[James Tanner]

Oh wow! So, it would basically be a DAC/preamp with crossover function? Would you still keep the BDA and BP lines or would this product squeeze them out considering it combines both of them in a single product?

Cheers!
Antun

Hi

We would keep both - More flexibility for our customers.

james

[James Tanner]

MEMO: To All Bryston Customers
SUBJECT:  Bryston Middle T Active – L.A. Show

June 15, 2017



LA Audio Show Report:
Loudspeakers - by Neil Gader

Auspicious Debuts

The Bryston Middle T goes active



Bryston demonstrated a tri-amped, fully active version of its three-way, four-driver, mid-sized floorstander, the Middle T.

Rather than housing active elements internally like most pro studio monitors, Bryston allows the end user to retain “have-it-your-way” control by adding external amplifiers, including, Bryston hopes, something along the lines of its own B3 Cubed series amps and the BAX-1 DSP Electronic Digital Crossover.

Listening to a selection of Nickel Creek alt-bluegrass, and some sax-driven jazz, I was reminded how often I gravitate towards active loudspeakers.

The immediacy and speed and bass control with slam is so persuasive that it just gets a little addicting.

Neil Gader
Absolute Sound Magazine

[witchdoctor]

I can't wait for the active mini T's

[NavyDoc]

We are going to have a preamp where you can insert the digital crossover card internally and that way you can keep the digital source signal digital all the way through to the analog output stage of the preamp.

james

Some how I missed this key bit of information the first time I read through the thread. Keenly interested in such a product. Luckily I am not ready to purchase speakers now, so will be watching with interest and saving my pennies.

[Raimo]

Hi

No digital volume control - we prefer analog volume controls.

The BAX-1 is discrete Class A analog in as well as out crossover.  Internally the BAX-1 does all the crossover functions in the digital domain.

We are going to have a preamp where you can insert the digital crossover card internally and that way you can keep the digital source signal digital all the way through to the analog output stage of the preamp.

james

Hallo James, is the inset card for bass module use or a full 3 way system? Does this mean that the insert card has digital inputs?
In that case it should need multiple analog outputs with analog volume control for each separate output?
That would be very nice .

[James Tanner]

MEMO: To All Bryston Customers
SUBJECT: Vancouver HI-Fi Center Audio Show

June 2017

Hi Folks,

Great Bryston Active speaker setup and sound at our dealer in Vancouver:

Hi-Fi Center



This is a full Active Bryston system:

•   Model T Active Speakers

•   BAX-1 Active Digital Crossover

•   14B Cubed Amplifier

•   7B Cubed Amplifier (2)

•   4B Cubed Amplifier

•   BP26 Preamplifier

•   BDP-2 Digital Player

•   BDA-3 DAC

•   BIT 20 Isolation Transformer’


As one customer commented – “I WANT IT ALL!”

[James Tanner]

[James Tanner]

MEMO: To All Bryston Customers
SUBJECT: Bryston Active System Cables – Straight Wire

June, 2017

Hi Folks,

Straight Wire was so impressed with the sound at the recent Los Angeles  Audio Show with the Bryston Middle T Active Speakers they decided to do a custom set of speaker cables for us exclusively available through Bryston Dealers and Distributors.




They are a colour coded (black & red) plus and minus tri-wired package with each pair numbered  (1 to 6) to provide easy connections and no confusion at the amplifier and speaker terminations.

The Expressivo Grande II is utilized for the bass.

Two runs of  Expressivo II for mids and highs

Black sheath with 2 foot open at the amp end and 1 foot open at the speaker end

Cables can be ordered with Spades or Expandable Bananas.

MSRP $3250 - 8 foot Pair

[adol290]

Hi James,

Are you still waiting on the safety clearance's for the active crossover.

Any idea on time frame before they can be shipped.

[James Tanner]

Hi James,

Are you still waiting on the safety clearance's for the active crossover.

Any idea on time frame before they can be shipped.

We get the final clearances on Thursday and start shipping this Friday -   

Sold 12 systems so far 

james

[adol290]

So, am I one of the twelve going out on Friday?

[James Tanner]

So, am I one of the twelve going out on Friday?

HI

I believe so - check with Bill?

james

[Norman Tracy]

As a proponent of active speakers congratulations on the nice backlog at the time of your crossover's production release!

Here is an interesting article featuring Bryston on the subject "Is It Finally Time for Active Loudspeakers?" http://www.soundstagehifi.com/index.php/opinion/1067-is-it-finally-time-for-active-loudspeakers

And follow-up from a reader http://www.soundstagehifi.com/index.php/reader-feedback/1071-a-paradigm-active-40-owner-on-active-speakers.

When I worked at a HiFi shop it was at a long time Paradigm dealer and they recalled how much better the active versions sounded compared the passive versions of the same speaker model. And how they could not sell them. As the article notes "audiophiles won’t buy ’em, because audiophiles don’t buy active loudspeakers. And non-audiophiles won’t buy ’em because non-audiophiles don’t buy $2000 loudspeakers.”

The article touches on the tension between the simpler systems possible with speakers featuring built-in amplifiers vs. audiophiles' desire to optimize our systems to the Nth degree via mix-and-match every big and little component. Bryston's offerings allow the large sonic benefits of active and the lovely complexity we hard-core audiophiles enjoy yielding max performance of a separate component system. I also believe that when companies demonstrate the longevity and consistent very high performance Bryston has many audiophiles make the (smart) commitment to single make systems source to speakers, as seen in the pics above. Adding active capable speakers and matching crossover allows yet another step up in performance for a 100% Bryston system. In his article Doug Schneider describes the result "Their all-Bryston system in 2017 reproduced incredibly deep, tight bass; beautifully clear, detailed mids; superbly extended highs; and a soundstage as awe-inspiring for its width as for its depth. Rarely, at any audio show, have I heard a system sound so good."

