After auditioning the bryston 4b SST in my system (Adcom "temporary" CD player GCD-700, Rowland Consonance Preamp, Transparent musiclink super ICs (SE) and speaker cables, Signal Audio "new model" balanced ICs, Martin-Logan SL3s, Velodyne ULD-15 series II sub) I found I preferred the Classe CAM-200 monoblocks, much to my surprise. You don't have to scroll up very far to find me saying I don't like Classe. Someone made me a great deal on the monoblocks used, good enough that if I needed to I could re-sell them and roll into a 4b SST or something else-- to shorten the story, the Classe design really excels at letting detail come through, and has plenty of slam. The fully balanced amplifier circuitry was a good match for my preamp, and the noise level just dropped to nothing. The Bryston was good in this regard, but not as good.
The Bryston sounded good, but more "abrupt"- attacks were too "in your face"-- to the point of being unnatural (yes, the amp was broken in well, a floor piece is what I demoed)-- acoustic guitar strings were plucked too hard- like they were miked too close or something. Not sure if this is describing it well- this is why I don't write for a stereo rag.
The Classe's midrange was more natural, and whereas both amps imaged well, the Bryston's presentation was too forward, a bit shallow, and a bit narrow. The Classe seems to allow the soundstage to extend outside the speakers, with excellent depth. With the right other components, the Bryston might be outstanding, but with the rest of my stuff it was just too pushy. Some of this may well be interaction between the Rowland and the Classe vs. the Bryston.
The Bryston sounded good, but more "abrupt"- attacks were too "in your face"-- to the point of being unnatural (yes, the amp was broken in well, a floor piece is what I demoed)-- acoustic guitar strings were plucked too hard- like they were miked too close or something. Not sure if this is describing it well- this is why I don't write for a stereo rag.
The Classe's midrange was more natural, and whereas both amps imaged well, the Bryston's presentation was too forward, a bit shallow, and a bit narrow. The Classe seems to allow the soundstage to extend outside the speakers, with excellent depth. With the right other components, the Bryston might be outstanding, but with the rest of my stuff it was just too pushy. Some of this may well be interaction between the Rowland and the Classe vs. the Bryston.