Bryston or Classe audio ? what do you think of both?

So you live in Canada! That means you can leave your system on all the time. I live in Arizona, I have a summer 2 channel amp, (Jeff Rowland Model 2) & a winter amp (Pass Labs Aleph 3). This is not an unimportant factor. Bryston amps are biased to run quite warm. I have a friend with a (9B?) 5 channel Bryston video amp & it sounds excellent in his system. You'll hear some people say Bryston is "bright" or being more diplomatic, "forward sounding".
In my experience it all adds up & you must view your equipment in the system context.
I have another friend who had a Classe integrated amp, he said it sounded more like Jeff Rowland equipment "laid back" He also had a Krell integrated that had more power than the Classe, but no one who heard it liked it for long-term listening. It just wasn't as "musical" as the Classe.
Post your current or wish list system & I'm sure you'll get help on this site from people who've experienced each component firsthand...
Good Luck!

I have 7bst's and a B60R now, and I owned a 4B NRB. I'm a big Bryston fan, but I always use a tube preamp with the amps (of course, not with the integrated). I've heard Classe in plenty of stores, and I think their new stuff is the best of theirs that I've heard. Both are great, so you won't go wrong. I think that the previous reader is also right -- Classe is more rolled off and plush. I think of Bryston as more accurate, but drier and flatter are fair words in comparison to the Classe.

Why considered Classe or Bryston? Simaudio is right next door to you and it's best buy for the bucks (IMHO) since I've tried all three. I'm not Canadian BTW.

I have had both Bryston and Classe in my house and they are both very different. They are both high quailty pieces, but the sound is where they differ most. The Bryston is more neutral and they are textbook perfect for square wave reproduction. The Classe manipulates the square wave a bit to give the sound a sweeter warmer presentation to the music. The extra warmth is great with dry digital sound. However, I find the Bryston more neutral. But, the Bryston can sound too dry with some recordings. Bottom line, pick your poison, they are both great but not perfect given what we have in software these days. If you pick a dry, lean sounding speaker, go with the Classe. A warm speaker, get the Bryston. Jeff

I found Bryston to be a little too flat in the mids and too bright in the treble for my taste, but I'm a tube lover so maybe I'm biased. No pun intended. I owned Classe for a number of years and was very happy with the sound. To me, the Classe amps sounded a little sweeter, more robust, warmer, but not too extreme. Classe is a good match for neutral to dry sounding speakers like my Thiel CS 1.5's.

I have since moved more toward the sweet musical sound of tubes with my Conrad-Johnson and Audio Research gear. I guess this doesn't answer your question but it's really a matter of personal taste and component matching. I lean more toward a slightly sweet, warm, and musically engaging sound. I prefer Classe over Bryston for SS gear and I even prefer Classe over Krell. I didn't like Krell at all. I found Krell to be powerful but dry and almost harsh.