Thanks to all who patiently answered my questions during my purchase phase. Here is my experience with 4BSST2 and others components in my setup.
Since I had an opportunity to purchase B&W 802N at steep discounted price from my employer (Japanese consumer company – these speakers were used for lab testing), I decided to upgrade my other components in that chain. Until then I had B&W 683 powered by trusted Yamaha V1800 receiver.
Again, I am not a professional writer. I won’t be able to articulate with lots of adjectives but will share my experience so far with various systems/components that I added / played with.
As a part of testing, I was playing certain CDs to compare against each other setup.
Phase 1:
Decided (after some auditioning and reading reviews) on Bryston 4BSST2, purchased new from an authorized dealer at good price. Peace of mind with 20 years warranty.
System setup : Oppo 105 -> Yamaha V1800 -> Bryston 4BSST2 -> Speakers
Interconnects : generic and Monster 600 or 1000 series RCA
Observation: These speakers need power to drive. One big improvement is in bass - tighter and more pronounced. Until then I was thinking B&W 802N is weak in bass in spite of having two sub drivers on each speaker. Very neutral and musical. Tried 4BSST2 plugged into wall and against Monster AVS2000, couldn’t hear difference.
Phase 2:
Decided to upgrade interconnects and went with Cardas Clear and AQ. Purchased one new pair of Cardas Clear Light and used pair of Audio Quest Yukon.
Build quality of Cardas is extremely good. First replaced generic RCA with Cardas Clear Light. Immediate observation was music had become veiled. Cardas states it needs to me burn at least 200 hours. So, used Yamaha receiver FM tuning to burn that interconnect for about 100 hours. After that, highs become more detailed, good instrument separation and good presentation on mid and low frequencies.
Then introduced AQ Yukon which replaced Monster RCAs. Looks like AQ doesn’t require burn in. Immediately noticed vocal were warm and very natural. Yukon did bring good vocals than Cardas. It may be Cardas needs more break in but I don’t have patience to sit and wait.
Over all after listening to various songs and artists, I decided to replace Yukon with Cardas Clear. This time I wanted Clear and not Clear Light.
Phase 3:
Purchased Furutech fuse to replace that on 4BSSt2. Also purchased Ayre Myrtle Blocks to use on Oppo.
I placed myrtle blocks under Oppo and couldn’t hear any difference. May me my setup is not that sensitive enough. Same goes with Furutech fuse. But that blue little guy looks so cute!!!!.
Phase 4:
Ended up purchasing a used Cardas Clear RCA and replaced Yukon (between Yami and 4BSST2). After few hours of listening (it wasn’t in use by previous owner), I noticed immediate improvement on highs. Very detailed. But lost vocal texture compare to Yukon. Price wise Yukon was much less expensive than Cardas Clear, but had an advantage on vocals on my setup. However, Cardas Clear did show more deeper bass and the instrument separation was great. I could able to hear some notes that wasn’t present earlier. Overall very happy with Cardas Clear.
Phase 5:
Here comes the interesting phase. One day I decided to connect Oppo directly to 4BSST2 using SE. OMG – I couldn’t listen to no more than 30 seconds. Music has become veiled, thin, digitized and backward. That’s when I realized the importance of Yami V1800’s role as pre-amp in my setup.
So decided to invest on pre-amp. After so much research and reading, purchased Audio Research LS 27, which is a hybrid preamp. Tubes on audio circuit and SS in power side. I purchased a demo model from a dealer. He happened to had extra set of 40th anniversary edition model tubes which he passed on to me. According to him, only difference between both models tube is 40th edition uses top 5% matched tubes.
Setup:
Oppo 105 -> Cardas Clear Light RCA -> AR LS 27 -> Cardas Clear RCA -> Bryston 4BSST2 -> B&W
These tubes came with 109 hours. According to AR, they need to be burn in at least 200 hours. Currently I am at around 130 hours on tubes.
Observation: If you ask me to name only one component in my setup that brought major change in positive way, I will say without any doubt LS 27.
LS 27 paired very well with 4BSST2. No mismatch on impedance. The musical experience is nothing short of magnificent. Mid and bass are amazing. Vocals are warm and very natural, highs are very transparent, bass is very tight and heavy. I can definitely say that I am hearing some of the musical tones that I never heard before LS27.
LS 27 with 4BSST2 is very musical. I am still trying few setting between the two and eventually will settle with one of those. For now, I am enjoying every moment of it. Well worth spend on both.
Phase 6:
Well, now that I am happy with the full setup, thought of trying out different power cord on 4BSST2 and LS 27.
I ordered Synergistic Research’s new release called black UEF power cord. They are running a promotion, I will get a free SR black quantum fuse along with PC. I am planning to replace LS 27 fuse with SR black. I will receive both either tomorrow or on Monday. Will keep you posted.
Note: Just realized that I also purchased PS Audio noise harvester. East to use, just plug into wall and any outlet. According to PS Audio, it absorbs noise and transform that energy into light. When I plugged into wall first, first few day it kept blinking light fast- absorbing all left over noise ???. Few days back I plugged that into Monster 3600 MKII power conditioner. If I choose main outlet in Monster 3600, it doesn't blink that much, but when I plug into analog or video outlet , it constantly blinks. I am confused over this.
