To all Bryston owners,
I am going to purchase a Bryston amp (either the 14 B SST or 4B SST) and ideally I would like to purchase the 14 B SST for the extra headroom.
However, I am very concerned with the 14 B SST heating issues. A few owners on various forums have stated the the amp runs extremely hot.
During the Stereophile review ( it was noted that):
"With the Bryston 14B-SST, however, not only was its chassis too hot to touch after just 20 minutes of driving 200Wpc into 8 ohms, it turned itself off after 25 minutes. While this IHF-recommended test is very much the worst case for a design with a class-B output stage and it is unlikely the 14B-SST will get this hot under normal use with music, it does suggest that the amplifier's heatsinking is underspecified for continuous use at high levels."
Given this issue is it best to go with the 4B SST. I would feel really stupid purchasing an amp for ~$6K only to see that it turns itself off during loud passages. Moreover, as we all know heat kills componets and all else being equal a cooler amp will last longer.
Any feedback will be appreciated.
Thank you,
John