[WillyP]

Hi all,

I am looking for wise council and I hope you can help. There are two options I am thinking off for a new setup. I already have a Primare Blu ray player. Within my budget, I have the following possibilities. I am not interested in buying second hand and stretching the budget will cost me my marriage... That is not a solution for me.

Music was always very important to me and still is, but now I am retired I am watching movies more and more. The two options are:

1. Bryston SP-3 processor and partnering 9B SST-2 amplifier. I will have a much better sound quality with movies than I have now, but I will lose some quality when playing two-channel music.

2. The SP3 with a middle class power amplifier like Primare (favoured), NAD or Anthem. Then it would be possible for me to buy the BDP-3 / BDA-2 or maybe even BDA-3 combo. Over all perhaps not as good as 1, but with a very good quality in two channel music.

I am looking forward to your advice!

Willy

[CanadianMaestro]

Hi all,

I am looking for wise council and I hope you can help. There are two options I am thinking off for a new setup. I already have a Primare Blu ray player. Within my budget, I have the following possibilities. I am not interested in buying second hand and stretching the budget will cost me my marriage... That is not a solution for me.

Music was always very important to me and still is, but now I am retired I am watching movies more and more. The two options are:

1. Bryston SP-3 processor and partnering 9B SST-2 amplifier. I will have a much better sound quality with movies than I have now, but I will lose some quality when playing two-channel music.

2. The SP3 with a middle class power amplifier like Primare (favoured), NAD or Anthem. Then it would be possible for me to buy the BDP-3 / BDA-2 or maybe even BDA-3 combo. Over all perhaps not as good as 1, but with a very good quality in two channel music.

I am looking forward to your advice!

Willy

Hi

You said budget was constrained, and that music was very important to you.

Do #2. Assuming that your speakers and room are adequately driven by a mid-class amp (non-Bryston amp). 200W? Also assuming that you have a big digital music collection for BDA/BDP to eat up! 

[Grit]

Hi all,

I am looking for wise council and I hope you can help. There are two options I am thinking off for a new setup. I already have a Primare Blu ray player. Within my budget, I have the following possibilities. I am not interested in buying second hand and stretching the budget will cost me my marriage... That is not a solution for me.

Music was always very important to me and still is, but now I am retired I am watching movies more and more. The two options are:

1. Bryston SP-3 processor and partnering 9B SST-2 amplifier. I will have a much better sound quality with movies than I have now, but I will lose some quality when playing two-channel music.

2. The SP3 with a middle class power amplifier like Primare (favoured), NAD or Anthem. Then it would be possible for me to buy the BDP-3 / BDA-2 or maybe even BDA-3 combo. Over all perhaps not as good as 1, but with a very good quality in two channel music.

I am looking forward to your advice!

Willy

I went through this exact problem, and I made some costly mistakes too.

The first thing is, what are your speakers?

Do you have a subwoofer?

Might you consider a 4B3 + something smaller for center/surrounds, or are you looking for a single amplifier solution?

The DAC in the SP3 is no slouch either. If you are looking to save some money, you might consider using the SP3 DACs. You won't regret it, and you could always add a DAC later on if you feel the desire to upgrade.

[WillyP]

Thanks for the replies!

My speakers are based on units of Accuton and have high sensitivity. Also, the room isn’t big, so much power is not required. Good quality is, because my speakers are quite revealing. When there is something wrong with the recording, they will let me know, but with a good recording they sound excellent. I also have a subwoofer and it is used for movies, not for music. It is of excellent quality, but its placing is sub-optimal and I could use room correction. Of all the wishes I have this is not the most important.

@CanadianMaestro: if it is possible for me to buy the SP3 and 9B SST-2 I wouldn’t call the budget restrained… It is not unlimited, though.

At the moment, I have ripped about 700 CDs. Still 5300 to go. No, that is not my intention, I am planning to rip the highlights only. For CDs that are nice but not outstanding I will use my Blu ray player because I feel that its sound quality with CDs is good enough for that purpose.

@Grit: would you want to tell about your mistakes? I could learn lessons from your experiences. I am looking for a single amplifier solution for reasons of simplicity. I will come to that later. Probably a 3B3 is more than enough but then I need another amplifier of another brand and the room in my lowboard is limited. To be honest, I have room (and power) for four units.

