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B&W 801N and Bryston match

I have a pair of B&W 801N as part of a home theater system and I'm looking to upgrade my amplifiers. I like Bryston because of their warrenty and pricing on the used market. If you had a choice between upagrading the amp to run the 801N only would you choose the Bryston 4B SST or the Bryston 7B ST. I know I would be sacrificing some power going to the 4B SST but would the benefits of the SST line be worth it?
velesmj
bo1972's avatar
bo1972
2,789 posts
 
Pass labs makes still one of the best amps in the world. Wenn I hear other brands I easily can say the flaws. In 10 seconds I can write them on paper. Pass labs does everything right. It is 3d holographic sound. You need speakers which can play 3d. B&W can't. In the world of Highend depth is a pre. This means: B&W is out of the game. Game over. And yesssssss it is as it is. Wenn you compare Pass Labs to bryston. Is the same as comparing the best italian coffee beans with cheap coffee. It is all about the real sound. And yes this is a big difference. For me this is the time people havge to learn about realism in sound. What is possible these days and how music should be played on systems.
dave_72
1,399 posts
 
Cool, I've been looking at Pass Labs for some time now. It is very good sound and the price isn't bad compared to other high end companies. I'm particularly looking at the Class A models. Which models of Pass Labs amp and preamp do you recommend?
sacman
125 posts
 
My buddy and I both own 801N. We took turn trying all kind of amps over the course of our ownership. Here is a list of amps that we both tried
0. Yamaha dsp a1 receiver. Not funny.
1. Bryston 7b st
2. Pass lab monos
3. Classe m1000 monos
4. McIntosh 501 monos
5. California audio labs MCA 25000
6. Krell 750mcx monos
7. Krell 650mc monos

We stop trying after Krell, respectively. 801n demand lot of power but they are hard to beat if fed properly. I personally have not found the need for upgrade after the last several CES and audio shows. Hope this helps.
dave_72
1,399 posts
 
Cool, thanks for the report.
bo1972's avatar
bo1972
2,789 posts
 
How much money you want to spend....
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