"... a very involving preamplifier indeed."

November 2008

Bryston BP 6 C-Series Preamplifier

by Tim Shea

Exceptional Value

Review Summary Sound "In my listening notes, I wrote that the clarity and resolution of the BP 6 C-Series fleshed out individual instruments and 'peeled open' the soundstage, and that’s exactly what it did." "The sound was clear and organized, with less distortion and grit getting in the way." "Turning up the volume with the BP 6 C-Series certainly made things louder, but it seemed to do it in three dimensions, much like you would hear at a live performance." Features "All Bryston preamplifiers use a proprietary, discrete, class-A circuit with no ICs in the circuit path, and the focus of this core design is on decreasing noise and distortion while increasing linearity." "Although its appearance is balanced, its operation is not, as you’ll only find gold-plated single-ended inputs and outputs around back. On the standard version you get two outputs, a tape loop, and four line-level inputs; one input can be replaced by a MM phono option ($500) or internal DAC ($1200) if you prefer." Use "The BP 6 C-Series can come with a decidedly non-full-function remote control ($350), and this is one area where I would have wished for a couple more bells and whistles, or even just a single bell. The remote will control volume, and there is a mute button, but that’s it." Value "Put another way, the BP 6 C-Series will certainly give more expensive preamps a run for their money."

I finally bit the bullet a few months ago and bought a 50" plasma HDTV for our family room. The picture, with a good signal, is stunning. The increased clarity, color, and depth to the image are intoxicating, and I’m finding myself watching baseball again simply because the picture is so vivid. Heck, I’m even becoming a pseudo-videophile.

I find it rather ironic and sad that at the same time people are flocking to buy high-definition TVs they are also embracing low-definition MP3s for music. I guess the message is that the average person appreciates and will pony up for a better picture, but for music quality takes a third-row seat behind portability and convenience. While we audiophiles may fool ourselves into thinking that if only people were exposed to decent recordings on good-quality systems they would magically transform into at least pseudo-audiophiles, as I did with video, the reality is that when it comes to audio, most people are and always will be happy with "good enough." Relatively few people in our ultra-busy, multitasking, information-overloaded world can or will sit down solely to listen to music anymore, much less care about the quality of reproduction.

I really think there’s some gene we audiophiles possess that predisposes us to not only love music but also the reproduction of it, and these things are forever lost on those without the gene. Pity, they’ll never know the difference an HDHF (high-definition hi-fi) component like the Bryston BP 6 C-Series preamp ($1995 USD) can make to the pure enjoyment of reproduced music.

Description

Bryston has a long heritage that includes the manufacture of professional equipment. The need to hear clearly and accurately everything that’s going on in the professional realm runs through to Bryston's consumer products. Bryston’s professional roots probably also have something to do with the company's being able to offer its famous 20-year warranty on parts and labor for analog components. An interesting fact about Bryston preamplifiers (including the preamp section of the company's integrated amp) is that they all share the same basic circuitry and gain stages, the major differences being the features that surround the core design. As such, all Bryston preamplifiers use a proprietary, discrete, class-A circuit with no ICs in the circuit path, and the focus of this core design is on decreasing noise and distortion while increasing linearity. As for specs, the BP 6 C-Series' frequency response is stated as 20Hz-20kHz (+/- 0.05dB) with THD of <0.0015% at three volts output, and sensitivity is rated at 500mV and noise at -100dB. The standard version measures 17"W x 2 1/4"H x 11"D and weighs 8 1/2 pounds, but it is also available in a wider version and a rack-mount version, both of which increase width to 19".

The BP 6 C-Series’ most obvious features are the three large round knobs that occupy the middle portion of its face, which can be had in either silver or black. They control source selection, balance control, and volume, respectively, and they look great. However, it would have been helpful to add some stronger indication of the knobs’ positions, as it’s all but impossible to tell what’s set where from the listening chair (or maybe it’s time for a trip to the eye doctor). The knobs are flanked by the IR sensor and power switch on the right, and a tape-monitor switch and headphone jack on the left. A lot of preamplifiers don’t have headphone jacks (my Marsh P2000b included), so I appreciate this and view it as a nice little bonus. That’s pretty much it for the front of the unit, save for the engraved Bryston logo toward the upper left. In an era where stiff competition seems to be leading manufacturers to incorporate more bling into their designs to help them stand out, I find simple, tasteful designs such as the BP 6 C-Series to be refreshing. It’s not big, it’s not shiny, and it doesn’t have edges or creases running all around its surface, but it is attractive, with a clean and balanced functional design.

Although its appearance is balanced, its operation is not, as you’ll only find gold-plated single-ended inputs and outputs around back. On the standard version you get two outputs, a tape loop, and four line-level inputs; one input can be replaced by a MM phono option ($500) or internal DAC ($1200) if you prefer. I had the standard version for review, so the only other feature on the BP 6 C-Series’ rear was an IEC power-cord inlet.

