looking for bryston opinions

[ebes67]

Just out of curiosity, what do you guys think of the various Bryston products? I heard their little integrated (B-60?) last week and really liked it. $2k seemed a bit much for a 60w integrated, but it did sound pretty sweet. Anyway, I never read much about them anywhere and rarely see any of them used for sale, so I'm looking for some feedback.

Thanks,
ebes

[topspeed]

Bryston is one of the great brands in audio. Their products are built like a tank and come with a 20 year transferrable warranty. Their aesthetics are a tad old school but apparently people like it that way. They have a well deserved rep for being able to drive anything so go ahead and throw your 'stats and planers at 'em.

You don't find many for sale, huh? Go to audiogon.com and type in "Bryston" under Search. Used ss amps are a great buy because they don't have any moving parts and with that transferrable warranty, you're covered if anything goes awry. Besides, most audiophiles treat their gear with more love and care than their significant other!

Hope this helps

[kexodusc]

I agree with Topspeed wholeheartedly. I can't think of many companies that combine performance and reliability better than Bryston, and when I find one I do like a more, it's not by much. They sound like an integrated should!!!

You can't go wrong buying a 2nd hand Bryston, IMO...get the warranty transferred and your set. I highly doubt anybody who'd fork out $2000 for a Bryston would NOT treat it properly....very safe buy.
.
Bryston has an arrangement with PMC, who build transmission line speakers out of the UK...I know many here will disagree, but below $6000 PMC gets my vote as the best sounding speaker. Both of these companies are very anal over who they'll partner with. If I wasn't building my own speakers now, a PMC/Bryston combo would be my next system. Someday I hope I can pull-off buying one, or whatever brand I determine is better.(priorities, priorities) I don't own a Bryston, I'm not "brand-loyal", just incredibly impressed by every unit I can ever remember listening too.

If you've got the coin to buy one, even used, go ahead, it's a pretty safe investment, and will likely be the last integrated you buy for a long, long time. What's more when you are ready to buy a newer Bryston (Bryston claims something like 90% of their customers return for another unit) you can bet you'll get a good buck for it when you sell it.

I'm not saying their the best in the world to everyone all the time, I've heard some great gear by other companies, but their always "up there".

I've met more than a few people who've owned Bryston gear...Bryston owners are like Harley Davidson owners...not many brands can instill that sense of satisfaction and fanaticism in their customers...any that do definitely deserve consideration!!!

[vr6ofpain]

Ya I was watching a Bryston amp on ebay. I forget the model number, but I believe it is a well known amp. THe power was somewhere between 60-100watts per channel(8ohms), but I read very good things about it.

The cool thing was that yes, it was built like a tank(or so it looked from the photos). It almost looked like it was carved out of one piece of steel. At the same time it was sleek, only about 2.5" tall. The powercord was a beefy grounded thing, not the lamp cord of most companies(my Adcom has "decent"(at least 16 gauge) lamp cord.... ). I have only read good things about Bryston. If you can afford it, go for it!

[trollgirl]

...be very careful of Bryston amps. Someone on this or some other forum observed that a Bryston amp on eBay was listed at much too light a weight. It may have been a mistake, but some of us suspected a knock-off.

Laz

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a typical score: grindstone 37
nose 00 -Lazarus Short

[RGA]

Okay I agree to a point on the Bryston amplifiers but someone needs to be a devil's advocate here. yes you get a 20 Year transferable warranty and you don't even need to transfer it with paperwork - Bryston does their warranty by serial number so once sold the first time they have the number and it could be transferred 800 times and the 800th owner can send it back. Plus they generally have it turned around within 48hours. Quite simply it's the ebst customer service you will find - Some may equal them but I have not heard about them.

The caveat however is price performance. You PAY for that warranty whether you know it or not - it is factored into the retail price. You can get just as good if not better sonic performance from less expensive amplifiers - this one has a sonic signature which I happen to like but it is less transparent than some integrateds and the one I'm saving my pennies for.

I think I can agree with Kex on the PMC Bryston match - if this is the sound you want they do it very very well - yu can buy deduicatated Bryston Power packs that go onto active PMC speakers - it's a smart business move since both companies are used in recording studios and PMC being British imports Bryston into Europe while Bryston does the same for PMC in North America. British products like speakers seem to do very well here given that they have to jack their prices up so much while Bryston does much less well there as do most American and Canadian speakers. As you can see from the Hi-Fi CHoice blind panel level matched reviews because the Bryston is so expensive in England they get priced too high. http://www.hifichoice.co.uk/review_read.asp?ID=2745

And to be fair most well built amplifiers will last 20 years trouble free. But if I were say looking at an Arcam Alpha 85 versus the B60 - the build on the Arcam being medicore I might pay more for the Bryston. I just would not limit your options just because of a warranty and build construction - I would not ignore these issues either but like people point out to me all the time - there is more to owning a car than JUST the reliability.

[Bill L]

...be very careful of Bryston amps. Someone on this or some other forum observed that a Bryston amp on eBay was listed at much too light a weight. It may have been a mistake, but some of us suspected a knock-off.

Laz

That's true, you could buy a Bryston 4B-ST from Hong Kong at an amazing discount but the shipping weight was about 35 lbs. Bryston lists them at 42 lbs net. I bought a used 4B-ST on Audiogon (from a dealer!) and it was suspiciously light. My Classe ca-150 (46 lbs net) felt like an elephant compared to it - 12 or 15 lbs more. It looked like the real deal but sounded horrible and I sold it for what I paid.