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World Premiere
Bryston 7B SST2 C-Series Monoblock Power Amplifiers
Redesigned and ready to go.
Review By Anthony Nicosia
Bryston audio products are backed by some of the best warranties in the business. Twenty years on all their analog circuits, meaning every amplifier and preamplifier they make. I find it highly unusually, and very refreshing, to find a twenty-year warranty on audio products. As for their digital gear like the processor and the external DAC they come with a five year warranty and three years for their CD player. To me this makes a pretty strong statement about the company’s belief in the products they sell. Please check their website for complete details on all their warranties. In an effort to produce quality products rather than mass produced quantities, Bryston technicians are not pressured by quotas or schedules.
In fact they are offered flexible work hours and have the chance to share in the company’s success. The goal being to carefully produce quality products with a low return rate in an effort to create higher customer satisfaction. According to their website the technicians take between thirty and thirty-five hours to assemble just one amplifier (or preamplifier) so as you can see they are not putting these out in traditional assembly line fashion. The website goes into more details about company philosophies, and being a graduate with a B.A. in Psychology, I must admit that I like many of their ideas with regards to the treatment of employees. After all it is the employees that have a direct impact on the overall product delivered to you the consumer. You can read more details concerning this at their website located under the tab labeled Company where you then will find the sub tab Philosophy.
Let us now however look to the product on hand for today’s review. Until just recently Bryston made7B SST amplifiers but has now switch to the designation Squared ( 2 ) to attach at the end after the 'SST'. So what is the difference between these new 7B SST2 amplifiers and the original 7B SST's? Below is an impressive list stating these differences:
New push on/off power switch
New chassis design
New Soft-Start circuit
New Balanced input stage
New Power Supply board
Bridging mode performance improvement
Reduced point to point wiring
Reduced circuit board count
Redesigned output chokes
When the amplifiers arrived they certainly were a sight to behold, two large boxes, very well packed, with one amplifier and one robust looking power cord in each. At first I was a little worried as one corner of one of the boxes had been damaged during shipping. When I opened it up though everything was perfect inside. When I contacted James Tanner the Vice President at Bryston to tell him that the amplifiers were fine he sent me an email saying, 'Yes we do a drop test on the corner of the box with the product inside when we are developing packaging for any given product.' I must admit I was quite impressed. Not only does this company take care in developing, assembling and testing your product but they exert that extra effort to make sure that it arrives safely to your house with packaging sturdy enough to withstand some non-audiophile handling. Starting with the back panel you will find a host of features. You definitely should read the instruction manual first which explains each one, before attempting to setup your amplifiers for the very first time. On the back panel there are both RCA and Balanced inputs as well as a switch to activate either one. Next to this is a switch that allows the user to decide between a 1v or 2v input sensitivity setting. This is basically a gain switch. The 1V setting provides a higher gain of -29dB (1V in + 100w @ 8 Ohms with noise at -110dB). The 2v setting provides a slightly less -23dB (2v in + 100w @ 8 Ohms with noise at -113dB). James Tanner from Bryston recommended that I leave it set to 1v with my particular speakers and I found that worked just fine as I did my review based on that setting.
Red: Indicates the amplifier is muted (power up)
Green: Indicates the amplifier operation is normal
Flashing Red: Indicates the amplifier clipping
Orange: Indicates channel thermal shutdown
The Rolling Stones are a good test of a products effect on both soundstage and soundscape. I heard their Big Hits (High Tide and Green Grass), the remastered [Abkco 90012] stereo hybrid SACD version. These amplifiers threw before me a large and deep picture of The Rolling Stones as they sang '(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction'. The soundscape left to right spread out the bands performers in an impressive manner but what really caught my attention was the way the amplifiers handled the portrayal of the front to back depth of the band. On top of all this, which in itself was a very difficult task, I had the feeling of being at the recording studio listening as the band cut the track. Both vocals and guitars, in particular, sounded as close to a live presentation as you could expect a stereo to reproduce. There was silence surrounding individuals making each distinct and easily recognized as they played on the soundstage before me. Being a modular design with separate power supplies cross-talk is virtually non-existent as they produce a coherent sound within a wide soundstage. Now if you like The Rolling Stones, and I do, you should really enjoy hearing them played through these amplifiers. When set up with proper cables and associated equipment these amplifiers can sound phenomenal.
Taking a break from my balanced cables it was time to switch over to using all RCA interconnects. Since both XLR and RCA cables can be used with these amplifiers and because not all of us have a balanced preamplifier I felt it imperative to listen with the RCA cables as well. Fortunately for me I had a Monarchy Audio preamplifier which has both XLR and RCA inputs allowing me to check its performance either way. Just a brief note on this, aside from the differences in balanced (which should be slightly quieter) versus unbalanced, the amplifiers did not disappoint me when heard through their RCA outputs. While I did prefer hearing them in balanced mode I would not hesitate to listen either way. The only recommendation I can make though is that I found cables did matter. These amplifiers can take advantage of the qualities a great cable has to offer and I suggest that you find the best you can, then sit back to relax and enjoy what should amount to a night (or day) of great musical enjoyment. The Acoustic Revive interconnects retail for $900 and their XLR cables are $975 a pair so you can see I did not go cheap with the cables. I also tried some Audience Conductor e interconnects which retail for only $391 for a one meter pair and I was quite pleased with them as well. An old favorite of mine is Joni Mitchell's Court and Spark [Asylum 1001-2] and especially the title song 'Court and Spark'. Here with the RCA cables I still enjoyed Joni Mitchell playing guitar and singing while her band accompanied her. Without hearing them side by side I would not have been tempted to put the XLR cables back in as they sounded that good even in unbalanced mode. Returning to the balanced XLR cables did however bring with it a smoother quieter feel to the music with just a slightly larger soundstage. If I had a choice I would no doubt go the balanced route, if not I would still purchase the amplifiers today and use the RCA cables until I got a fully balanced setup to accompany it at a later time. Either way these are a tremendous pair of amplifiers.
