Why do you want to run a stereo amp in bridge mode? Why don't you get that 600 watt big boy he makes? They look good though.
I know how this is going to end. If you get those amps you are going to end up getting a preamp with Xlr. Manley has Xlr preamps.
Hi : I spoke with Peter Noerbeck about that very topic - he is of the opinion that that amp sounds it's best in bridged into "differential mode" and I have no doubt as to how the fact.12's are going to react to having all that reserve on tap. Despite a pretty ugly efficiency rating, the impedance of these speakers doesn't drop down to
really low levels at any point so should be no worries there. The previous owner ran these in differential mode as well.
Guess what these replaced in his rig ? If your guess was 28's, there's a Kewpie Doll headin' your way. And Manley doesn't make a balanced preamp -
das ist verboten in Chino. I believe there is a city ordinance...
As to how this ends, well,
here's how this ends:
I'm listening to the 2009 remaster of
Abbey Road as I type this out. The Bryston 7BSST2's are back in the system and have been running for several hours so they are good and warmed up. I've been thinking about the 2010 Stereophile review of these amps that got a lot of people in these parts reaching for their pitchforks and lighting torches, getting ready to chase Michael Fremer to the town windmill.I'm not sure that doing a head to head of a $ 30 K amp vs. a pair of amps worth a fraction of that was a square deal other than to illustrate what the extra money can get you in terms of sound quality upgrades. But as far as illustrating what more money gets you and over and above the performance of the 7BSST2's at their price point, it was illuminating. I also read the review he did of the DarTZeels that, at multiples of what his Titan cost, did to his amp what his amp did to the Brystons so I guess cosmic balance was restored.
New, these PBN Mini-Olympia's are worth nearly double the price of a pair of 7BSST2's. It's a
big ask and if I wasn't lucky enough to have a used pair kinda drop into my life, there's likely no bloody way I'd be having a pair of these in my system. But you know what? It's
good to be lucky...
As to what the extra money gets you, here's what it gets you when you listen to the 2009 remaster of
Abbey Road...
It all basically comes down to this ( and please pardon my colloquialism, ladies ) : Shit gets
real. Or at least,
more real.
When McCartney hits that real low bass note in
Come Together ( you know the one ...
One thing I can tell you is you got to be free.... ) and lets it
hang, it sounds like what a bass guitar sounds like when you hit that open string and let it hang - not tight but it just kind of moves a bunch of air as it swells and fills all the available space and you can
feel it... On
Something , that staccato organ part has actual attack and a bit of edge to it, hanging in the air while George sings 'I don't wanna leave her now... You know I believe and how " and Ringo's cymbals have some shimmer to them...like cymbals. Maxwell's silver hammer sounds metallic, not like two pieces of metal which have socks pulled over them being struck against each other. Those pond sounds at the beginning of
Sun King are AMAZING...Those snarly, distorted guitars in
Oh Darling have
real snarl and elsewhere, acoustic guitars and pianos resonate like the vibrating things they are. Vocals take on actual character and different guitars going into different amps sound well,
different.
Clearly different.
And on the topic of clarity, everything occupies a clearly differentiated space in a three-dimensional soundstage and you get a real sense of the recording space.You can pick a particular instrumental or vocal part and follow it as far as you want to. No muddle, no mush. Everybody talks about transparency but when you actually, really hear transparency, it's
powerful stuff.
These fact.12's are a
very different proposition with the Mini-Olympia's behind them. It's like they're
alive...
Oh, and
Octopus's Garden is still goofy. They're amps, not a freakin'
miracle...
I'm sold.
D.D.