AJ - having owned a variety of Bryston gear over the last 15 years or so I can offer the following as it pertains to the Bryston BP-25:
It is an extremely detailed preamp that does nothing to hide the components upstream from it. Brutally revealing is my take on it. I had one mated to a 4B-ST and found it to be too revealing for my taste. My analogy would be that the BP-25 is a black and white HDTV - every little detail is provided but after a while the lack of "color" becomes a tad overwhelming. In the end I chose a tube preamp (Rogue 66 Magnum) - ran like a very good color television in comparison - less detail but the color added the "warmth" I was missing with the BP-25. I still think the BP-25 is a great preamp but your choice of source may weigh heavily on whether it will work in your system...
It is an extremely detailed preamp that does nothing to hide the components upstream from it. Brutally revealing is my take on it. I had one mated to a 4B-ST and found it to be too revealing for my taste. My analogy would be that the BP-25 is a black and white HDTV - every little detail is provided but after a while the lack of "color" becomes a tad overwhelming. In the end I chose a tube preamp (Rogue 66 Magnum) - ran like a very good color television in comparison - less detail but the color added the "warmth" I was missing with the BP-25. I still think the BP-25 is a great preamp but your choice of source may weigh heavily on whether it will work in your system...