Preamps: Bryston versus Simaudio

To Doug Schneider,

I read your review of the Simaudio 350P preamplifier. It's a very good and honest review. Also, I read a review of the Bryston BP26 on your website. Those two preamps are similarly priced, but the Simaudio has balanced outputs. I have a Bryston 3B SST2 amp and Sonus Faber Liuto loudspeakers. Would you be so kind and tell me which preamp you would recommend?

Thank you very much in advance.

Kind regards,
Branimir Jelenkovic

I’m a fan of Bryston’s products and even use a 4B SST2 in my reference listening room, but I’ve never reviewed one of the company’s preamps, so I have no idea how the BP26 would compare to the 350P. The review of the BP26 preamp was written by Howard Kneller, but he hasn’t reviewed a Simaudio preaamp.

What I can tell you is that if I wrote the review of the 350P today, I would likely praise it even more than I did when I originally wrote it. The reason I like it even more now is because the more I use it the more I appreciate its features, build, reliability, and exceedingly neutral sound. The fact that it has singled-ended as well as balanced outputs makes it extremely useful because of all the different amps I get in for review. Overall, the 350P is a first-rate, feature-rich preamp at a price that's very hard to beat. . . . Doug Schneider