[MetalAudio]

How do they sound compared to 4b3? Worth the upgrade?

[MetalAudio]

Come on, there has to be someone on this board who heard both and can comment?

[Mariusz Uszynski]

Hi MetalAudio, I'm not a specialist, but if give guys some info about your room size, your gear, someone will answer your question.I remember about good year ago, one of the members regreted switching to 28B3, because his room
and his speakers were way too small.

[MetalAudio]

I am using Totem Metal v2 speakers, Bryston BR-20 and 4B3, as well as a Denafrips Terminator Plus DAC. Bryston BIT-15 is used for power conditioner.

The room is long an narrow - see the old picture without the room treatment.

[Mariusz Uszynski]

By the looks of it, my room 23x11x7ft, is very simular to yours.My gear consists of Bryston 4B³, BP-17³, BCD-3 and Dynaudio Excite X44.Originally, I wanted to order 14B³, but I was told, it would be overkill and waste of money by the store owner and the salesman.I took that as a sign of honesty and spent extra money on power conditioner Puritan PSM156 and Cardas cables.Again, I'm not a specialist and I don't even consider myself an audiophile,but I don't think you will improve the sound, by buying those two Beasts.

And where the hell is My.FullRangeMan, he know all the answers, he's like a "Bottomless Pit of Knowledge".

[BCRich1]

James will tell you all of the Bryston Amps are voiced the same. The increase in power will give you more headroom and provide a more efficient hence effortless control situation when needed. I went from a 14B2 to a 4B3 on a pair of Totem Signature Mani2’s and had absolutely no FOMO. The Cube series is very Musical I have to say.
Cheers…Mike

Metal Audio; how do you like the Totem Metal’s? I’ve had my Sig Mani-2’s for a very very long time and I can’t seem to part with them. They continue to amaze me every single day I listen to them.

[MetalAudio]

James will tell you all of the Bryston Amps are voiced the same. The increase in power will give you more headroom and provide a more efficient hence effortless control situation when needed. I went from a 14B2 to a 4B3 on a pair of Totem Signature Mani2’s and had absolutely no FOMO. The Cube series is very Musical I have to say.
Cheers…Mike

Metal Audio; how do you like the Totem Metal’s? I’ve had my Sig Mani-2’s for a very very long time and I can’t seem to part with them. They continue to amaze me every single day I listen to them.

I have not had the pleasure of hearing the mani 2s - I heard good things about them. The metal v2 speakers are an absolute beast and they sound very different from the older Totems. I would say tonally they are similar to the Hawk model, but provide more detail and more pop in general. I feel that they are not yet maxed out and I could possibly upgrade my dac and preamp etc and get better sound.

I really like my current amp and don't have any complaints really - what I was wondering is which areas is 28B3 "better" besides having more power and likely even better bass control? Would it have more detail or sound a bit softer?

[MetalAudio]

By the looks of it, my room 23x11x7ft, is very simular to yours.My gear consists of Bryston 4B³, BP-17³, BCD-3 and Dynaudio Excite X44.Originally, I wanted to order 14B³, but I was told, it would be overkill and waste of money by the store owner and the salesman.I took that as a sign of honesty and spent extra money on power conditioner Puritan PSM156 and Cardas cables.Again, I'm not a specialist and I don't even consider myself an audiophile,but I don't think you will improve the sound, by buying those two Beasts.

And where the hell is My.FullRangeMan, he know all the answers, he's like a "Bottomless Pit of Knowledge".

I don't think that I necessarily need more power from the amp - I was wondering whether the sound characteristics differ between the two models. The 4B3 is very good value imo. In fact it can probably scale well with other upgrades to the system (such as preamp, etc).

[Rod_S]

As mentioned all of the Bryston same series amps are voiced the same. Not sure if Cube amps work the same as the SST and SST2's but if the amps still use class A for the 1st few watts before moving to Class AB then if you go up to the 28's you'll be running the amps for longer in the Class A range than the Class AB, comparing a 28B3 to a 4B3 for example. Class A is said to be a warmer sound vs Class AB and you would most likely be in the Class A range with most reasonable listening levels in a room with the 28's vs probably crossing over more often to Class AB with the 4B3.

The 28s power ability is staggering, basically 1200-1300 watts before clipping but the reality is most listening even at loud volumes isn't going to come close to needing those numbers. Benefit is you should never have to worry about clipping the amp and damaging your speakers. My understanding it's amp clipping that damages speakers more so than clean excessive volume assuming the volume is still within the speaker's rated spec.

[Ron D]

Here's my take and unfortunately it's not with a cubed version but intuitively I might expect a similar outcome.

A number of years ago I moved from a 4B to a 14B amp, which of course isn't as significant a jump as you had thought about making, but found I could hear much more detail coming through at lower volumes. A real "aha" moment for me.

Doesn't sound like you are unhappy given your room, speakers and desired listening levels but possibly moving to a cubed 14B or a pair of cubed 7Bs might be a effective move to make?

Good luck with whatever path you take...

[Alfalfa]

If you feel the 4B is working good with the Totems , upgrading to the 28B’s sounds like overkill.

You will gain dynamic contrasts/reserves, increase in bass control and more control in general and also a very stable stereo image and sound balance, even at low listening levels.

You will probably experience the same benefits when upgrading to the 7B3’s, they are easily powerful enough for most loudspeakers.

However, if you, like me, want to make that final purchase in your life that will accommodate any future upgrade in the speaker department, ánd you are a bit out of your mind, then you could consider the 28B3’s.

That’s what I did. I’ve since then upgraded my PMC IB2’s to PMC’ BB5 SE’s.

I’m done investing in amplifiers and speakers, except if I ever want to explore going active with the BB5’s.

In that case I would have been better of buying the 7B3’s. 😉

[MetalAudio]

If you feel the 4B is working good with the Totems , upgrading to the 28B’s sounds like overkill.

You will gain dynamic contrasts/reserves, increase in bass control and more control in general and also a very stable stereo image and sound balance, even at low listening levels.

You will probably experience the same benefits when upgrading to the 7B3’s, they are easily powerful enough for most loudspeakers.

However, if you, like me, want to make that final purchase in your life that will accommodate any future upgrade in the speaker department, ánd you are a bit out of your mind, then you could consider the 28B3’s.

That’s what I did. I’ve since then upgraded my PMC IB2’s to PMC’ BB5 SE’s.

I’m done investing in amplifiers and speakers, except if I ever want to explore going active with the BB5’s.

In that case I would have been better of buying the 7B3’s. 😉

I will try to listen at a dealer if possible

[sep297]

I have both although have never done a A/B comparison - one is in my office and the other is my main system. The 4B3 is an excellent performer. The 28B3 then takes this further with a grip and authority on the speaker for want of a better word which you don't get from the smaller amp - the surprising thing for me was even with cheaper speakers. The 28B3's do take up quite a bit of space and produce more heat.

They are both very good but I would listen to both of them if you can and don't get too into the power ratings. I would listen to the 28B3 first and see what you miss with the 4B3 and then decide whether it is worth the difference.

Hope this helps