Bryston 28B SST

Tmsorosk, how many hours were on the ones you brought home, did you have them paired up with RM20 Torus units

I did not like the 28's right out of the box as someone others have wrote, in actual fact it was many hours prior to this happening, if you go onto the Bryston web site there is a posting there that was copied from another site where I had posted my thoughts at that time.

Did you have a tube pre paired up with them. Just interested because you are the first person that I have heard with such comments and I have received allot of emails from others and compared to allot of amps and know of others who have done the same.

Hi Bryceeboy, what does the rest of your set-up consist of besides those marvelous Soundlab A-1 speakers, you aren't the first one making a comment as you have.

Tmsorosk, I quickly went threw some of your past threads to educate myself and saw you have Salon speakers but don't like to use anything tube related. I owned Salon's and I'm very familiar with their sonics over all so I'm shocked with what you wrote. You should get a well broken-in pair of 28's along with pairing them up with say an Audio Research line stage pre Ref3 and give it another listen, you truely are missing out. You mentioned you owned other Bryston's but these new Squared series are totally sonically different.

I have the 28S mated to a pair of Verity Audio Parsifal Ovations. I selected these amps after looking into several others, the final two contenders were the Clayton M300 and the Brystons. The POs just sounded better with the Bryston, but the Claytons were very good.

Its my understanding that the most significant difference between the 28s and the other SST models (other than power) was the transformer (layout, etc - I am not technically proficient). However, when the range went to the "2" designation the same transformer "system" was then used in all the SST products. At which time the performance gap between the 28s and the 14B/7B -SST closed.

I had reviewed the 4BSST which was outclassed by the 28-SST2, but, again, that was before the "2" revision.

All and all, the 28s are a SOTA solid state neutral amp with tons of overhead. You should give them a listen....

jtb

I have a 14B-SST2 (latest transformer and all 'trickle down' improvements of the 28) and a 14B-ST (which is the first of the SST design amps). The 14B-SST2 has a clear, neutral character with noticeably tauter/extended top end and a more organised presentation than the older 14B. The speakers driven are PMC MB2 (passive, with 14B-SST2 on mid/tweet and 14B-ST on bass) and Infinity Prelude MTS (14B-SST2 for column, active woofer); the design philosophy of both speakers is loosely in line with Bryston's own, and both accordingly have good synergy with Bryston. I have tried a few different amps with these speakers, some of which initially sound impressive (big soundstage, big bass etc). However, the effect of reverting to the Bryston is typically the proverbial 'lifting of a veil' and a less exaggerated, more neutral, and clearer 'window' into the recording (slightly leaner as well). I should also emphasise that Bryston's warranty and James Tanner's customer service are remarkable, so owning Bryston gear is a fuss and headache free experience.

I should add that I have also tried a few different pre-amps with these amps. With the PMC MB2s especially, the Bryston BP26 works the best, as it controls the frequency extremes well and the synergy of all-Bryston equipment results in a more musically engaging presentation. (A couple of tube pre's added additional texture, but took away control). I also use the BCD-1 as my CDP. My experience re ARC and Bryston is a bit different to most other users, perhaps given the character of the MB2s - an ARC LS26 in my system was more veiled and a bit 'loose' in the bass compared to the BP26.

In summary, these latest products by Bryston work very well with my speakers, and I have no foreseeable plans of changing them. As noted by someone else above, there is a break-in period if purchased new; out of the box, the equipment sounded a bit rough, and became smooth and clear with use.

I would have to disagree with the observation that Levinson gear beats the 28's in every way. My personal experience is just the reverse - I replaced the Levinson 432 monoblocks with the 28BSST's in my system and the latter pair are just so much better in terms of dynamics, bass definition, midrange palpability and highs that are very refined for such monstrous power ratings. My speakers then were MBL 121's which were very difficult to drive and needed the heft of the 28's to open up. When I changed my speakers to the Vienna Acoustics The Music, which were more sensitive and an easier load, you would think it would be overkill but no, they sang very well together. The MBL's sound whitish and bright when pushed but not The Music - they sound better with higher powered amps and the 28's are just the ticket for harmonious synergy.