It is a low distortion, flat line stage.

What weaknesses could there be?

I do not get into "wine-tastings" of line stages, as I personally believe them to be silly exercises. I look for quality engineering and assembly, warranty, features, and mfr. reputation. The BP-25MC has it all, including a low noise, transformer based moving coil phono section. This unit gets out of the way of the music and is quiet - what else does a line stage do? Well, some editorialize. You cannot go wrong with this unit. My experiences with the Vermont service crew led by Ethan have all been extremely positive. None of my Bryston equipment has ever broken, but I did send a 10B crossover back to check for a hum, which turned out to be a ground loop at my end.

Transparency beyond belief...so real it can cause goose bumps! Build quality...the best there is! Warrantee...buy w/ confidence, they will back you!

None.

Fabulous unit! Sound is the best I''ve heard yet, and maybe rightfully so as it''s paired with a 4B ST Bryston. I did own the Adcom 750 that got Stereophiles class A rating, but it''s no match for the Bryston in sound, build or reliability. I did have a problem with the unit in that upon shipping there was something loose inside. I sent it per Bryston Canada''s suggestion to Bryston Vermont. The tech was quite rude just short of accusing me of putting the item in, or screwing with the preamp...which I didn''t appreciate. I would never dare mess in my eqipment. Aside from that, I appreciate the fact that they did the check over at no charge, and feel most confident in the product.

Similar Products Used:

Cardas Cross cabling, Magnepan MG-12 speakers, MMF-25 CD player, MMF-7 phono player, and Audio Reasearch PH-1 phono amp.

Fantastic Neutral Sound. Great warranty

None

What can I say...great preamp. This is a very neutral piece of equipment. I like the separate power supply, the headphone amp seems to work well, and it has a mono switch. The only problem I have with my BP25 is the aux input doesn''t work. I am not worried because of the 20 year warranty I am sending in when I go on vacation). My System: Bryston BP25 Anthem MCA2 Series II Marantz CD6000 OSE Marantz TU6000 Rega P2 w/Super Bias Creek OBH-8 Castle Severn II

Similar Products Used:

Rotel, NAD, H/K Citation, Carver, and Adcom.

Clear, descriptive, no noise whatsoever

Somehow straight, not warm enogh

At this moment I do not have any refernce equipment like it to compare with. It is impressive how it sounds allot better than the old stuff I used to ear, makes it a world of difference. My music sounds so clear, impressively descriptive and you get the feel for each instrument that is recorded in the cd's. I bought my BP25 with the Bryston PP120's (monoaural amps). These couple make my B&W 802 MkII speakers sound so great. I am not sure if my statement of sound being not warm enogh is correct, but I tell you I have been trying to ear all of my music at a good level of volume every time I get the chance to do so. The soundstage is more real every time. If you are in to listen the tenor singers, wait untill you hear Andrea Bocelli sing Caruzo in this babys!

Similar Products Used:

Onkyo, harman Kardon

I agree that the break-in time on this piece is long (well over a month). I feel that it forms a special synergy with the 4B-ST amplifier. While it is not the final word in transparency, the BP-25 gets out of the way of the music. It has excellent dynamics and bass performance which equals that of the 4B-ST amp.I cannot comment on the BP-25's performance with amplifiers other than Bryston. Therefore, please consider my 5-star rating accordingly.

Clean simple design, separate power supply, lots of inputs including balanced

would be nice if volume knob had a lit indicator(minor quibble really, as your ears are the best volume indicators!)

Another high quality, well engineered product from Bryston!You gotta like a preamp that isn't cluttered up with a bunch of knobs and switches. The sound is quite exceptional and transparent and sounds very sweet when matched with a Bryston amp. The remote is machined from a piece of billet aluminum and weighs over a pound. It also benefits by only having the functions that are necessary( volume, mute, phase) Be sure not to drop it on a table! You also don't want to be tossing it to your buddy unless you want to get sued! This preamp also carries Bryston's 20 year warranty which is unmatched in the industry. A high end product with a REAL world price! Highly recommended!

