Bryston is in the house!

mikeyb128

We'll sort of... Have a 4BSST3 on loan. Going to spend a few weeks with one before I decide to put down a deposit. Have it set up, and up and running. So far my impression is... Dam B&K are a good amp for the money. Going to walk away for a bit and let things warm up before any further evaluation.

mikeyb128

mikeyb128

Very true skip. The B&Ks like to be idle for a few hours before sounding their best. It's been on for about 4 hours, then I'm heading down for a listen. These are broken in from factory for 100 hours, most likely going to spend all day tomorrow with it, might do some tube swaps on the Cary. This thing is a gorgeous piece though.

mikeyb128

First impressions are clean, clean, and cleaaaaaan. Incredible detail I'm hearing that I didn't hear before. Image is dead centre, I can place almost every instrument, absolutely incredible. This amp seems to have a much higher gain because it plays louder at lower volumes than before. I was feeling a wee bit of fatigue listening to CDs, but is a match made in heaven with my DAC. I pulled the top on the Cary and swapped out 2 brimars and stuck in some mullards... And PERFECT! Took that edge off.

The B&Ks seemed to have a wider sound stage, almost a tubey sound to them, with a fat midrange. The bryston is just perfectly balanced from top to bottom, and dead accurate. Doesn't seem to color the sound at all. It's like it isn't even there. I wasn't sure what to expect with this, it has brought out some serious strengths in my DAC, they are playing really well together.

Listening to Steve khan, where's mumphrey? This track has copious amounts of detail, and the placement of instruments is fantastic, I can make out absolutely every sound, instrument, and the back ground is dead silent. I'm liking this... But there isn't enough time in the night to go through all my tracks. This amp has me wanting to ditch my CD player and pull out the vinyl.

More to come.. If anyone is listening

soundfreak1

That's exactly how I describe my Krell. Congrats have a friend that had one and when listening to it it was a beautiful sounding amp. Gobs of (slap you upside the head) bass too! Congrats again. Enjoy.

soundfreak1

BTW that amp makes a fantastic bass amp in a biamp set up. I've listened to one that way as well and if I could find one at a price I could afford I'd buy one in a minute.

halo

Congrats! Sounds like things are moving in the right direction for you

Jhayman

Congrats on the Best thing to come out of Peterbourgh Ont, lol
Great company, Great Warranty
Enjoy it's only going to get better, IMO

DarqueKnight

mikeyb128 wrote: »

This amp seems to have a much higher gain because it plays louder at lower volumes than before.

You are hearing the result of lower electrical noise = more music signal coming through. The music isn't actually louder, you just hear more because there isn't as much noise. Sort of like colors being brighter and more detailed after cleaning a window.

I assume this loan will shortly become a purchase?

mikeyb128

DarqueKnight wrote: »

mikeyb128 wrote: »

This amp seems to have a much higher gain because it plays louder at lower volumes than before.

You are hearing the result of lower electrical noise = more music signal coming through. The music isn't actually louder, you just hear more because there isn't as much noise. Sort of like colors being brighter and more detailed after cleaning a window.

I assume this loan will shortly become a purchase?

This thing is blowing me away... I can't give my money fast enough. I've had the amp on for almost 24 hours, sound stage has grown considerably, and the bass has really come out. I stuck some nordost sort comes under my preamp, and bass has tightened right up.

I don't want to give it back. My dealer has told me it's a month and a half wait. Dam!

Looking at the serial number on this. It's number 2!

Also have no say this thing has some serious headroom, some passages just explode out of the speakers, I can feel the mid bass punch in my chest. YES!

mikeyb128

nbrowser wrote: »

First in line to buy the B&Ks! Lol

Seriously Mike, way to step up dude. Might wanna do a common ground test on that bad boy one day

They are mono blocks sooooo I'm assuming not common ground? Which means dreadnought? I have no nothing about the SDA technical Mumbo jumbo.

mikeyb128

We will have to talk. I'm contemplating keeping them. But I already have too much stuff.

They would be a match made in heaven with those RTIA's.

voltz

Enjoy Mike, You know you got a great amp there. So let her burn in and enjoy the rewards!

mikeyb128

Thanks man! Skip was dead on with the 24 hour mark, this bad boy has unleashed the bass, it's sounding real good. Probably won't turn it off for the 2 week trial. Then I'm placing my deposit and ordering one. Had a buddy over who is familiar with my system, he's sold on the bryston as well. Alittle bit of tweaking is required, but its real nice

tonyb

I would hope it's better than the B&K, it's about 5k more expensive. lol

Dennis Gardner

All improvements are incremental, only a few that are INCREMENTAL!!!!

