Announcing The Bryston BR-20 Preamp/DAC/Streamer

alexone · « **Reply #140 on:** 3 Mar 2021, 08:49 pm »

Quote from: Sasha on 3 Mar 2021, 06:16 pm

SN 10 has arrived.
Acclimatizing...

...i guess there is someone smiling all day long!

congrats and let us know your impressions

al.

James Tanner · « **Reply #141 on:** 8 Mar 2021, 10:53 pm »

MEMO: To All Bryston Customers
SUBJECT: Bryston BR-20 – Dave’s Fav

March 2021

Bryston’s new state of the art preamp/DAC has been dubbed “BR” to honor Bryston’s Brian Russell, who died in 2020. Brian was Bryston’s outgoing national sales manager for 45+ years.

BR-20 is a brand new design, achieving state of the art lows in noise and distortion, that comes with stunning Bryston DAC built in. When you consider what the BDA-3 DAC sells for separately and considering you get it built in BR-20… it’s a fantastic start! The BR-20 is also a ‘fully balanced’ analog preamp with 2 balanced ins/outs. It also has a high end headphone amp built in.

BR-20’s sonic character is immediate, or, transparent, if you prefer that term. The resolution of BR-20 is to die for. You won’t have to guess, or hunt for any detail within the music. It’s all there, in proper balance. BR-20 combines the speed/clarity of a great digital design, with its eminently musical performance. With more than a few high end preamps, you can actually hear their input sections being saturated. The overloading casts a pall of IM on to the music. BR-20 strips any such artifacts out of the equation.

OK. Permit me a bit of whining. I don’t think Bryston preamps have EVER gotten their due. Bryston power amps have been SO HIGHLY regarded that its preamps have been somewhat lost in the shuffle.

I, for one, have never understood, why the rags have appreciated how great the amps are- but have routinely ignored how strong the preamps are. I mean, it’s just crazy! BP-26 has been among the finest preamps on the market since the early 2000s, and yet it rarely gets mentioned with commensurate competition. If you’ve owned a BP-26, BP-17/3 or even BP-25 from back in the day, you know how clean and quiet these Brystons have been. It’s almost as though the mags have gone so APE over the power amps that they feel it would be blatherskite to gush similarly over the preamps as well. I promise you, THIS is about to change. BR-20 is such a magnificent sounding piece, that even the snooty mags that rave about $80k Swiss built gear, are going to sing the praises of Bryston BR-20!

You read it here (first?!). I predict, that with the intro of BR-20, Bryston will, at long last, be recognized for making not just among the very best POWER AMPS in the music world, but that this preamp will finally win Bryston the highest echelon of accolades as well!

James Tanner · « **Reply #142 on:** 10 Mar 2021, 09:11 am »

MEMO: To All Bryston Customers
SUBJECT: Bryston BR-20 – Active Mini T-REX Norm

March 2021

I connected up my new Bryston BR-20 to one analog input, an FM tuner (with rabbit ears!), and added the BAX-1 Active crossover for output and started listening - and immediately noticed within the next song or two that cymbals seemed more lively. Both of these observations were good things and as I listened more I found that everything was just slightly more "listenable" than with the BP-17C. I found this a bit surprising since I have always been very pleased with the BP-17C. The BAX-1 feeds 2 X 2.5B3 and 2 X 7B3 + Active Mini T-Rex.

Now, several listening days later I am still fully enjoying the new (and, I think, better) sound that the BR-20 is delivering. So overall I am very happy with the new unit. I only have a couple of sources: analog tuner and BDP-3/BDA-3 and find the integrated BDA-3 and RPi to be at least the sonic equal of the previous separates but I haven't done any real A/B comparisons so this is just an impression. It does tell me though that I will not be needing the separate components in this system so the BR-20 has successfully accomplished the downsizing I was hoping for. Note that I do not use the full power of my BDP-3 since I don't have a huge music collection nor do I use any services such as Roon that might demand more processing power than the RPi can deliver - so the BR-20 RPi is a good fit for me.

After I have more experience I will pass on some comments and suggestions about the BR-20 that could be considerations for future iterations or maybe firmware updates.

