Hafler 9500 vs Bryston 4bsst Class Rating B vs A

Personally, as someone who's sold Lexicon/Bryston(same gear) over the years, I don't think any of the Bryston amps/pre's are anything special really. Someone got paid big bucks to put the 7B and 9B in "Class A"!...that's all Im sayin. Sold/owned/heard a gillion amps over the years. And Bryston ain't the Schizznitt from what I can hear.
Heck Parasound has the same sound for much less!. Actually, Classe is better too from top to bottom, IMO. Bryson is built well and solid Warranty and all. But sonically, it's a strong, bassy warm sounding amp, with lack of top end air and extension, and not the last word in resolution or refinement. they're "OK amps". Not better than even Parasound overall, which is great warm bass strong gear for the money.

Upgrading to the latest Hafler 9505 is definitely worth it. Great amp and a big improvement over the 9500.

I guess its a matter of perspective. I own the Bryston 4bsst with the bp-20 preamp. I owned a parasound. They are both fine amps but to my ears the Bryston is more neutral with clear highs, great mids and very good bass control. It goes to show you that different ears hear different things

Thanks for quick replys .
A little more about myself and system my hafler is slightly modded by myself .
I too have sold gear in the past but now just repair and watched the amps change over the last 30 years .
I have had a bryston 4b but was old model and was ok but not up to speed .
Really looking for direct comparisons for these 2 amps as I no longer can try anything out just buy .
I just put back together an old Sansui 9090 so many of these (70s rxvrs) are still out there as they were built tough do not run with high bias , but the parts just were not avialable at that time to sound like they do now , for example the matched Fast types used in Bryston and many others .
But as an audiofile my budget is not that high , that is why Bryston looks good to me ,and if ever resell be no problem .

Hafler 9505 slew rate blows away the paltry Bryston. Parasound Halos also have a high rate.

And to my ears the Bryston blows away the hafler.

Well will start by saying this is my point of view.....
After reading many peoples comments about cables , wiring etc etc decided while reworking my system would give some a try once again .
First will start by saying i'm not like alot of members here that change their stuff faster then change thier socks .
For example the stand that houses the stereo I found the material bill is from 1985 , still using it although not very modern lookin....
The last couple years after a non change for 10 years has meant a new processor Anthem AVM-20 , new center Revel C-30 , Sub Revel B15 Behringer DEQ , 2 new amps Bryston 4bsst and 9bsst , rewire to all balanced inputs / outputs rewire a/c .
Start with the Balanced cables used Canare star quad DIY with Neutric gold XLRs , how much differance very slight maybe a little more s/n but only small amount , frequency wise perhaps no differance .
A/C , went all out put in 2 dedicated runs with 12 Gauge wire hospital grade Hubbells . This was great deal of work crawling under house and running wires (sore next day ) .
Also made new cords from amp to wall Marinco and 10 Gauge mil spec silver plated copper wire , shielded dirrectional and covered over 3/4 inch diameter that made ends hard to use had to dremill out to fit .
Now this made slight differance not in sound so much as used to have interferance when turned on quartz lights a clunk now gone so perhaps power is little more stable , I think biggest differance is the ends fit very tightly .
Also biwired the speakers (Energy Veratas 2.8s ) using old ofc 12 Gauge and 10 gauge mil spec silver plated wire , treated everything with progold too . If this made differance it is also very slight , not so easy to a-b dirrectally .
Anthem very good processor , do not want just a stereo system for music want home theatre as well . This made very noticable differance , hard to explain but more detail in mids and highs and more music from darkness .
Revel Center C30, always center is hard to get right this one is good better then all tried , was improved alot when got 9b into system .
Mostly more natural vocals most noticable lower mids better .
Revel B15 sub . This one took awhile to find the right one , perhaps the hardest decision wanted sub sound good on music but can overkill on movies . My old passive jbl bx380 sounded better on music then the regular Paradigms etc . The Velodyne was great but was just not enough over kill for movies . This one does it all at a cost of fairly big bucks but overall one of the best if not the best upgrade sound wise .
The Behringer DEQ many people do not believe in Eqs , this one is very good and fixes room glitch quite well , now that have will keep in system , this is worth the money for education purpose alone .
Bryston 4bsst and 9bsst , very fine amps , very quiet very good from top to bottom 4bsst is better bargain for perfomance , both will likily stay in system for long time if never replace is fine with me .
Still looking for Cd player , however with using Anthem as DAC they sound so far pretty much the same so no clear way to upgrade for me .
Put Denon tt back in system sad to say cd sounds much better , but depends on music somewhat I listen to alot older Rock and was not so well recorded and the remastered cds are much better to me .
Cds One upgrade not so much money all the remasters are great so far , lean towards Mfsls but there are alot of good ones .
My old Energy 2.8s still do well compared to modern counterparts as well as other brands , perhaps just used to the sound they produce or maybe they just got it right with these .
Quite often I listen to music at around 90 -95 dbs and these new little driver bookself speakers just do not work ( for me ).
I also like the speed and imaging from dome mids , they just work for me . Overall very happy with the system and sound and should not give any troubles for years.
The bottom line as this tread started , the Brystons were an excellent upgrade.
Anyways this is my experiances latily , sorry about typos ...
Couple Pictures...
[img]http://oberon.ark.com/~bngserv/img/StereoFront.jpg[/img]
[img]http://oberon.ark.com/~bngserv/img/StereoBack.jpg[/img]

Glad you liked the Bryston 4BSST. Its a great amp. It has a very refined sound and great resolution for its price point. The 20 year warrantee sounds perfect for you! Merry Christmas!

Well my old thread but may as well update to where i'm at .
Still happy with the Brystons , probally will keep for another 20 years...

The Vinyl just needed fixing.
Added a Denon DL-160 , Modded Cary PH-1 Tube phono preamp, Dbx-3bx , Burwen Research 7000a click & pop filter an got a Nitty Gritty 2.0 cleaner.
This improved the vinyl experiance greatly.
Some vinyl now exceeds the sound quality of Cd , but a lot depends on the masters .
Anyway just an update...
Still Happy
Brian

Go with the later 9505 Diablo version . Mandatory ...

I have had many direct comparisons with other amps costing many times more - Audio Research, VTL, Quicksilver, Jeff Rowland and Bryston .
I used a pair of Thiel 3.6s for the listening trials . The 9505 is a winner esp. for the money. Only the Bryston can really rival the Hafler 9505 Daiblo and then its more a matter of taste -not which is " better ". So if u can land your hands on one these 9505s hop to it my friend you will be amazed and deeply satisfied .

Well Guess keep adding.
Still same amps Bryston 4bsst & 9bsst , probally never change.
Sold most of Haflers I had , will not miss them.
Kept one XL280 & will put secondary system together , just need a preamp.
However , the vinyl bug has bit so working on tables.
Making a plinth for an Technics SP-15 with a SME 3009 arm rewired and with bronze bearing , have second DH160 Denon .
This will be ready in next couple weeks and should improve the vinyl .
Brian