Bryston Mini-T Speakers Now In Play

musichal

poet emeritus


Mini_T_large-1024x957.jpg


Bryston Mini-T

  • Frequency Response: 38 Hz to 20Khz (+/- 3dB)
  • Impedance: 4 Ohms (nominal)
  • Sensitivity: 86 dB (2.38V, 1m, anechoic)
  • Recommended Power: 10 watts to 250 watts RMS
  • Max SPL @ 1M: 112dB
  • Dimensions: 22.5" high x 10.5" wide x 10" deep
  • Weight: 42 lb
 
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Did you get the black?

Yes, the real wood veneer in black ash. I understand from reviews there was (is?) a vinyl black, but don't see that offered via Audio Advisor. However, the pair I bought are used, in excellent, like-new condition, and were sourced by the seller from the Frank Sinatra, Jr estate. I expect a letter of authenticity from the auction house included as proof of provenance. Not an earth-shattering factor, but kind of cool. Everything that comes with a new pair in the original boxes with original packing materials. I've been drawn to these for months, and was happy to find a used pair in this condition at what I thought a very reasonable price.
 
Yes, the real wood veneer in black ash. I understand from reviews there was (is?) a vinyl black, but don't see that offered via Audio Advisor. However, the pair I bought are used, in excellent, like-new condition, and were sourced by the seller from the Frank Sinatra, Jr estate. I expect a letter of authenticity from the auction house included as proof of provenance. Not an earth-shattering factor, but kind of cool. Everything that comes with a new pair in the original boxes with original packing materials. I've been drawn to these for months, and was happy to find a used pair in this condition at what I thought a very reasonable price.


Black, nope. Black from a Sinatra estate, beyond yes.
 
Black, nope. Black from a Sinatra estate, beyond yes.

LOL. I must admit that if I were buying new, black would not be my choice, either. However, I also admit the Sinatra thing made the finish much more palatable for me. The Mini-T, Rat Pack Edition?

BTW, I called Bryston, and once the speakers arrive I'm to call them back with SNs - the lady said she may be able to verify the original owner, and said that the speaker's warranty is likely still good for me, depending on the paperwork I receive.
 
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LOL. I must admit that if I were buying new, black would not be my choice, either. However, I also admit the Sinatra thing made the finish much more palatable for me. The Mini-T, Rat Pack Edition?

BTW, I called Bryston, and once the speakers arrive I'm to call them back with SNs - the lady said she may be able to verify the original owner, and said that the speaker's warranty is likely still good for me, depending on the paperwork I receive.


A Sinatra warranty as well.........as the King Of Cool would say: Dont be a Schmendrick and listen to all that draggy jaz, pallie......... play them loud and swingin'
 
Listening to the Silver 6 tonight.. the Mini-T have their work cut out for them, but if the hype is near the truth, then this should work out well. I feel sad for my beloved Silver 6, though. I took them in, fed them my best watts, pampered and petted them, and now they face the possibility of a Yamaha diet on the secondary system.

"I sang my heart out for you, and brought you the best sound you've ever had in your own home," their accusing tweeter eyes piercing me, "why do you treat me so poorly?"

"Please, don't be angry with me, we'll still be together every day - and I'll try to upgrade your amp soon," I reply, unable to look them in the tweeters as shame fills my heart.

"And I thought you loved me, you, you - speaker whore! And she isn't even as pretty as I am!"

Guilty. And so it goes. But, over the years, I have learned to live with the pathos of guilt, almost like a coat from the cold.

I expect to get the tracking number today. FedEx from Kentucky. Anxious to see the estimated delivery date.
 
Yes, the real wood veneer in black ash. I understand from reviews there was (is?) a vinyl black, but don't see that offered via Audio Advisor. However, the pair I bought are used, in excellent, like-new condition, and were sourced by the seller from the Frank Sinatra, Jr estate. I expect a letter of authenticity from the auction house included as proof of provenance. Not an earth-shattering factor, but kind of cool. Everything that comes with a new pair in the original boxes with original packing materials. I've been drawn to these for months, and was happy to find a used pair in this condition at what I thought a very reasonable price.

My company purchased a Tascam 122 MKIII from the estate as well. Very good condition. We were happy to get it. Parts are getting scarce for these. Available decks are either for parts, or expensive.
 
