how does the membership here find Bryston? *

I have a B135 sst2 integrated and it is fantastic. I am running it instead of a Prima Luna Prologue Premium integrated. I don't find it analytical or forward sounding. It just gets out of the way and lets the music flow from my sources to the speakers. I demoed it against the Mcintosh MA 6300 and went with Bryston. I think it is a superb integrated. If you want magic midrange emphasis, it isn't for you. I found that things like Dead Shows (and other regorded concerts) through the Prima Luna emphasized gutiars in a really cool way, but not realistically like you were at the event. With the Bryston, it sounds like I am hearing it at the event.

 

When I used to hang out at the old AudioAsylum forums there were a couple or more Bryston fanboys that could really get on your nerves. They'd answer 'BRYSTON!' for pretty much every question.

'What's a good budget amp? I have about $600 to spend...'
answer 'BRYSTON!'
'What's a good speaker under $500?'
answer 'BRYSTON makes everything sound better!'
'Have you heard the such-and-such remaster?'
answer 'It sounds better on my BRYSTON!'

Anyway, I've contributed nothing to this thread except to say fanboys can be so annoying. I'm sure Bryston gear is excellent and they deserve their fans, but they are expensive.

dan c

 

You can substitute a number of manufacturers and get the same results, I'm sure.

 

Well, to be fair, there are other amps that don't look as slick as McIntosh. Accuphase, Luxman, and McIntosh are some of the best looking in audio, imo.

 

Imo, there's no such thing as a perfect audio system and the components that comprise that system. I will admit that Bryston has its own set of colorations, but so just does every high end brand under the sun. There is 1 possible exception, when we're talking solid state, is FM Acoustics out of Switzerland. I have heard and actually owned this stuff. I had to sell because of financial reasons. Anyway, the sound is incredible, and just about as neutral as you can get. However, it is hideously expensive.

 

Absolutely. You try to pick the compromises that bother you the least or appeal to you the most when you're system-building. Ain't nothing perfect in this life...and who gets to define "perfect" anyway? It's that defensive argument about "extreme linearity" and "total sonic purity" that makes me wince. When you hear a particular sonic characteristic on any recording that you play on a system or even as you move from source to source ie: CD to vinyl or from one pair of speakers to another, that's not neutrality and it's sure as hell coming from somewhere... the argument about "adding or subtracting nothing, distortion-free and sonically pure as the driven snow" comes apart at the seams. Colouration ( note the "u", Amerikaners ) is colouration and there is colouration to the sound of Bryston gear. Whether or not you find it to your taste is an individual choice but it is there.

D.D.

 

I agree, and those terms you mentioned are more marketing terms than anything else. And yes, sadly the colorations are there even in the most expensive high end units. Significantly less than most of the more modestly priced (in high end terms) units, but still there.

 

I liked the Bryston amps that I've heard. I would not call the cold or clinical.

 

Those blue meters are very distracting and not particularly useful to me, and anyway, if cosmetics are why you are buying electronics you are foolish. I've worked with pieces of test equipment that cost more than your house and mine and they looked just like an electrical panel in a battleship. Just put them on a shelf and put a pretty painting over them.

 

Somewhere between junk and beyond the pale. I had their big integrated amp with all the bells and whistles bought new from an official dealer. The power supply hummed so loudly, I could hear it at my listening place. My dealer sent it to be repaired, it came back unchanged (but with a note that it had been repaired) got sent for repair again ... You get the idea. After a repair marathon of almost a year. I was told that this hum is just normal for the amp, which was the point at which I gave it back to the dealer and asked for my money back.

So to my mind this counts as being a Bryston customer twice: the first time and the last time.

 

I bought a 2B-LP to replace a tube amp on my tweeters and liked the sound so much I've never considered returning to tubes. I learned that day that I don't really like distortion that much. It wasn't quite enough power, so I then bought two 4B amps and put one on the woofers, moved the 2B-LP to the mids, and put the other 4B on the tweeters. I really like this setup.

 

Build quality very good. Heard them twice. Once way back in 1990 , did not like them but heard them approx 8 years ago at an exhibition , liked them. Looks are horrible & their logo stickered on looks cheap.

 

The logo is actually silkscreened on. Just sayin'

 

That's cool you got your money back. Not too many dealers will do that...

