Finally took the Bryston 4B Cubed plunge

Well here I go, I'll do my best to include everything.Focal Electra 1028 BE speakers (Great sound, but not durable. Two voice coil wires detached on two separate drivers)
Avid Diva II SP turntable with SME 309 tonearm. It sits atop a 3" thick maple block with sorbothane feet which in turn sits atop a Solid Tech Solo 4 rack. I'm also using an Audio Technica AT ART9 MC cartridge. I'm very fond of that part of my system. Vinyl lives!

Simaudio Moon Neo 310LP phonostage. I've tried other phono preamps in the $2K to $4K range and this was the best I've used. If I ever replace it and stay solid state, I'd probably consider their Evolution 610 ($7500, ugh!)
Bryston BCD-3 CD player. It sounds great and is better sounding than the Marantz 8005 SACD player that it replaced. When I first bought it, on occasion it would skip portions of songs. It happened at random for no rhyme or reason. I made Bryston aware of the problem and before I sent it back, it stopped messing up. Something sticking? I don't know.
Parasound JC 2 BP preamp. Nobody should ever complain about Parasound for what it costs. Unless it blows up, the JC 2 BP is staying in my system.
DIRECTV and my computer are both run into my preamp for sound and both share a 32" monitor on my desk.
That's about it. Oh, a little more. Cardas grade copper electric outlets and Silver Resolution everywhere!
Thanks for asking, jafant. Hope I didn't bore you with too much.

Enjoy !  Bryston is good stuff......    

Not at all- professorsvsu
Nice system indeed. I am certainly interested in the Bryston BCD-3 for CD playback duty. It is an interesting combo w/ the Parasound pre-amp and Bryston power amp.  I have not heard these (2) brands mixed/matched into a demo, same system. Looking forward inreading more about your musical tastes.Happy Listening!

When I got back into seriously listening to music about 7 or 8 years ago I was completely overwhelmed by the shear quantity of audio equipment available. I knew that I would go dizzy and most certainly broke trying to indulge in countless combinations of equipment to suit my taste. I took a different approach and listened to what people had to say about value, reliability, and of course sound quality. I did more homework than I probably should have and excluded some brands that I shouldn't have,  but came up with three names that folks were always pleased with: Parasound, Bryston, and Pass Labs. Great solid state equipment (I'm too cheap to keep replacing tubes) and all within a particular price range. There were a few outliers in my rack (i.e. the Marantz 8005 SACD player) and they've all disappeared except for my Simaudio phono stage. I started at the bottom of the price range (Parasound) and as the stock market has increased my net worth (thank you NVIDIA), I've "stepped up" to see if I can make improvements. Bryston has been a pleasant improvement, but Parasound is still a steal. I really don't think I can improve on the JC 2 BP for anywhere near it's cost. Someday, I may be in a position to afford Pass Labs equipment and drool over what I've been missing.

For what it's worth, I did the same kind of reasoning with a turntable purchase (the Avid Diva II SP rocks!), tonearm (the SME 309 tonearm replaced a Rega RB303 and was one of the most dramatic improvements in my system), and cartridge. The AT-ART9 replaced an Ortofon 2M Black. The 2M Black may be a better all around cartridge for any recording, but when the AT-ART9 strikes a groove that it likes, I'm listening to a live performance. It can be that good.With respect to speakers, same old story on how I came to Focal. I love the way they sound, but couldn't be more disappointed on reliability. A broken voice coil wire on a woofer followed by the same problem on a tweeter on the opposite speaker before the pair was a year old. Warranty took care of the problems, but I was informed I was at the end of being covered. Any further issues would be viewed as abuse of the speakers and I'd have to pay repairs. If I move on to different (better?) speakers, Focal will be scratched from my list of 3 companies.
Well jafant, there you have it. The very, very, very long story of how my mix and match system came together. I didn't address the Bryston BCD-3 CD player. I like it and probably won't look for anything better. The only downside  has to do with no remote control. It can be purchased separately,  but is too costly.
Whew! I haven't written this much since my last college history class about 25 years ago. Not complaining, this helps keep me going =)

An excellent over-view of your Audio journey - professorsvsuThe Bryston BCD-3 is a top-tier player. No need to look any further for rbcd playback. I would be interested in the BCD-1, but, drives/transports are no longer available? A poor decision on Bryston's behalf if you ask me.Luckily, these guys learned from this mistake and corrected it w/ the newer BCD-3.  I agree that this is a value-based company, minus the error with BCD-1, indeed. Focal was a better company under the older JM Labs moniker. Any speaker should never have a broken voice coil under any circumstance. Poor QC.The Marantz 8005 can benefit from a ModWright treatment to brin gthe spinner up to the same standard of playback as your BCD-3, only SACD in nature. Still, not  a bad player at its price-point. Finally, do not forget Cabling, to tie it all together.
Happy Listening!