Bryston Loudspeakers?

It was a joint project between Axiom and Bryston. If you meander over to Audiocircles you'll find plenty of info on their new speakers

"Mis-step" - I don't think so and here's why, IMHO. Axiom has been known as a manufacturer of "high value" speakers. While they can offer enclosures finished in higher end materials their market has been to offer a very good speaker finished in less costly material and selling factory direct allows them to provide the public with a variety of speakers at generally affordable price points. Like many speaker manufacturers they have a cult following.

The Bryston speakers appear to use the same material in their finish but like Axiom would rather sink more money into the parts (drivers and x-overs).

Personally I would expect a higher quality finish on a speaker like the Model T that lists for $6500 but that's just me - guess I would be always getting caught up in judging a book by its cover.

Like any speaker an audition will tell the tale. I heard the Model T at the last TAVES show in Toronto and I was very impressed with its performance. Not an ideal setting for sure, shows rarely are, but I will say I was very struck by their bass response given the size and layout of the room.

Will they succeed - only time will tell. The initial commercial reviews (and we can all decide how to weigh those...) are very good but the customer auditions reported over at Audiocircles are very good to excellent.

Based on what I heard if Bryston were to sell direct like Axiom does they would be going out the door in droves. As Bryston uses a dealer network the final prices must reflect that additional level of support.

Like any speaker its a very personal choice but I believe that discounting them because of their resemblance to Axiom products would be doing them a disservice.

As is always the case YMMV...