Bryston SP-3 preamplifier/processor

Early on during the beginning stages of the home theater era Bryston was one of the first high-performance audio manufacturers to support the growth of multichannel sound in the home. The Canadian company's initial surround sound product was the benchmark 9B-ST five-channel amplifier, and later it introduced its first-generation SP-1 preamplifier/processor.

Now years later the company has come out with its long-awaited SP-3 preamplifier/processor, which it says provides A/V enthusiasts a solution to reproduce analog two-channel audio, as well as 5.1, 6.1 and 7.1 fully lossless surround sound. Bryston says the product incorporates the latest digital signal processing (DSP) for both two-channel and multichannel content and when a user switches A/V content both the audio and video signals will switch at the same time.

Internally the SP-3 incorporates a fully discrete Class A analog circuit path and both the analog and digital circuits feature isolated power supplies and modular upgrade paths to allow the unit to evolve as technology changes. The pre/pro also incorporates eight HDMI inputs, four SPDIF coax and three optical inputs, two AES/EBU digital inputs, six pairs of RCA inputs, two pairs of balanced XLR inputs, 7.1 pass-through, USB, 7.1 balanced outputs and 7.1 single-ended RCA outputs.