2022 for the first time ever, CDs still sold in more than twice the number of units.

I need a CD player because some of my favorite music isn’t available via streaming. The Hyperion label of music is unsurpassed for us piano lovers. Some of the top players in the world are on its roster and the fidelity is second to none.

Also, I listen to ALBUMS, not songs. I have always, and continue to, play albums all the way through. People just don’t do that when streaming. They just can’t help themselves.

Further, the CD boxes being sold these days are an outright STEAL. A perfect example is the Evgeni Kissin compilation of 25 CDs that Sony is offering for about $65. For less than $3 per disc you can get one of the greatest pianists in the history of the recording medium, in absolutely magnificent sound.

BCD-3 is a marvelous sounding CD player with RCA and Balanced outs. It has Bryston’s vaunted BDA3 DAC section on board. It’s a super star and is a great source for your music.

I don’t want a server. Please, heaven save us from the madness! If you want to stream most of your music- fine. Play the rest on CD or LP. I refuse to WASTE hours of my life fiddle fudging with saving music to a freaken computer/server that’s gonna have the wrong meta data and crash some day anyway. And don’t tell me you have no room for CDs in your house. Put on your big boy pants for crying out loud.

Bryston Power Amps

Bryston makes my favorite power amps on the market! They’re famous for being clean, solid and uber reliable. Perhaps you’ve heard, the warranty is 20 years!

If you’re a hi-fi fan, you’re probably aware that Bryston is famous for its remarkable power amps. Bryston has earned its lauded reputation by manufacturing killer amps for over half a century.

The success is due to many details. Let’s go!

Mono Configuration

All Bryston amps are basically mono amps. Even if there are two channels on one chassis, each channel is fully independent with its own toroidal transformer, linear power supply with high RF rejection, input circuit and output devices.

Novel Quad Complementary Output Stages

Bryston amps run class AB and employ its Triple Darlington topology. Since Bryston amps are biased to run about 15% class A, for most of you, all listening will be done in the class A mode. Quad Complementary design develops dramatically less distortion than traditional power amps. Annoyances often ascribed to transistor sound are ABSENT. The amplifiers combine a seductive lushness of warmth with Bryston’s unmatched accuracy and reliability.

Critically Selected Components

Transformers, filter caps, output transistors and other parts are made to tight tolerances- beyond those of main stream manufacturers. Output transistors for example, are Beta matched for precision tracking and eschew the harshness that so many competitors create. Electrolytic caps have been chosen for their specific properties. Caps have to keep three states of matter, solid, liquid and gas, in stasis, for the long term. It took years to be able to specify the exact construction (non-aqueous electrolytes, welded tab construction, high-temperature materials etc). Bryston continues to improve as technology evolves.

Salomie Input Circuitry

Bryston Cubed amps incorporate Bryston’s patented Salomie input circuit. In short, Dr Salomie created an input topology to prevent the input from overloading. Musically, this results in a more dynamic yet relaxed, unstressed presentation. It helps deliver a wider and deeper soundstage- which Bryston speakers can clearly depict.

First To Last Watt Philosophy

Most amps exhibit a power curve whereby the best noise floor, drive capability and distortion are achieved from about 1/3 power on up. The Bryston Cubed design maintains their ideal power curve right from the first watt to the last watt. Think of this like torque curve in a truck. The sweet spot of the torque curve has been expanded.

Bryston’s Quad Complementary design vastly reduces the capacitance seen by driver transistors, virtually eliminating storage delay in the output stage that could contribute to nonlinearities in the zero-crossing region.

The Sound

When you get a Bryston amp you’ll be amazed at how quickly your speakers can start and STOP. The grip and control of a Bryston amp is uncanny. There is less hangover in the movement of your drivers. The music has a higher level of resolution with an effortless, easy breathing character. The soundstage is more precisely defined. The solidity of the bass is markedly better with Bryston than “softer” amps of lesser integrity. All of the Bryston power amps have this level of performance. You just buy the one that has enough gusto for your speakers and the volume you enjoy.

Suppose you’re past you head banging days and you’re no longer interested in slamma bamma. You can be confident the 2.5B or 3B will do the job with any Bryston or Magnepan speaker.

If you do want to throw your weight around, shoot for the 4B. If you want your speakers to perform their absolute best, that’s when you consider the 7B or 28Bs. For most listeners, the 4B is the sweet spot in the line. For me, a guy over 70 who listens to acoustic music and singers, the 2.5B or 3B will be just fine!