Bryston preamps

The Bryston preamps are ok, but if you want to improve the overall sound you should consider an Audible Illusions tube preamp, like the L1. An excellent preamp  and known to be a very good preamp to use with solid state amps without too many connectivity issues!

I demoed both the Bryston 26 and 17. I have Class' CA M600 amps with Joseph Audio pearl 20/20s. At the time I had a PS Audio Directstream Dac. Bad gain mismatch with my amps and dac. Very little volume control, had to turn the volume down on the DSD to have a little more control. Also lots of noise. I have since gone to the EMM Labs DV2 and PRE. Dead quiet lots of volume control. Bryston amps have a gain of 24 and so does the preamps. My Classe' have a gain of 29. I would pair Bryston amps with Bryston preamps as to not run into a gain mismatch. Bryston will adjust the gain to match certain amps however they don't put that info out.

Tubes are a whole other thing. But as far as a good quality solid state preamp, Bryston is'nt a bad choice. Particularly if you get a used one.

I went looking for a relatively affordable self contained solid state (no outboard supply), single ended only preamp with tape monitor. A tougher call then you might think, especially if you are talking currently available new gear. Anyway a used Bryston fit the bill.

It does'nt add any sweetness the way tubes might, but neither is it harsh. Maybe a bit forward and plenty of gain. Neutral yet still musical. It makes a good match for power amps whose gain is on the lower side, I could see it being a mismatch for higher gain power amps. There are definitely better preamps. But the BP6 does the job fairly well.