Bryston

Bryston launched two new products at this year's show that will hit the market in a week or two, according to Bryston CEO James Tanner, who was sitting in the chair next to me in the Bryston room. If what I heard in that room are any indication, Bryston is on to something big.

That gear included the lofty, svelte, 74"-tall Model T10 loudspeaker—"Model" is the name of the model—the top of the new T10 line, collaboratively designed by Tanner with Ian Colquohoun of Axiom Audio. The T10 series will replace the current T series; the 10 added to the T refers to the speaker line's tenth anniversary. The rest of the series is two other floorstanders (Middle T10 and Slim T10) and three new bookshelf models (Tiny T10, Compact T10, and Mini T10), slated to be released at times yet to be determined. As with the original Model T, each T10 will be available in two versions: passive ($13,000/pair), with an internal crossover, or "active" ($16,000/pair), in which the speaker uses an outboard crossover (included in the price). As per the company's website, "The active loudspeaker systems dispense with passive crossovers found in conventional loudspeakers in favor of inserting the crossovers before the amplifier." The downside: In these "active" speakers, the amplifiers are not internal, not included in the price. The active Model T10, a three-way, requires three channels of amplification for each speaker.

The other new Bryston product in the demo was the pure-analog, fully balanced BP-19 preamplifier ($5000). A pair of the company's 21B3 three-channel Tri-Mono amplifiers ($15,000 each), a BDP-3 digital music player ($5000), and a BDA-3 DAC ($4600) comprised the rest of the system. Cabling was by Canare.

The Bryston system sounded like ... a system. On ripped-CD files of Chet Baker and Billie Holiday, the system produced a huge, deep, billowy soundstage. Chet's trumpet tone was delicious—clear, sweet, natural, pure. Billie was standing right there, breathing the same air as me, sounding utterly natural. There was nothing fatiguing or annoying in this sound, just music.

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