Classe vs. Bryston power amps - need opinions

I really like Bryston. Sorry not listened to Classe in some time.

This Classe I think has an MSRP of $5,000 per channel

The Bryston I think lists for about $4,200 for the dual channel mono amp.

This alone is enough to make the decision for alot of people, if cost is any kind of a consideration.
The Classe will also be about 2x the size and weight.

Classe claims 300w @8 ohms and doubles right down to 600 @ 4
wheras the Bryston claims 300 @ 8 ohms but only 500 @ 4

Most people have nothing really bad to say about Bryston and of course their warrenty can always make you feel good and safe.

I think the Classe is a much more sophisticated piece of electronics and is technically more impressive.

Your ears will have to ultimately decide if there is any difference between the two and then decide if that difference is worth 2x the price and space to you.

Bryston has a little grit to their sound, no?

grit? got dirt in it

a little harshness compared to a ML or krell or even some mosfet amps like ada, and B something or other...

grit the term is used....

I dont recall a gritty sound, but very clean. not sure the associated equip you listened with.

Long long time ago in a galaxy far away I did this room with Cristopher Hansen, he put meyer speakers with bryston amps; my comment above was very kind to the amps.



Recently 3 years ago at CES I heard the speakers from Jim Thiel with Brystons, the grit was still there although the speaker was better, some people like their sound roaring, there are some Wilson speakers that also roar. I prefer a more ethereal sound emanation.

I owned the classe 3200 for a short time, nice amp but not worth 6 grand


I replaced it with the nad masters m25, a lot of amp for the money.It has a very smooth sound to it.

check out spearitsound.com, they have refurbs for a good discount and are a brick and morter 30 years in business. I live 15 min from them

Ah Ah! A bit of "True Grit" in amplifier sound? So the Brystons sound more like John Wayne or Jeff Bridges, whereas the Classe sound more like - Theta amps! HAAAA!!@@@@@

Brystons... they sound like a 20 yr transferable warranty should sound.

When you started the tread, these weren''t even mentioned.

There are two designs of the amp with the best reviews that you've found and now suddenly, you hate them!
Well that was a waste of our time, how bout you just post the ones that you don't hate, so we can actually help a bit.
Make a list of what you don't hate of things we should actually consider.

If Classe is out I supoose the ML gear is out as well, too bad, the good ones are dropping like flies in this thread, probanly over their lookd no less!

I certainly won't be qualified to make a recommendation myself, but for the enlightenment of those that are I would specify which speakers you are planning to drive with your amp. This strikes me as a more important parameter than choice of preamp.

I find nothing particularly wrong with choosing a piece of gear for the way it looks, it is often a consideration.
All other things being equal, you might just as well pick the one that strikes your fancy....all other things being equal

What I found a bit odd is that, he said he hates the way the Classe looked and I think the Bryston looks very much the same as the CT series. For amps with a very similar form factor, to my eyes, the CT looks better then the Bryston.
Enter the Marantz

Grit, harsh not that I can recall but I can't hear above 14K [14K is way down from 12K as far as my ear's sensitivity]

I liked the Bryston with Thiel and Dali that I listened to. Oh well.

Why not consider the McIntosh MC402, MC501 [monoblock] or Parasound JC1 [monoblock].

I ran the FACE AUDIO for some time too. A pro type [ala QSC and CROWN] amp but it impressed all that listened to it for a prolonged period.

OK. so now we something to work with - you want to drive a pair of ribbon speakers with subs. Your ribbons will go down to 70Hz, and I presume you are looking at active subs, so the last bit of bass slam for your main amps will be less of a consideration, but the the specific amp needs of driving ribbons are. What I would do is post a question on audiogon and ask what amps folks have been using to succesfully drive ribbon monitors, used in conjunction with powered subs. This will get you far more meaningfull input than general comments on the merits of classe / bryston / marantz without this context.



True statement. This is driving me nuts. Every other piece they hear is the best they have ever in their system, redering most professional reviews utterly useless.

