Specifications

Widescreen Review • Issue 118 • March 2007
5
2/2
preamp/processors… but not the SP3. The 28A and SP3 don’t sound
identical, but I’d say they are on essentially the same plane.
The primary stereo source used for the review was a Mac Mini
computer with solid-state hard disk, 8 GB of RAM, an external FireWire
800 hard disk storing lossless music files (mostly FLAC). An
AudioQuest Diamond USB cable connected the computer to a
Wavelength Proton USB DAC (battery operated, $900 MSRP). The
Wavelength DAC delivered analog stereo to the SP3. All of my com-
ments referenced to analog stereo came from that setup. However, the
SP3 has a USB port with the square (not rectangular or either of the
mini sizes) socket that replicates the square USB input to the
Wavelength DAC. That permitted me to connect the Mac Mini comput-
er directly to the SP3 with the same excellent AudioQuest Diamond
USB cable. That allowed me to compare the SP3’s USB decoding to
the excellent Wavelength DAC’s decoding. When listening to standard
CD-resolution tracks (16 bits and 44,100 Hz sample rate), it was diffi-
cult to pick a “winner”. I preferred the Wavelength DAC’s midrange and
high-frequencies, but the SP3s bass was a bit better articulated. But
when I played 24-bit/88kHz or higher sample rates up to 192 kHz
rates, the Wavelength DAC consistently sounded better, with more
detail, more space, and a more open/transparent/clear character to the
sound. The gap between high-frequency sound quality of the SP3 and
Wavelength Proton DAC expanded giving the Proton an even larger
advantage. I’ve run into this before and immediately went to my digital
music playback software, Decibel version 1.2.5, and watched what it
did when playing different bit rates and sample rates. Changing
between 16 bit tracks and 24 bit tracks was transparent. Nothing
changed and the SP3 appeared to receive both equally well. However,
Decibel software indicated it would only send 48 kHz sample rates to
the SP3 for any sample rate from 48 kHz to 192 kHz. That indicates
that Bryston has used a USB port that won’t accept sample rates high-
er than 48 kHz in spite of the DACs in the SP3 being capable of
accepting sample rates up to 192 kHz. If you are into the extra bit of
sound quality you can get from high-res downloads (available from
several sources including www.hdtracks.com), the SP3, as presently
configured won’t quite get you there. It will play the tracks fine, but the
sample rate for 88 kHz, 96 kHz, 172 kHz, and 196 kHz tracks were all
downsampled to 48 kHz according to the Decibel software and
according to what I heard. The Wavelength Proton DAC’s USB input
will accept common sample rates up to 96 kHz but it tells the Decibel
software to down-convert 176 kHz and 192 kHz rates to 96 kHz. There
are a few USB DACs out there that can accept common sample rates
up to 192 kHz, and a few more that will accept up to 96 kHz like the
Wavelength Proton, but there are a lot of products with USB ports, that,
like the SP3, won’t receive sample rates higher than 48 kHz.
Surround Sound Quality
Just put ditto marks on the stereo sound comments to get the feel
for surround sound. The pervasive sense of neutrality is still there
through all channels. Detail and dynamics are as good as or better
than any surround processor heard to date. I didn’t miss not having
room correction processing in the SP3, but
some rooms really benefit from room correc-
tion for surround sound because it is so diffi-
cult to find perfect placement for the addi-
tional channels. The LFE subwoofer used
during the review, Hsu VTF-3 MkIV, is very
tunable to the point that it measures +/- 2.5
dB from 16 Hz to 80 Hz, something you can’t
do with many subwoofers. So some may
miss not having room correction for surround
sound, but this particular room works amaz-
ingly well without room correction so it was
never an issue during the SP3 review.
Getting exactly what you want in refer-
ence to whether the subwoofer is active or
not and whether there is any surround sound
processing or not requires that you under-
stand how bass management works in the
SP3. There are some small differences for
analog and digital sources, and how you
setup your loudspeakers (large or small for example) can influence the
modes the SP3 makes available. When you understand the bass man-
agement logic, you can get the SP3 to do just about anything you
want. The front panel displays will tell you if the SP3 is doing what you
want it to do or not. If it isn’t doing what you want it to do, that’s your
sign that you need to change a setting somewhere.
The SP3’s xtraBass mode sends the LFE bass to both the sub-
woofer and to any loudspeakers you have set to large (full-range or
nearly full-range front channel loudspeakers primarily). Using this set-
ting can allow you to have nice balanced and linear bass response for
music when you have xtraBass set to OFF. That may result in the LFE
sound for movies being a bit too laid-back. If you find that to be the
case, you can enable the xtraBass option for the HDMI inputs for your
Blu-ray Disc player and cable/satellite box to get a bit of extra low fre-
quency kick while leaving xtraBass OFF for your music sources.
Conclusion
Bryston’s SP3 is the audiophile’s surround sound processor. Its ana-
log audio performance gives it an edge over every other processor I’ve
used. The SP3 is also the surround processor for the purist who does-
n’t want features of dubious value just to assuage the marketing
department’s burning need to have the longest list of features in the
industry. Some will scoff at $9,500 MSRP for such a minimalist product
while the targeted audiophile customer will understand the product
and consider the cost acceptable in the big scheme of a high-end
home theatre setup that also happens to deliver audiophile quality
stereo sound. If you’re in that latter group, the SP3 just might be the
perfect preamplifier/processor for your theatre + stereo setup. WSR
Bryston SP3 Preamplifier / Surround Processor