Bryston A2 Speakers $3990 Per Pair In Expresso Walnut!
(39.5h, 9.25w, 17d, 63 lbs, 87dB, 4 ohms, Walnut, Black, Boston Cherry & Expresso Walnut)
Bryston has just come up with a luscious new finish, EXPRESSO WALNUT, for one of its best valued speakers, the uber impressive A2. Did you know they’re made in Canada with a 20 year warranty?
A2 has been one of my favorite towers since it came out over a decade ago. It has big time muscle, a smooth top end and is supported by the best warranty in the biz.
The $4k market is now FLOODED by Chinese imports. These speakers are made by job houses on the other side of the globe that pump out MANY brands. They’re made just like golf shirts with different labels stitched in.
On Monday they’re making brand A, Tuesday brand B, etc. The N American or Euro owners simply wire money to China and 60 days later boxes show up in the US warehouse with their logos on ‘em. They don’t have to cut any wood, make any drivers or treat employees humanely. All they have to do is wire money. Let’s do better!
A2 Is About Doubles
A2 is about DOUBLES. A2 uses a pair of tweeters, a pair of mids & a pair of woofers. By using two of each drive element Bryston can achieve a given volume level with half the length of excursion. Further, Bryston can attain higher power levels because the workload is being shared.
The size of the image is taller, wider and deeper using doubles. If you check out our wall of Bryston speakers, when we turn on the A2s you literally can’t tell WHICH pair is on.
The image is so tall and wide that it could be ANY of the speakers in front of you. And of course, that’s the point. You want to hear a broad soundstage of music with a great singer dead center- without any awareness of where the enclosures are.
To achieve this, Bryston sweats the details.
Quality Control
Bryston makes its own drivers in its own house in Canada. It doesn’t source them from a vendor who may be well meaning, but ultimately is punching out widgets. Every Bryston driver is graphed and has to pass a battery of about 8 tests before it can go on to be installed in a speaker cabinet. Making drive elements with this stringent consistency is the start of delivering precision detail and imaging. It’s like making sure your glasses have the ideal prescription.
The same goes for Bryston cabinets which they make as well. A2 doesn’t use parallel walls. They are angled to avoid standing waves. The speaker has an internal matrix of vertical and horizontal support struts and braces. A2 weighs a chunky 62 lbs and produces bass that will have you sure there’s a big subwoofer hiding back there in the dark. Midrange drivers are housed within their own chambers.
After A2s are built, Bryston tries to break ‘em. Yep. Every speaker goes through a 24 hour torture test before it is PASSED and packed up to sell.
Let me tell you how the other guys make speakers.
Most, simply wire money to China. They’re done. Period.
Some… assemble in the US. That is, they buy drive elements from China, Malaysia or maybe even Scandinavia. The drivers show up on the UPS truck. These guys might make their own cabinets, but it’s far more likely that they buy them from a vendor who is blasting out cabinets by the truckload for a myriad of brand names. All of the drivers and cabinets show up at an industrial park or maybe even a garage out back. Cheap labor takes their Home Depot battery operated screw guns and go to town. QC is left up to…who? What could go wrong?!
A2 offers so much performance in terms of spatial presentation, impact and smooth tonal balance, that it easily goes toe to toe with speakers double its price.
With Bryston, this 20 year warranty is valuable and meaningful. Bryston has been in business since 1963. It has offered a 20 year warranty on its analog electronics forever. 60 years!
We have sold Bryston since the mid 80s and I don’t remember any customer having to pay for service on his Bryston electronics bought here. Bryston has a distinct advantage over the other guys in that it doesn’t break very often. But still…please take a moment to drink that in- the value of a real 20 year warranty to customers who buy new.
And now we’re happy to offer Bryston speakers in this gorgeous new finish as well as the standard offerings they’ve had for over a decade. A2s in Expresso Walnut are in house now.