Hi Nick;
Thanks for your inquiry about Bryston's use of discrete circuitry in our amplifiers. Sorry for the delay in answering, I was away from the office for a couple of days.
There are a number of reasons for Bryston's use of a discrete approach to virtually all our analog signal-handling circuitry throughout the line. In the case of the power amplifiers, it has to do with High Voltage and wide bandwidth combined with the lowest distortion and noise. Because we control every aspect of the design of our amplification chain, we can optimize the circuitry for its specific application. (Integrated circuits are almost always designed to be a compromise for a wide range of applications, and thus are not optimal for any specific one.)
For instance, in the Voltage gain stage of a Bryston power amplifier, there are the various requirements of operating at a relatively high Voltage, (+/- 33V), carrying sufficient current handling to deliver high slew rates, using low-noise input transistors, and employing completely symmetrical architecture to yield vanishingly low open-loop distortion at all audio frequencies and output levels. No Integrated Circuit comes close to delivering all these requirements, and without any one of them, the amplifier would not deliver Bryston's requisite level of performance.
I hope this is helpful, but please let me know if you have any other questions. Thanks for your interest in Bryston audio components!
Chris Russell
Bryston Ltd.
