brayeagle
This one is for you my Audiophile friend. Thank You for hanging in there with me. Earlier, on this beautiful sunny day here in Atlanta, I enjoyed a very nice hour drive north of the perimeter (the weather here has been very wet and soggy for months).
Around the Lanier Lake area I found myself visiting Mr. Michael Burns-owner of- Wolfsong Audio. He is a very pleasant Gentleman of Audio and runs his operation from personal residence. He is a prior CS 2.4 owner. His sound room is beautiful and well damped. I was in luck because he is a Ryan Speaker dealer/retailer as well as Bryston and a few others. We listened to a 4B3 power amp, BP-26 pre-amp/separate power source, BDA3 DAC, BDP Pi, Blue Sound 2 device fed into Roon/Tidal, Proceed CD Transport, DH Labs cabling and Ryan R630/Bryston Model T Signature w/ outboard cross-over network. As always, the session began with Jamie Cullum "Twentysomething" CD. The session also began with Bryston Model T Signature loudspeaker. This is a large floorstander which throws a large presentation, lateral soundstage. To date, I have not heard nor seen a loudspeaker that features an outboard crossover- very cool design.
Jamie's piano and organ sounded very fine without any congestion throughout midrange registers. Bass output was solid. Next, Bryston was swapped for the Ryan Speaker.
Smaller in driver array and size, this speaker presented in a more audiophile tradition. Better imaging and soundstage depth was experienced. As Michael and I were talking between numbers, we believe that this model has a 1st order crossover within its design. Tweeter and midrange sure sounded like a time-phase coherent or transmission-line design. Bass was articulate and clean but output not as low as the Model T Signature (3 larger Bass drivers per speaker). More selections were aurally pleasing from The Police, Natalie Merchant, Pearl Jam, Michael Hedges, Pink Floyd, James Maynard Keenan, Helmet and The Rolling Stones.
Referring back into my sonic memory, thinking about the 4B-SST/SST2 series, I would say that the next generation Cubed series has a measure more warmth along the lines of Pass Labs. For those who felt the older Bryston amps were bright dry or harsh, will be pleasantly surprised in the 4B3. Anemic, clinical nor thin sounding was not appreciated. Talking about the BP-26 preamp which has been around for 10 years now, it still features a lower noise floor than a BP-17 Cubed. A benefit for Vinyl lovers.
While considering this combo, my search for a reference CD/SACD spinner carries on. It would have been nice for Bryston to build/design SACD playback capability into their reference BCD-3 player. In closing, a perfect Spring-like afternoon, good company/ fellowship and very good music. As soon as I find my spinner, I will follow up with Michael for a second Bryston demo.
Happy Listening!
This one is for you my Audiophile friend. Thank You for hanging in there with me. Earlier, on this beautiful sunny day here in Atlanta, I enjoyed a very nice hour drive north of the perimeter (the weather here has been very wet and soggy for months).
Around the Lanier Lake area I found myself visiting Mr. Michael Burns-owner of- Wolfsong Audio. He is a very pleasant Gentleman of Audio and runs his operation from personal residence. He is a prior CS 2.4 owner. His sound room is beautiful and well damped. I was in luck because he is a Ryan Speaker dealer/retailer as well as Bryston and a few others. We listened to a 4B3 power amp, BP-26 pre-amp/separate power source, BDA3 DAC, BDP Pi, Blue Sound 2 device fed into Roon/Tidal, Proceed CD Transport, DH Labs cabling and Ryan R630/Bryston Model T Signature w/ outboard cross-over network. As always, the session began with Jamie Cullum "Twentysomething" CD. The session also began with Bryston Model T Signature loudspeaker. This is a large floorstander which throws a large presentation, lateral soundstage. To date, I have not heard nor seen a loudspeaker that features an outboard crossover- very cool design.
Jamie's piano and organ sounded very fine without any congestion throughout midrange registers. Bass output was solid. Next, Bryston was swapped for the Ryan Speaker.
Smaller in driver array and size, this speaker presented in a more audiophile tradition. Better imaging and soundstage depth was experienced. As Michael and I were talking between numbers, we believe that this model has a 1st order crossover within its design. Tweeter and midrange sure sounded like a time-phase coherent or transmission-line design. Bass was articulate and clean but output not as low as the Model T Signature (3 larger Bass drivers per speaker). More selections were aurally pleasing from The Police, Natalie Merchant, Pearl Jam, Michael Hedges, Pink Floyd, James Maynard Keenan, Helmet and The Rolling Stones.
Referring back into my sonic memory, thinking about the 4B-SST/SST2 series, I would say that the next generation Cubed series has a measure more warmth along the lines of Pass Labs. For those who felt the older Bryston amps were bright dry or harsh, will be pleasantly surprised in the 4B3. Anemic, clinical nor thin sounding was not appreciated. Talking about the BP-26 preamp which has been around for 10 years now, it still features a lower noise floor than a BP-17 Cubed. A benefit for Vinyl lovers.
While considering this combo, my search for a reference CD/SACD spinner carries on. It would have been nice for Bryston to build/design SACD playback capability into their reference BCD-3 player. In closing, a perfect Spring-like afternoon, good company/ fellowship and very good music. As soon as I find my spinner, I will follow up with Michael for a second Bryston demo.
Happy Listening!