Last but not least, the BP 6 C-Series can come with a decidedly non-full-function remote control ($350), and this is one area where I would have wished for a couple more bells and whistles, or even just a single bell. The remote will control volume, and there is a mute button, but that’s it. I don’t much mind getting off my fanny to change sources (especially since I only have one source and one fanny), but I would have really liked the ability to adjust the balance from my listening chair, because it is much more difficult to fine-tune while standing at the unit itself. I confess to being a frequent balance fiddler, so this might not mean as much to others, but I missed it. According to Bryston, a motorized balance control would add something like $400 to the price of the remote option, and while I might actually purchase it, I can understand why they chose to omit it. The remote itself, by the way, is a substantial hunk of aluminum that works effectively even when not pointed directly at the unit, which is nice and not always the case with other remotes.

The BP 6 C-Series operated silently and flawlessly throughout the review period. Even during long-and-loud listening sessions the unit barely got warm to the touch, so I didn’t feel guilty leaving it on 24/7. I don’t know if the unit was fully broken in when it arrived, but I did not notice any huge changes in sonic character during critical listening, although I didn’t listen closely during the first several hours of operation.

Sound

During those first several hours, I listened indirectly to the BP 6 C-Series as I was working out. Listening that way, I really didn’t notice much of a difference from my reference Marsh preamp, which was mildly concerning given that the Bryston (with remote) is priced about 57% higher than the P2000b. Then, on a whim, I tried a little experiment and switched digital cables -- from an Apogee Wyde Eye to a Stereovox XV2, mainly because I thought the Stereovox cable might be a better match with the Stello DA100 DAC I also had in the mix. While I had noticed differences between the two cables before, mainly with respect to detail retrieval and accurate tonality, now the soundstage opened up considerably and everything in it took on an added sense of space and dimension. Since the only change in my system had been the addition of the Bryston preamp, I started to suspect there were larger differences at play here.

The first thing that jumped out at me upon closer inspection was increased resolution (of the good variety) combined with what subjectively seemed like a distinct sense of atmosphere in and around the soundstage. Individual elements appeared in a more holographic way, not only in their positions within the space but also individually. I’m finding this holographic imagery to be a hallmark of Stereovox cables in general, but the point here is that the BP 6 C-Series was transparent and refined enough to coax all this goodness out of the XV2.

High resolution can be a bad thing if it is too pronounced, handled poorly, or not balanced across the frequency spectrum. One of the things I find that suffers in this case is classical music. Strings can start to sound zippy and brass hard and thin. I put on Symphony No. 40 from Mozart: Symphony Nos.25, 29, 38 & 40 as performed by Benjamin Britten and the English Chamber Orchestra (London 444323) to assess how detail was being conveyed, and while the strings still had some zip, everything sounded perfectly natural and balanced. The performance had good weight to it as opposed to being artificially thinned out or lightened up, which can happen with components that skew to the overly analytical side of things. The clearer background environment and additional spatial detail did wonders to open up and better define the recorded space and the players within it. In my listening notes, I wrote that the clarity and resolution of the BP 6 C-Series fleshed out individual instruments and "peeled open" the soundstage, and that’s exactly what it did.

To more specifically assess the BP 6 C-Series’ tonal properties, I turned to Joe Sample’s Old Places, Old Faces CD (Warner Bros. 46182) so I could focus more on individual sounds rather than a massed performance. On "Clifton’s Gold," there's a nice sax run that is full of color, nuance, and inflection, and it was immediately clear that the Bryston preamplifier was not selling any of this performance short. In addition to sounding like a live instrument, the saxophone sounded cleaner, clearer, and less distorted than I’ve ever heard it before, and I’ve heard this particular piece on lots of systems (many of them of the megabuck variety), so my reference for this is fairly broad. There was also a much better sense of space in and around the instrument, and the preservation of reverb trails that even protruded from behind the sax greatly added to the awareness of its physical presence and placement within the stage.

This carried over to the cymbals at the beginning of the piece as well. For the first time I didn’t feel as if I was just hearing what emanated from the tops of the cymbals, but also what was produced from the underside, giving the cymbals much more of a dimensional presence and completing their sonic fingerprint. Again, the sound was clear and organized, with less distortion and grit getting in the way, and this translated consistently to every disc I played.

But perhaps the most surprising and beguiling aspect of the BP 6 C-Series’ performance was what happened when I turned up the volume. Normally when I do this the performance gets louder and more impactful, with the sound coming directly at me more forcefully. Turning up the volume with the BP 6 C-Series certainly made things louder, but it seemed to do it in three dimensions, much like you would hear at a live performance. The effect was that individual components of the sound were getting louder and more physically present within their own space, rather than greater volume just being thrust at me. This was really quite impressive, and it took the BP 6 C-Series from what was already an excellent component to one that is truly special.

What about when the BP 6 C-Series was paired with its 2B-SST C-Series amplifier sibling? As good as imaging was for both units individually, there was an additive effect when they were used together. Perceived three-dimensional spatial relationships became even more evident, and overall resolution increased even a bit further. However, in the context of my system, the combo seemed to go just a bit too far in that direction and became slightly light- and thin-sounding.

