I had the 4B-SST and the 7B-SST. I played my Revel Salon1 real loud, and the 7B-SST was better in that regard. Those speakers also ate up the additional power.
Do you have a demanding speaker?
Bryston 7B3 vs 4B3: Extra Cost Worthwhile?
Now that my dealer said he can deliver and unbox my amp the weight issue has been resolved. I don’t expect to be moving them as this is my end game system. At my age end game has real meaning. So I decided on Bryston and the 4B3. But then I got to thinking maybe I should go all out and get the 7B3 mono blocks. They are twice the price of the 4B3. For that additional expense I would hope and expect that once I heard them I would not be able to go back to the 4B3. However if the difference in perceived SQ is better but marginal the extra cost would not be worthwhile. I’m not looking for the ability to play loud but am looking for speaker control, dynamics, soundstage, etc., improvements that are clearly and unequivocally heard. So has anyone been done this road with these amps? If so please share your experiences
Showing 6 responses by yyzsantabarbara
@jfmusic I know the AHB2 really well. I owned that amp so many times. In both stereo and mono form. Your warm Harbeth will go nicely with the ultra-clean sound of the AHB2. Now that sound is not for everyone, but I like it. Some people find it sterile. The AHB2 monos are rated at 6 Ohm, not at 2 Ohm like the stereo AHB2. The mono AHB2 becomes quieter and louder than the stereo AHB2. Otherwise, the sound is the same. The power delivery is what is different. Sometimes the stereo is better than the monos and vica versa. It depends on your speaker. For the Harbeth, monos would be better. The AHB2 does suffer some of the same things as other stereo amps going into mono, but it is a bit more capable in this regard. You may want to ask Rory Rail at Benchmark for their reasons why they like monos (of course they sell more too). I have a speaker somewhat like your Harbeth, the Yamaha NS5000. It is also a 6 Ohm speaker. The single AHB2 drives it well, though monos will provide greater range in the volume. I did not like mono in my old 2 Ohm Thiel CS3.7, preferred the stereo AHB2. That did not have much power in stereo, so I gave up on the AHB2 for that setup. I came back to the AHB2 with the NS5000. I did a shootout with the AHB2 stereo | Sanders Magtech | CODA #16. I preferred the Sanders and #16 over the AHB2, mainly because of the greater power. The AHB2 was also a tiny bit harder on top with the Zylon drivers of the NS5000. Even though I think the NS5000 is slightly warm I think a warmer amp than the AHB2 is needed with the NS5000 for my ears, but not too warm. If you are interested, I have a 1-year-old silver AHB2 sitting idle that I can sell. I only expect to use it again in about 2 years when RAAL 1995 comes out with the replacement for the SR1a earphone. BTW - I use Audience FrontRow cables with the AHB2 and all speakers, but the Benchmark speaker cables with SpeakON termination worked well with a bright headphone I owned.
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@jfrmusic I spoke with Doug at CODA earlier this week on bridging 2 S5.5's for my Yamaha NS5000. He said like most stereo amps bridging is not the optimal way to use the S5.5. He suggested another CODA amp for my speaker. That is a heavy one so not useful for you. The Benchmark AHB2 is a bit better in regard to bridging a stereo amp. The AHB2 is unfortunately not a the very best match for my NS5000. |
@jfrmusic My friend who has an incredible ear, heard my DAC3B and he had issues with the upper mid lower treble forward using the AHB2. We liked the warmer Schitt Yggdrasil+ LIM DAC with this setup. However, when the AHB2 was switched to the warmer Class A CODA #16 we liked the BM DAC3B more. This was with the Yamaha NS5000 speaker which is a bit like the Harbeth 40.1. The AHB2 + Yggdrasil+ LIM was still not perfect with the NS5000. I think it is the drivers of the NS5000 are not the best match for the AHB2. Here is a little blurb about the ears involved in my home demo. Interestingly, we both have the BM DAC3 and use it successfully for some purposes. Here is the content of 2 emails I have from Rory Rail at Benchmark.
With the AHB2 monos you do suffer some low impedance continuous power. Say running at that impedance for 30 mins. However, your speakers do not dip down there. The distortion is not increased like in other amps doing the same thing. My old Thiel CS3.7 worked OK with the monos, but worked better with a very powerful amp like the CODA #16, Parasound A21+, CODA #8. These are better at low impedance needs. A stereo AHB2 is better than the monos with low impedence but the power tops out around 190 watts at 2 Ohms. My CODA #16 is 600 watts at 2 Ohm in comparison.
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@jfrmusic On Harbeths it will be excellent. Rory was saying that but with my harder to drive Thiel. On my old Thiels it was not as good as it could be to my ears. Saying that, the brother of the speaker designer (who posts here) uses the AHB2 monos with Thiel. |