And The Growl Of Bass Notes
Getting back now to the XLR cables I next played The Romantic Violin [HCD-2-3702] featuring six classical pieces from such great composers as Beethoven and Brahms as well as others. Violins have a tendency to sound shrill when played with less than adequate equipment, but never once was I seen running to lower the volume when played with the Bryston 7B's. Here they made every musical piece sound liquid and smooth as I went from one classical composition to the other. Of particular note was a selection from the composer Edouard Lalo's Symphonie Espagnole in D minor op. 21 where the violin of Roggiero Ricci hit some pretty high notes. Here his violin sounded to have the correct timbre and was therefore a pleasure to hear. Mr. Ricci performed with the German Bochum Symphonic Orchestra, conducted by Matthias Kuntzsch. For those not familiar with Mr Ricci, his career as a violin virtuoso spanned seventy-years and started at age ten. He was born in San Bruno, California and is now ninety-years old. Lastly I turned to Neil Young's Prairie Wind [Reprise 49593-2] to search for that in your gut feeling of bass. If you like to feel bass notes both Carlos Santana and Neil Young CD's will do the trick. Here the Bryston amplifiers had no trouble giving me that powerful full bass feeling in my chest as it shook the floor when playing some parts of 'He Was the King'. All in all these amplifiers from Bryston were able to play a wide range of music and were very pleasing no matter what I spun on my CD player as it faithfully reproduced what it was feed through various source equipment.
Bryston 3b Sst2 Stereo Amplifier Reviews
My experience with the Bryston 7B SST2 amplifiers was nothing short of breathtaking. Being able to listen at levels quiet enough to allow my loved ones to sleep undisturbed, while still retaining a solid feel to the music, was definitely a big plus in my book. The amplifiers had a very tube like magical transparency that gave the music a live 'you are there' type of effect. It did all this yet still put out 600-watts of solid-state power whenever it was called upon to do so. They gripped my seven-driver (185 pounds each) Legacy Focus 20/20 speakers with its 12-inch transition woofer and two 12-inch subwoofers and then never let go. I always felt I had plenty of power in reserve as if they were coasting along like a runner in a marathon with plenty of stamina left in the tank. Put them in the proper listening environment, with the right associated equipment plus some good cables and get ready to re-listen to some of your old selections as if for the first time. Download sound card windows 7. I like amplifiers that can create good depth to the soundscape and here once again the Bryston's delivered.
Specifications
Type: Solid-state monoblock amplifier
Power Output: 600 watts @ 8 Ohms (900 watts @ 4 Ohms)
Gain Select And Sensitivity: 29dB-2.3Vin=600w @ 8 ohms-(1V Position)
23db-4.6Vin=600w @ 8 ohms-(2V Position)
Input Impedance: 50kOhms single ended, 20kOhms balanced
Distortion IM or THD+Noise: <0.005% 20Hz to 20kHz at 600 watts
Noise: >110dB below rated output 29dB gain (-75dBu)
Slew Rate: > 60 volts per microsecond
Power Bandwidth: <1 Hz to over 100 kHz
Damping Factor: Over 300 at 20Hz, ref. 8 ohms
Dimensions: 19 x 5.25 x 12.5 (LxHxD)
Weight: 50 lbs.
Face Plates: Both silver and black are available
Price: $3995 each ($7990 per pair)
Company Information
Bryston LTD
P.O. Box 2170
677 Neal Drive
Peterborough, Ontario
Canada K9J 7Y4
Voice: (705) 742-5325
Fax: (705) 742-0882
Voice: (800) 632-8217
Website: www.Bryston.com
Bryston Home Audio Amplifiers and Preamps
Bryston 3b Sst2 Prices
- Integrated amplifiers: This is a type of amplifier that contains a single power amplifier and an additional preamplifier in one unit. The integrated amplifiers by Bryston come with a variety of inputs that allow for the connection of DVD players, CD players, and other devices.
- Phono preamps: This is a type of audio component that is designed specifically to amplify the signal that is coming from your turntable or record player. The audio signals are then passed to your sound system.
- Power amplifiers: This is an electronic amplifier that takes certain audio signals and bolsters them to a level that is recognized by a pair of headphones or loudspeakers. The power amplifiers by Bryston include the 3B-ST model and the 5B-ST model.
- Surround-sound processors: This is a type of amplifier that is designed for home theaters. It can receive and boost signals from a variety of input devices, like a DVD or VCR player. The primary line of surround-sound processors by Bryston is the SP-2 line.