[Oil Country]

  Hi I am in the process of upgrading to a 7.1 HT, and what I am curious if I was to use different generations of Bryston amps to power the theatre how much difference would I notice between the speakers or the sound played back during the movies.  Here are a few scenarios I am contemplating please give feedback or scenarios either positive or negative or any other different suggestions that may work just as well or better.


Scenario #1 : 4Bsst2 for left and right mains, a 9BST for remaining five channels 

Scenario #2 : 6Bst for L/C/R and 2 3B's for surrounds and back speakers

Scenario #3 : 4Bst for mains, 2BLP bridged for center, 2 3B's for surrounds and back speakers

As you can see budget is quite important here so I have to take this into consideration.  So if anyone can suggest the best bang for your buck set up here would greatly appreciated.  I am however having difficulty locating a 3 channel 6Bst used.  Lots of 9Bst's out there and 4B's all generations available.  Should I consider maybe power pack for center channel also?  I also have been looking a rebadged Brystons like Lexicon 225 and 512 NT's.

Any advice greatly appreciated.

And for reference


First here is what I have for speakers

Mains:  PSB Stratus Goldi's
Center PSB Stratus C6i
Back Speakers  PSB Status Mini's
L/R Surounds Paradigm Studio Reference ADP v.2 Dipole speakers

PreAmp but wish to upgrade in future :  Sony STR-DA5400ES will use Pre/Pro outs ( Any suggestions for future welcome)





Cheers

Oil Country

[Elizabeth]

One would want the three front to be as similar as possible. So amplification and speakers should be identical or same brand series. The sides and rears do not matter nearly as much.
So for that I would say do the three channel for the front.
On the other hand, if you are going to be listening to two channel a LOT with the setup, get the best two channel amp for the front main pair. (then the center channel does not have to be idling on when the two channel is running.)
Otherwise the three channel front is the one, with whatever else you want for side/rear. (remember the side and rear need a lot less power than the front three. (80 watts per for side and rear is enough.

[skunark]

I personally would do the first option as music is ~70% of what I listen too, with rest split between radio, TV and movies.. and I don't like to burn needless power if it's not needed.

Second option isn't bad either though.

If you do plan to mix music and movies in the same room, look for a pre/pro with two 2volt triggers so you can turn off the extra gear if you prefer that.   

[James Tanner]

i'm with the above folks - NUMBER 1

james

[servingko]

I'd would go with #1 as well.   I had a 4BSST2 and then sold it in the spirit of living with a more simple system and thinking that I could live with my B100SST running the left and right.   2 months went by before I had another 4BSST2 back in.

[Oil Country]

Thanks so far for advice.  Yes I am swaying for #1 too.  I may have to substitute the 4BSST2 for 4BST or 4BSST for mains and 9BST for Lexicon 512 for cost savings for now.

Does anyone think this kind of substitute in a mostly dedicated movie theatre would make a big difference?

And just curious do you think in a blind sound test if I switched the amps out if I would be able to distinguish the difference particularly between the 4BST,4BSST, and 4BSST2 during a movie.

Thanks Again

Oil Country

[Mag]

Definitely #1.

I have a 3B SST2 on the fronts, 3B SST on the surrounds, 3B ST on the center. The improved sound coming off an SST2 for the mains masks the sound of the other amps. The exception being the center where whenever I get around to it will try the SST. I'm happy with the ST currently, my new center speaker revealing the ST as a damn good sounding amp on its own.

[Mag]

>>And just curious do you think in a blind sound test if I switched the amps out if I would be able to distinguish the difference particularly between the 4BST,4BSST, and 4BSST2 during a movie.<<

I'm not that fond of using a Sony as a pre-amp having used a Sony in the past. Assuming that the pre-amp section is good quality then you most definitely can tell the difference between all three amps in an a/b comparison.

[Mad Mr H]

Which 3B series?

IF you have 3b SST then use that on the centre - bi amp centre for best use of the 3B (OR use a 7B SST in the first place)

try and stick with SST series in the L C R setup.

ST surround & rears, SST if funds allow.

I use an Onkyo 5508 (aka integra) does 9.2 ch, I have also used the onkyo 886 (7.1) - these were after my Lexicon MC12B - The digital progress is still moving forward - Onkyo release the 5509 with 4K upscale late this year..........so high tag pre/pro units I dont think currently viable. Quality I am very happy with balanced as standard.

The most important speaker in cinema for vocal is the centre so SST (sst2) is a black/white step up from the ST series.

3 ch SST might be the answer but not many 2nd hand.

Andy.