Specifications

Bryston’s 35 -plus years in the audio component business
makes them one of Canada’s oldest audio equipment manufactur-
ers. Their facilities are located northeast of Toronto and they build
the SP3 at that location. One of things that made Bryston memo-
rable over the years is their 20-year warranty on analog products.
Digital tech has its advantages and disadvantages, so Bryston
offers “only” a 5-year warranty on digital circuits, still quite long
compared to many competitors. While the SP3 has an analog
section, it is considered a digital product and carries the 5-year
warranty. The SP3 is a sharply focused surround processor. It has
HDMI switching with eight inputs and two outputs, but it supports
no other video signal formats. There is no video processing of any
kind and that means no on-screen displays to show you the
selected source, volume level, mute status, surround mode, etc.
This will be something some potential owners won’t want to deal
with, but for those who can live without the on-screen status dis-
plays, the SP3 has impressive audio performance. All status infor-
mation is displayed on the SP3’s front panel display in four lines of
information that are too small to see at distances more than about
six feet or so, depending on your visual acuity. The SP3’s design
and build focus is the highest-possible audio quality from both
analog and digital inputs.
The review sample arrived in “all black” livery with the attrac-
tive machined aluminum faceplate making a good impression.
There are a lot of manual control buttons on the front panel, allow-
ing you to operate the SP3 from the front panel should that be
useful. A silver faceplate is also available.
My first impression was “Wow!” there’s a lot of empty space
inside the box. However, one look at the back panel and it
becomes obvious why the box is as large as it is. They have to
have room on the back panel for all the well-spaced connectors.
By well-spaced, I mean that the connectors are not so close
together that there are problems if the RCA plugs are a little larger
than average. There’s room for every type of connector I had
Bryston SP3
Doug Blackburn
available.
The SP3’s user menu takes a little getting used to. There’s nothing
wrong with it, but it is different than you might expect. And the controls
on the remote aren’t organized in a typical points-of-the-compass
navigation control with OK/Select in the center. So refer to the man-
ual when using the menus. There are 10 output jacks for connec-
tions to the outboard amplifier. The first seven are for the usual sus-
pects, front, center, left and right, surround L&R, surround back L&R.
The other two are labeled Aux L and Aux R. A setup menu allows you
to configure one of the Aux outputs as a duplicate center channel so
you could have a center above and below the screen. The other Aux
output can be configured for a second subwoofer so you could run two
subwoofers at the same time, though they receive the same signal
rather than a signal customized for each subwoofer. The other option
for the Aux outputs is as a second left and right channel, perhaps for
bi-amping or for dual front L&R loudspeakers––or another pair of sub-
woofers if they have the crossover and gain adjustments built in, which
most do.
The SP3 supports all the current Dolby audio formats through Pro
Logic IIx, 7.1 True HD, and Dolby Digital Plus. DTS modes include the
legacy modes plus 96/24, 7.1 HD Master Audio and High Resolution.
The newest Dolby and DTS modes (Pro Logic IIz and Neo:X) are not
supported at this time so there is no support for extra height or width
channels. There is the usual array of surround modes within the Dolby
and DTS realms plus the ability to synthesize club, party (seven chan-
nel mono), natural (a Pro Logic IIx mode that enhances spatial charac-
teristics of stereo or surround-encoded recordings), and stereo7 (7-
channel surround from stereo sources).
When audio is muted (by you or automatically when you change a
channel or switch an input), it doesn’t get cut off sharply, there’s a very
quick-acting curve that mutes fairly quickly, but not instantly. Un-muting
has the same profile in reverse. This seems to avoid sharp audio arti-
facts or startling return of the sound after it was muted. I liked this fea-
ture and wish it was more universal. The curve Bryston chose is very
quick so you aren’t likely to miss more than 1 word here or there when
un-muting.
The front-panel LEDs are fairly bright, but there’s a menu setting
that turns-off the entire front panel after a delay of two to 120 minutes
leaving you with no light being emitted from the SP3, not even a power
LED.
Manual And Remote
While there is a printed manual in the box, the online version includ-
Preamplifier / Surround Processor