Bryston or Pass Labs

givin2u
The Bryston 3B-ST is still a fine power amp. Mate it w/ an ARC Ref5SE tubed pre-amp and you are set!
Happy Listening!

I received a Pass x150.8 yesterday and I have to say these two amplifiers are entirely different.  The Pass is very liquid, three dimensional and palpable whereas the Bryston is very analytical and revealing.  While the Pass also retrieves a HUGE amount of detail from recordings there are some that will find the Bryston preferable.  Since I'm only one day into the audition of the Pass I haven't quite decided yet but for people who believe all SS amps sound the same as long as they are high current and have plenty of power reserves compare these two because there's a huge difference.  I would say initially that I favor the Pass but the problem I'm having with the Pass is that on orchestral music and particularly loud orchestral swells the Bryston is simply more accurate and conveys more information...i.e. its more analytical whereas on the Pass I get a bit of a homogenized sounds on orchestral peaks.  I DO find the Pass amp far less fatiguing when listening to loud orchestral music.  One interesting tidbit of my experience is that the Pass idles at a far higher electrical draw than the Bryston even though they're both Class A up to 10 watts for the Bryston and 15 watts for the Pass.  The Bryston hardly ever got really warm even when it was driven hard while the Pass does produce about the same amount of heat as four KT88 tubes I would say.  The heat from the Pass is not bad but just be prepared to use your air conditioning more.

Hi, I signed up on Audiogon specifically to respond to this post because I have both these amps and have been comparing them all last evening on different material. 

Setup:
mac air with a jitterbug and audioquest forest usb cable 
Macintosh mc52 pre and dac
black cat 3020 xlr interconnects and speaker cables 
Dynaudio Contour 5.4 speakers 
Oem power conditioner and Gotham power cables. 

I had bought a Bryston for a second system and the pass 350.8 has been my amp up till now while I have been upgrading other components in my system. 

The more I learn about setting up your system I realise how much it’s personal preferences and not whether one is better than the rest. 

On paper the 350.8 is a preferred amplifier and also on reviews. When I switched to the Bryston I realised I liked how it sounded and I got a bit confused so tried with different music and material all night

I found a free track on the DCS’s website the spirit of turtle records which was some classical material with huge dynamic range and depth in the soundstage which validated my preference clearly to the Bryston. 

The 350.8 has been great with amazing detail and presence but somehow maybe my positioning and room has to be setup better because I was finding a lack in a soundstage depth and separation.

Overall the brystom felt more black and quieter with a deep soundstage, the dynamic range was amazing and the highs and mids also smoother but not muddled. 

On specific instruments and voices when I compare the pass there is immense detail in each individual instrument and depth in its own sound but somehow I felt that I was enjoying listening to the Bryston more as it felt like one integrated and deep and high soundstage. My head was saying Pass better as it felt more live each instrument but I was enjoying the dynamic range and soundstage of the Bryston more. 

It also feel a bit more like the Bryston is reflecting the sound of the Mcintosh C52 preamp more without interfering too much. This is my impression only. If there was a small negative on some songs maybe with my Dynaudios and the Bryston / Mac maybe sometimes the bass / mid ass is a bit heavier and not as tight as I would like but still not a major concern. 

This is my impression after one night of listening so if I change my opinion will update you guys. 

This is is all from listening last night and also for clarity I would like to state that I do like a mellower warmer sound similar to that of tube amps and less in ur face. Quietness from which the music emerges as opposed to it being in ur face. 

Udit very valid observations. In today's market there are many stellar powe amplifiers. 

Pass Labs builds a very respected product so does  Bryston, so does Krell, Ayre, Sim, Coda.

It will all come down to system integration and personal taste the concept that all amplifiers sound the same is complete hogwash, allthough with careful system matching you can keep many of the traits you like and amelerorate the ones you don't.

We were a Bryston dealer for a few years and found their preamps to be okay and we were also matching tube preamps to add a bit more of a glow to the ultra clean sound of the Bryston and found the combination to be superb.

The unfortunate trend we keep seeing on these posts is the glorfication of a brand and not seeing that the industry is always changing and new models and companies pop up to establish what may be a better product than some of the products being discussed.

Take the thread on the Coda Point 8 TJ compared this $6,200.00 amplifier to a $14k set of Pass Labs amplifiers and we do believe he prefered the Coda so why aren't people asking if anyone has had the same experience?

Personally Gavin we would recommend that you upgrade your digital the Young DSD is a good dac but can be bettered we have the same dac.

Which power amplifier do you currently have?

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ

udit
Excellent review on both power amps. I look forward in reading more about your system as these amps settle, bloom.  Happy Listening!