I was offered a Bryston 3BSST demo and took it home. It sounded good, so I talked to some guy at the factory, quizzed him for an hour, and it turned out he was the president! I bought the demo and ordered a 4BSST as well, to biamp a magnepan system, then a hybrid ESL system.
Eventually did upgrade, but was always satisfied with the musicality. And there is value behind that 20 year warranty: they are hard to kill. Once I was moving an aluminum chassis around while I was playing music, and it shorted the terminals on the 4B. Arc welding. Huge spark. 4B shut right down, and I thought, "Wonder how much the banks of output transistors cost? Idiocy is not under warranty."
But, before I send it off for repair, I let it cool for 30 minutes and powered it up - no damage. I tested it harder - no damage. If robust matters to you, Bryston is a good choice.
Eventually did upgrade, but was always satisfied with the musicality. And there is value behind that 20 year warranty: they are hard to kill. Once I was moving an aluminum chassis around while I was playing music, and it shorted the terminals on the 4B. Arc welding. Huge spark. 4B shut right down, and I thought, "Wonder how much the banks of output transistors cost? Idiocy is not under warranty."
But, before I send it off for repair, I let it cool for 30 minutes and powered it up - no damage. I tested it harder - no damage. If robust matters to you, Bryston is a good choice.