One reviewer, who claimed these relatively small speakers had the flattest FR he'd ever measured, also pointed out that output was only down 4 db at 32hz, from their minus 3db 38hz. Axiom worked with Bryston to achieve a very smooth response, with Jim Tanner of Bryston claiming that a major design goal was to achieve an overall smooth polar response - which is just what it sounds like, the response from 360 degrees around the speaker. (Note the difference between smooth and flat responses.) Another goal was to provide high SPLs with an effortless quality and all reviews I've seen suggest this was achieved.

At least one claimed great sound at low levels, too, which many of us find especially desirable.
 
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This is almost exactly what MacKenzie Bezos was heard to say recently. Maybe you can assuage your guilt by giving the Monitors $70 Billion.

In what sane world does someone get that kind of cheddar for their spouse's work?? Just astounding to think that is even possible.

On board for musichal's comments on what looks to be a very nice set of speakers.
 
The seller is quite the high-end gear-head, in my book. We must have talked almost an hour over the phone. He has so much gear that I finally asked, "Well, I'm sure you must have listened to them, what do you think of the sound?"

"Sure, I did. I put them in my bedroom, where I'd intended to use them. When I think of them, the first thought that comes to mind is that they are smooth-sounding at any volume. You'll hear what I'm talking about."

"And their biggest weakness? We know no speaker is perfect."

"For me, their biggest weakness was the problem I have in my bedroom with placement. I had to shove them almost against the wall, just a few inches clearance, and they simply overpowered the room with bass output. Pull 'em out a couple feet and they're great, and become hard to fault," was the reply. I thought it a clever answer to the question by a seller, as well as probably quite true.

"Well, I can't pull them out to audiophile distances in my room, but I can certainly give them more air than that. Hopefully enough. I have Monitor Audio Silver 6, recently discontinued model, and they work so well in here I may be crazy to try these. However, these were also on the list when I bought the Sixes, but I balked at the new price. Hard to find them used at reasonable cost."

"I know, did you see the prices most people ask for used ones? I mean the few you find?"

"Yes. That's why I haven't dickered with you on price. I'm very happy to find a pair in this condition for that, and with you covering the shipping I wasn't about to make price an issue. Your ask plus PayPal was fine; did you receive it yet?"

"Yeah, it came a few minutes ago while we were talking."

"The Sinatra thing is pretty cool, too. I called Bryston about warranty-"

"Did you? I don't think you'll have one, I don't believe it's transferable."

"Actually, it is, but it depends upon the paperwork. I'm hoping the Certificate of Authenticity from the auctioneer and whatever other paperwork you send will serve."

"I'll be sure to enclose what I have. The speakers have been sitting in their boxes for almost three months now, and they were perfect when I put them in there, so you should be good. Now when it comes to calling owners and VPs of some of these companies, I find they love to talk gear, and may keep you on the phone for a couple hours."

"No kidding? I just talked to the lady who answered the phone about warranty. She seemed to want to say yes, but they had a rule change about the paperwork required for their twenty year warranty a few years ago, and these fall under the new rules, by date."

Yeah, we talked awhile, and had fun doing it. He went on to tell me about some experiences he'd had calling various audio companies. Interesting fellow.
 

An email arrived as I wrote the previous post.

Tracking Numbers.

Expected Delivery Thursday

Woo-Hoo!!
 
I saw that listing,I seem to recall a picture of one of the boxes and there may still be a packing slip with some sorta receipt / shipping order in it.
I know it still had the shipping label stating where it was being sent to (Frank Jr.).

My impression from the ad is they likely were'nt sold via a wholesale/retail outfit.
So it's entirely possible there is no receipt like there would be if they were sold that way.
From what I recall of the listing it appeared that they went directly from Bryston to Frank Jr. .
So there may be some "wiggle room" on the warranty in this case.
Hence why they may be interested in the serial no.s. to verify these.

They (Bryston) may have comp'd a pair to Frank Jr.,I mean that would've been some great press on their part,no?
I know if I was Bryston's PR guy I'd comp a guy like him a pair no sweat,,,you know ~ Hey guys,guess who's getting a pair of Mini T's...

And yeah the price on 'em was very fair,I honestly could'nt believe they were listed as long as they were.
USA Audio Mart must not get much traffic or the listing might've made them hard to find or something ???

Anyhow,it'll be real interesting to hear how all this pans out.
I know the listing was some interesting reading & viewing.

:cool:

Bret P.
 
I saw that listing,I seem to recall a picture of one of the boxes and there may still be a packing slip with some sorta receipt / shipping order in it.
I know it still had the shipping label stating where it was being sent to (Frank Jr.).

