Amp/Preamp Asylum: REVIEW: Bryston 4B SST Amplifier (SS) by NeuGeo Looking for a new Amp or Preamp? If you're after tubes, post over here.

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Model:	4B SST
Category:	Amplifier (SS)
Suggested Retail Price:	$2700
Description:	300 watt/channel dual mono amplifier
Manufacturer URL:	Bryston
Model Picture:	View

Review by NeuGeo ( A ) on April 10, 2007 at 21:34:46 IP Address: 71.125.193.40

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…Sincerest apologies for the previous 4BSST review.
Its been over a month since the Bryston-beast arrived. I say beast because of its sheer mass and power output. Sonically speaking there’s no perceived heavy-handedness. This amp is more like a crystal vase, filled with mountain spring-water. It is this clarity, this lack of color or flavor, that I feel is the signature of the SST amplifier.

Its difficult to classify the perceived fidelity of music reproduction with this amp. I had a similar problem in trying to describe my previous amp, the 3BSST. They both excel at getting out of the way of the music. They both do the soundstage thing quite well. In fact the soundstage effect here is almost limitless, even if it does vary from one recording to the next. Recording engineers often use their skill and creativity to produce an acoustic mix of simulated reality thus generating virtual placement of instruments and performers. The effect is most notable in high resolution systems.

Resolution is about how much of the recording you can actually hear. Is that the horn section that you’re listening to, or do you hear a trumpet, trombone and sax playing in harmony? Resolution allows you to grasp the music’s aspect . It permits to you hear the breath of a soloist between notes. It exposes the character of the recording venue. It clearly articulates the spittle vibrating in the mouth-piece of a horn.
While I’m not endorsing laser-etched hyper-detail, I do want to hear all that there is to hear.
The Bryston is all that. The (no-noise) low noise floor is the foundation for this highly resolving apparatus.

While listening, the other night, to McCoy Tyner (New York Reunion, Chesky JD51) a sax solo caught my attention (track 5, Ask Me Now ) There was this clicking sound that I had never noticed before. Being a paranoid audiophile I immediately got up and went over to the one of the loudspeakers. My wife was nearby reading a newspaper and paid no attention to my sudden movements, she’s quite used to my audio-related OCD. “shit, the CD must be glitching, no, maybe one of the preamp tubes is going microphonic…” I played back the passage and turned up the volume slightly, there it was again! That clicking sort of noise. Then it came to me all at once. The sound of the valves on a wood-wind instrument being briskly pressed and released, I never noticed that before.
I needed to know if my audio-related OCD was becoming a psychosis. I glanced at my wife. “Do you hear that clicking sound?” She looked up from her paper “yeah, what is that?” Gleefully I blurted “the resolution of this amp is friggin’ amazing!” She smiled patiently and went back to her reading. Once I calmed down, I explained the click-sound to her. She didn’t look up from the paper this time.

Before I say another word about the Bryston, lets keep it real. Synergy is crucial to system performance.
The Conrad Johnson (Premier Fourteen) preamp is the most essential component in my system. It is a reference-grade instrument. In simple terms, the CJ is a zero-feedback, (non-inverting) single ended triode amplifier.
A brief description in Conrad Johnson’s own words.
“The audio circuit of the Premier Fourteen consists of a single triode amplifier direct coupled to a triode cathode follower. The low output impedance of the cathode follower permits the use of the Premier Fourteen, even installations with long highly capacitive amplifier interconnect cables, without attenuation of the high frequency information and without softening transients. A zero feedback circuit ensures temporal accuracy and spatial detail. The premier Fourteen was selected by many audiophiles and major magazine reviewers for their own personal use due to its superlative handling of musical transients, its dynamic range, and its very wide frequency response.”

The CJ makes real music happen and it performs most optimally when merged with an eminently neutral power amplifier.

“be like water…, be formless, shapeless, like water. Now you put water in a cup, it becomes the cup; You put water into a bottle it becomes the bottle; You put it into a teapot it becomes the teapot;… water can flow or it can crash.”

Enter the Bryston. The concept of synergy achieves physical actuality as the Bryston becomes the Premier Fourteen.
This combo can flow and it can crash. From Burt Bacharach to Marilyn Manson, Neptunes to Nirvana to Massive Attack to Thelonious Monk, et al.
My listening preferences necessitate a system that can reproduce all types of music accurately.

The last element of the synergy chain, but not the least are the outstanding Epos M12 . With a tactfully flat output and extremely precise imaging, these monitors have permanently spoiled my hearing. I cannot listen to commonplace loudspeakers anymore. To tell you the truth, there are a few elite brands that turn me off now too. Know what? I like what I like.

“screw you guy’s, I’m going home”

It has always been about personal taste in this hobby.
The Epos are also capable of producing reasonably deep, satisfying bass when subjugated by sufficient power. More substantial bass is what the 4Bsst does most notably in my system. By comparison the 3Bsst did not propel the lower octaves with the same degree of authority.
It is possible that another loudspeakers would produce ample bass with the 3Bsst. Its just that I’m not trying to give up my Epos…..just yet.

I auditioned the Revel Performa M22 on Saturday. It was like the Epos on steroids, awesome!

Additional quotations: Bruce Lee. Eric Cartman.

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Product Weakness:	its not the best amp in the universe. what is?
Product Strengths:	gets the hell out of the way!

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Associated Equipment for this Review:
Amplifier:	Bryston 4bsst
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	Conrad Johnson Prmr.14
Sources (CDP/Turntable):	Classe CDP-10 &Dual CS5000
Speakers:	Epos M12
Cables/Interconnects:	Audiquest Black Mamba
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	all types
Room Size (LxWxH):	12 x 18 x 8
Room Comments/Treatments:	wool felt cloth(several yards)
Time Period/Length of Audition:	a Month, give or take
Other (Power Conditioner etc.):	PS Audio UPC200
Type of Audition/Review:	Product Owner
Your System (if other than home audition):	yes.

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