Now as a bit of historical trivia checkout this page from a 1969 JBL catalog courtesy the Lansing Heritage web site. Yes in 1969 JBL recognized the benefit of powered speakers and offered both passive and as they called them 'self energized' versions just like Bryston in 2017. We audiophiles can be rather odd in the ways we pick and choose different bits of engineering to spend decades perfecting or resolutely ignoring.

[James Tanner]

Hi Norman

Yes many people told me not to bother but you get to a point where improving the performance of a speaker hits a wall and developing a bigger and smaller version of the same just seemed to be a waste of time.

Producing an Active version of the speaker is a true leap forward in performance and is a legitimate upgrade in my opinion for those seeking a real world improvement in performance.

james

PS - the other factor is that our digital crossover was developed with the specific speaker in mind (Model T, Middle T and Mini T) with over 300 measurements in our anechoic chamber optimising the polar response of the speaker.

[NavyDoc]

Hi Norman

Yes many people told me not to bother but you get to a point where improving the performance of a speaker hits a wall and developing a bigger and smaller version of the same just seemed to be a waste of time.

Producing an Active version of the speaker is a true leap forward in performance and is a legitimate upgrade in my opinion for those seeking a real world improvement in performance.

james

PS - the other factor is that our digital crossover was developed with the the specific speaker in mind (Model T, Middle T and Mini T) with over 300 measurements in our anechoic chamber optimising the polar response of the speaker.

The JBL M2 system, M2 speakers + Crown iTech or DCi/N amp w/appropriate DSP (not the Synthesis version with BSS and Mark Levinson), has met with acclaim and resistance from the audiophile community and dealer network.  The Bryston version is of considerable interest to me as it has a different design goal than the M2's.

Cudo's to James and Bryston for persevering in this endeavor. Hopefully the audiophile community is ready. In my view putting together an audio system is not just assembling high quality pieces, rather it is a systems engineering approach that builds a sum greater than the collective parts.

[James Tanner]

Hi James,

I would be very interested in reviewing the active Middle Ts.

I was just telling some of the other guys how good the active Model Ts that were demonstrated at HiFi Centre sounded this past weekend in Vancouver.

Like the Cubed amps, very precise and linear sounding from top to bottom. Sounded like a much more expensive speaker system and a lot of expensive speakers don't integrate as well or sound as coherent throughout the entire audio band.

Regards,
Roger Kanno
Associate Editor
Soundstage Magazine

[James Tanner]

Hi Folks,

First shot of the Active Model T's with the new BAX Crossover and the 21B 3- channel amplifiers.





james

[witchdoctor]

Hi Folks,

First shot of the Active Model T's with the new BAX Crossover and the 21B 3- channel amplifiers.





james

Wow, I count 14 active drivers between those two speakers     
Those amps look like they could power the space shuttle. Congrats!

[witchdoctor]

As a proponent of active speakers congratulations on the nice backlog at the time of your crossover's production release!

Here is an interesting article featuring Bryston on the subject "Is It Finally Time for Active Loudspeakers?" http://www.soundstagehifi.com/index.php/opinion/1067-is-it-finally-time-for-active-loudspeakers

And follow-up from a reader http://www.soundstagehifi.com/index.php/reader-feedback/1071-a-paradigm-active-40-owner-on-active-speakers.

When I worked at a HiFi shop it was at a long time Paradigm dealer and they recalled how much better the active versions sounded compared the passive versions of the same speaker model. And how they could not sell them. As the article notes "audiophiles won’t buy ’em, because audiophiles don’t buy active loudspeakers. And non-audiophiles won’t buy ’em because non-audiophiles don’t buy $2000 loudspeakers.”

The article touches on the tension between the simpler systems possible with speakers featuring built-in amplifiers vs. audiophiles' desire to optimize our systems to the Nth degree via mix-and-match every big and little component. Bryston's offerings allow the large sonic benefits of active and the lovely complexity we hard-core audiophiles enjoy yielding max performance of a separate component system. I also believe that when companies demonstrate the longevity and consistent very high performance Bryston has many audiophiles make the (smart) commitment to single make systems source to speakers, as seen in the pics above. Adding active capable speakers and matching crossover allows yet another step up in performance for a 100% Bryston system. In his article Doug Schneider describes the result "Their all-Bryston system in 2017 reproduced incredibly deep, tight bass; beautifully clear, detailed mids; superbly extended highs; and a soundstage as awe-inspiring for its width as for its depth. Rarely, at any audio show, have I heard a system sound so good."

Now as a bit of historical trivia checkout this page from a 1969 JBL catalog courtesy the Lansing Heritage web site. Yes in 1969 JBL recognized the benefit of powered speakers and offered both passive and as they called them 'self energized' versions just like Bryston in 2017. We audiophiles can be rather odd in the ways we pick and choose different bits of engineering to spend decades perfecting or resolutely ignoring.

I have 14 of those Active Paradigm speakers in my HT. I was at an audio show and talked to the Paradigm rep, he told me they were the best speakers Paradigm ever made. 

[James Tanner]

Wow, I count 14 active drivers between those two speakers     
Those amps look like they could power the space shuttle. Congrats!

Yes thanks - this system sounds amazing - but I am told we are doomed to failure. 

james