 

my wife's uncle has the new 300 watt stereo version. forgot which model.. I suggested it to him after his old Bedini finally died.. he was thinking possible another brand (emotiva becaause of $$) , and I suggested the bryston because he wanted a lot of power to drive his maggies and wanted clean sound... he is very happy with the Bryston!!! They have nice clean powerful sound, very musical IMO... If i ever wanted gobs and gobs of great clean power I would consider it.. but right now I am very happy with my Parasound Halo A52 ...

 

That's probably the 4SST2 model...

 

The new version of their DAC has gotten much praise as one of the best sounding and accurate digital to analog converter. Listed in Sterophiles Reference A list among gear costing 87 20 or 40 grand, This one hear retails around 11695 dollars. So you get a lot of quality for your money I would say....another brand deserving more praise(imo) is PRIMARE esp. their CD Players sound excellent and are among the best deals for sound/build quality.

 

I do want to get a listen to the Bryston BHA-1 headphone amplifier. But I haven't yet found one to listen to. Reviews indicate it is very worth listening to. And could be a headphone amp I'm willing to get.

 

I'd love to give this a test run also, very positive feedback from pretty much everyone who owns one over at Head-Fi.

 

Love my Bryston 4BSST. It must work well with my setup because I find it very musical.

 

I listen to a 4B SST2 at my best friend's place quite often. I'm at a loss to hear anyone describe it as cold, sterile, etc.

 

We all know what opinions are like, everyone has them.

 

My experiences with Bryston are varied. Their gear sometimes works well within the context of a system - but it's not the easiest gear to match to ancillary equipment in my experience. IMHO - their amps don't have as strong a family resemblance as do other brands'. For example, Ayre amps all sound the same to me, just at different power ratings. But each Bryston amp I've listened to has a different character. My main experience with Bryston is;

1) Several years back, I owned a 3BST amp along with a passive preamp and a pair of PSB Stratus Bronze speakers. The system as a whole sounded good from top-to-bottom, but it lacked a little bit of that spark/excitement that I wanted to hear. When I upgraded to a pair of Totem Hawk speakers that had much more life (and resolution) to them than the PSB's, I started finding things a bit smiley-face EQ'd, so started investigating other options. I found that the SimAudio sound was more to my liking than the Bryston sound, with the Moon I5 integrated sounding more powerful and authoritative than the twice-as-powerful 3BST with a passive pre - primarily due to the improved tonality allowing me to play music at a higher volume without it getting harsh. Ultimately, I found that the more refined Ayre sound was further preferable to the SimAudio, which was preferable to the Bryston sound in that system.

2) So you might think that Bryston and Totem are just a bad match, right? Wrong! My parents are currently running the Bryston B60 integrated with the Hawks, and that sounds far better than what I remember of my setup. Part is that their room is far "softer" than mine, part is probably a preference that I generally have for lower-powered amps, and part is that the B60's preamp is likely better matched to its amp section than my passive pre was to the 3BST.

3) I have auditioned the Bryston headphone amp back-to-back against the similarly priced Woo Audio WA6se amp (at the Montreal audio show a few years ago when the 2 companies had rooms next to each other), using my (hard-to-drive) Audeze LCD3's and my iPhone. It was no contest IMHO, the Woo was far better - more organic sounding, more authoritative, and more balanced in terms of timing. The Bryston seemed to favour the leading edge of transients, whereas the Woo did not. Again, my general preference for tubed gear is likely part of my conclusion here, but it was a pretty clear difference to me. This was at a time when I was looking to buy, and the choice was easy for me - the Woo sits in my equipment rack.

Based on how good my parents' system sounds for the $, I'm always open to auditioning Bryston gear. Based on my varied experience with it though - I'd always make sure to be comfortable with a particular setup before committing to it.

 

That's the first I've ever heard of anything like that with Bryston.

 

I've had the BHA-1 for almost two years now. It's being fed by a Benchmark DAC2-D with balanced connection.
It sounds wonderful with my Audeze LCD-3 and Senn HD800 and Grado PS1000. All using the Balanced cables (I had the Grado converted to Balanced).

I've also borrowed the Woo Audio 6SE for a few days during the summer and it sounded excellent as well and I really wanted to keep it as a second headphone amp.
But after much comparison I found myself enjoying the Bryston slightly more. I just thought for my ears it seemed to have better control.
But the differences were slight for me. But then when I compare gear (other than loudspeakers and headphones), I always find the differences to be not so large as often described.

I was thinking the last month if I should consider the Sim Audio 430HA at almost triple the price.
But then I thought about it some and realized I have no complaints with the Bryston. It truly is a wonderful headphone amp.

-- Sanjay