[Laundrew]

I used to work in a electronic repair shop long time ago. My boss had a "crazy" friend. I asked him what is wrong with him and my boss said, He never gets tired talking about his amplifier and how good it was. My boss said, This guy got a good amp, but every time He walks by the store,He has to talk about his amp. one time I was alone in the store and this "crazy" guy stopped by...He started talking and talking about his amp and the quality of his amp and bla bla bla bla bla..... He mentioned the brand but at that time I did not know the brand. Well, years passed by and when I got into "real" audio gear. I new why this "crazy" guy talked all the time about his "BRYSTON" amp.
Now I can call my self a "crazy" guy too!

Ironically, I never knew that Bryston existed when I started looking for my audio gear. I know that they exist now...

 

Be wll...

[headshrinker2]

Many years playing, composing and recording music.  Not my main gig, but a long source of passion, creativity, stimulation and solace. 

While I still love to play, as I've gotten older my focus has turned to listening.  I've always owned stereo gear (Denon, NAD), but several years ago I discovered Naim.  This was a game changer.  More emotional connection to the recordings.  No more listening to the hifi.  Got off the upgrade path for a long time.

A longstanding audio dealer friend had me audition a BDA-1 before his store went out of business.  I loved what I heard and started exploring Bryston.  I ended up selling my Naim gear, with some ambivalence, and began to put together my current rig.   

[amblin]

My story is rather simple ...

I brought a SACD several years back, nothing really special about that part. But several months ago, while considering a complete gears upgrade, this CD jumped out from my cabinet and crash landed on the carpet.

I looked down, and saw the two names .. Bryston and PMC.

oh yes, it's destiny. 

[headshrinker2]

Amblin,
Great story.  Come on now.. this true... or are you just entertaining us?? 

My story is rather simple ...

I brought a SACD several years back, nothing really special about that part. But several months ago, while considering a complete gears upgrade, this CD jumped out from my cabinet and crash landed on the carpet.

I looked down, and saw the two names .. Bryston and PMC.

oh yes, it's destiny. 

[amblin]

Amblin,
Great story.  Come on now.. this true... or are you just entertaining us?? 

It's really pure coincidence.  And it's all because of this CD.   

I never heard of PMC nor Bryston before and never really cared about what equiptments the studios used to master the CDs. But while considering the gears upgrade, i was also sorting my CD and LPs so they would fit in my new cabinet nicely. And the Starker was one of the very few SACDs that i own so it caught my attention and after a few hours of google search and reading,  i wondered 'well, maybe there's a dealer selling PMC and Bryston, i should take a look'.

And, it happens to be the largest hi-end gears shop in town that's also selling PMC and Bryston. So i had the chance to compare them against ProAc, B&W, Tannoy's larger speakers and Krell, Boulder, Ayre, McIntosh's expensive high-output, Class-A power houses in different combinations. After days of serious audition,  in my opinion, the PMC MB2i + Bryston BP26 / 14B SST sq combination got the best overall performance/cost ratio and they're truely sensational, not just in their current price range, but also very compareable to those almost 2x, 3x more expensive. So here i am . Why go for the over-priced posh Maybach, when you can buy the equally well made and comfortable S-class for much less money?

---------------
The sales guy in the shop once told me that he was quite surprised i especially asked to demo the PMC+Bryston combination.  The majority of potential buyers in their shop relied mostly on the sales person's recommendation. He also said ' to be honest, PMC and Bryston's larger, high-performance speakers and amps are not amonst the first names on his list of recommendations for big budget stereo buyers,  they are not expensive enough, so the bonus wouldn't be as nice compared to other names.' 

[Diamond Dog]

An all-time Audiocircle first - Someone saying PMC is "not expensive enough". I have officially seen the elephant.

D.D.

[amblin]

An all-time Audiocircle first - Someone saying PMC is "not expensive enough". I have officially seen the elephant.

D.D.

  yeah, i was like  damn, i'm in the wrong shop.

[vegasdave]

An all-time Audiocircle first - Someone saying PMC is "not expensive enough". I have officially seen the elephant.

D.D.

Yeah, really. haha.

[john1970]

My story is not so long, but it is interesting.  About five years ago I purchased my first pair of high end speakers (VMPS RM40s).  At that time my local VMPS agent used Bryston amps and preamps to drive his speakers.  Until that time I had never heard of Bryston.  About one year later I purchased a 4B SST as an upgrade to my NAD integrated amp.  Since that time I have purchased several Bryston components.  My favorite traits of Bryston components are:

1) neutral and very detailed sound
2) rock solid reliability
3) outstanding warranty (although (I have never had to use it) and customer service.

Cheers,
John

[Diamond Dog]

Yeah, really. haha.

Vegas, I think you've made your views on the cost of PMC products abundantly clear over the course of time. What's up with that anyway? It's not like some of those speakers you've been pondering like the ATC's or the B&W's are the blue light special either, dude. Did Peter Thomas back a PMC company vehicle over your dog or something? Sheesh...

D.D.

[vegasdave]

Vegas, I think you've made your views on the cost of PMC products abundantly clear over the course of time. What's up with that anyway? It's not like some of those speakers you've been pondering like the ATC's or the B&W's are the blue light special either, dude. Did Peter Thomas back a PMC company vehicle over your dog or something? Sheesh...

D.D.

  They're too expensive and cheaply made, imo. That's it.   

The ATCs and B&Ws are cheaper and better quality. 

[amblin]

  They're too expensive and cheaply made, imo. That's it.   

The ATCs and B&Ws are cheaper and better quality. 

Mmm, i agree they are not as 'solid' as those big Wilsons (Holy cow they weight 500+ pounds ea. ). But as an actual user of their MB2i,  i'm quite confident to say that they're not 'cheaply made' when compared to similarly priced B&Ws, and now they're also offering a solid 20yrs warranty on their products. But when it comes to the looks of PMCs, some of my friends said the MB2 is sooo ugly,like some sort of high-pressure air filters. While several others think it's bold and cool, professional looking.

Speaking of warranty, a MF soft-dome unit in my MB2i was supposedly damaged due to my dealer's rubbish shipping (something went off the axis or whatever )  .  i emailed PMC and called the dealer. Geoff @ PMC was very helpul and gave me a software so i could diagnose and confirm the problem. The next day, my dealer arrived at my home with pair of brand new replacement speakers. Highly efficient. They are handling these expensive things like Logitech dealing with their keyboards. 'Something wrong? No problemo, we'll replace it, brand new  

==========

back on the topic, my Brystons are all working perfectly well. Although i'm thinking it'd be very nice if bryston can cover all the I/O ports with some sort of dust cover.  Those aftermarket covers, they are EXPENSIVE!

[Anonamemouse]

Vegas, I think you've made your views on the cost of PMC products abundantly clear over the course of time. What's up with that anyway? It's not like some of those speakers you've been pondering like the ATC's or the B&W's are the blue light special either, dude. Did Peter Thomas back a PMC company vehicle over your dog or something? Sheesh...

D.D.

Everyone is entitled to capt. Brownnose's opinion AT ALL TIMES.
Just be glad he can only type with one finger, so his generally brilliant comments are two to three words, plus a click on some smily.