Want to learn about your first experience!!

danman · « **on:** 24 Jun 2009, 12:43 am »

I knew that would grab your attention!

Not sure if this has been brought up before but I was just wondering if any of you had a unique first experience with Bryston products?

Mine was in Montreal 3 years ago during Formula 1 week on Crescent Street in front of Jacques Villeneuves restaurant. There were outdoor activities going on and all of a sudden, music started to play that was quite loud but at the same time very good sounding. I was quite close to the sound man and remember turning around to a huge rack full of silver Brystons plugged up to a very large mixer. I don't recall the name of the speakers on the stage but only that there was a massive amount of them.

The sound was crystal clear and usually in all other experiences I have had in outside venues, the sound was always sort of muffled. Not this time! The whole night was a sound spectacular for me and eventually went over to the guy and talked to him. he showed me all of the gear and was very proud to do so. I remember him saying to me that he actually gets quite a few questions about his sound. It was an open door for me to go and listen in store and the experience stuck with me until last year when I bought my first piece of Bryston gear and now have settled on the newer square series and won't look back.

Sure there is better as there is always better all the time in audio BUT I would have to pay maybe 3 times the price to notice a marginal difference and would probably have to go up in the speaker department as well......not worth it for maybe 5% difference or a little more! Especially don't want to end up one of those frustrated audiophiles that is more worried about how the elecronics sound then the music! To me, it is the best I have heard at almost any price for my ears.

Just thought I would start something new on a positive note.

1oldguy · « **Reply #1 on:** 24 Jun 2009, 12:59 am »

Well I will have my first experience with Bryston amps in the near future I would hope.
So far the only experience with Bryston is the fantastic service from James T.If the amps are anything like him I would say first class all the way.

danman · « **Reply #2 on:** 24 Jun 2009, 01:03 am »

Believe me, they are. What a great and well deserved compliment.

Are you telling us that you have absolutley NO listening experience with Bryston????

Mad Mr H · « **Reply #3 on:** 24 Jun 2009, 10:03 am »

Going to UK home cinema / Hi Fi shows.

Every time the best stand is the Bryston for audio and Sim2 for projection.
Thats Sim2 for DIGITAL projection! I am still very old school CRT

When you get them both together - well

A slice of pure heaven.

Thank you for the pleasure I have had with my Bryston / Tannoy systems.

20 days and the cinema becomes Bryston / PMC MB2

Followed by the Stereo room to Bryston / PMC BB5
(Got to knock a wall down first !!!)

I have NEVER heard the BB5's - Leap of faith time !!!

Without question the ONE thing that gives me TOTAL faith in the product is the 20 warranty. Quality of build is excellent, detail in the audio again excellent.

The look of the bryston amps I also find very attractive

.

Some of the other Bryston products I find a little cluttered on the fronts, and the Bryston logo seems to move around in position, But thats just my opinion so please dont be offended!

1oldguy · « **Reply #4 on:** 24 Jun 2009, 10:42 am »

Quote from: danman on 24 Jun 2009, 01:03 am

Believe me, they are. What a great and well deserved compliment.

Are you telling us that you have absolutely NO listening experience with Bryston????

Yes.....never heard the amps I have,still at my dealers till I move.

James Tanner · « **Reply #5 on:** 24 Jun 2009, 03:33 pm »

Well my first experience with Bryston amps was when I took my Dynaco 400 power amp to Chris Russell in the early 70's and asked him to modify it for me so it would run my XG-8's Dayton Wright Electrostatic speakers - which sounded awful with the stock Dynaco.

Well he doubled up the drivers in the output stage, added dual power supplies, increased the slew-rate and tripled the power supply capacitance.

