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Best Value in Used Bryston Amps and Monoblocks

As a long time fan of Magnepan's, I have always wanted to try Bryston amps, especially their monoblocks which are rumoured to be a very good match for my speakers, and have also been recommended by Magneplanar over the years, albeit off the record.

What I can't figure out, however, is the logic to the Bryston product line, where there is value in the used market, or which version or vintage I might buy for a reasonable price.

I can't tell which ones are monoblocks vs single chassis stereo amps, I don't care about "THX" designations or multi channel and I don't know what "SST" means.

From time to time, I will see a SINGLE monoblock for sale, which I keep in mind for my next mono system, or perhaps when I want a mismatched, high powered center channel.

I find weird ads which supposedly have brand new, never opened, but 5 years old "NOS" (new old stock) which I suppose were obtained through a time machine or recovered from a sunken ship in perfect shape.

Then I find ads for what look like basically new ones, which are suprisingly expensive, or battle scarred old amps with faceplates so scratched they look like they were traded in a drug deal and ended up in a pawn shop.

I read good things about Bryston's customer service, but every time I have reached out to them to try and better understand this, I get more than a whiff of we really don't care if you buy our products or not attitude, despite the fact that there is no dealer in my area.

So in summary, can someone please explain the history of these amps, which ones sound best, and what vintage might represent the best value in today's market?

I don't have a set budget, but thinking I would sell my Levinson 23.5 for $2-2500, so < $3K would be great.

Thank you,

cwlondon
cwlondon

Showing 2 responses by raquel

raquel
841 posts
 
Like virtually all other high-powered amps, Bryston amps use feedback to stabilize the circuit. While they are reasonably clean-sounding and solidly constructed, the feedback and all of the output devices required to achieve high wattage make for a less-resolved, uninvolving sound compared to lower powered, no-global-feedback designs like darTZeel and Ayre (I'm not singling out Bryston - the same is true for Krell, ARC, etc.).

In any event, the vintage of Levinson you own is the better sounding amp - unless you are concerned about reliability, Bryston would be a step backwards. It you want a high-powered amp that sounds decent and will drive Maggies, I'd look at Parasound JC-1's.

PS - I ran a 4B-ST for five years.
raquel
841 posts
 
Putting together a system with the equipment choices used by the manufacturer of a key component in a system (here, the speakers) certainly makes sense - I do it myself - but there is a lot to a manufacturer's choice, and in many cases, they choose moderately priced ancillaries in order to make their gear seem more accessible. It would be upending the order of the universe if Bryston turned out to be the absolute best performance choice for Maggies (or any other system).

I stand by my other point, namely, that high-powered solid-state amps which use feedback (the vast majority of high-powered SS amps do) are to be avoided where possible.
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