Bryston amps VS the rest... too clear and neutral?

I've owned several ST Brystons although I don't have any currently, and I have nothing but good things to say about them. Bombproof as they come, extremely neutral, and nothing that gets in the way of the music. In my experience, they are vastly better and more musical than any Krell or Levinson anywhere near their price, not to mention more reliable and better resale value. (That ought to ruffle some feathers!) Granted, they're not the last word in detail or refinement, but they come awfully darn close for a fraction of the price and headaches of most other amps. Don't let the above comments dissuade you from trying one on the used market (the 4B-ST is an easy recommendation, stay away from the earlier versions), you can always resell it for close to what you paid for it if you can't stand it. But my bet is that you'll end up keeping it. Good luck!

Depends alot on the kind of music you enjoy and the venue you are trying to recreate. I think the Bryston is one of the best amps at recreating a live club scene for rock, blues, or jazz.

There are much better amps if you want to recreate symphonies or large orchestral works in a music hall.

Also Bryston doesn't do much to beautify the music. Those with tender ears will prefer tubes.

Dave, shortly saying for the entry- level Brystons are perfect - no comment. Much better than Classe, Krell or even Edge. They worked real great with my Totem Forest speakers. I used Bryston 11b preamp for a while and realized that it sounds too far away from music and I stepped into the different level when I traded 3b-st/11b for VTL MB100/passive preamp instead of Bryston components and entered entirely different world of musical reproduction. Let Stevie Wonder love Bryston but some of the home recording studio owners have Manley electronics and this is believe me alot different.

Aball, bipolar transistors have the highest rate of parameter instability. If you analyze the output curve set for different impedance loads and freequencies you'll realize when and where the bipolar element will "choke". Bipolar elements compared to MOSFET or tubes need an extreamly deep negative feedback in order to work in linear operation wich certainly causes the signal to be compressed.

Find myself once again agreeing with Karls. Audition one of the Brystons and ignore what we're all saying. You may love it, you may hate it. I used to have a bias against their stuff, but that changed dramatically with the intro of the ST series - much more refined amps! Now own two of them and am completely happy. Have auditioned Classe and found it to be very smooth and non-fatiguing, albeit lifeless and uninvolving. Krell comes across as harsh; Levinson is very controlled, almost too much so, and very expensive.

As I've said before, the Bryston products are at the perfect point of my law of diminishing returns. But remember: YOUR ears are the judge... opinions are like ***holes. Everyone has one.

hey! i do really like reading on this forum on posting on it for exactly THIS!!!

YOU GUYS ROCK! thanks very much for all the quick inputs from your personal experiences! :)

You've been all talking about the ST and SST series..
but i can't really afford any 4BST amp right now
( just lost 500$ USD to an internet fraud :( )
I am though working on a deal ( real deal!) for a late 4B amplifier at a reallly cheap price.

But why some of you say to stay away from such models?
Do they sound bad? how compared to the ST series ?

Then, i was told that the 2B LP amps do not sound at all like the 3B and 4B amps, anyone have experience with thoose?
Because at the price they are selling i find it prety interesting amp ( now 60-80W stereo..then get a second one and use them as monoblocks sitting 1 foot away from the speakers :)

What i am mostly troubled with is the money,
how can you guys cope with paying 2000$ and 1500$ and+ for amplifiers...then agian for speakers! haha
i am really always on tiite budget ( starting my real audio life and slowly starting into electronics :p )
This is where i have problems, i would really like to be able to buy good stuff and test it out but everything is soooo expensive! ( that's also a good point about going in electronics so that i'll be able to test my own amps and all..but i guess that this is still really far :p )

I agree that the bryston's i've heard always sounded clear.. and i also think that some people rally like the sound of "warmer" amps only because they do some kind of "fuzz" that imitates real life reverbation in big rooms( compared to most our small living rooms where reverbation is just too quick )

So then said, what should i be considering else than Bryston that would be a good match for my small room and my current speakers ( OM-9 ...room is about 12 by 15 by 9high)I would really like to only invest on products that tries to reproduce the signals as close as possible instead of altering it in any way ( i think that Bryston is in the first categ. right ? )

again, i must thank you all for your time and input :)

(also i would like to stay with Canadian products to participate in canada's economy as much as possible :))

[b]CANADA [/b] rulez :p