Bryston Middle T: $6870 Per Pair
(39.4h, 10.4w, 16.3d, 81 lbs, 88 dB SPL, 20 Year Warranty!)
Who would be a candidate to buy the Bryston Middle T speakers?
How about… someone who wants large and powerful sound without adding subs?
How about … someone who wants reference level size and scale but doesn’t have room for a monster tower?
There are middle linebackers, and then there are Nitschke and Butkus who broke the mold.
Middle T falls into that category!
Middle T is a great sounding speaker regardless of size. The bullet point not to miss here is that Middle T is not enormous. It’s under 40” tall. If you take a look at any $2k tower these days, they’re virtually all significantly taller boxes without anywhere near the muscle of Bryston.
Middle T is Steinway smooth and yet has bass that will explode out of your floorboards if its in the music. But you have to pay attention how to make it sing.
Middle T is, as much or more than any speaker system, going to show you what your amplifier is made of. If you hook Middle T up to a sissy, it will sound just OK. If you hook it up to an amp with some serious octane, you’ll hear it fire barbells across your room! Seriously, Middle T will perform anywhere from stunning, to pedestrian- based on what you run it with.
If you want to hear Middle T at its best, of course consider a Bryston 4B Cubed power amp, $6800 (300×2). If you don’t want to spend $6800 on an amp…
Please consider the brand new NAD C-298 ($2000, 185×2) Eigentakt designed amp that will light up Middle T like no amp short of a Bryston! C-298 is a Ferrari and will make the Middle Ts sound downright ferocious! You don’t need a $7k ish amp to make Middle T sound spectacular. Oh, and by the way you can bridge C-298s (620w mono).
Or, you might consider NAD’s C-275BEE ($1400, 150×2) and Middle T will love it. Please don’t run middle T with flimsy amp or surround receiver. Middle T will swallow them whole.
Middle T uses two massively constructed 8” ceramic coated aluminum, cast frame woofers. These are the kind of woofer drivers that subwoofers are jealous of. They’re housed in the 81 pound cabinet which is thick and generously reinforced with a complex bracing network.
Middle T uses one ceramic coated aluminum midrange driver, housed within its own enclosure in the cabinet. Middle T uses one Titanium tweeter, also housed within its own enclosure within the cabinet.
When you analyze the hardware you’re getting for your money, Middle T offers a substantial- built in Canada- value with a TWENTY YEAR warranty. When you see Middle T in the flesh, you’ll be surprised at how small it looks. When we hook it up to substantial electronic mates, you’ll be surprised at how large it casts a soundstage, complete with earth quaking testosterone.
By the way, Bryston and Axiom have merged to become one company. Since 2012, Bryston CEO James Tanner has designed Bryston loudspeakers. Hence the T designation. Bryston funded the speaker project and hired Axiom (friends down the road a piece) to do the actual build out, because Bryston didn’t have the logistical space and staff in its Peterborough facility. The business has flourished and now we’ll expect an even more synergistic relationship since the companies are now ONE.
Hegel V-10 Phono Preamp $1500
Hegel’s Bent Holter has turned his attention to phono preamps! The new V-10 is already turning heads as a phono preamp that competes with the best available, running $3k plus.
V-10 supports MM&MC, of course. V-10 offers BALANCED and single ended outs. At $1500!!
V-10 is an all out Hegel assault on the top phono preamps on the market.
As always, Hegel thinks outside the box. V-10 has:
*MM&MC with numerous adjustments
*Low noise J-FET transistor design for both MM&MC
*Subsonic Filter
*MC settings: 33-550 ohms
*Comprehensive capacitance load settings (MM 100-467pF)
*Output jacks are XLR and RCA!
The chassis is divided into two compartments. The power supply is physically separated from the electronics. If you missed it above, please note that V-10 does have BALANCED outs as well as RCA. Hegel’s biggest problem is making enough V-10s. They’re way behind in production on integrated amps with C-19 clobbering their supply chain. Hopefully we’ll get enough V-10s to support you serious vinyl lovers.
RIP Chick Corea (1941-2021)
We’ve lost the ever versatile and talented (with 25 grammys) Chick Corea. Chick played with Miles Davis in the 60s and was a pioneer of jazz fusion, forming Return To Forever in the 70s. Time is flying by. I can’t believe Chick was 79!