Need some info about Bryston (LONG) (1 Viewer)

[Blake G]

Hi there!
I apologize in advance for the length of my post, I just like to type.
I have been lurking here for a long time, and have learned a ton of good stuff, things that never get mentioned in any magazine or really ever talked about.
I hope that you guys can help me.
My first post was about opinions on two different canadian speaker set-ups, namely Paradigm Ref and PSB Stratus. I was running all Parasound amps and was fully ready and willing to make the drive to BC and get some speakers for a great price. I live near San Francisco, CA, BTW. My wife went to UW, so it is a nice 'excuse' to head northward every once in awhile.
To make an already long story short, I did end up making the drive, but as shotgun for my buddy who bought a full Paradigm Ref set-up. (100v2 front and sides, 40s for surround back and center, 2x servo-15) I love his speakers, but I sold him all my parasound amps (4 x hca-3500) for a couple of reasons -- I know how good the parasound/paradigm combo is, and I heard my new dream speakers -- Legacy Audio Focuses.
I heard them set up with a pair of Bryston 7B-STs, and quite simply, they rocked like no other speaker I have ever heard for any length of time, bested only perhaps by my father's Watt/Puppy 6.0s.
Now to get to the meat of the story, I cannot for the life of me figure out what Canadian Retail is for the following,
14B-ST, 6B-ST, 4B-ST.
Bryston will not provide it, and the stores wont say over the phone. Is it as good a value to go to Canada for Bryston as it is for Paradigm? Do you have any other suggestions?
Does anyone know anything about the following stores:
Burtek Systems Incorporated, 3455 Gardner Court, Burnaby, British Columbia
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Spinners Sound Centre Ltd., 353 Victoria St., Kamloops, British Columbia
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Blue Door Electronics Ltd., Box 1488, 124 Middleton Ave., Parksville, British Columbia
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J & A Stereo Limited, 1244 - 4th Avenue, Prince George, British Columbia
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A&B Sound, 3434 Cornett Rd., Vancouver, British Columbia,
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Commercial Electronics Limited, 1335 Burrard Street, Vancouver, British Columbia
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Sound Hounds Limited, 1532 Pandora Street, Victoria, British Columbia, V8R 1A8,
These are the Bryston Dealers in BC.
Did anyone read this far down?
There is always AudioGon, and I know that the warrantee is valid and transferrable, I just want new stuff cheap!
Thanks for your help,
Blake Gentner

 

[Jon_B]

I would check out audioreview.com and see what they have listed as the estimated price and what the person ended up paying for each model. Or...I would send an email off to Bryston and ask for the msrp of the models you are interested in. Good luck.

Jon

 

[Greg_W]

The MSRP of a 14B is $7000, 4B is about $2800 (it may have gone up $100-200 recently). I'm not sure about the 6B (probably 50% more than the 4B. Two 7Bs can be had for about $6000. All prices are canadian dollars.

Greg

 

[Gord S]

Blake,
I'm pretty sure it would be worth your while to head up to Vancouver for your purchase. With the value of our Canadian Lire, you have alot of buying power with a US greenback. Even if you were to pay full MSRP, it would probably still be cheaper. I cannot vouch for any other store there except for Commercial Electronics . I just did a fairly major purchase from them (Martin Logan/Bryston combo) and I'm 3000 miles away in the Toronto area. I do have the advantage of being an airline pilot, so distance is a relatively minor factor for me. I highly recommend Larry Sever for a salesman. There has been absolutely no pressure when I've gone there to audition equipment and let's face it, I'm sure he didn't expect me to purchase there knowing I lived so far away. He always gave me all the time and info I wanted, as well as a great price without the usual haggling that seems to happen at most of these places.
You'll find one of the biggest hassles buying in Canada is the tax. With both the PST and GST you'll pay an extra 15% on top of the quoted price, however when you go through Canadian customs, pick up a tax rebate form. It will get you back the 7% GST. I'm not sure how you get back the PST, but there should be a way.
The only other thing I could suggest is to call ahead to make sure that they have what you are looking for in stock. They seem to have a fairly good stock selection, alas, they had to order my surrounds in my wood choice, so I'm still waiting for my new toys :frowning:
Good Luck to you.

 

[Blake G]

Thanks for all your replies -- you guys gave me more information (or ammunition) to sway my wife on the purchase.

For some reason she thinks its a bad idea to get seperate amps right after buying a Focus/Marquis/SigIII/SigIII set up from Legacy Audio. She lacks vision, you know? I LOVE Martin Logans, but my wife HATES the way they look -- she thinks that speakers should be boxes - no more no less. I have a friend that has Oddyssey (sp?) and Aeons and they are magnificent. Did you get one of their subs? Very cool looking and great sounding.

If I may be so bold, Gord, but if possible could you tell me the discount off MSRP that you got, if any? I understand you bought a lot more stuff, but I could ballpark it from there. Here in the USA I have been able to haggle ~15% off Bryston in the past, could I expect the same there? You can PM me if you don't want to post it.

Thanks so much,

Blake Gentner