Bryston 28SST2 1000W with ML's

[PartTimeJedi]

Bryston 28BSST2 1000W with ML's

I am looking at acquiring a pair of these monos, I know there are varying views on Bryston with ML but I feel the MLs can benefit from allot of power/current on tap. My Ayre MXRs are smooth and musical but for ML I favour more a fist in a velvet glove control approach (I like old skool MLs so the power amp has to drive the woofer and panel). Any thoughts on 28B Bryston with ML? Thanks

 

[GaryG]

I have my CLX's mated with the Bryston 28B-SST^2 and love it. The 28B's make the ML's come alive. Every corpuscle in the CLX's comes alive. And they come alive no matter what volume you are listening to, and no matter what style of music you are playing. The 28B-SST^2 uses a toroidal transformer from Plitron and this helps in making these big amps very nimble. I have a pair of Prodigy's and recently for a 3 week period I connected them to the 28B's and they never sounded better especially the bass extension. It was a wow. I have owned the Prodigy's for more than 9 years and have heard them with a number of different amps. When I was attending T.H.E. Show and CES here in Las Vegas in January of this year and I spent a couple hours in the Sanders room listening to Sanders electrostats and talking to Roger Sanders. By the way Sanders amps are also great with the ML's. Roger said that many people don't understand how much power/current electrostatic speakers need to perform at their best. I told him I was using the 28B's and he said "ah, you get it". From me, it is an enthusiastic 2 thumbs up on the 28B-SST^2's. Listen to them and enjoy.

Gary

 

[PartTimeJedi]

Appreciated Gary, that's great info.

 

[Gordon Gray]

Hi Zi,

FWIW, HP of TAS fame gave a glowing review of these amps.

I would guess your concern is synergy and your personal bias. Hopefully, you will find them as musical as Gary and others have found.

Bye the bye, have you considered the mono Pass Labs?

GG

 

[GaryG]

Hi Zi,

FWIW, HP of TAS fame gave a glowing review of these amps.

I would guess your concern is synergy and your personal bias. Hopefully, you will find them as musical as Gary and others have found.

Bye the bye, have you considered the mono Pass Labs?

GG

Gordon makes a good point. If Bryson did not make the 28B's I would have had Pass Labs. You might want to compare if possible. Shopping can be fun.

Gary

 

[TrumpetDoug]

I personally think they are fantastic amps. Every time I'm out at one of my local audio cribs and they are playing music through a Bryston it's sounds right to me.

Doug - out

 

[PartTimeJedi]

Gordon makes a good point. If Bryson did not make the 28B's I would have had Pass Labs. You might want to compare if possible. Shopping can be fun.

Gary

Never tried Pass Labs, I highly respect their tech though but feel it would be similar to the MXRs

 

[Gordon Gray]

Zi,

What exactly do you mean by "fist in a velvet glove control"?

GG

 

[babydoc]

Bryston amps for MLs

I am looking at acquiring a pair of these monos, I know there are varying views on Bryston with ML but I feel the MLs can benefit from allot of power/current on tap. My Ayre MXRs are smooth and musical but for ML I favour more a fist in a velvet glove control approach (I like old skool MLs so the power amp has to drive the woofer and panel). Any thoughts on 28B Bryston with ML? Thanks

I have heard the 28B's and they are definitely out there. If I didn't already have Pass XA100.5 monoblocs, I would have considered these. It is a matter of taste and whether you prefer Class A to A/B. This is also where rated power output may not be as important as where the first 20 to 30 watts come from. The trade offs with Class A amps is the amount of heat that they generate, not being very efficient. The plusses come from a signal that is constantly on. The Sanders amps are also excellent for ESLs. I owned their predecessors when I had Innersound ESLs and loved 'em. The most important consideration when getting into high end amps is how they make the speakers sound in your room. Hopefully, you can have the opportunity to make that audition before coughing up cold hard cash.

 

[PartTimeJedi]

Zi,

What exactly do you mean by "fist in a velvet glove control"?

GG

I would say, effortless transients, controlled dynamics, uncompressed headroom, nuances of detail openly presented and all that with absolutely no attention on what the amplifier is doing or trying to do to get there.

 

[User211]

I've heard Brystons on numerous occasions and the only time I have ever heard them sound good is via huge PMCs in Munich.

I have never, however, heard them driving MLs. But I have never imagined it would be a happy combo.

But given Gary is happy with first hand knowledge, looks like they're worth an audition. Just don't buy them without doing so first. Lotta money at stake.

 

[PartTimeJedi]

The only speakers I see myself living with are MLs old skool (woofer and panel driven direct by the amp), second favourite is PMCs and want to hear the Mac XRTk1 as line array intrigues me (maybe when I can make it to CES).

With that in mind and having listened to Brystons in the past but not the 28B I placed an order for a pair today in black.

Thanks guys for all your input.

 

[GaryG]

Congrats on your order. I am sure you will enjoy the results as the 28B is by far the best that Bryston has produced. Let us know how you like them.

 

[PartTimeJedi]

Congrats on your order. I am sure you will enjoy the results as the 28B is by far the best that Bryston has produced. Let us know how you like them.

Sure will Gary, about 9 weeks away from delivery. Thanks for your input and help.

 

[User211]

The only speakers I see myself living with are MLs old skool (woofer and panel driven direct by the amp), second favourite is PMCs and want to hear the Mac XRTk1 as line array intrigues me (maybe when I can make it to CES).

With that in mind and having listened to Brystons in the past but not the 28B I placed an order for a pair today in black.

Thanks guys for all your input.

Gigantic leap of faith!!! Fingers crossed for you...

 

[wallacefl]

I use the Bryston 14BSST with my CLS2Z and would only trade if I was going to the series 2...preferably the 28's

 

[PartTimeJedi]

As promised I said I would update, had my Bryston 28s installed recently. I love the 19inch face plate with handles T2 industrial black look. They are my last amp that I can contemplate. Having owned Mark Levinson 336, 436's, Jadis DA88, Radford MA15's, Gryphon Diablo, Roksan M1's, Electrocompanient AW 180s, EC1, McIntosh 2275, 501's, 275's and Ayre MXR's. They are a strange (from a bemusement viewpoint) sounding amp in that they have the lowest noise floor of any valve single ended like amp I have heard and the most effortless presentation of any solid state amp I have heard. Infinite power headroom, smooth sounding with forensic detail, no part of the frequency range over dramatised - I don't quite know how you get a box of 40 kilos of metal to do that - but credit to Bryston for doing it's own thing in it's own way. They really work the Quests brilliantly.

 

[tsv_1]

"forensic detail" Nice

Glad they're working out well for you

 

[GaryG]

Infinite power headroom, smooth sounding with forensic detail, no part of the frequency range over dramatised - I don't quite know how you get a box of 40 kilos of metal to do that - but credit to Bryston for doing it's own thing in it's own way. They really work the Quests brilliantly.

Yes, that's the same way I feel about the 28B's.