Robert Duetsch - STEREOPHILE MAGAZINE
One of the rooms I was most eager to visit was Bryston's. At the last Montreal show (SSI 2012), Bryston introduced their first entry into the loudspeaker market: the Model T, designed by James Tanner, Bryston's VP Sales and Marketing, with help from driver manufacturer Axiom Audio. The speaker was on passive display, Tanner saying that he was still tweaking the design of the drivers. The advance publicity for TAVES 2012 was that the Model T would be demonstrated at the show.
Whenever I hear about a manufacturer of one kind of audio product, eg, electronics, introducing a very different kind of audio product, eg, a loudspeaker, I tend to have my doubts about the viability of the enterprise—it makes me think of the saying about the cobbler sticking to his last. But I know Bryston to be a conservative manufacturer—not in the political sense, but in the sense of not rushing into something in an impulsive way—and I know that Tanner has been in this game for a long time, and that he's a good listener.
The Model T that I heard at TAVES 2012 was very impressive indeed, with startling high-level dynamics (claimed maximum SPL is 118dB SPL at 1 meter, and I believe it), and powerful bass. The Model T is actually available in three versions: one with internal passive crossover ($6495/pair), the Model T signature with external passive crossover ($7495/pair), and a version with active crossover ($9495/pair), which was the one being demonstrated.
(ED - Actually it was the Passive Model T $6495 being demonstrated)
Bryston's Model T is the flagship of an entire line of speakers. There's a very serious-looking center channel (pictured), a smaller stand-mounted speaker called the Model T Mini ($2,550) and some wall-mounted speakers.