Realizing that both my resident amp and preamp are a bit mellower relative to the Bryston units, I decided to try some different interconnects to see if the synergy thing had been lost in transition. Although I hated to do it because the outstanding spatial abilities of the Stereovox Colibri-R interconnects mated so well with those of the Bryston products, their more revealing nature was apparently just too much of a good thing. So I plugged in the more robust-sounding Acoustic Zen Silver Reference II interconnects, thinking they might be a better fit, and in some ways they were. Although there was a price to pay in the form of a little less spatial information and reduced dimensional relationships, it was countered by a fuller, richer, and more natural-sounding presentation. In the end I’d like to combine the strengths of both the Acoustic Zen and Stereovox interconnects, but I credit the Bryston separates for their ability to communicate the cables’ differences as well as fully benefit from their strengths. I’d love to hear them with the Stereovox Reference-series interconnects (and I think they fully justify and deserve this level of cable), but suffice it to say that these Bryston products will certainly appreciate and reward pairings with better source components and cables.

Negatives? You’ll not get any from me regarding the BP 6 C-Series other than the ergonomic points I brought up earlier. There may be preamplifiers that do this or that better than the Bryston BP 6 C-Series, but so balanced and clean is its performance that I’d bet most of them fall more under the category of personal preference rather than strictly better or more accurate. I’m thinking things like gushing tonal color, spot-lit-from-within imaging into the next zip code -- you know, all the usual suspects. Sonically there’s really nothing I’d change about the BP 6 C-Series, although I’d certainly be interested to hear its big brother the BP 26 C-Series with its external power supply. That’s a whole new price category, however, and I’d bet that the law of diminishing returns would be firmly in play. Put another way, the BP 6 C-Series will certainly give more expensive preamps a run for their money.

Comparison

My Marsh Sound Design P2000b preamp ($1495) costs $850 less than the BP 6 C-Series with optional remote control, but by many accounts it is competitive with other models well above its price point. We here at SoundStage! named it a Reviewers' Choice back in 2003 for this very reason. One area in which I definitely preferred the Marsh preamp was with regard to ergonomics. With its truncated oval knobs, it is always easy to see where I have the volume set. Ditto the balance control, which is also adjustable via the remote, a big plus in my book. The "b" in the model designation denotes that the Marsh preamp also comes with balanced ins and outs, and although I don’t use them in my current system, I did in evaluating the Bryston 2B-SST C-Series amp, and it’s always nice to have the option.

Sonically the Marsh preamp’s presentation came across overall as softer, rounder, and slightly more robust than that the BP 6 C-Series. Before you jump to the conclusion that by comparison I found the Bryston preamp to sound sterile, let me say that is absolutely not the case. If anything, my impression was more that the Marsh preamp was being a little loose and additive, although I would still characterize the P2000b as a fairly neutral preamplifier that has a very natural way with music. The BP 6 C-Series, on the other hand, countered with superior clarity and definition that more effectively illuminated individual performers as well as the entire soundstage. By comparison, the Marsh P20000b sounded a little opaque and two-dimensional, which is not the way I would describe it except in comparison to the BP 6 C-Series, which is exceptional in comparison. All this added detail never came across as forced, unbalanced, or overwhelming -- just very matter of fact and right -- and tonal colors came across as wholly realistic, if not as warm and fuzzy as with the Marsh preamp. When I cranked things up a notch, as I am wont to do, the Bryston preamp held together better and seemed to amplify its superior resolution with less inherent distortion and confusion. All this added up to a sense of transparency and spatial dimension that simply left the Marsh preamp in the dust.

In a way the Marsh P2000b is a little easier to listen to because it’s a little warmer and fluffier, and it doesn’t reveal detail to the point of forcing you to notice things and pay attention to them. Some people may actually prefer it for just those reasons. In fact, in my review of the P2000b, I described it as "pure and effortless sonic indulgence," which I think still holds. But in the end, I preferred the added detail and overall clarity that the BP 6 C-Series brought to the table, as it realistically (as opposed to artificially) uncovered more of the recorded event and as a result brought me closer to visualizing and experiencing the performance in my room. I want to be involved in listening to music, as opposed to being just a passive bystander, and with all its considerable strengths the Bryston BP 6 C-Series is a very involving preamplifier indeed.

Conclusion

I’ve been planning on purchasing power conditioning for my system for quite a while, because I know how big an improvement it can make across the board, and I promised myself that this would be my next purchase no matter what. I already broke that promise once when I ran into the Stereovox Colibri-R interconnects, which provided a lot of the benefits I hoped to achieve by adding a power conditioner in the first place: a quieter and clearer background, increased overall clarity, improved depiction of detail, and a more voluminous and dimensional soundstage -- among others. My rationale was, hey, if I’m getting all these improvements without power conditioning, think how good this will sound when I finally do have clean power fueling my system.

Well, the Bryston BP 6 C-Series has done it again for virtually the same reasons. It accurately portrays more meaningful detail of the recorded event and brings me significantly closer to it – or, rather, it closer to me. Were it in the family budget I would certainly add this preamplifier to my system right now and worry about power conditioning later, so dramatic and unmistakable are the improvements it brings. As with the picture on my new HDTV, I find the clean and clear HDHF sonic picture as portrayed through the Bryston BP 6 C-Series to be simply and irresistibly intoxicating.

...Tim Shea
tims@soundstage.com