Bryston Amp Experience Needed


I am currently running Kef R11’s (rated 15-300 watts) with an Emotiva XPA-2 Gen 3 amp (300wpc).

I am looking to upgrade to a Bryston from the used market.

I can get a 3B3 (200wpc) for around 3K (which is my budget), or I can not eat for a few months and get a 4B3 (300wpc) for around 4K.

Since I am used to the 300wpc on the Emotiva - am I going to notice a huge difference with a drop to 200wpc with the 3B3?

I do like to crank up the volume from time to time, but I generally listen at low to medium volumes.  I also mostly listen to modern metal/rock/synth-pop/r&b/hip-hop, and a lot of Tori Amos.....

Thx !!
drhelzer

Showing 1 response by hshifi

Hello, 
I think your Emotiva amp is H-class and the Bryston is A/B or an exceptional D. I tried the Emotiva and went back to the A/B. We had a discussion about power a few days ago. If your speakers are somewhat efficient You would be more than fine with the 200W. I am using a 100W Marsh Sound Design and it blows away the Emotiva you have sonically. Plus if I were to turn it way up I would go deaf with my 100W. There can be an issue if you cannot utilize the power it does not sound as good as a lower wattage amp. If I were pushing Thiel speakers or a low sensitive speaker I would take the higher wattage. You could spend that $1000 on something else like a better DAC or cartridge. I wish you could test both so you could hear the difference.