Bryston 7B SST

I went ahead and had the Choke upgrade to my 7B SST's done at the Bryston US Service Center in Vermont, and am very pleased with the result. Not only does the top end seem much silkier, but the mids seem more dynamic as well (this is thru Merlin VSM MME speakers and a Joule LAP 150 MK II preamp). I swap amps back and forth between the Bryston 7B SSTs and Joule VZN-100 MK III Marquis OTL amps, generally acknowledged to be the ultimate amp of any type, tube or solid state, for Merlins, and the Bryston 7B SST "C" series amps come very very close now. not quite as "real" in the midrange as the Joule OTLs (nothing is) but with perhaps a bit better low end. The C mod turnaround was one week door to door and Bryston even returned the amps in new shipping boxes. Highly recommended!

If you think that even the SST amps still have that typical Bryston highs (a smidge aggressive) then the Choke change is what's needed. I had my 14B-SST done a few months back at the Peterborough location and I am very happy with the outcome. I will also add that IMHO the BP-26 may be a better match for a Bryston amp with the new ouputs than in the past but again this is only my opinion (BTW I use an ARC LS-26)...

I got this information from James Tanner, head of international marketing for Bryston, who referred to it as the "output choke mod" and told me that the Bryston U.S. service department in Vermont could do the mods for $250 per amp plus shipping. He told me to contact Mike Pickett at usaser@bryston.ca or 802-334-1201 to arrange this.