[James Tanner]

[James Tanner]

MEMO: To All Bryston Customers
SUBJECT: NOVO Magazine – Bryston Demo – Montreal AudioFest 2019

March 2019

Bryston Demo Montreal Audio Fest 2019

“As a long-standing iconic Canadian brand, Bryston always exhibits in a large room to showcase their gear.

This year in Montreal they were once again showing the Active System with the Middle T-Rex loudspeakers, which are basically two pairs of their Middle T models stacked on top of each other and secured with brackets.

The system was driven by two 21B3 (cubed) three-channel amplifiers with each channel controlling tweeters, midrange and woofers per side.

The demo system also featured the BAX-1 DSP active crossover, the BDA-3 DAC and the BDP-3 digital player.

Playing Leonard Cohen’s “Tower Of Song”, the system offered great imaging and sound-staging with a clean and coherent presentation that was musical and pleasing to the ear.

This was a very admirable performance without stratospheric prices.”


Alex Gorouvein,
NOVO Magazine

[James Tanner]

MEMO: To All Bryston Customers
SUBJECT: Soundstage Access – Bryston Demo – Montreal AudioFest 2019

April 2019

ACCESSible Hi-Fi at Montréal Audio Fest 2019

My mission was to scour the halls of the Hotel Bonaventure Montréal, the venue for the 2019 Montréal Audio Fest, looking for affordable products to report on. That turned out to be fun but not all that easy -- most exhibitors were showing off their five- and even six-figure systems.

But among all the audio bling, a few manufacturers and distributors displayed some gear that was indeed affordably priced.

Diego Estan



Bryston has been an audio staple for decades, and their presence as a Canadian manufacturer could not be missed.

They occupied a large room on the lowest level, and displayed most of their current products. At the affordable end were the Mini A bookshelf speaker and BW-1 all-in-one speaker system that sat on a small table under a banner that read “GoWireless.”


Bryston Mini A speakers and BW-1 all-in-one speaker system

The three-way Mini A is available as a traditional passive speaker, but those who want to just plug in and play can opt for the powered, Bluetooth-enabled wireless version. Though not tiny, the Mini A, at 11 pounds, could easily fit into most spaces.

The BW-1 wireless/networked powered speaker looked like the type of device aimed at the Sonos buyer who might be looking to step up in quality. With a shape similar to that of the Sonos Play:5, the BW-1 can decode up to 24-bit/192kHz PCM streams via Wi-Fi or Ethernet. Two 75W amplifiers drive what are, effectively, are two Mini A’s built into a single, elegantly curved cabinet.