I auditioned a Bryston 4B-ST and used my McIntosh C-22 as the preamp. The Mac is about 30 years old but was recently reconditioned with new tubes and it sounds very nice. My speakers are the Vienna Acoustics Mahlers. The soundstage width was the best I have heard...very wide past the speakers beyond the left and right walls. However the soundstage depth was a flat plane about 3 feet deep with no layering. The sonic signiture of the combinition was very nice. The bass was very deep with lots of control. The Bryston excells at bass control and the Mahler's can be bass heavy and loose with some amps. The midrange was very musical with voices sounding natural, very clear and with lots of air around the vocalist. The highs where very detailed and clear but lacking in warmth. Sometimes sounding a bit harsh. I have been told by others that Bryston is dark sounding but my experience with it is that it sounds on the bright side. This is probably a system matching issue. Bottom line....if you enjoy the sound of Bryston products, putting a tube somewhere in the system in front of it would be a very good decision. You will increase your chances of having a warmer sounding system that is easy to listen to and have great bass control and dynamics as well. Good luck.
tube pre for bryston
Finally decided and bought the Bryston 14BSST. Thinking of putting a tube pre in front of it to drive my Legacy Focus mains. I will be looking used since I still need to upgrade my Pre/Pro for the video side soon. I have only read positive things hear about combing ss amps with tube pres. I heard a great combo (nameless for purposes of this conversation)and did like the sound, unfortuantely not a combo I can afford. Any comments and sugestions?
Thanks, dave
Thanks, dave