[werd]

Bryston doesn't make music... Music makes Bryston. I can think of no other way to sound my satisfaction for my newly acquired BCD-1. With the BCD-1 I hear music through an entire Bryston kit. What that means is a complete neutral and an unimposing sound-stage. To hear music that isn't played by gear that tries to step in its ways to impress. This kit gets right out of the way of any musical quality and allows you to forget about what you have or where you are listening to it.

The BR2 is a nice touch also. It has all the features that allow me to operate my pre, dac and cd. I would recommend getting an all black remote even if you order a silver model. The blue back-lit looks really slick against black. I only wish they put the power button where the code button is, since i occasionally turn my cd player off looking for the volume control..... 

[1ZIP]

......and it only gets better with time!

[Mag]

I'm surprized to hear you say that after you've had a BDA-1 for some time. Were you not getting audio nirvana from the BDA-1? Or are you feeding the BCD-1 into the BDA-1 for the extra re-sampling?

[Phil A]

I was thinking of buying a solid state amp, I was thinking about Bryston or Rotel.
I need about 100 to 150 watts, I know the Rotel stuff is pretty high end just wondering what you guys thought? Anyone here use the Rotel stuff after having Bryston. I really don't need a 20 year warrantee, just want something that sounds good. Lots of used Bryston gear on Audiogon, maybe some good deals?

Thanks in advance

Mike

I had Rotel before Bryston.  I find nothing wrong with Rotel and I have a secondary bedroom and basement system in addition to the main system and don't use either of the secondary systems tons.  I could live with Rotel in those.  I actually have an old Adcom 555 in the bedroom system which was made by Rotel and drives the left and right channel of my bedroom home theater.  If music is a priority, I think a used SST would be nice.

[rob80b]

Bryston doesn't make music... Music makes Bryston. I can think of no other way to sound my satisfaction for my newly acquired BCD-1. With the BCD-1 I hear music through an entire Bryston kit. What that means is a complete neutral and an unimposing sound-stage. To hear music that isn't played by gear that tries to step in its ways to impress. This kit gets right out of the way of any musical quality and allows you to forget about what you have or where you are listening to it.

The BR2 is a nice touch also. It has all the features that allow me to operate my pre, dac and cd. I would recommend getting an all black remote even if you order a silver model. The blue back-lit looks really slick against black. I only wish they put the power button where the code button is, since i occasionally turn my cd player off looking for the volume control..... 

Congrats Werd,

I've ceased thinking about what's spinning those shiny discs and now concentrate on the music.

Robert

[Phil A]

Thanks, but I was just foolin with you Bryston boys

I'm a tube guy

mike

We may have to tie your tubes for that

[rob80b]

Thanks, but I was just foolin with you Bryston boys

I'm a tube guy

mike

Hey Mike,

Think about it this way, if you get a current Bryston you'll forget about tubes.

Robert

[werd]

Thanks, but I was just foolin with you Bryston boys

I'm a tube guy

mike

We may have to tie your tubes for that

  Phil you just got pwned by a tube guy.... doesnt that make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside..... get it warm and fuzzy (tubes)

[werd]

I'm surprized to hear you say that after you've had a BDA-1 for some time. Were you not getting audio nirvana from the BDA-1? Or are you feeding the BCD-1 into the BDA-1 for the extra re-sampling?

Mag i was looking for a new transport for cd's to partner my BDA. Thought what the hell may as well get the bcd for cd's and bda for everything else. So i made a bad financial decision...  right be for xmas and went and got it. Hell you gotta love those no int or payments for 1 year deals. Hell i could be dead by then....

[Wind Chaser]

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=73986.0

[Robert D]

Thanks, but I was just foolin with you Bryston boys

I'm a tube guy

mike

I thought you were a Towel Head
Nice Pic
Robert

[Wind Chaser]

Mike,

You seem a little insecure about you preference for tubes.  That comment about distortion and not being able to recognize when tube amps are clipping must have undermined your confidence in glass bottles.

[Phil A]

Ah  just curious , any of you guys use tubes in the past?