WOW the first hybrid Bryston - we decided to offer these ideas in our own brand and the rest is history.

james

Mag · « **Reply #6 on:** 24 Jun 2009, 05:23 pm »

My first Bryston was a 2B. I don't remember anything spectacular sounding about it. I was buying my first stereo after finishing high school and moving out on my own in '79. I told the salesman I wanted something good but affordable. And he sold some speakers, TT, Bryston 2B, Hafler pre-amp and Stax headphones. I became a Bryston fan mainly cause it was Canadian made.
The real eye opener was about five years ago when I purchased a used 3B st and hooked them up to my Paradigm Studio 100 v2 which were under powered by my Yamaha Av/receiver. My jaw hit the floor, as these speakers were brought to life for the first time. When I got my 3B sst I knew I was hearing elite sound for the first time, which was foreign to me. Once you become acustomed to elite sound you can never go back.

1oldguy · « **Reply #7 on:** 24 Jun 2009, 06:03 pm »

Mag that is music to my ears.

aa

Laundrew · « **Reply #8 on:** 24 Jun 2009, 07:45 pm »

The first Bryston amplifier I auditioned was the 14B (pre squared version) driving a pair of Paradigm Signature S8 speakers using a Krell preamplifier and Krell CD player. The sound was not bad but I noticed that the 14B was clipping quite a lot (RUSH - Tom Sawyer and Red Barchetta).

The next time I auditioned a Bryston amplifier was early this year and it was the 28B with a BCD-1 and the BP 26 driving a pair of JBL 1400 Project Arrays - what an insane difference and I liked what I heard (?still has silly grin on face?).

The 28B surprised me a little because I did not believe you could have awesome detail capabilities at low levels in a 1KW plus amplifier - and I auditioned quite a few amplifiers.

I affectingly think of the 28Bs as a big nasty iron fist in an extremely delicate velvet glove - what more needs to be said?

Great topic danman

gtaphile · « **Reply #9 on:** 24 Jun 2009, 09:32 pm »

I first heard of Bryston in 1983 through Gerr Audio in TO. I learned that Bryston was installed in a few studios as well as Ontario Place and the Rogers Centre and after a demo at Gerr I bought a 4B and a .5B.

1oldguy · « **Reply #10 on:** 24 Jun 2009, 11:01 pm »

Quote from: Laundrew on 24 Jun 2009, 07:45 pm

The first Bryston amplifier I auditioned was the 14B (pre squared version) driving a pair of Paradigm Signature S8 speakers using a Krell preamplifier and Krell CD player. The sound was not bad but I noticed that the 14B was clipping quite a lot (RUSH - Tom Sawyer and Red Barchetta).

The next time I auditioned a Bryston amplifier was early this year and it was the 28B with a BCD-1 and the BP 26 driving a pair of JBL 1400 Project Arrays - what an insane difference and I liked what I heard (?still has silly grin on face?).

The 28B surprised me a little because I did not believe you could have awesome detail capabilities at low levels in a 1KW plus amplifier - and I auditioned quite a few amplifiers.

I affectingly think of the 28Bs as a big nasty iron fist in an extremely delicate velvet glove - what more needs to be said?

Great topic danman

Curious If I may ask.....The 14B is a considerable powerful amp...........Would I be correct to assume the volume was way up?But then gain Rush is a pretty demanding kind of music.

ec · « **Reply #11 on:** 24 Jun 2009, 11:20 pm »

For me it was in the early to mid 80's. I was moving from mid fi and getting into high end audio and my sister's boyfriend (now brother in law) mentioned he used a Bryston 3B (the one with 3 LEDs on the front and silver handles). My brother in law's father had an "old" 4B that he didn't use as he just bought Threshold gear. He lent me the 4B for a few weeks. A few years later when I could afford it, I bought a 3B Pro because I could get it cheaper from a DJ store than a similar 3B from a stereo store. I remember one of the Bryston brochures showing a rack of their amps at the old Ontario Place forum. After 3-4 years, I sold the 3B pro to upgrade to an "audiophile" amp from a up and coming amp manufacturer - big mistake! The new amp (transistor) was nothing but problems - literally blowing out my speakers and itself on a few occassions. The company did make some good products later on but eventually folded. As I became older, I became wiser and moved back to Bryston with a SP 1.7 then added a 4B SST, then 6B SST and 3B SST and a 10B to boot.

