[James Tanner - Bryston]

MEMO: To All Bryston Customers
SUBJECT: CES 2016 Bryston Demo – Audio Beat Award !

The Audio Beat 2016 Jimmy Awards

The Bryston suite provided an opportunity to converse with one of the great men of high-end audio.

While a number of visitors milled about, Bryston’s vice-president and brain-trust, James Tanner, sat alone on a sofa rapt in music. I seized the opportunity to park myself next to him. James was in a cordial mood. Indeed, the smallest in the line of Tanner-sponsored loudspeakers rocked the house. The Mini-T is the Baby Huey of bookshelf speakers.

A three-way with 8" woofer, the Mini-T weighs in at 42 pounds. Shoving one onto a shelf could be a chore. James Tanner’s design brief was, first of all, to eliminate dynamic compression. Mission accomplished!

The Mini-T’s dynamic capability rivalled that of loudspeakers twice as large and ten times the price.

The second goal was to attain wide dispersion with a generous sweet spot. The Mini-T was not quite capable of three abreast imaging, but it was great for two. The Bryston electronics consisted of Bryston BDP2 digital player, BDA3 DAC, BP26 preamp and new 7B [Cubed] mono amplifier. Before the show, Mr. Tanner was on my list for a Lifetime Achievement Award, but based on the performance of the Mini-T, I see he’s not done yet.

For the Most Lifelike-Sounding Bookshelf Speaker, the Mini-T racks up a Jimmy Award.

Jim Saxon
Audio Beat Magazine.