Hi James,
I am currently shopping for amps and Bryston is at the top of my list. I am wondering please about the best operation of the Bryston SST amps, and specifically how long they should be powered-up to achieve this.
For instance, I found reference (at a different manufacturer's site about their own solid-state amps), that it initially requires 6+ weeks of continuous powered-on (with music playing) operation of a solid-state amp before things can be trusted to finally start sounding right (per the amp) - and then this following advice is also given:
"Even after the initial break-in period, the internal components lose their charge each time the unit is turned off. The full re-charging can take hours (and sometimes days!). Therefore, the best sonic performance is achieved when the components are kept fully charged at all times. This essentially means leaving your equipment on at all times--if you are comfortable with that arrangement. If not, at least be aware that it will take some time for your unit to warm up and fully charge each time you power up."
So do you also recommend similar advice regarding Bryston amps - should they be always be left on for proper sound, and if not, it will "take hours (and sometimes days!)" before the sound settles? My concern results from my family's usual listening patterns, which nearly always involves a turning-off of the amp after each use - and certainly not waiting hours (or days) after the amp is turned-on before listening!
Thanks in advance for your reply. 
It's a good question and one most design engineers do not understand because - at least in our case - it is impossible to' measure' differences during warm up after about the first 4 hours . (By the way, not to be cynical but some manufacturers tell you it takes time to run in or warm up because what's really happening is that your just getting use to the changes in your system?)
That being said I have always found that when I do audio show demos of Bryston by about the 3rd day of the show things are beginning to come together sonically.Things like soundstage height and depth, coherence, timing, tonal balance etc all start to sound better (nothing that is measurable). It just seems like everything is cut from the same cloth. So as a listener I advocate leaving things on -- as an environmentalist I have serious concerns.
So in my own case I leave one of my Stereo systems powered up continuously (Quad/2B SST/BP26/BCD-1) and turn my Surround system on and off as needed. The 4B amps will draw about the same as a 100 watt bulb at idle whereas the source gear - preamps, CD Player etc. draw very little power. So I guess the responsible thing to do would be to leave the low-level gear powered up continuously but turn the power amp on a day or so before you do any critical listening.
As a neat aside - your going to see an "Editors Choice Award" in a very prestigious magazine on the 28B SST soon. The first day the reviewer called me to say he had heard the 28B at an audio show I was demo-ing at and was knocked out but in his system it was good but not great. Two days later he called and told me I would never get these amps back!
james