Neutral, clean and **cheap**

Its heavy, I think my Toyota has less metal on the door!

The pre-amp from Bryston does all its supposed to, and nothing its not supposed to. In other words, you get a dependable pre-amp with a clean straight line (inside), and reliable if somewhat old-fashioned controls.

The phase inversion (accessible on the remote too) is a hoot - you will not guess how many CDs there are with phases inverted, which you can de-invert effortlessly on the BP25. The sonic improvement is not subtle, let me tell you.

With matching power amps from Bryston (not necessary, just an added plus - I first used the Bryston pre-amp with a Classe power amp), you get to sonic nirvana. Better still, on the cheap.

The pricing is sensible, and given a 20-year piece of mind that the price gets you, I see no reason for quibbles. Why, I would throw the metal brick that is the remote control at anyone who DOES complain about this product.

The high value comes because I made the mistake of comparing it with Mark Levinson (mistake for ML, that is). Sorry, I don't see any reason to pay USD10k of my hard-earned money for the ML series of pre and power amps ...

Similar Products Used:

Classe P101

Very Clean and uncluttered

I wanted to wait before submitting a review on the Bryston
BP-25 as I felt it would only be fair to let it burn in before I formed my opinion,Well it is about a month old with continued playing around the clock, It sounds very good although thier are not alot of bells and whistels it was designed for one purpose sending the signal through as clean as possible Well the people at Bryston have done just that
I also run a 4bst with B&W CDM 9nt and a Rega Planet CD player with Audio quest rubies and Monster Cables M2.2 they are new as well over a month, I can honestly say that I am hearing little nuances from CD's that I have had for years
I can honestly say that I tried quite a few preamps and this one works the best in my system

After owning the same preamp, an APT Holman, for the past 20 years, I decided it was finally time to upgrade. I listened to a lot of different brands in the 1K to 2K price range. I brought lots of them home to try in my system (Aragon 8008BB, Cal Icon MkII Power Boss, B&W 802 MkII'S). The BP-25 blew them all, tubed and other SS, away. Once I got my hands on a couple grand, I got a brand new BP-25 through the local dealer. First impressions were very disappointing, with zero depth, little high end air, some brittle sound, etc. After the first month, however, all the incredible attributes I heard during the TWO in-home auditions came back. What a critical break in period! I now hear more detail without harshness, more warmth and body, more air and depth than I ever believed possible, even from older recordings. Soundstage is totally realistic. Dynamics are overwhelming, including a velvety silence around the music. Tonal accuracy and bass control are astounding. All this, and a 20 year warranty virtually guarantee that I will not be changing preamps for another 20 years. There are probably better preamps, but definitely not at this price level, at least of all the ones I heard. Plus a headphone jack, cool remote, balanced ins and outs (I use the outs, and wow, it sure is quiet!), and a muting circuit you can actually make use of. I am NOT affiliated with Bryston in any way, other than being a totally satisfied customer.

I've had this pre-amp, along with the 3ST amp, for three weeks. I have the BP25P version, with MM phono stage.These two sounded good when first switched on, but not significantly better than my Denon integrated. However, after two weeks of burn-in (playing at low level) the units sound far superior to the integrated amp they replaced. This leaves no doubt in my mind as to the importance of break in.
Anyhow, as previously noted below, there is no perceptable noise, and even my modest FM tuner delivers good detail and soundstage on broadcast material that has those qualities. The phono stage is a revelation, and provides a warm yet detailed and smooth, pleasing sound. I am quite pleased with the sound quality.
The headphone jack is of limited value, since it has fixed output only. At least it will play while the speakers are muted, so as to avoid waking the wife/kids. I have a headphone amp tied into the tape loop, so I'm all set as far as that goes.
The remote control is solid, and useful in terms of the volume and muting functions (especially for couch potatoes like myself). I don't find the phase reversing function useful, but you might. There are plenty of inputs, including two balanced inputs which do not merely repeat the functions of the RCA jacks but are in addition.
You might contact Avalon Acoustics in New Jersey if you want a deal.