Bryston A Series Speakers
Three of my favorite speakers in all of hi-fi are BACK! After being discontinued- temporarily.
With so many resources spread thin during Covid 19, Bryston announced they were going to discontinue its A Series of speakers. They were having a tough enough time making those AND its higher end range, the T Series, and its amps, and its preamps, and its DACs… the list goes on.
That… was going to be a travesty, as the Bryston As are attractively priced and outperform the Chinese imports they compete with price wise. After much whining, complaining and begging by its dealer base, including me (!!) at the front of the line, Bryston has decided to keep the As going.
This… is great news! Not only do the A’s sound great and produce truly prodigious bass, they’re made in Bryston’s own house, in Canada, with a 20 year warranty! Further, these are being continued without a price hike!
The 2009 Recession Reshuffled The Deck
Up until 2009 there were numerous successful companies like B&W, Paradigm and Kef who made attainable, but not cheap, speakers in Europe or Canada.
With the recession taking hold, sales of these speakers fell badly. Most production went to China. Upper end offerings from N America or Europe went CRAZY in pricing. They literally doubled. Bryston saw the opening in the market and pounced.
Bryston’s James Tanner had created his Model T (T for Tanner) as an evaluation tool. The Ts had more bass, power handling and a bigger soundstage than any commercially viable speakers at the time that would sell for about $10k. When the recession gripped the economy he realized there was a real opportunity to sell the Model T and many derivative models, at fair pricing, made in Canada no less.
James and Bryston began by hiring a friendly Canadian company down the road a piece, to make its speakers on a contract basis. Bryston speakers were immediately successful and it wasn’t long before the two companies merged. James Tanner became the CEO of the whole she-bang, everything Bryston. That’s pretty cool, that the guy who actually designed their speakers- became the CEO. By the way, James has been with Bryston since 1976!
We sold B&W, Paradigm and other brands from the 70s to about 2010 when the recession tipped over ALL the lunch trays in the cafeteria. Even in their hey day, the other guys only supported their speakers for about a decade. After that, you’d have to try to find drivers from a third party who wears a mask and carries a gun.
When you buy Bryston speakers new, you get a 20 year warranty! If you need a new driver in 1-20 years, which is unlikely due to how well they’re built, you’re under warranty. With the other guys, you’ll be lucky to find drivers- and be prepared to get ripped off when you do. Bryston will support its speakers well beyond the warranty period as well. How do we know? We know, because they have done it with electronics, a much more difficult category, since 1963.
Bryston A2 Speakers, $3990 Per Pair
Walnut, Black or Boston Cherry
(39.5h, 9.25w, 17d, 63 lbs, 87 dB, 4 ohms)
A2 does more things right at anywhere near its price point, than anybody else. Its cabinet is thick and heavy- with cross bracing within.
Bryston tweeters are precision built with Titanium domes.
Bryston mids are cast frame, Anodized Aluminum.
Bryston woofs are cast frame, Anodized Aluminum and tough as nails.
Reference Standard Build Quality
Bryston builds its speakers to a reference standard. They don’t buy drivers from vendors in
Asia, Europe or anywhere else.
Each Bryston driver has to perform within a skinny margin from a reference standard to pass muster. Every Bryston speaker undergoes a torture test that it must pass before going out the door. That’s right. The speakers that land in our store and your living room have made the grade. They didn’t just get screwed together and sent out the door.
THIS… is very different from “the other guys.” The other guys buy drivers from vendors. They show up on the UPS truck. Laborers screw them into place. The speakers get packed and out they go. The drivers used in these other speakers have a wide range of variance.
Some companies brag that they “match” drivers. Bryston doesn’t have to match drivers- and sell you two that don’t meet their standards. Bryston makes sure every driver that goes out the door is within a tight window of its reference standard.
A2 uses double driver technology. Two tweets. Two mids. Two woofs. By running two of everything, Bryston minimizes excursion which lowers distortion and improves reliability.
Back To A2
When you listen to A2 you’ll be amazed how how BIG the image is. The speakers are under 40” tall, but they sound huge. The bass impact is truly impressive. You’re not likely to need a subwoofer when you run the A2s!
Best of all, for me, a bad classical piano player who loves hearing good ones, A2 has a tonal balance I call Steinway smooth. There is no harsh BITE in the high end. Bryston doesn’t tune its speakers to VIVID the way some TVs are cranked up – to get your attention. Bryston’s tonal balance is faithful to acoustic instruments.
Bryston A3 Speakers, $3290 Per Pair
Walnut, Black or Boston Cherry
(37.5h, 9.25w, 15d, 53 lbs, 87 dB, 6 ohms)
A3 is A2’s little brother. It uses the same quality of cabinet and parts- just fewer of them. A3 runs two of the woofers, but just one of the mids and tweets. A3 clearly has the Bryston family genes and is a more muscular and sophisticated performer than its similarly priced competition.
These Brystons are legit 3-ways by the way. You’ll find many competitors in this range are 2.5 ways, with 3 or even 4 drivers. Did you know these sneaky competitors often build passive radiators to look identical to their active drivers? They wouldn’t mind… if you didn’t KNOW.
When you compare A3 to its $3200 ish competition, it wins handily. First of all, it has nothing short of WAUMPUS bass performance. The Chinese imports even up to about $5k are sissies compared to A3. The sheer HEFT of what Bryston uses, delivers more serious performance and comes with dramatically better reliability. You’ll find the Asian imports feel generous giving you a 5 year warranty. Many are 2-3.
Bryston Mini A Speakers $1665 Per Pair
Walnut, Black or Boston Cherry
(15.5h, 8.5w, 8.25d, 11 lbs, 87 dB, 8 ohms)
Mini A is a full fledged 3-way. It uses Bryston’s Titanium tweet, 6.5” Anodized Aluminum woof, and a 3.5” Anodized Aluminum mid driver. It has a smooth, surprisingly powerful sound. When you want a full sounding MINI that can play powerfully, Mini A is your best choice. It’s built to the same standards as its tower brothers and yes, it still has a 20 year warranty.
Broad Listening Window
James designed Bryston speakers to sound realistic across a broader than average listening window. You don’t need to sit up straight, right in the center- to find the sweet spot. If you visit our shop where we have a wall of Bryston speakers, from the listening couch you’ll have no idea WHICH ones are on. You’ll just hear the music presented in a convincing panorama of sound. Take us up on this test drive!
LPs & CDs Are Still Selling!
In 2022 41 million LPs sold.
In 2022 33 million CDs sold.
It is the first year since 1987 that more LPs were sold, than CDs.
Both formats are alive and well for those of us that like to own our own music!