What's not to like?
Warm , fuzzy and so dimensional, ya gotta love it

In the past, I've had a Modwright XA777ES player with tubes and a Dynaco amp (ST-70) and preamp.  I have a 14BSST and a 6BSST.  I bought both used and the 6BSST first (I initially used it on the 3 front channels and now it is on the center and rears).  The guy I bought the 6BSST from (I drove a couple of hours) told me he had $11k tube mono blocks and he considered he 6BSST very close.  Before I changed to the Bryston amps (from Proceed HPAs), I toyed with the idea of getting Manley 250 NeoClassic monoblocks I heard at a NY hi-fi show the year before I got bought the 6BSST.  But I could not find any used  and I could not find a local dealer.

[Phil A]

Thanks, but I was just foolin with you Bryston boys

I'm a tube guy

mike

We may have to tie your tubes for that

  Phil you just got pwned by a tube guy.... doesnt that make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside..... get it warm and fuzzy (tubes)

You can't trust those tube guys.  Many of them don't even use tube dampers for protection.

[Phil A]

I have heard and owned (VTL) tube amps that have a solid state sound.
Not all tube amps have that warm and fuzzy sound you guys may associate with tubes. It has alot to do with the circuit used in the front end, the tubes used, and the iron of course.
The Dynaco ST70 and pre combo can be glorious with the right speakers and a good input board. As a whole it is not a great tube amp, but I have heard it sound great, it has great potential.
Never heard the Manley 250's, they look cool, but it is their iron that will determine their quality. It seems the older stuff sounds better than the new stuff, probably because David was involved and they had their hands on better transformers than today. You would love the VTL compact 100's and the 225's, great stuff, still a bit SS sounding, but with a bit of the tube magic.

Manley and VTL are cut from the same cloth.  I think he got divorced and VTL is the old co.  At the hi-fi show I attended probably a half a dozen high end set-ups had the Neo Classic monoblocks.  They probably sound a lot like the 250W VTLs. I tried to get my local deal to get one in.  He also carries Bryston but has never had a 14B (or 28B) in the shop.  I heard the 4BSST there and got the 6BSST used and then heard the 4BSST vs. the 14BSST somewhere else.  The dealer had the 85WPC VTL integrated mainly in stock (he used to pair it with Thiel 1.6s and they sounded really good together) and it was a huge chunk of change on the amps so I went with what I could hear and get a good deal on used.  I'm happy.  The problem is often finding a place to hear something and also what you want to hear with a system that you are know.  There is a local dealer near me that specializes in tubes (and is anti-solid state).  The few times I've been in there over the years and listened, I've not been able to hear anything I can hang my hat on from knowing the system or that I liked.  He pushes his house brand tube amps which I thought were overpriced and unimpressive with what I heard them with.  Sometimes with a dealer like that I feel like giving him $50 and tell him to go out to dinner and leave me set-up a system from what he has on the floor so I can get an honest feel for what is there.  They want to push their favorites and if you want to hear something they tell you to make an appointment to come back.  If you can't spend 5-10 minutes moving things and hooking them up for someone who has come to your shop, you should not expect a thrilled customer.  I have not been there is several years as I get tired every time I take a ride to try to seriously audition something.

[Stu Pitt]

There are fanboys of every company out there.  I don't have a whole Bryston rig, but am working towards it.  Why?  Because nothing I've heard is better than the BDA-1 for the money.  If it had a Bose logo on it, I'd almost feel the same way 

Aside from sound quality, you can't argue Bryston's build quality and support.  A friend sent back his 20+ year old amp and Bryston updated it to near current specs for a couple hundred dollars.  Far better than it was, not that there was anything wrong with it in the first place.  Very few companies will look at anything out of warranty, let alone 2 decades old.  In addition to that, everything they did to it is warranteed for 20 years.  Who else can make that claim?  They quoted me $125 to bring my 10 year old integrated amp up to current specs.

Then there's James Tanner who hangs out here and listens to his customers and all their insanity.  He's tracked down orders, helped with setup, and so much more.  Aside from the very small mom and pop operations like Red Wine and Van Alstine, who does this?

In the tube vs solid state debate, both sides are right and wrong IMO.  Tubes aren't inherantly better or worse at anything.  Its not the technology, its the implementation IMO.  Audio Research, BAT, and McIntosh (among a lot of others) do a great job with tubes.  I don't think they're better or worse than Bryston, just different.

If I had the money and rooms for it all, I'd have BAT and Mac systems in addition to a Bryston system.

