Bryston - Stereo or Monoblock

@mvrooman1526 I went down the road you are on and I am in a good position to advise. I started out with a pair of Magnepan 1.7i with a pair of Vidar Monoblocks. I quickly moved away from the Vidars when my left monoblock went into thermal shutdown when playing Jeff Beck loud. I don’t often play music that loud. But it just goes to show the limitation of headroom they have. I think if you played piano jazz at low to moderate volumes all the time it wouldn’t be noticeable. However, that gave me the impetus to upgrade. So I got a pair of Bryston 4B3s and I can tell you that most everyone will be happy with 4B3 Monoblocks. But I also recommend a few other upgrades to the 1.7i which are a phenomenal bargain for the price. But with help they are superb. 1. Get the Mike Powell silver upgrade to upgrade the stock steel plate jumper and fuse. 2. Get a pair of MyeStands from Grant VanderMye. These two things will tighten up the sound and provide tighter bass and treble. In the interim, I got an opportunity to upgrade from the Bryston 4B3s to a pair of the Bryston 28B3 Monoblocks. That is endgame for me. Very fast with lots of headroom. Not really necessary. But Maggies do well with more power. The most impactful upgrade of all I made recently is to add a pair of REL T/9i subwoofers to the system. Wow. A transformative experience. Maggie’s transmit nice bass I. The frequencies that it can handle. The problem is they can’t handle very low frequencies and sub bass. Plus there is no oomph or air pressure. No slam. The RELs are THE solution. With the RELs in the system the setup is addictive. I hope this helps. Good luck. 

Bryston 7b3 is sufficient, no need for 28b3 mucho expensivo $$$

There are the new Rotel Michi stero amp and monoblocks which are cheaper a bit

Then there is my favorite amp manufacturer CODA, but I am biased as I own the No. 8

There is a recent CODA thread here somewhere on the No. 16 which is the newest model, if you like what you read, ask your local dealer to audition a version 3

I agree, monoblocks, IF

easy/remote power on/off?

remote balance control somewhere

not only locate close to speakers, there is an advantage lifting/moving/placing them individually if heavy, and, if tubes, separates the heat hither and thither.

My question is directed to Kingbarbuda. When you say you were listening to Jeff  Beck loud could you be more specific? 90db, 100db? I was trying to get a feel as to how loud I listen to my rig.

Thanks

Terry

Generally speaking, most monoblocs have more capacitors, and therefore more ability to carry demanding speakers, ie maggies., when under heavier loads.