By the way, I hate the champagne color of the marantz. Thanks God my ud9004 came in black.

I am as light as the two feet of snow that just stopped falling.
If I used many more emoticons in my last two posts, it would have read more like a comic book

I used Levinson electronics with Magnaplaner ribbons for quite a few years with what I thought was great success, if that is of any help.

I'm currently using Classe CT-M300 and I love them. Incredibly clean, powerful and very neutral. There is some advanced technology built into these bad boys as well (read about it). They're a little more than just a simple amp. The are designed to quickly reach their optimum operating temperature and stay there with an advanced cooling system. It's also one of the few amps out their with this kind of output that is truly rackmountable. Not to mention they integrate well with the Classe CT-SSP which us currently my favorite processor of all time.

Besides, if Peter say's the Bryston sounds harsh or gritty, I would take his word for it. He's only one of the best system integrators in the country...

I would like to hear the Parasound JC-1's. They also got good reviews. 25w class A, then 400/600/1200 into 8/4/2 ohms. $3000 each. http://www.stereophile.com/solidpoweramps/774/

I agree, the CT series is ugly, but they're meant to be rack mounted. The Delta series was updated after the CT series came out. It looks like they took the guts of the CT amps and put it them in prettier delta boxes for people that want to use them in room.

Now all the amps now benefit from ICTunnel technology. The marketing reads like a scene out of Vanilla Sky when Tom Cruise gets his prosthetic facial shield. "ICTunnel - a microprocessor controlled technology inspired by the heatsinks found in high-power million dollar laser and medical equipment". Really? Because for a minute there, I thought we were talking about a %^&*ing FAN.

The 28B SST2 amps are terrific: effortless, clean, seamless, and completely grain free.

The last amps I liked as much were the VTL750 monoblocks in triode mode.

FWIW, I've worked on many Bryston 3B and 4B amps. While under warranty, most customers that we dealt with simply didn't want the downtime to ship the amp to Bryston and back, so we did the work locally in Vancouver.

Back then (1991 to 1995 when I owned the repair shop), Brystons were a well designed, well thought out amp. There was absolutely nothing within the amps that made them worth about $2200 retail CDN for the 4B though. I always thought that Bryston added $500-700 to the price of another typical comparable amp to cover the warranty.

Now, I had an old sales rep get in four 3Bs on trade on day, and he took two and I took two. They were about 18 1/2 years old. I tested mine and sold them on eBay. He sent his to Bryston, where they refurbished them. Since the amps were older, they did every mod/upgrade since the time they were made, changed the power switches, and called him to ask if for a very reasonable sum of money he wanted the two faceplates matched (his were nicotine stained as they came out of a bar), and they changed all the main filter caps.

Total price was $160 incl return shipping for both, sent back in factory original boxes, with the hand written spec sheet on top of each amp. He was tickled pink. Obviously the construction of the later Brystons are completely different than the older 4Bs, and I still find them a solid amp.

( I won't post how we took his amps and blind tested them against a $300 Korean made Inter M amp using an A/B switch, and how 2 out of 3 times he picked the Korean amp as sounding better...)

I replaced MBL 9010's with the Bryston 28 sst2's and have never looked back. they are driving MBL 101E's. No grit in my system, except on the floor, before it gets cleaned.
David

Those 28 appear to be great performers....

$3000 was the MSRP in 2005 when I got 9 of them... I believe the list price is $4500/each today.

The JC-1 is an excellent amp if you can handle the heat...

I married a pair of 28B-SST2's to my Martin Logan CLX's and got stuck in the sweet spot for 8 hours. This is a marriage that will last for some time.

Gary

I've not heard a Classe amp in some time, but in my theater I have a Bryston 4B ST hooked up to a pair of Dunlavy SC-IVs, which are well known for being harshly revealing and accurate speakers. The Bryston has been awesome, and I've been very pleased with the sound, especially at reference levels.


Nice, I've always wanted to hear a pair of 28B's, they're definitely physical and electrical beasts.