My impression from the ad is they likely were'nt sold via a wholesale/retail outfit.
So it's entirely possible there is no receipt like there would be if they were sold that way.
From what I recall of the listing it appeared that they went directly from Bryston to Frank Jr. .
So there may be some "wiggle room" on the warranty in this case.
Hence why they may be interested in the serial no.s. to verify these.

They (Bryston) may have comp'd a pair to Frank Jr.,I mean that would've been some great press on their part,no?
I know if I was Bryston's PR guy I'd comp a guy like him a pair no sweat,,,you know ~ Hey guys,guess who's getting a pair of Mini T's...

And yeah the price on 'em was very fair,I honestly could'nt believe they were listed as long as they were.
USA Audio Mart must not get much traffic or the listing might've made them hard to find or something ???

Anyhow,it'll be real interesting to hear how all this pans out.
I know the listing was some interesting reading & viewing.

:cool:

Bret P.

I was surprised, also, to see they'd been listed since sometime in October, yet remained available. However, the seller mentioned he'd had two surgeries during that time and "had not been aggressive" in trying to sell them, so maybe he missed some inquiries and my timing was lucky, though I prefer to think I was destined to have them, further helped along by a recent run of very good luck in the hold'em Poker Room for my four outings between November and this past Sunday morning.
 
FedEx delivered the Mini-T speakers at 11:45am just before lunch-time today. Now it is 4:30 pm and we've finally finished unboxing them, hooking them up with new WireWorld speaker cable loaned to me and subsequently purchased from the inimitable Mister Pig, bi-wired. Christine is worn out, because she has to do most of the heavy lifting, with me lending a hand when I can get in position to do so from my wheelchair, or other seat. Actually, I can lend a strong hand with the lifting; it's the cable connections I can't get to, and that she doesn't understand, which require a lot of discussion/supervision and a lot of getting up and down from the floor for her that tires her most.

When I told her Monday that we had new speakers coming, the first thing she said was, "Oh, god, we have to go through this again?"

Followed by, "So how much did you spend this time?"

Not that she cared, it's money I'd been saving up, and actually won more at the poker table the last five trips than I paid for the speakers, so still have the savings, plus. She was just curious. When I told her what I'd paid, she was quite surprised, though, at the amount, thinking it was awfully high, "I don't see how they could sound any better than the Silver 6 we have now."

Of course, she thought it cool that they came from Frank Sinatra, Jr's estate, but when I told her what they sell for new, she said, "Oh, then you got a really good deal on them, but I never thought you'd spend this much on speakers."

Then when I explained how much smaller they are than the Silver 6, she was really doubtful that they'd sound anywhere near worth the ask.

"Baby, you say you never thought I'd spend this much on speakers... have you forgotten what I paid for the Klipschorns?"

"Yeah, but they were huge, so they looked like they were worth it."

The seller double-boxed them in very large outer boxes, but when we finally got them decanted, she was even more doubtful, "Honey, our speakers just keep getting smaller and pricier, it seems like to me."

As promised by the seller, they look brand new. Not a mark or blemish anywhere, and she looked the finish over much more closely than did I. Finally, it was time to test them out. I began with a couple minutes of classical, but she tolerates the genre for my sake more than really enjoying it, so I switched to classic rock for a couple tunes, then to her favorite, which is country. Fortunately, I like country, too. It isn't my first choice for checking out new gear, but she worked hard for several hours and is deserving of her reward for this, so we are still listening to country.

After a couple songs, she was grinning ear to ear, "Sweetie, you were right. These are the best speakers we've ever had! I just can't believe how small they are - they sound better than the Silver 6, better than the Klipschorns, better than the Forte, and better than those Para-whatevers we started with! I never heard anything sound this good! You have to keep these!"

This, from a woman who'd heard very little, if any, difference with previous upgrades.

I'll have to listen to them awhile, but I'm also grinning ear to ear, because she is right. The upgrade is that obvious.

Apologies to Mister Pig, who I told I'd do some comparisons with my previous speaker wire - that project must await Christine's retirement, which we anticipate will begin sometime during the first week of March, for an official retirement date of April 1. Yes, her retirement begins on April Fool's Day. There's something funny, or sad, or something... about that, but I haven't figured it out exactly. She says it's just an appropriate finish.

More, later.
 
I had a good feeling 'bout these,,,really glad ya'll are enjoying them !!!
It's always tough sweating a decision out till the payoff,but being a poker player you obviously know all about that sorta thing.

Now I want a pair of these more than ever.
Guess it's time for me to start saving,or maybe I should try my hand @ poker,LOL.

Congrats. :thumbsup:

Bret P.
 
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