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 photomax

I moved into a new house which features one large multi use space. Has tall wooden sloped ceilings. 
I brought my loved Rega Elex-R and Rega Rs7 floor standing speakers. My source was a SONOS Connect but I upgraded that to the new SONOS Port. The new living space sounded not so great. I swapped the Rega kit for new Spendor D9 speakers, a Pass Labs XP-20 preamp and a Bryston 250 watt 4BSST-2 power amp. I dumped the SONOS Port and added a Linn Majik DSM streamer as my source. I also have a great Rega turntable station.

Playing favorite records at thumping volumes sounds great. Some digital still sounds too cold however. I talked with a bunch of people and the advice I got generally is that the Bryston is not the best match here at the 40-70 dbls I often listen to? If I crank the volume the Bryston totally delivers, big time! On some recordings at lower volumes I am not as happy. 
My plan is buy a Pass Labs amp and see how it performs at different volumes with different sources. I am told this will be a better match for me than the Bryston? 
Wish I had already done this A/B test and had real findings to report for you. I hope to get this done in the next couple of weeks...