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

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

The ST series is just better musically than its predecessors, so try to stretch your budget to a 3B-ST at least. It's not as good as the 4, but still does a good job. The 2B is substantially less powerful and probably won't be enough for you to be happy with it.

Marakanetz: Not sure what BJT elements are or what choking is but I do agree that (lateral) MOSFETs are more stable than BJTs. MOSFETs are easier to design with too - no beta droop, no secondary breakdown, automatic current limiting, and are voltage driven. However - and the point I was trying to make earlier - BJTs have a much higher transconductance and thus higher linearity so they are not to be totally dismissed. Negative feedback is not to be dismissed either. It does detract from the signal an imperceptible amound but gives huge circuit benefits in return.

I will get a MOSFET amp one day soon since most of my engineering work deals with them and I understand them well. There are some really good lateral devices that will be hitting the market soon that, so far, look as if they will surpass the best BJTs in linearity. At that point, I will be a 100% proponent of MOSFET amps.

Sorry for the diatribe. Arthur

I happen to own a 28 year old bryston 4B Amp and I  its only owner. The only thing I have had done was had it refurbished by bryston 4 years ago and they charge $500 to do it and warrantee  it for 2 years to the owner atthe time only. I just upgraded my speakers from a pair of ADS L8E that finally wore out after having them for 32 years with a pair of dynaudio Special Fortys and upgraded my Preamp from a NAD1130 to a rogue audio RP7 and I will tell you the sound just went from ok where I was considering changing my amp to incredible brystons are are great amp but tend to be nutreal but when paired with the right preamp and speakers they can sound really good and I don't have a ST or SST if I where to up grade my amp I would go with a tube amp to mate with the tube preamp I have. Also the quality of your interconnects and your speaker wire will also have an effect on how everything sounds.As others have said it is all preference we all hear music differently I prefer a warm natural organic sound and other don't like it. I have $40,000 tied up in my system  some say I am crazy and others don't. So the older bryston 4b amps are very good and I have had mine now 28 years and still going . Good luck in your search h. Please feel free to email me direct on the thread MAL11963.