Bryston differences?

ryangobie · Post by **ryangobie** » Mon Mar 06, 2006 11:50 am

I'm upping my game a bit. I just snaked a pair of B&W dm602s3's off the bay and I want to get a used bryston to compliment em. I was wondering how big a difference lies between the 2B/3B/4B etc...any advice would be great

earth tones · Post by **earth tones** » Mon Mar 06, 2006 12:08 pm

...and what are the differences between the different versions, within a model range. I have noticed that there are a couple different designs, of the 4B for example. I am wondering if somebody could comment on any differences, outside of external design, within each of the model ranges. I am assuming the external design as slightly changed over time.

Cellotron · Post by **Cellotron** » Mon Mar 06, 2006 12:18 pm

The 3B will definitely give you enough power for those speakers but the 4B will give you some nice headroom. I wouldn't bother with the 2B.

As far as models - there were a lot of improvements made with the 4BST over previous versions - the mids & highs sound a lot more accurate and smoother - not harsh or grainy like some of the earlier ones can get a wee bit if you push them. The SST is even better than the ST by a noticeable degree.

Best regards,
Steve Berson

Professor · Post by **Professor** » Mon Mar 06, 2006 1:23 pm

Congrats on the speakers, 602s are a really nice speaker in general and I've often told people I think they are the best bang-for-buck value in speakers at nearly any price range.
As for Brystons, yeah the 2B-LP is small, and while it would certainly have enough juice to run those boxes, the amp is only rated for 60wpc, so it would be kind of under-powered if you expect to run hot levels. And the B&Ws can be more power-hungry than most, so if you are aiming to hit above 95-100dBSPL regularly, you would probably do well to go with at least a 3B. 4B, as mentioned above, would just give you that much more headroom. Although I just popped onto their site and saw that there is a new 2B-SST which is now 2 rack-spaces tall and delivers 100wpc. But a new Bryston will be fairly pricey, so I'm not sure you'll be looking at those anyway.
As for the designations, yeah the guts have been updated and improved over the years and that's why the letters after the model have changed. I don't know the lineage of those letters, but it sounds Steve has those well in hand. Since SST is the current designation then you can easily figure everything else is older.

-Jeremy

edit - It seems they still make the 2B-LP single-space amp, but it is listed under the "Pro Amplifiers" heading. And if it helps you to make sense of it, the 2B is very small (relatively), the 3B is a medium-size amp, the 4B, 6B, and 9B are the same amp in a 2, 3, & 5-channel configuration while the 7B & 14B are single & dual-channel larger amps.

MASSIVE Mastering · Post by **MASSIVE Mastering** » Mon Mar 06, 2006 10:06 pm

Nice pick on the 602's... The S3's are great.

I'm also a huge fan of Bryston -

I'm on the other side of the fence on the power though - I think a 2B, even with its "humble" rating of 60W, is more than enough amp to drive those boxes. A 3B would certainly be great also, but a 4B would be going maybe just a little more than overboard...

I have a 4B driving my 802's and they can rip the paint off the walls. I had a set of 602's a coule years ago (right after the S3's became available if I recall) and easily powered them with a 2B-LP.

If you were talking 604's or something, I could see the larger amps. And I'm not saying to turn one down if one comes around - But don't feel as if you're cutting corners if you find a good deal on a 2B somewhere...

ryangobie · Post by **ryangobie** » Tue Mar 07, 2006 11:01 am

is there an appreciable difference between the 2b and 2bLP? I'm probably going to go the middle ground with the 3b but if i run into a good deal ya never know.

MASSIVE Mastering · Post by **MASSIVE Mastering** » Tue Mar 07, 2006 12:40 pm

LP = Low Profile. Essentially similar in the sound-quality department, but smaller and with more efficient cooling.

justinf · Post by **justinf** » Wed Mar 08, 2006 8:35 pm

I use the 3B to power my Dynaudio BM15s and really really love it. I do push the limits of the headroom on occasion, but I like to do lots of DI tracking in the control room while blistering the paint. YMMV. I think if I had the 4B I'd probably just end up toasting my drivers.

Prior to the Dyns I was using B&W 601s with fairly similar results. I don't think I'd go any lower than the 3B.

electrowerks · Post by **electrowerks** » Thu Mar 09, 2006 11:06 pm

I am also a big fan of Brystons. I am using a 3b on my ns10's and a 4b on my Tannoy DMT12's. Once I replaced the crown on the NS10's I could not belive they made that big of a diff.

mr scratchy esq · Post by **mr scratchy esq** » Fri Mar 10, 2006 7:28 am

I'm another happy Bryston owner. I'm using a new 4B SST to power my Tannoy System 15 DMT IIs. Before I got the Bryston I was using a Parasound amp. The Parasound was fine but had an exaggerated bass response. The Bryston is more balanced, detailed and sweeter sounding. My only complaint is the touch sensor on/off switch. When turning the amp off it often comes back on again automatically.

Bill

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