Ideal Pre Amp for Bryston 3B ST or 4B SST 2


I need advice, I've been told that Bryston Pre Amps are not the best and most would run a different brand Pre-Amp to a Bryston Amp. The question is what would be the best marriage for a Bryston 3B ST and Magnepan's 1.6? I want Balance Inputts and Outputts but do not want it to cost me another mortgage!

Tube or Solid State?

Current System:

Brysto BP20 Pre Amp
Bryston 3B ST (Connected in Balance)
Wadia Itransport
Camebridge Mini DAC (Connected in Balance)
Martin Logan Abyss Subwoofer (Connected in RCA)
Magnepan 1.6

Music Preference:

Classical/Jazz/Opera/Movie Soundtracks
birdiewins

Showing 5 responses by paperw8

asking someone else what equipment sounds good is like asking someone what painting looks good: you end up with someone else's perspective with no idea of whether you would think the same. i've had a bryston 4bst and bryston bp-20 for a dozen years and to my ears there is nothing wrong with this equipment. but that doesn't mean that someone else will think that it sounds good. it's all about individual preferences and little more.

some people like tubes because they presumably produce a "warm" sound. the problem is, that "warmth" is signal distortion. but if a distorted signal sounds good to you, then that's the way that you should go.

so the real question you should be asking yourself is whether you like the sound of your equipment, not whether someone else says whether or not "the best" (whatever "the best" means). but if you are going to ask the opinions of others the operative phrase to always keep in mind is "caveat emptor" because you have no idea as to whether the speaker acutally knows what he is talking about. i frequently read authoritative-sounding comments on this forum that are factually ridiculous. so be forewarned.

12-07-10: Rrog
The ideal preamp for your Bryston amp is a Bryston preamp.

there is not particular reason why this statement should be true: to the amplifier, a signal is a signal. there is no technical reason why a bryston amplifier will work better with a bryston preamplifier. i don't believe this "synergy" business in anything other than a subjective context. but as with all subjective concepts, different people will have different opinions.

12-07-10: Bob_reynolds
Paperw8, I agree with your comment regarding synergy in general, but proper impedance matching between a preamp and amp is a very real concern when mixing products from different manufacturers. It typically involves mixing different technologies - solid state and tubes.

you raise a good point about the need to be concerned with matching between tube devices and solid state devices. i don't follow the tube scene but i am aware that there can be issues with interfaces the two technologies. as i understand it, signals from tube preamplifiers can have dc components that can be a problem with some solid state amplifier inputs that don't have dc-blocking capacitors in the input path. i don't know that sticking with the same brand provides any specific advantage, but in any event, if someone intends to mix technologies it's always a good idea to check for potential compatibility problems. the main problem that i would expect is that you might be limited to using single ended amplifier inputs if you use a tube preamplifier.

as to the idea of impedance matching between preamplifiers and amplifiers, that is not done to my knowledge (i am taking "impedance matching" to mean the output impedance of the preamplifier is equal to the input impedance of the amplifier - and my comments refer to solid state only). preamplifiers and amplifiers typically have high input impedances because what you want to do is to transfer a voltage (you're not really trying to maximize power transfer between the preamplifier and the amplifier).

one notable exception is krell cast inputs, which tend to be low impedance. but the point of the krell cast system is that you are transferring a current from one device to another, so you don't want amplitude of the transferred current to be limited by a high input impedance. according to krell, the idea of waiting as long as possible before converting the current into a voltage results in superior sound reproduction. i have never heard a krell cast setup so i can't comment on how well the system achieves its stated objectives.

12-08-10: Rrog
Paperw8, Since you don't follow the tube scene try mating a Quad preamp with your favorite solid state amplifier and tell me how you like the sound.

you can make reasonably deterministic statements about whether different components are electrically compatible. but you can not make deterministic statements about what sounds good. you may be right that i might not like the way a given tube preamplifier and solid state amplifier pairing might sound, but since i haven't heard one, i can't say for sure. even at that, such a system might sound good to someone else.

i happen to be fine with the sound of my bryston preamplifier/amplifier configuration, but someone else might use a non-bryston preamplifier and bryston amplifier and find the sound of that system preferable. by and large this audiophile stuff is mostly about personal preferences: you can't tell me what my personal preference "should" be any more than i can tell you what your personal preference "should" be. that's just the way that it works...

12-08-10: Bob_reynolds
Some manufacturers of both solid state and tube gear will ensure that the input impedance of their solid state amps is high enough to mate well with one of their tube preamps. Thus, sticking with the same manufacturer has it's advantages.

i can believe that...


12-08-10: Bob_reynolds
Of course, some solid state amps are designed with a high enough input impedance to mate well with any kind of preamp. You'll notice that Bryston amps have a usefully high impedance on their unbalanced inputs and a less useful impedance on their balanced inputs.

i did notice that input impedance for balanced inputs is lower than that for unbalanced inputs in bryston amplifiers. do you know why it is that the input impedance for the balanced inputs is lower than the input impedance for the unbalanced inputs?