There you have it! To some ears "dull lifeless sound, veiled", to others "a little thin and not very involving", or how about "essentially reproduces accurately whatever is on the recording", or how about "grainy and a bit harsh". Take your pick. Subjective audio, as the expression implies, is just that, one man's opinion, which certainly is worth another man's opinion any day. Or is that really true? Probably is, I would opine, especially so when that opinion is supported by nothing more than casual observations in totally uncontrolled listening evaluations. Objectively, Bryston amps do what they should be called upon to do: amplify the signal with the least amount of noise and distortion. I am very pleased with my 7B-STs. I will leave it at that. If at all possible, try to get the amp to audition in your own room within your own system. Then you can say whatever you like and let your subjective being take over so that you can make sure the emotional part of the music comes through, (some conductors and semi-conductors are very prone to emotional deficit) or some kind of religious revelation type-thing so you don't feel left out from the subjective audio crowd. Good God, it's only a record player! Keep Canada green, buy Canadian audio products. Good day.