Bryston or Aragon


My son is a music lover like I am.  He plays bass and dabbles in audio recording.  Well he’s all grown up now and has his own family and home and he has decided to leave his Yamaha receiver behind and stick his toe into the world of hi fi.  He needs a power amp.  He has done his research, browsed audiogon and talked with me and has decided on either a Bryston 4BST or an Aragon 8008BB.  Both are within his budget on the used market.  Initially the amp will be paired up with an Adcom GFP 555 (I think), a Technics turntable, some kind of CD player and my old Polk SDA 1A speakers.  If you have had experience with either of these amps please share your thoughts. I know there are other options that might fit the bill but he is firm on these two.  Thanks in advance for your thoughts.
128x128pipebro

Showing 1 response by 8th-note

Usually there is no clear answer to the question. The best the OP can hope for is perhaps several anecdotes of poor reliability which could steer them the other direction by default. In this case both amplifiers are great examples of top notch design and sturdy build.

You really have two choices. 1) Buy the amplifier that your gut tells you is the best choice. Both are great and you really can't go wrong. It may boil down to buying into the story of one amp or the other. Or maybe you like the looks or one more than the other. Make a decision and don't look back. 2) Buy both amps and test them in your system. After a few weeks or months of comparing them pick the one you like best and sell the other one. If you got them at a fair price you shouldn't be out more than $100 in transaction costs.

Thanks go to pipebro for narrowing it down to two choices and providing a good context of associated equipment. The posts that kill me are the open ended questions of "which amp should I buy?"