Bryston Mini A, $1665 Per Pair
15.5h, 8.5w, 8.25d, 12 lbs, 87dB, 4 ohms
To get more background on Bryston speakers please read the yellow tab at the bottom of our home page titled, Bryston Speakers.
The background story and speaker technology is described there. This entry is specific to the Mini A. The warranty on all Bryston speakers is 20 years!
Mini A: 3-Way Design
Bryston’s Mini A is a special mini as it is constructed to be a smallish form factor that can throw a mean left hook. We sell many small speakers and are proud of all of them for various characteristics. However, none of them offer the deep bass and superlative clarity of this solid 3-way at anywhere near this price point.
Mini A’s frequency bandwidth and dynamic range capabilities vanquish its 2-way competitors. There is a real advantage to building a 3-way, assuming you don’t go cheap.
Most minis are 2-ways. They’re asking the woofer to go from as low as it can, all the way up to the tweeter. Some do a remarkable job- like Bryston’s new Tiny A. But let’s face it, if you ask for a long woofer excursion to play bass well, you’re creating some hangover that will limit midrange clarity and responsiveness.
Bryston says, let’s just do it right and craft a legit 3-way for the job. Mini A is the same width as many a 2-way and will fit in the same spaces. Of course it needs to be taller to give you legitimate bass and power.
Mini A uses Bryston’s A Series 6.5” Cast Frame, Anodized Aluminum woofer. Bryston brings in a 3” equivalent midrange driver. The 1” Titanium tweeter is the same as is used in all of its more expensive siblings.
Mini A, of course (!), has the same smooth timbre balance of its bigger brethren. Bryston is known throughout our industry for smooth, highly resolving top end with wide dispersion. Mini A has these qualities too. We often see them on etageres where they fill up the entire wall with sound. You have no idea where the speaker enclosures are.
Mini A is surprising in that it can deliver very significant bass response due to its dedicated woofer. We have installed Mini A in some large rooms. Your first reaction would be, there’s no way this small speaker can carry the room. Yet it never fails to impress us with its hearty bass performance.
We have installed Mini A in a number of systems where larger Bryston towers are in an adjoining room. The customer loved Bryston’s sound and didn’t need as much of it in the den or office. Without exception, Mini A has impressed these big dog Bryston owners as well. They’re the toughest critics and this is a tremendous vote of confidence by the customer..
Covid 19 has changed the world in many ways. For our audio world… it made almost all affordable stand mount speakers move to China for manufacturing. Bryston is still made in Canada with a TLC that China cannot provide. While Bryston does now offer a two way, Tiny A, for about a grand, Mini A is worth the modest price upgrade if you can swing it.
There are some fine stand mounts coming from Europe these days. But almost all are bright-ish 2-ways and holy cow, check out the prices! Please reward yourself with a richer, smoother sound- by getting the Bryston Mini As.