Laundrew · « **Reply #12 on:** 24 Jun 2009, 11:43 pm »

Quote from: 1oldguy on 24 Jun 2009, 11:01 pm

Quote from: Laundrew on 24 Jun 2009, 07:45 pm
The first Bryston amplifier I auditioned was the 14B (pre squared version) driving a pair of Paradigm Signature S8 speakers using a Krell preamplifier and Krell CD player. The sound was not bad but I noticed that the 14B was clipping quite a lot (RUSH - Tom Sawyer and Red Barchetta).

The next time I auditioned a Bryston amplifier was early this year and it was the 28B with a BCD-1 and the BP 26 driving a pair of JBL 1400 Project Arrays - what an insane difference and I liked what I heard (?still has silly grin on face?).

The 28B surprised me a little because I did not believe you could have awesome detail capabilities at low levels in a 1KW plus amplifier - and I auditioned quite a few amplifiers.

I affectingly think of the 28Bs as a big nasty iron fist in an extremely delicate velvet glove - what more needs to be said?

Great topic danman

Curious If I may ask.....The 14B is a considerable powerful amp...........Would I be correct to assume the volume was way up?But then gain Rush is a pretty demanding kind of music.

Hello 1oldguy,

Right you are, we were airing out the S8s as it was a good sized listening room (maybe 25X30 feet or a little larger). By the way, the Paradigm Signature S8 speakers were outstanding for a speaker in the $5-6K range. Now when I did the same with the 28Bs with the JBLs - no clipping at all and it was almost as if the 28Bs were saying "I will make you go deaf before I clip on RUSH." It is how RUSH should sound, it was a truly awesome experience

Good luck with the move! I have also moved around the country a lot and at times the PITA factor is right up there!

1oldguy · « **Reply #13 on:** 24 Jun 2009, 11:49 pm »

You know I am so curious to hear the 7B's on the 802D's.I get the feeling I am in for a real treat.

danman · « **Reply #14 on:** 24 Jun 2009, 11:53 pm »

I absolutely love RUSH..........great talent!

1oldguy....can't wait to hear your impressions! You will become "1youngguy" after your initiation!!!

Laundrew · « **Reply #15 on:** 25 Jun 2009, 12:10 am »

Quote from: 1oldguy on 24 Jun 2009, 11:49 pm

You know I am so curious to hear the 7B's on the 802D's.I get the feeling I am in for a real treat.

Hello again 1oldguy,

You have an awesome system and at the very least it will have you walking around with a silly grin on your face. When I listened to the JBL/28B system it actually brought a tear to my eye and then my savings account started crying

1oldguy · « **Reply #16 on:** 25 Jun 2009, 12:30 am »

I can't really imagine what it will be like considering I'm going from Radioshack Gear to this. aa

danman · « **Reply #17 on:** 25 Jun 2009, 12:33 am »

Same comparison as going from a Lada to a Ferrari! Go Shumacher!!!

srb · « **Reply #18 on:** 25 Jun 2009, 12:52 am »

Quote from: 1oldguy on 25 Jun 2009, 12:30 am

I can't really imagine what it will be like considering I'm going from Radioshack Gear to this. aa

I didn't know Radio Shack had "gear" !

That's not fair. You should of had to journey through a Best Buy system along the way !

I second what others have said about the almost certain inability to wipe the grin off your face when you assemble the new system !

Steve

1oldguy · « **Reply #19 on:** 25 Jun 2009, 12:58 am »

The Radioshack system was purchased back in 87,They have since changed their name here in Canada to the Source.They don't bother with Audio like they used to.Heartbreaking I know.

aa