So with clearly no interest from Storm in pulling Bryston forward and at some point the inevitable is going to happen, they will no longer support the MK1 platform, do you foresee the discontinuation of the SP4 in the near or not to distant future?
Have you given any thought of partnering with Trinnov? JBL Synthesis has been one of their partners for years now and I believe Trinnov sees that the JBL units receive the latest updates and also Trinnov allows JBL to run their own proprietary EQ software so like you had been hoping to do with the SP4 eventually and add in your own DAC section Trinnov may be a much better fit for Bryston as your player in the high-end home theater market who allow you to make your own tweaks to the unit.
I currently own both an SP3 and a Trinnov Altitude 16. My listening space is my living room. Aerial 7T's up front with a 7C center, and two in-ceiling speakers for surround. My source is a Kaleidescape for video. For music I use Roon. With the SP3, I used a Bryston BDP2/BDA2 for music. With the Trinnov, Roon is built-in.
In my experience, if you do not have a treated listening space, the Trinnov is a clear winner for movies. I find the difference to be clearly noticible and impactful. Speach is clearer, sound effects are more distinct and better located, etc.
For music, it isn't as easy. The Trinnov again does a better job of making instruments distinct. I heard things clearer than before. However, there was a loss of empty space between instruments, if that makes sense? As someone else clearly explained to me, the Bryston is "more musical".
From an ease of use point of view, the Trinnov (as the far newer product) is infinitely easier to use. It's like old stick shift transmissions vs modern paddle shift automatics.
For me, the Holy Grail would be a Bryston designed SP5 that was an update of the SP3. New DACs, Bryston's amazing analog section and sound, and some form of room correction that can be disabled per input, and ideally customized per input. As James has said, maybe bass only correction, etc.
Unfortunately, we watched the SP4 lagnuish. Bryston never customized the SP4 at all, to the best of my knowledge. And it seems unlikely they will proceed down that route. As someone who can only have one system, I'll need to make that choice between music and movies, which makes me sad. I remember when I discovered the SP3 and was new to Bryston. I thought I had surely found the Grail. And at the time, I had!
It appears there was only ever to be one Grail. Choose wisely (which will be different for each of us, depending on preferences, room configuration, equipment, and type of use).
- Garrett
