Bryston Mini A Speakers, $1665 Per Pair
{15.5h, 8.5w, 8.25d, 87dB SPL, 4 ohms}
6.5” Pure Aluminum woofer, 3.5” Pure Aluminum Midrange, 1” Titanium tweeter
Bryston’s Mini A stand mount speaker is a Swiss Army knife. It does so much, so well, that it can fit into a myriad of system applications.
For openers, Mini A is a legit 3-way, built in its own house in Canada with a 20 year warranty. Virtually everything else in this price range is vendored out from China.
Mini A undergoes the same stringent QC testing that all Brystons undergo. Every driver is graphed and has to be built within tight tolerances. This ensures that you’ll get a pair of speakers that is virtually perfectly matched. The first benefit of precision construction is outstanding resolution. You can hear into the music. Equally important is that you’ll have a 3D soundstage with outstanding imaging, presenting the music as the engineer had in mind.
This level of accuracy is impossible to attain with mass production from China.
There are significant benefits to precise driver matching. Musical timbre of pianos and voices are as good as very large speakers. You just don’t get as much bass. I would assume for this size cabinet and price point that you don’t need Herculean volume levels and bass response.
Mini A will produce much deeper and more tuneful bass than you would expect for its size and price. We have installed Mini A both on stands and shelves. We always recommend stands so they’re not colored by resonant cabinetry. But you’ve got what you’ve got and Mini A will sound prodigious in a small to mid sized room. We’ve put Mini A in many a modest living room or den/study. The results always shock the customer with testosterone along with smooth definition.
By having a dedicated midrange driver, Mini A will sound more pure in the voicing regions than similarly sized 2-way speakers. They do this while giving you richer bass response than you would expect given the size of enclosure.
We have many customers who have a big, rootin’ tootin’ hi-fi in the main living room. But your wife won’t let you play it the way you want out there because you take over the house.
I’m here to tell you that you’ll be thrilled by running Mini As in a den or smaller room, where you can close the door and listen in peace. Mini A is only less than huge speakers in scale, not quality. If you find yourself banished to the study, don’t sweat it. Revel in your own turf. Connect the Brystons to a fabulous integrated amp like an Atoll. You can add sources of CD, streaming or a turntable. You’ll have the freedom to enjoy music the way you want to- albeit with a bit less muscle than the big room system. This room will be your music haven- embrace it!
