Bryston 28B SST

Mmarshall

After heaving read the favorable review in TAS by HP on the 28s I just had to find out for myself.
Borrowed the local dealers newest pair of 28s back in March of this year. They were burning in at the store for over 3 weeks 24/7 before they would loan them to me.
At the time I was looking for a solid state amp to have in my system along with my Wyetech Topaz SET 211.

The Brystons were going to replace my ML 33s and the ASR Emitter II Exclusive Version Blue.
Had the mono's in my system for over a week and a half.
Did not buy them, not very open nor did I find them dynamic.
The sound stage was flat by comparison to the previous SS amps.
By bringing the 28s into my home I can listen in my own room with my own set up.
The amps were driving my Maxx II's which are quite efficient.
Never had a chance to compare them to their smaller siblings.
Best to audition them yourself for a demo, then you can draw your own conclusion.

Really your best bet.

I also posted this on Canuckmart.ca back in March and April.

Take care and good luck,

There is more to it than just your amps, what's feeding them up the line along with cables.

Never mind your room and set-up.

There are going to be a allot of different opinions, just read above and mine, some threads making you think that a specific amp outperforms another.

This one had me chuckling;

"not very open nor did I find them dynamic."

Good luck to you it's the joys of this ever ending hobby of ours so it's best that you try but when I read such a statement sounds like they were being choked and there was most defiantely something else going on and not the fault of the amps.

F.Y.I. I replaced CAT Sig. JL3 MK2 mono's which list for $40K with Bryston 28 Squared driving my MBL 101e's, also had the MBL 9011 and 9008 mono which are crazy money, Pass X600.5's and prefer the Bryston's. I do like the Bryston's paired up with a tube pre, mine being the VAC Sig. MK2a.

Dev

"but when I read such a statement sounds like they were being choked and there was most definitely something else going on and not the fault of the amps."

Interesting as the dealer said the same thing after returning them.

He was going to check with Bryston to see what the potential cause could be. Maybe a miss match between my zeel and the Bryston.

It's all about synergy.

When I had the Bryston 28B SST sq on loan I did the following.
Had them on 24/7 with an Ipod to get them warmed up for 4 days before any doing any critical listening.
Tried both single ended and xlr inputs using Valhalla.
Power chords used were Bryston's and Synergistics as these were the only cables that I had two of back in March.
Speaker cables were both 2.5 and 1 Meter Valhalla's.

Dart pre, feeding both amps, via Nordost Valhalla.
Source is Verdier, Kuzma, Dynavector for vinyl, AR CD-7.5 and the Studer RTR.

My system would not choke the amps.

Being a Canadian there is nothing that I would rather do than to put money back into our economy.
But if the music is not there, then I will see to it to get the best that I can get regardless of origin.

The list of amps that you have tried are all great amps.
The only amp that I have heard is the MBL. Crazy money, yes but so were my ML 33s.

Dev, I am happy that you like your Brystons.

If you are ever in Vancouver BC send me a message, you are welcome to come by for a listen anytime.

Take care,

Hi Rugyboogie, I have read a few of your threads in the past and you have some very nice pces but what you wrote;

"not very open nor did I find them dynamic"

just doesn't add up and that's why I addressed such as you know allot of others will be reading. Your follow up info. you just provided all I can think of is the Dart pre. being a mismatch.

We all have our own opinions and that's fine, that's all they are but you are exsperienced so you should have tried to find out what was going on, in the end if you didn't like them well that's okay to.

Something was choking them!, either your Dart, cables, power source I don't know I wasn't there.

You have MAXX2's and I have MBL 101e's and from my exspearience I would say yours are easier to drive so why am I not having any of those issues you made reference too nor are others I know driving different speakers for example; Bryceeboy set-up with Soundlab A-1's?

09-26-10: Bryceeboy
The first time I ever got what the SET group was raving about was when I inserted the 28B Squared into my system. I am a tube guy through and through but when I placed these in my system nothing had come close in the past. I own Soundlab A-1's which are a bear to drive but these things can make them growl or purr like a kitty. Great amps IMHO! Good luck.

Rugyboogie Thanks for the invite, would enjoy meeting hearing your set-up.

P.S. I also owned ML 33s.

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How does the 28B SST stand up to low impedances?? Bryston clearly lists the power output of the 7B SST at 4 ohms. But, it is a glaring omission when it fails to mention the 4 ohm rating for the 28B SST. Bryston mentions that the 28B SST is a bridged design. To me that is a red flag to be wary of its performance at low impedances. I have a set of Infinity Kappa 9's that dip to one ohm, I'd like to see the 28B SST take a stab at them.
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