Music in the Round

Music in the Round #54 Contacts

Sidebar: Contacts

Bryston Ltd. PO Box 2170, 677 Neal Drive, Peterborough, Ontario K9J 6X7, Canada. Tel: (800) 632-8217, (705) 742-5325. Fax: (705) 742-0882. Web: bryston.com.

XTZ AB, Gamla Nissastigen 19, 314 41 Torup, Sweden. Tel: (46) (0)345-20049. Fax: (46) (0)345-20800. Web: www.xtz.se. US distributor: XTZ Sound in Balance USA, Inc., 1298 Lakeview Drive, Romoeoville, IL 60446. Te;" (630) 441-2580. Web: www.xtzsound.com.

ARTICLE CONTENTS

COMMENTS
Treasuremountain's picture
Submitted by Treasuremountain on May 24, 2012 - 12:29am

Good article about an interesting product. Since you reviewed the Rotel RSP 1572 recently I would be interested to learn how you would rate the audio performance of these two surround processors both in conjunction with the Bryston 9B SST.  

Kal Rubinson's picture
Submitted by Kal Rubinson on June 19, 2012 - 2:58pm

See part 2 of the review in the next column.

Kal

growboxguy's picture
Submitted by growboxguy on January 17, 2021 - 1:21pm

I am convinced that when it comes to sound quality there still is not a surround preamp made in 2021 that compares to the Sp3. Correct me if I am wrong but the new Marantz and Yamaha 5200 are noticeable steps down when compared to the SP3. I tried both those preamps, they sounded ok but the moment the first notes came out of the SP3 I knew it had high end two channel preamp sound quality. Frankly it sounds as good as or better than the Parasound JC2 plus the SP3 has six more output channels. Your input is greatly appreciated, thank you.

Kal Rubinson's picture
Submitted by Kal Rubinson on January 17, 2021 - 1:31pm
Quote:

I am convinced that when it comes to sound quality there still is not a surround preamp made in 2021 that compares to the Sp3.

It has been a long time since I have used or heard the SP3 but I would not dispute your statement. Also, I have not heard the SP4 under suitable conditions but, unfortunately, it has but one 7.1 channel analog input and that one is RCA, not XLR. Too bad, for me.

growboxguy's picture
Submitted by growboxguy on January 22, 2022 - 4:57pm

My only concern with the SP3 is it uses a BDA1 DA converter and there has been much advancement in DA processing over the last 9 years. At some point a modern DA converter with modern processing will likely pass the SP3 in pure SQ. Thoughts on this? I know the BDA3 is a much better DA converter compared to the BDA1, at what point do I make the move to the modern setup without giving up any SQ? Advice appreciated.

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