After almost a week of on-off listening I would like to give my views compared to my 4B-ST.
As I mentioned from the start, the 4B-SST/2 has much better mids and highs than before. At first I was not sure if it was my mind playing tricks on me but after listening to CD's I know well, it is more and more obvious.
This biggest difference is dynamics. With my Martin Logan Quests the older 4B-ST was great but needed to be pushed a little harder to produce those famous midrange sounds they make at low volume. The 4B-SST/2 however, promises the same sound at 1 watt as it does at 300 watts and this is a definate fact. Having 4 kids forces me to listen at resonable levels at night and the signs of a good amp compared
to a great one is low volume sound and knowing that the Logan's are a tough act, this amp can make them sing.
The amp runs very cool in comparison even at higher volumes so this tells me that the load my speakers demand does not seem to bother the amp at all compared to the ST which would get very hot but this may be characteristic as even at idle the ST would be very warm. Any heat is always to each side of the amp and none on top which means to me that the heatsinks are very well designed. The amp seems better adapted to different speaker loads.
I am running everything in 1 volt (balanced) right now and have not experimented with the 2 volt (balanced) setting. I want to get used to the sound as is before trying this but am not sure if I will notice anything besides a little less volume overall.
How does all of this sound to me? Well, the answer is quite simple. The amp is much more musical and quick. I have some friends with expensive YBA gear that (to my ears and even theirs!) sounds flat in comparison. They wish that the bass slam was as good. I know this because I owned YBA before and yes excellent but not very flexible sound wise. I am considered the black sheep of amps in my neighborhood because I am the only one that owns Bryston. Living in northern Quebec, there is no dealer close but I do travel a lot for business and this is how I discovered the brand. I have never been one to follow a trend or a brand just to be like the others. I have always trusted my ears more than anything and today the biggest problem with some is that they can't sit down and listen to the music instead they listen to the electronics!
Probably my next upgrade will be the MPS-2 for my BP-20. This would bring me very close to the BP-26 for a lot less money. I would also like to get the BCD-1 but I am not sure what lies ahead with CD's. My Cambridge Audio 840c is excellent but not as good as the Bryston but definately the closest I have listened to. The CA is a little dry in comparison. However, this will come all later as I want to listen to what I have now and make the right decisions and also the money factor because the 4 kids come first obviously!
I would like to thank many on this site and of course James for helping me make the right decisions on my recent purchases. To resume all this I would say that those thinking of upgrading to the new SST/2 series, go for it because it is definately worth it!
Cheers
