What's inside these aluminum/metal cases?

Both brystons look OK. I agree that there's a bit too much "loose wire" floating around for my liking, and much more than my densen integrated (which is a $1000 amp). The ML383 is neat, but it looks like you're paying for lots of stuff which may have little direct impact on the audio quality. I wondered why ML stuff cost so much.
As for components costing 10-15% of the amp ... I think that's a little low, but it does reflect the food chain of components->manufacturing->marketing->distributor markup->hifi shop margins. Such is the way with all electronics, with the general rule that the higher end you go the more you are gouged. Also the price of things reflects what people will pay for them, not how much they cost to make.

The bottom line is "how do they sound"? (I'm a fan of minimalism since minimalist designs (passive preamps, selector switches located near to the RCA inputs etc) usually sound better to me for the same $$). I've never heard any bryston or ML gear, but from what I've seen above the bryston looks to be better value for money.

Hi Brian ... I guess it depends on your budget. Good sound can be inexpensive if you eschew features and keep the power requirements (and room size) down. This is the way I have chosen to go. I just don't have the budget for ML equipment. I neither have a preference for european or US equipment .. my system is a mix of both. (Inc spica angelus ... what a great speaker !)
As for ML being the originator of minimalism that's an interesting article. I thought it had developed both sides of the atlantic. After all Quad, A&R(arcam), Mission all are rather minimal designs.
I guess part of my minimalism is a reaction against today's mass market consumer electronics which is loaded with gizmos and rather poor on basic quality. I don't want flashing lights and an array of buttons and features .... I just want to turn the volume up and hear good music. In fact the more features and choice I have the more likely I am to fiddle with the equipment instead of listening to the music. (for example the phase selector on my DAC ... does it really make any difference ?)