Bryston - Stereo or Monoblock

Hi @wegenert. The Jeff Beck album was one of his latest albums and I was streaming it. I didn’t have a device to measure the sound pressure. But it was LOUD. Like if I had a neighbor in and adjoining room they would have complained. If my wife was there she would have complained and left. If I had opened the window you could have heard it down the street. Not way down the street. But it was loud. Now I hardly listen to music that loud. But I expect that my amps will never go into thermoprotection. It also demonstrated to me the lack of headroom and therefore the lack of power for transient dynamics that the Vidar had for MY system. Since switching to Bryston I have had zero issues. I agree that you don’t need the 28B3 monoblocks I have. But I happened onto them and got so good a deal, I couldn’t pass them up. They are end game for me IMO. Most folks will be pleased with a 4B3 run in stereo. But the great thing about the 4B3 is that they can easily be run in bridge mode and run as “monoblocks”. You can get one and try it. If you want and find another at a good price you can get a second. That is what I did after the Vidars. I hope that helped. 

I am running the Magnepan LRS with a Bryston 4BSST and it runs HOT with those speakers, I mean not that it can't take it, but still.  Anyway I also have the 7BSST2 and would highly recommend those amps.  If you have bigger $$ there are a pair of 1 year old 7B3 on here for mid 6k.  Anyway as to which of those two sound better supposedly the cubed is a little warmer than the squared.  As for monoblocks and subwoofers, I would say absolutely.  I have REL T5s that have used with the LRS and they add a lot and the monoblock hookup with REL is a big plus.  The mags were developed on monoblocks.  Bryston recommends shorter speaker wires than interconnects which of course pretty much demands monoblocks.  The 7BSST2 sounds better than the 4BSST as one would expect and they drive my Infinity Kappa 8s with ease.  Haven't hooked them up to the LRS though.  Sound good with the 4B the bass is actually pretty good on that amp but yeah get the 7B3 probably if you have the $$ and want that long warranty.

Generally speaking, most monoblocs have more capacitors, and therefore more ability to carry demanding speakers, ie maggies., when under heavier loads. 

My question is directed to Kingbarbuda. When you say you were listening to Jeff  Beck loud could you be more specific? 90db, 100db? I was trying to get a feel as to how loud I listen to my rig.

Thanks

Terry

I agree, monoblocks, IF

easy/remote power on/off?

remote balance control somewhere

not only locate close to speakers, there is an advantage lifting/moving/placing them individually if heavy, and, if tubes, separates the heat hither and thither.

Bryston 7b3 is sufficient, no need for 28b3 mucho expensivo $$$

There are the new Rotel Michi stero amp and monoblocks which are cheaper a bit

Then there is my favorite amp manufacturer CODA, but I am biased as I own the No. 8

There is a recent CODA thread here somewhere on the No. 16 which is the newest model, if you like what you read, ask your local dealer to audition a version 3

@mvrooman1526 I went down the road you are on and I am in a good position to advise. I started out with a pair of Magnepan 1.7i with a pair of Vidar Monoblocks. I quickly moved away from the Vidars when my left monoblock went into thermal shutdown when playing Jeff Beck loud. I don’t often play music that loud. But it just goes to show the limitation of headroom they have. I think if you played piano jazz at low to moderate volumes all the time it wouldn’t be noticeable. However, that gave me the impetus to upgrade. So I got a pair of Bryston 4B3s and I can tell you that most everyone will be happy with 4B3 Monoblocks. But I also recommend a few other upgrades to the 1.7i which are a phenomenal bargain for the price. But with help they are superb. 1. Get the Mike Powell silver upgrade to upgrade the stock steel plate jumper and fuse. 2. Get a pair of MyeStands from Grant VanderMye. These two things will tighten up the sound and provide tighter bass and treble. In the interim, I got an opportunity to upgrade from the Bryston 4B3s to a pair of the Bryston 28B3 Monoblocks. That is endgame for me. Very fast with lots of headroom. Not really necessary. But Maggies do well with more power. The most impactful upgrade of all I made recently is to add a pair of REL T/9i subwoofers to the system. Wow. A transformative experience. Maggie’s transmit nice bass I. The frequencies that it can handle. The problem is they can’t handle very low frequencies and sub bass. Plus there is no oomph or air pressure. No slam. The RELs are THE solution. With the RELs in the system the setup is addictive. I hope this helps. Good luck. 

Bryston - Stereo or Monoblock
To monoblock or not to monoblock.....that is the question.

If they are basically the same topology.
If the stereo has two transformers stay with it, if it has one transformer and shares one secondary winding for both channels, then the two monoblocks "could" sound better.
If the stereo has one transformer but two separate secondary winding’s, then it "could" be as good as the monoblocks

BTW just in case, do not bridge stereo amps, you end up making what was a good stereo amp into a mediocre higher wattage amp, that has many flaws compared to the stereo amp.

Cheers George

The best part of monoblocks is that you run short speaker cables.
If supported, use Balanced interconnects between pre and amp.
Then use as short a speaker cable (under 6 feet) as possible.
That way you minimize cable artifacts that affect sound reproduction.
And, considering that you are using Maggy's, I would think about adding subwoofers.
I have heard good things about Vandersteen subs and Maggy's, as well as Audiokinesis subs.
Nothing like taking all that power demanding base notes and handing them off to a powered sub.
Bob

if you have the room, get the mono blocks and never look back.