Parasound Halo JC-1 -VS- Bryston 7B-ST?

No I am not bored with the JC-1's.
I was just curious on how the Bryston 7B-ST's sound.
I have never heard a Bryston amp before.

I have a friend with 14B-ST. The JC-1's are better, even stock.

Steve N.

What is better depends a lot on the rest of the system. My buddy had a pair of well worn in JC-1 amps into a pair of Dunlavy speakers fronted by a Sony SACD player and a Sim P-5 preamp (if memory serves me right). He wasn't happy with the sound finding it thin. Dealer advised that the units were used by a good client of his and that break-in should no longer be an issue. Still there was no real life to them. My friend asked me to bring over my 4B-SST and the Bryston was a much better match. Nothing against the JC-1 amps - they are much lauded by many people but to say that even stock they are better is a blanket statement that pertains to one man's opinion. Steve, this is not a knock against you personally but your statement. As I also have heard both manufacturer's amps and came to a very different conclusion. Synergy is the key...

I have not heard the 7B-ST however have recently heard at home the 7B-SST and JC-1's. Bass was similar, probably the JC-1's more powerful but both excellent bass. I found the Bryston a little more musical and a little more lifelike in the upper frequencies. They were used in both balanced and se mode.
Overall the Bryston was in my system better enough for me to cross the JC-1's off the short list. The JC-1's just sounded boring in my system.
please note the JC-1's had not done their 1400 minimum break in time, only 4-500 hours.

Downunder, at 4-500 hours the JC-1s will sound as you described...at about 1000 hours things dramatically improve, becoming quite lively and involving, at 1200 hours even more so.

By the way, I looked at your system. Have you checked which is the left speaker and which is right? Judging by the photo captions you have them reversed. Violins should be on your left :)