I have seen my dealer yesterday and we spent the afternoon discussing the possibilities. It is important for my wife that there will be a simple solution so she can listen to (internet)radio, watch a movie and so on without asking herself which button she has to push now. Spotify would be nice, but it is not a must. Sound quality is important of course but so is ease of use.

The easiest solution would be my Primare Blu ray player as source, the SP3 as the processor and the 9B SST2 as power amplifier. The Blu ray player isn’t very good as a CD player and as a streamer, but I have a budget left for a digital player like the BDP-Pi, although I am not completely convinced of its value for what you have to pay. Over here a Marantz NA-11S1 is slightly more expensive and it contains a first class DAC and it is about 8 times as heavy. A Moon Neo Mind looks also interesting to me, but I have no idea how the BDP-Pi and the Neo Mind compare.

Thanks for your patience. It is a long message, probably too long. I apologise for that.

Willy

[Grit]

Hey WillyP,

I initially had a 9B-SST2. It under-powered my speakers JUST enough that I focused more on what I was listening to than enjoying it and getting swept up in it. I'm also incredibly picky and particular in general. I'm one of those people who spends way too much time to make something (nearly) perfect. I frequently catch myself over analyzing and not stopping to enjoy what I've worked so hard to achieve. Please consider that when I say the 9B-SST2 "underpowered" my speakers. Also, my listening room is small, and I wasn't listening at loud volumes at all. Maybe an average of 70-75 db (peaks higher of course).

I THINK I read that the 9BS-cubed will have some more power though. It wasn't really power that I think caused what I perceived as a short coming... I think it was a lack of power reserves. I ended up with a 4B-SST2 and 6B-SST2. In hindsight, I'd be REALLY curious to find out if I would even hear a difference if I had paired the 9B-SST2 with Bryston BIT. Regardless, I took a loss to upgrade the amp. However, I now just get to smile and get lost in my music. Also, I had a few other amps on my journey, all from very recognizable "high end" audio manufactures, and all that had more watts than the Bryston amps (on paper at least). It was FANTASTICALLY AMAZING how much impact a quality amplifier made. I'd have taken the 9B-SST2 over any of the others I had.

Based on everything you said, I'd go with a 9B-SST2. Actually, I think the 9B-S-cubed is due out rather soon, so I'd hold off for that! Get the SP3 with the newest HDMI switching board. That's going to get you the most improvement for the most amount of time. It'll make EVERYTHING (music and movies) more enjoyable. And since you spread your time out between the two, that seems the best option.

For music FEATURES, I don't think Sonos can be beat. Get the version without an amp built in. it'll provide your wife with the simplest interface and stream nearly anything you can think of.  For QUALITY, you can add a BDP at a later date. I think that'd be more significant than a BDA-3 over the built in DACs in the SP3. And you can add a BIT at a later date too.

- Garrett

[witchdoctor]

I vote for 1.

Bryston SP-3 processor and partnering 9B SST-2 amplifier.

[Anonamemouse]

Or wait for the new 9B3. That should not take too long apparently.
It will be a bit more expensive, but it should be a bunch of better  amps in one box. It's the route I am thinking about taking.

[WillyP]

Again, thanks for all the answers. My listening level is an average 60-65 dB so a good quality amplifier with 100 Watts should do the trick. If I had to take the decision now I also would say a Bryston SP3 processor with the accompanying 9B SST2 amplifier will be my best choice. After all it is a combination that has proven its value.

I don’t think I have the patience to wait for the 9B3. The new SP3 is here now but it was announced about a year ago so it took some time before the upgrades were realised. James Tanner hopes that the new 9B3 will be finished in the winter but most of the time such an upgrade takes more time than everybody is hoping for.

My dealer is positive about Cocktail Audio (in some countries known as Nova Fidelity). It is a HD Music Server, Streamer, Storage and CD Ripper. A demo was quite convincing and despite its many possibilities it was user-friendly, also thanks to a clear display.

I ‘d better start saving now!

Kind regards,

Willy

[ec]

Also keep in mind, if you want to explore the current movie audio formats like Atmos etc , the SP 3 doesn't support them.  If you don't want to go this way in the future then your ok.