[EvanMcC]

I've had a pair of 2.5 way Dynaudio small towers (Audience 72) for many years, and in that time built up some nice Bryston gear to feed these hungry 4-Ohm speakers - 4BSST and BP25.

Starting to save for next speakers and Middle T's seem to be next logical step up from where I am, given room size and budget.

Anyone have experience with both the Dynaudio line and Bryston line of speakers in their system? Would imagine both are lively and quite dynamic - just want to know more.

Thanks,

Evan

[EvanMcC]

BUMP - after 1 year...

[JLM]

Don't want to leave you hanging any longer...

Have never heard Bryston speakers, but I recall the Dynaudio 72's as being rather mid-fi, dry (Scandinavian), and artificial sounding (nothing worthy of Bryston amps.  I own Dynaudio BM5 MkIII active studio monitors and find them to be good value (paid $850/pair last year as they were being phased out), accurate, and good fun to listen to in my 8ft x 13ft x 21ft room.  In general I find active, open baffle, and high efficiency speakers to be more lively/dynamic.

You need to get out and audition speakers for yourself.  Bring 10 of your favorite CDs (those you know well and reflect the scope of what musical forms you most listen to) and a note pad to seriously listen to no more than 4 speakers per day (the brain can overload).  Have audio goals in mind based on your audio tastes, preferred musical genres, room size/finishes/furnishings, budget, and family/neighbor limitations.  Note that most audiophiles way overbuy for the given room/family/neighbor circumstances.

[TJ-Sully]

Hi Evan

I can share my story, maybe it will help.

I own a pair of Bryston Mini T speakers. Before purchasing, I sampled quite a few speakers including a medium size Dynaudio tower - i don't recall the model - maybe the X34. (it was back in 2014). I remember the Dynaudio having very nice qualities in the mid range and surprising bass response for such a narrow cabinet, and also enjoyed B&W's larger CM series tower speakers for their crystal clear mids - but every time I went back and listened to Bryston's Mini T's, I would literally get goosebumps from the near perfect bass response (in my brain anyway). And the beautiful thing about Bryston speakers is the more you turn the volume knob to the right, the speakers simply respond without any hesitation, almost as if they're testing your own limits. 

But of course,  it boils down to personal preferences in music and desired SPL.  For me, the ability to really crank it without any sense of distortion from the speakers was the slam dunk (plus it's Bryston....canadian, awesome warranty, JT & great service team, etc etc). On the downside, perhaps I made a small trade-off in the "clarity" of the midrange vs. Dynaudio or larger B&W's. But for me...totally worth it.

Also, I thought I needed the Middle T's for my room size (about 14x16), but the Mini T's work just fine with my 4BSST2. And I believe the low frequency response between the mini T and middle T is pretty much the same, due to the effect of cabinet size I believe.

Hope this helps a little.

Cheers, TJ

[EvanMcC]

More than a year later, I want to thank you guys for your replies! TJ you experiences help a lot.

My room is about 12’ x 18’ open off to the right for another 20’ rec-room. I’m thinking I need Middle Ts as well, which are around $4000-4500 CDN right now (used), but so are Dynaudio Contour S5.4’s which start life at around $13.5k new in mid 2000’s - double the Bryston’s but same size driver array etc.

So impressed with the Bryston’s sound at the Montreal show this year but worried they’d be even more dry than the Dynaudio sound. Problem is I’ve been running my father in law’s Harbeth M40.1’s for a couple months on an all Bryston electronics setup (BDA-1, BP25, 4BSST, BIT15 power conditioner) and their midrange is basically magical, truly, but otherwise they don’t have the energy and speed of my lesser Dynaudio Audience 72s.

Want the dynamics and headroom that Bryston and Dynaudio speakers possess but I’m not sure if I’d go with an older used Dyn S5.4 or a newer Middle T (maybe Mini T?). Thinking Dyns might be a little more “special” but I like that the Bryston’s are Canadian, crazy warranty etc.

Thoughts?