Nightfall

tonyb wrote: »

I would hope it's better than the B&K, it's about 5k more expensive. lol

How much were those B&K monoblocks new?

mikeyb128

From what I could find, about 2000$ each. I bought these off a buddy of mine who said he picked them up around 2010 about the time B&K went under. I've had them 2 years, they are very nice amps. 4 soup can sized caps per mono block. The toroidal transformers are about the same size as the brystons, but uses smaller caps. For what I sped for them they are a great value vs performance ratio.

Joey_V

Sweet... and I didn't even have to enable you mikey, you did it on your own. New amp for you!!

Good find

OldSchoolPolk

Can you confirm that's actually serial number 2? I think thats kind of cool. The first one out the door, considering #1s tend to stay in the hands of a senior VP in the company. Is it just a loaner or is it for sale? Grab it if you can.

Either way, have fun.

Upstatemax

This is why demo's are dangerous.

Glad you like it, even happier that you're going to pull the trigger!

mikeyb128

OldSchoolPolk wrote: »

Can you confirm that's actually serial number 2? I think thats kind of cool. The first one out the door, considering #1s tend to stay in the hands of a senior VP in the company. Is it just a loaner or is it for sale? Grab it if you can.

Either way, have fun.

This is a loaner.

gmcman

@mikeyb128

What speakers are you using with the Bryston? I'm using the 200.2 and while it sounds very good, I'm kinda getting on the upgrade bug or maybe a lateral move.

I may not opt for a Bryston, but I've been wondering what the B&K I have, may be hiding from me in terms of clarity especially as it's getting up there in age.

mikeyb128

@gmcman

I'm using a Cary SLP03 with focal Electra 1028 be 2 speakers. The B&K is no slouch, they have a tubey fat sound to them, and are warmer than the bryston. The bryston is clear, clean, balanced, with nice punchy bass. The B&K has great bass but not as punchy, has a little less control, and rolls the highs off a little earlier. Cymbals strike with authority with the bryston, a snare drum has this punch to it, to the point of making you jump if you aren't expecting it. Even though the brystons spec sheet shows clipping at 332 watts, and dynamic power of 450 watts per channel, I still suspect the B&Ks to be more powerful in the peak to peak amperage (bryston doesn't have it on its spec sheet).

The focals are 92dbs efficient so both amps have plenty of power for my set up. The bryston has a lower noise floor and less distortion, and it shows, I'm not turning the volume knob as high as before. It has this dynamic head room that comes on strong and powerful, it's fantastic. I've left the amp on all weekend and it has smoothed out considerably since first start up, I have found today it has stabilized. And this thing is a beast at 65 lbs. this bryston is a nice pairing for my focals, with the detail, and clean power. Ive had my mono blocks for a few years and for an amp that was released in 2007, it is dam good! Yeah the bryston is better, but B&K is an excellent value. Thankfully I am fortunate enough to demo in my house. I've done a bit of tube swapping, and I have several dozen quads on hand, that I'm very familiar with, I was able to slap some tubes in and get it just right within a few hours. Hope this helps!

mikeyb128

Also wanted to say the Bryston has made my system incredibly revealing of faults in recordings. Tracks that sounded good before sound REALLY good now. But the tracks that didn't sound so great before sound just awful now lol. So then there's that...

soundfreak1

mikeyb128 wrote: »

Also wanted to say the Bryston has made my system incredibly revealing of faults in recordings. Tracks that sounded good before sound REALLY good now. But the tracks that didn't sound so great before sound just awful now lol. So then there's that...

Thier in lies the rub. As you travel up the ladder sources do become much more important. (Damn rabbit hole)

mikeyb128

I get what you're saying skip. Problem is I have very limited resources for in home demos, I would hate to buy something on purely advice, for it to be poor synergy. I Will say thankfully I have a tubed pre, and quite a few tubes on hand. So will be swapping some tubes to see what I get. So far I love this amp, but I will admit the body isn't there, just incredible detail, and bass. I will report my findings with some tube swaps.

msg

Enjoying following your experience in this thread, Mike, thanks for posting up.
Curious, is the body there with the B&K monos?

teekay0007

mikeyb128 wrote: »

So far I love this amp

He likes it! Hey, Mikey!

soundfreak1

I agree there is a lot to do about synergy, but take a very good amp and pre and connect a less than good cd, TT, R2R, or whatever and the better equip WILL show up thier weekness everytime!

ken brydson

teekay0007 wrote: »

mikeyb128 wrote: »

So far I love this amp

He likes it! Hey, Mikey!

How many of these young punks will get that reference?