Quote:
Originally Posted by Jbags
I want to give you an honest and accurate answer on my options on the SP4 but I feel it’s a little to early for me to do so. Gary from Bryston just came to my place last week to calibrate the unit so it’s still pretty new. And I’ve been so busy with word I haven’t been able to spend a ton of time listening. I will say I have watched a couple of movies though and my initial feelings are that it sounds amazing. The detail and timing is completely on point. I also really love the flexibility it offers. I do want to add a balanced XLR board so I can feed my music steamer to it that way vs RCA’s
I do have a question for you. Since buying the SP4 my interactions with Bryston have been second to none. They are great. So much so that I was contemplating swapping out my Mac 611 amps for Bryston 28B3’s. I see you have auditioned both and decided to go with Mac. Curious what you heard that made you go in that direction? Thank you man.
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Yes, Bryston's focus on the customers is really second to none, and my experience dealing with Bryston Customer Service was a pleasure, including the 2 times I had issues with the channel and needed to send them in. Wow, you had Gary to come to your home and tweak the SP4? I did not know Bryston offer such service! Incredible!!
As for your question, I spent a couple of hours of listening at Overture Audio (Delaware), swapping between the 611s, 452 and 4B3. Unfortunately, my dealer did not have the 7b3 as I believe it would be a better/fairer comparison with the 611s. To my ears, the 611s paired with the 802d3s sounded more natural particularly with the voices and instruments, and more presence or feeling of "being there", sound stage seems expanded and is even more so when I have them in my room which is smaller than at the dealer. Lastly, I pick the 611s because B&W and 802 have reputation of requiring lots of power to sound at their best, and the 611s drive the 802d3 effortlessly (compared to the 4b3, but I admit that the difference is small). Honestly, if my dealer had the 7b3s on hand for the audition, my final choice may be different, and Bryston's 20-year warranty is hard to beat. I think the 28b3s would sound incredible with your B&Ws; although the 611s are no slouch. You have a very hard decision to make