For now I would just like to reiterate that I am very happy with the improved sound.

Norm V

lsolimine · « **Reply #143 on:** 16 Mar 2021, 07:58 pm »

Hi James. Will the BR-20 have the capability of the BP-17/BP-17 Cubed in terms of a Home Theater Bypass via remote? Thank you.

Lou

James Tanner · « **Reply #144 on:** 17 Mar 2021, 11:54 pm »

Quote from: lsolimine on 16 Mar 2021, 07:58 pm

Hi James. Will the BR-20 have the capability of the BP-17/BP-17 Cubed in terms of a Home Theater Bypass via remote? Thank you.

Lou

Hi Lou

It is not implemented yet but it can be in software going forward.

james

drewtee · « **Reply #145 on:** 18 Mar 2021, 04:49 pm »

So, my BR20 has landed in the UK for a couple weeks now but I went for the 2 upgrades HDMI and Phono and these boards have not yet arrived.

When are these boards likely to arrive in the UK approx please as I need to decide whether to take the unit without these installed or wait for them to be installed then delivered - just a realistic timescale would be great to help me decide.

Thanks

James Tanner · « **Reply #146 on:** 18 Mar 2021, 06:03 pm »

Quote from: drewtee on 18 Mar 2021, 04:49 pm

So, my BR20 has landed in the UK for a couple weeks now but I went for the 2 upgrades HDMI and Phono and these boards have not yet arrived.

When are these boards likely to arrive in the UK approx please as I need to decide whether to take the unit without these installed or wait for them to be installed then delivered - just a realistic timescale would be great to help me decide.

Thanks

Hi Drew

I will ask production for you. I believe the HDMI boards are the problem because of all the parts shortages throughout the world.

james

James Tanner · « **Reply #147 on:** 18 Mar 2021, 07:22 pm »

HI Drew

I checked and I was correct that the part shortage is the problem so I am sorry I can not be definitive on delivery times.

james

drewtee · « **Reply #148 on:** 18 Mar 2021, 07:25 pm »

Ok, Thanks James- No problem- I'll have it delivered and added in later

Drew

emcallaway · « **Reply #149 on:** 23 Mar 2021, 04:03 am »

James, now that the BR-20 is shipping, are there any plans to update the website with the user manuals or technical specifications? I note they both still say “coming soon.” Excited to see more details!

Ed

James Tanner · « **Reply #150 on:** 23 Mar 2021, 05:52 am »

Quote from: emcallaway on 23 Mar 2021, 04:03 am

James, now that the BR-20 is shipping, are there any plans to update the website with the user manuals or technical specifications? I note they both still say “coming soon.” Excited to see more details!

Ed

Hi Ed

We are redoing the website due to the merger so things will change going forward.

How can I help in giving you more details?

https://bryston.com/preamps/br-20/

james

emcallaway · « **Reply #151 on:** 23 Mar 2021, 12:26 pm »

I guess right now I'm most interested in the headphone amp section. Do you have power, impedance or other specs for it yet? I'm curious how it compares to the HPA-1, and its ability to drive high impedance headphones. Thanks!

Ed

Clive197 · « **Reply #152 on:** 23 Mar 2021, 04:00 pm »

Exciting news. I’m collecting a BR-20 from my dealer tomorrow on loan and I have told him that if I like it he’s not getting it back. Brand new and still unopened. Hopefully will replace a BP17 cubed.

James Tanner · « **Reply #153 on:** 23 Mar 2021, 04:08 pm »

Quote from: Clive197 on 23 Mar 2021, 04:00 pm

Exciting news. I’m collecting a BR-20 from my dealer tomorrow on loan and I have told him that if I like it he’s not getting it back. Brand new and still unopened. Hopefully will replace a BP17 cubed.

Hi Clive - great please let me know your thoughts.

james

PS - what dealer?

