Bryston sound 'neutral' ????

Well this is all subjective is it not. It depends on what an individuals definition of neutral is. If you lean towards the silky smooth, syrupy and warm sound as being neutral then no, the Bryston amps are not going to float your boat, so to speak. But, if you find tonal correctness, clean detailed dynamic punchy, somewhat dry sound to be neutral then the Bryston will be right up your alley, won't it? It's virtually impossible for anyone to definitively determine just what neutral is. You can say that it's live music, but the problem with any assertion of this sort is that everyone hears differently. I have been to audio shops and live performances of un-amplified music with audiophile friends and afterwards none of us can ever totally agree on exactly how, what we just heard actually sounded. To me neutral is when a system or component imparts the least amount of it's own influence on the sound of a recording it is reproducing. Of course most of us have no way of knowing exactly how the original recording is supposed to sound. Those who work in studios do however, and it's surprising how many sound engineers and studio technicians use Bryston equipment, simply because they feel it faithfully reproduces their work better than other available equipment, during critical evaluations, but maybe their hearing is flawed. Either way this is a very personal thing, and will always be open to interpetation.

I agree with Rcrerar's note. I coudn't have said it better. I once owned an older Bryston 2B. It's reproduction was as Rcrerar said but lacking in enough power for strong bass reproduction. I replaced it with a Hafler 9180 purchased in 1995. To my listening preferences the Hafler gives me a very "musical" reproduction.

I fail to see the point of this thread.

Hi all ! IMHO there is no piece of gear which is completely neutral . Each has its own sonic flavor . The key is putting components together which complements each other . For example a dark amp and bright speakers are a good match . If every component was neutral we could put any system together and it would sound like the next one . Also, I dont believe in this magic word "synergy".It is all about matching the sonic characteristics of each component to the rest . This is why we call it a system.

Is this English?

You see no point of this thread because there is nothing to see. There is no point, right.
Newer Brystons are okay, that's all, but that's not what this thead tries to be about.

I like the Bryston gear, but not with my Harbeth's. The Harbeth's like a little color because they're neutral themselves.

There's no absolutely neutral component.

I'm a Bryston owner and participate in the Bryston Circle; that doesn't mean I'm some close-minded fanboy who thinks anything and everything else is junk by any means.

I chose my B60 and have kept it for going on 5 years now for several reasons, but the main and easily most important reason is that it simply gets out of the way better than anything near my budget. I've heard it next to stuff that's quite a bit more expensive and 'better' in some ways, but everything else had a presence that my B60 lacks (in a very good way).

Bryston makes bullet-proof stuff that's very neutral. Dollar for dollar, it's the closest to neutral stuff I've heard. They're a great company to deal with as well.

But there's a lot of stuff out there that's extremely well made, great customer service, yadda yadda that's also excellent sounding. My favorite is Bryston. McIntosh, CJ, Manley, Audio Research, et al. are just as good all around, IMO; just different presentations.

I guess that's my take on this thread. Most likely way off, but I'm not the only one.

Let's not let personal taste cloud an issue that is 100% about personal taste.

...Nor use anything subjective like, god forbid, good music to come to any conclusions.