[PhillipC]

Hi guys,

Just like the caption says, I have a chance to trade my Bryston for a set of monoblocks.  Would this be a fair trade?  Any replies would be appreciated.  Thanks

[byteme]

Orion puts the used value of the Bryston at $2100 for Best and $1800 for better condition.  Are the Odyssey Mono's brand new?  Extreme Mono's?  If they are straight mono's I'd want a couple bucks in addition to them for the Bryston, unless the Bryston is beat up or something.  Or try and get them to upgrade them to extremes and then even up for the Bryston.

I'm quite sure you'll be ahead sound wise with the Mono's....

[PhillipC]

The monos are about 3 years old.  The Bryston is in "like new" condition and are just monos, not the extreme version

[MaxCast]

Both these amp mfgs are well regarded.  I think the answer lies in which amp preforms best in the system.  Hopefully you are close enough to do a swap for a couple weeks.

[PhillipC]

Hi Maxcast,

Unfortunately I won't have an oppurtunity to audition the monoblocks.  They are with Klaus right now.

[Tyson]

I would.  You can upgrade the Mono's to the Extreme version for a nominal ammount at a later time, can't do that w/the Bryston.

[speedcenter]

I would.  You can upgrade the Mono's to the Extreme version for a nominal ammount at a later time, can't do that w/the Bryston.

if they are 3 years old, I would check with Klaus. Mine were not even 2 years old at upgrade time, and it took more than the usual parts to get them up to Xtreme level.

Peter

[nature boy]

I would also check with Klaus.  If they are upgradable at reasonable cost this is a "no brainer".  Hands down the mono's sound better than the Bryston 4B-SST IMHO.

Roger

[jackman]

I would also check with Klaus. If they are upgradable at reasonable cost this is a "no brainer". Hands down the mono's sound better than the Bryston 4B-SST IMHO.

Is your "hand's down" no-brainer assessment based on actual listening between these two amps or did you just see a picture of the Bryston?  I'm not saying one  sounds better than another, but I would love to hear the reaction of Odssey followers if someone came to this board and said Bryston was hands-down better than Odyssey...without ever hearing the Odyssey.  

Anyway, I would suggest a demonstration and direct evaluation between the two amps.  Both are high quality and I believe I have heard Klaus say on more than one occasion that "system synergy" plays an important role in sound quality.  Maybe the Bryston has better synergy with this guy's system, maybe the Odyssey does.  Only one way to find out and it involves listening to both on the same system.  Perhaps a more useful approach is to see if anyone in the area has an Odysey amp that can be directly compared to the Bryston.  It would be useful to more than just the gentleman with the question.  I would like to know!

Jman

[Ron D]

Good point Jman! Having owned a 4B-ST then a 4B-SST version I can personally attest that there are in deed differences between the two amps. Many comparisons have been made with the Odyssey amps and the ST versions. Less of them with the SST versions as they haven't been around very long at all. Both Klaus's products and Bryston's offer excellent value some better than others. I've only listened to Klaus's gear at the last Montreal show and was impressed. His monoblocks no doubt offer a wonderful presentation and its too bad Phil can't compare them in his system as that is truly the only way to know for sure.

[PhillipC]

Hi Ron,

You're right.  It's tough when I haven't heard the Odyssey sound to make the "correct" judgement.  Might be less of an issue if I had a 14B-SST to compare!!!  How's yours by the way?

[Ron D]

Don't have much time to expand on my opinions right now so I'll just advise as far as amps go "stick a fork in me, I'm done"!