help me choose the right bryston amp please?

alpsy · « **on:** 30 Mar 2006, 09:40 am »

hi all,

new to group and so glad to have found a group specific to bryston

would love some help choosing the perfect bryston amplifiers for our setup

we hope to finalise our speaker purchase over the next week or so and will comprise of b&w 804s, htm3s, 705s with an aws750

options are as follows:
1. 9B-SST
2. 6B-SST + 3B-SST
3. 6B-SST + 2B-SST

don't want to overpower or underpower so would love some advice

any idea how old these models are and if there are plans to update them anytime soon?

love to hear your thoughts.

cheers,

julie

_andy_ · « **Reply #1 on:** 30 Mar 2006, 04:51 pm »

Welcome to the group. Just as a point of reference, i drive 5 low impedance, low sensitivity
speakers with a 9B-SST, I think the published ratings for Bryston are on the conservative side.....my 9B tested @ 159 w/ch x5. The NHT speakers are roughly 88dB @ 1 watt & 4-6 ohm iirc & the 9B has no troubles whatsover driving them to very loud levels if i so choose
& the same applies to the towers alone if they are run full range....totally effortless.
I think that the 'SST' revision is still fairly 'new' as far as the lifespan of prior amp revisions
goes. Good luck with your decison.

Andy.

eddiem67 · « **Reply #2 on:** 30 Mar 2006, 06:30 pm »

I currently run a 6B for the fronts and center, and a pair of 2b's for rears since they are small bookshelves, and I really dont need that much power for the rear. Are you running 5.1 or 7.1?

Phil A · « **Reply #3 on:** 30 Mar 2006, 08:57 pm »

How big a room? What are your listening preferences (e.g. very loud)?

eddiem67 · « **Reply #4 on:** 30 Mar 2006, 09:23 pm »

Room is 14x17x8, I like alot of headroom, thats why I went with the 6BSST.

alpsy · « **Reply #5 on:** 30 Mar 2006, 10:06 pm »

Quote from: eddiem67

Are you running 5.1 or 7.1?

hi eddie,

will be running 5.1

julie

Phil A · « **Reply #6 on:** 30 Mar 2006, 10:07 pm »

My room is about 16x19 with a 19 ft. ceiling and opens into other spaces. My speakers are Thiel 7.2s, which are not known to be the most efficient or easiest load in the world. At one point many moons ago, I had a 4BST on them which momentarily went yellow and red on a couple of demanding things. I had no problem with the 6BSST on the fronts and now have the 14BSST on the fronts and the 6BSST on the center and rears, which is more than I need. I played with the 4BST with B&W P6s (now in my basement system), which are somewaht similar in configuration to the old 804s. Never a problem as they are fairly easy yo drive.

alpsy · « **Reply #7 on:** 30 Mar 2006, 10:09 pm »

Quote from: Phil A

How big a room? What are your listening preferences (e.g. very loud)?

room size is 5mt wide * 12mts long * 3.5mts high (open plan living room + kitchen) and we will be sitting on width wall with plasma opposite - ie, 5mts from speakers and plasma

our listening preference is HT - 70/30. we live in a terrace (ie, attached houses on either side) so will pump it up a little every now and then but will be at acceptable levels most times

cheers,

julie

Phil A · « **Reply #8 on:** 31 Mar 2006, 12:27 am »

Quote from: alpsy

Quote from: Phil A
How big a room? What are your listening preferences (e.g. very loud)?

room size is 5mt wide * 12mts long * 3.5mts high (open plan living room + kitchen) and we will be sitting on width wall with plasma opposite - ie, 5mts from speakers and plasma

our listening preference is HT - 70/30. we live in a terrace (ie, attached houses on either side) so will pump it up a little every now and then but will be at acceptable levels most times

cheers,

julie

You might want to consider option 2. Option 3 would be OK too, but unless you are very far from the surrounds I don't think it is necessary to have that much power for the surround. I don't need anything as much as I have (6BSST), it just so happens I bought that one first and then went for the 14BSST.

alpsy · « **Reply #9 on:** 31 Mar 2006, 09:02 pm »

any other advice please?

julie

jethro · « **Reply #10 on:** 1 Apr 2006, 01:31 am »

I'm going to be a broken record again....

You can never have too much power, you can have too little. If you can afford it, you might want to get a 6B-SST and a 4B-SST. With my ST amps, I have found that my 4B-STs sounds different than my 8B-ST and 3B-ST. I may be imagining it, but I think the 4B-ST has better bass extension and control. I've tried the 4B-ST with the B&W 604s2, 601S2, LCR600, and 600S3, along with my PMCs. I've noticed (or imagined) a difference when using the 4B-ST with all models, including the tiny 600s3. I didn't follow my own advice and now I have a mixture of amps, wishing I had all 4B's or above. I don't have SST amps so I'm guessing the ST difference holds true for the SST amps.

Experience with my B&W 604S2's would lead me to believe that the 6B-SST would be a better match with the 804's than a 9B-SST.

This is just my opinion. The best idea is to trust your ears.