[Phil A]

I have gone to other brands while Bryston for example was slow getting into home theater initially.  The combination of the Bryston sound, reliability, warranty and customer service are unbeatable.  Honestly, given that, unless something was clearly better from a reputable company, it's hard to leave.  Some of the Bryston stuff is almost tube with no solid state grain or coldness if you will.  It's not just blind loyalty.  As I noted when I bought my 6BSST and met the guy a couple of hours away he told me it was very close in sound to his $11k monoblock tube amps (I forgot the brand).  I don't necessarily find something good or bad just because it is solid state or tube.  I find many tube products, which are liked by people who like tubes (nothing wrong with that) to be colored and unrealistic sounding.  I've been in that store I've noted which is almost strictly tubes and I've seen and heard people loving some high end SET or OTL that quite frankly I thought sucked really badly.  I listened to some $50k ish DAC and transport maybe 6-7 years back and went home to my tubed Modwright XA-777ES (which I bought used for $1.7k and had modded for $2.6k) and at the time I had Thiel 7.2s with a Proceed HPA amp (which could be cold sounding compared to most tube things) and it was no contest as far as I was concerned.  As I noted earlier I would love to go into that store and tell the owner to go to dinner while I set-up something.  The stuff they carry is all die hard top notch tube stuff.  I've been in there probably five times (and probably not since 6-7 years back) and yet to hear anything I could consider as something that would interest me.  I liked what I heard from the Manley Neo-Classics (I think they were $9k for the pair) at multiple rooms at a show but could not find a local dealer.  I've heard the owner just about every time I've been in there working with some customer telling him why all solid state they have listened to is inaccurate and a bad value and all I've heard him play is stuff that is far more expensive and not in the same league to my tastes as to what he was downing.  Different strokes for different folks.

[Stu Pitt]

I really like the Manley Stingray integrated amp.  I also like remotes and not having to think about how much longer my tube has before it needs to be replaced and what to replace it with.  Call me lazy and cheap.  I deserve it.

I like the B60 a little bit better.  Its more different than absolute better or worse really.

There are tube amps I really like and solid state I really like.  There are also tube amps and solid state amps I can't stand.  Its not the technology, its how its implemented IMO.

[werd]

In my opinion( and I will get skewered for this), having owned a VTL ST 85 and the compact 100's, I find the VTL house sound to be a bit SS. Maybe the SS rectification?
I have not heard in my house the big VTL stuff, but it is overpriced, and honestly find the VTL stuff as beginner tube gear. I am trying not to sound like a snob, but I am sure not succeeding. What I mean is if you are coming off SS to tubes, VTL may be the place to start to ease you into low maintanence tube gear.
The real good gear tends to be expensive and not well known. Wait till you discover SET and OTL!!
Do you Bryston guys stick exclusively to Bryston? are you open to a tube pre?
Keep your Bryston amp and sweeeten the SS sound with a tube pre in front, honestly I could not imagine ever using a SS pre unless in a home theater.

I keep seeing these all Bryston systems. to me that can't be good, that's just blind loyalty. These guys ain't gurus, they just market gear for different price points. Mix it up with some flavor. You know a little salt and pepper.
Not trying to pick a fight, just question the fan boy mentality.
I had a piece of gear I really loved, I wanted to keep it forever. I wanted an all ABC company system, until I heard something better, than the love affair ended very quickly, and I never looked back. I got sucked into being a fan boy, covering my ignorance with a blind obsession. Today I hold no piece of gear with reverence, its whatever works that matters.
For example, lets say you replaced your Bryston with a McCormack DNA 125, or a pass 250.5, and loved it. What would happen to all your previous beliefs.
Everything would change.
There is just too much stuff out there to be stuck with one brand.So many people offering so much. Don't worry ,your Bryston friends won't leave you, you will have joined the audiophile community, a very large diverse collection of nuts. Myself included.

Let the skewering begin...

Mike

Woot!!! i'm a fanboy, i will admit it. I tell you what though. You give me 20 year warranty back bygreat service, great sounding product along with a experience galore in the professional end and I'll be your fanboy too...

[Phil A]

To a degree, the older Bryston amps, especially when used with a combination of things could be described that way.  I use to own ST series amps before the SST.  The older series of amps probably have not been in production around 8 years?  Probably had their last design changes more than 10 years ago?  Audiophiles are funny.  I've been in stores where name brand amps of 10 year old vintage were traded in and kind of get a kick out of the comments that the whole brand now sucks.  Looking back 10+ years in technology is not really a good indicator of what a brand sounds like but it is a testament that their stuff lasts.