Clive197 · « **Reply #154 on:** 25 Mar 2021, 10:24 am »

Hi James
The BR20 arrived home yesterday. It didn’t take long to get it playing music and out of the box sounded great. As yet I’m unable to tell a difference on the pre section against the BP 17/3 but will look forward to that improving as I’m sure it will. The DAC section is simply outstanding and blew my Chord Qutest DAC off the planet in all manner of ways. Again I’m sure it will even improve further.
That’s the good news. The bad news is the streamer is simply a PITA. I was able to get Qobuz up and running but the BR20 will not find my NAS. I do not and never will use Roon and using Magic Moose is unacceptable unless your a computer geek, which I’m certainly not. For streaming I’m sticking to my Auralic Aries G1 using their Lightening DS app (Now that’s how to control streaming). In my opinion control is everything.
The end result is the BR 20 is staying and you should certainly be congratulated on a superb Pre/DAC.
My dealer here is HiFi Lounge in Biggleswade Bedfordshire, who I’ve been using for many years.
Clive

PS The BR 20 IR Remote is fabulous. Ergonomically brilliant, easy to hold, buttons have a great feel. Goodbye brick.

James Tanner · « **Reply #155 on:** 25 Mar 2021, 10:36 am »

Quote from: Clive197 on 25 Mar 2021, 10:24 am

Hi James
The BR20 arrived home yesterday. It didn’t take long to get it playing music and out of the box sounded great. As yet I’m unable to tell a difference on the pre section against the BP 17/3 but will look forward to that improving as I’m sure it will. The DAC section is simply outstanding and blew my Chord Qutest DAC off the planet in all manner of ways. Again I’m sure it will even improve further.
That’s the good news. The bad news is the streamer is simply a PITA. I was able to get Qobuz up and running but the BR20 will not find my NAS. I do not and never will use Roon and using Magic Moose is unacceptable unless your a computer geek, which I’m certainly not. For streaming I’m sticking to my Auralic Aries G1 using their Lightening DS app (Now that’s how to control streaming). In my opinion control is everything.
The end result is the BR 20 is staying and you should certainly be congratulated on a superb Pre/DAC.
My dealer here is HiFi Lounge in Biggleswade Bedfordshire, who I’ve been using for many years.
Clive

Hi Clive

Thank you for the feedback and glad you liked the sound. Not sure what is going on with the NAS issue? What kind do you have? I use a QNAP and no issues there.

james

Clive197 · « **Reply #156 on:** 25 Mar 2021, 11:57 am »

James, I use a Synology DS217 NAS with 2x Western Digital Red drives which gives me 6Tb of storage.
The NAS was easily discovered by my Aries, LG OLED TV, my iPad, Chord Poly/Mojo and my wife’s Sonos.
The 2 problems I’m finding bearing in mind that I got Qobuz up and running in seconds was the non connection to the NAS and the faff of running software that is so user unfriendly. I would suggest if possible to have a look at Lightening DS to see what I mean.
I mean all this very respectfully and wish you and the rest of the crew good luck in the new venture.

James Tanner · « **Reply #157 on:** 25 Mar 2021, 12:23 pm »

Quote from: Clive197 on 25 Mar 2021, 11:57 am

James, I use a Synology DS217 NAS with 2x Western Digital Red drives which gives me 6Tb of storage.
The NAS was easily discovered by my Aries, LG OLED TV, my iPad, Chord Poly/Mojo and my wife’s Sonos.
The 2 problems I’m finding bearing in mind that I got Qobuz up and running in seconds was the non connection to the NAS and the faff of running software that is so user unfriendly. I would suggest if possible to have a look at Lightening DS to see what I mean.
I mean all this very respectfully and wish you and the rest of the crew good luck in the new venture.

Ok thanks - so you think it may just be the complication in MM of setting up the NAS that is the issue?

james

Francois_Tardif · « **Reply #158 on:** 25 Mar 2021, 01:28 pm »

Clive197 · « **Reply #159 on:** 25 Mar 2021, 02:51 pm »

I’ve had a bit of a eureka moment but I have a couple questions.

I’m planning on connecting my 500Gb Samsung SSD which has all my stored music on.
1) Will the BR20 have enough power for the USB or do I need to use a powered USB connector?
2) When loading a album, can I do whole album with 1 press as against pressing each individual track?

I’m still finding the software a little Heath Robinson and so far much prefer an app but I am persevering.