Bryston announcing SST3 series amps

[James Tanner - Bryston]

MEMO: To All Bryston Customers
SUBJECT: Bryston – Customer Feedback Bryston 28B’s

Mr. Tanner:

Recently purchased a pair of your 28B Cubed amplifiers. The 28B Cubed has remarkable timing accuracy. The same characteristic That reveals, previously unheard, tape "Blurbles" (immortal Solti "Ring of the Nielblung") also exposes seemingly "more" piano notes.

This is the only power amp that I know of that does this. Certainly little thought is given to a DAC kind of digital specification for basic analogue signal amplification. The interesting thing is that, for L/C/R systems, it is vital that ALL three amps are Cubed otherwise the less precise center channel timing will muddy the common L/R information. This then is my explanation of why my recent change from the 28B Squared to the Cubed center amp (3rd 28B Cubed) was so pronounced. Not sure how this "Timing" thing is perceived with other equipment. Logic would predicate that, for Digital sources, the DAC in circuit would be dispositive. I use two of Daniel Weiss' DAC1 MK III (electronically equal to his HiEnd "Medus") for L/C/R. Interestingly, when upgrading from Weiss' excellent DAC 202 to the DAC1 MK III I noticed a similar but less pronounced phenomen.

FYI I have used your Cubed amps to replace monoblocked (edit). However, at the dawn of the, unannounced, Cubed release I verified that even the 28B Squared amps were a substantial upgrade from my (edit). The (edit) Monoblocked) has a special reputation in certain circles. It presently lists for something like $30,000. However it might be more fair to compare your 28B Cubed to (edit). The (edit) lists for $75-80,000! A stereo amp it uses 40 output devices and is a somewhat upgraded '90s design. It will do 600 WPC @ 4 ohms and something like 1950 watts when monoblocked into 4 ohms. Most people have never seen a (edit) (a Bar Refrigerator sized Chrome extravaganza) in the flesh. But the word is that it is no match, in stereo, for two monoblocked (edit). Therefore, the fair comparison to two 28B Cubed amps (for $22,000) would be two (edit) (for $150,000+).

So don't hide your light under a bushel-market the 28B Cubed as a successor to all those ultra snooty and expensive Class A tubes and $50K Solid State Flagship amps.

Sincerely, Bruce Bisenz

[Rod#S]

Why do you pull out the name of the amps being compared to in the feedback above? The bar refrigerator sized chrome extravaganza to me sounds like a description of the Burmester 909 MK5

[James Tanner - Bryston]

Originally Posted by Rod#S

Why do you pull out the name of the amps being compared to in the feedback above? The bar refrigerator sized chrome extravaganza to me sounds like a description of the Burmester 909 MK5

Hi

I do not feel it is my place to knock another companies products.

james

[Rod#S]

It's not you knocking them though. I think the more people see how your products really compete with a lot of the audio fluffery out there more may start to use common sense when purchasing and stop thinking just because something costs more, a lot more in a lot of cases that it's actually better when it's not.

[4N6]

Originally Posted by Rod#S

It's not you knocking them though. I think the more people see how your products really compete with a lot of the audio fluffery out there more may start to use common sense when purchasing and stop thinking just because something costs more, a lot more in a lot of cases that it's actually better when it's not.

Agreed. I do understand the need to be "professional" and "politically correct", but these are not your opinions, but those of whose letter you are quoting. As such, you are not bashing other brands but simply passing on the results of comparisons made by your customers. Quote away!

[Stefan_DR3]

I would also like to know what speakers Mr Bisenz is using that require 1000 W let alone 1950 W. Since his post emphasizes bang for the buck, maybe he could have optimized further and gone with the 7B.

[James Tanner - Bryston]

Hi Stefan

i asked Bruce and this is his feedback.



James:

In the listening room I have B&W's 802 D3s (the old D2s do the rear surrounds). I use 10 AR1Ws (woofer out of AR3/AR3s) for subs.

The Square Boxes are Sopranino Ultra tweeters-I use 7 units. This Enigmacoustic product is the only speaker I know that recovers ambience.

The Digital Domain K-Stereo "makes" ambience and Width/Depth digitally and is vital for mono sources.

The tall black column next to the center channel speaker is a Synergistic Research Atmosphere XL. It treats the air (No connection to the HiFi) to modify the Speaker's propagation (adjustable sound stage by iPad).

The mostly blank side wall features two Niles surround speakers (the best side surrounds I could find). One is in Dipole the other Bipole. Way below them are ear level Sopraninos for real side surround ambience.

Other pictures are of the Datasat RS20i's remote control (mini iPad) and two Weiss DAC202s at my elbow to adjust surround levels.

No pix for the three program EQs (Main unit a Weiss EQ1-LP), two OPPOs (95 and 105), Weiss' MAN301 Music server/digital preamp and both passive and active bass traps.

I use only the 802 D3s when I mixdown my 26 track live Swing recordings (I add a MacBook Pro and Avid Artist's mix controls for that).

[James Tanner - Bryston]

Hi,

i picked up my 3B Cubed today.

i just laid down on my couch and had an intimate, private concert from Leonard Cohen, his band and back up singers. NAD M51 dac with RCA plugs into the amp, amp out to Linn Ninka speakers, played from my Mac iTunes library (cd burned onto computer, Leonard Cohen greatest hits ). i have never heard Cohen like this before. simply sublime. sublime. I had hoped for this, but did not expect such rich sound, nuance, detail, and clarity. and so musical.

My sincere respect to the Bryston team,

Chris

[James Tanner - Bryston]

This review is available online now:
Bryston 14B³ power amplifier review & test | Hi-Fi | Review | AVHub

That review also links to this pdf version which includes the lab report:
http://i.nextmedia.com.au/Assets/AHF_Bryston14B3.pdf

Anthony

[phishphan]

A couple of days ago I ran into best buy outside of Minneapolis to pick up a few things, one of which was a new USB cable. So I wandered into the Magnolia section of the store to get a audio quest cable. To my surprise this Magnolia store sold Sonus Faber, McIntosh, B&W .. ect.. Way higher end gear than any other Best Buy I've ever seen. So while the salesman was going to get my cable from the back I started playing with a set of B&W 800 D3s powered by a couple of big Mc mono blocks. I always have a USB drive on my keys with DSD and FLAC files, so I put on my go to "Welcome To The Machine" by Pink Floyd. The salesman came back in to the room and made some comment about how amazing it sounded. But I was sitting there thinking that the whole things sounded like it was too tube sounding, lacked punch, and had that rounded off warm sound that Mc products seem to have. It sounded good, but not great. And when I'm listening to 40k worth of gear I expect more than just good.

Tonight I FINALLY hooked up everything up. My construction on my listening room finished up yesterday. I have a 4B3 powering a set of Kef Reference 5's and I'm playing off my Oppo BDP 105D via the balanced outs to my SP3.. Ivan has my BDA3 in route for my birthday on Tuesday which should be a huge improvement over the Oppo.

The point of all this rambling is that the Bryston 4b3 simply blows away the Mc mono blocks I heard the other day. The clarity, the punch.. It's everything that I love about Bryston products. James, you guys did it again. This is a hell of an amp. I'm temped to upgrade to a couple of 7B3s.

Once I get it cleaned up look for pics in the bryston picture thread. ... and BTW James. How the heck to I get a Bryston t-shirt without paying 30 bucks for shipping on your site? All in for a 15 dollar shirt it was over 50 bucks with shipping and tax.