Finally took the Bryston 4B Cubed plunge


Back in January, I solicited folks on the forum for input on the Bryston 4B cubed amp. I was kicking around the idea of replacing my Parasound A21 amp. After dealing with poor health for the past few months, I finally did it! My take on the Bryston is: it's a keeper. It is a better sounding amp than my A21, but by only a very small margin. The Bryston gives the feel of being in a concert hall. An extremely full sounding amp with great detail and there's more emphasis on instrument placement than I've experienced before. The bass doesn't suffer at all either, very tight and clear. In comparison only to the two amps I'm discussing, if the Bryston were a "10", the Parasound would be a close "9". If I were to improve on my system (God forbid, I already have $35K into it), the 4B cubed would definitely be driving it. A premium solid state amp. 
To all the the forum members that were willing to guide me with their opinions, I give a heartfelt thanks. My previous posts (inquiries) were met with sincerity and am grateful that none of the discussion went off the rails. A few members contacted me personally, some I couldn't respond to. I didn't try to ignore anyone, there's simply a downside to old age and a weak heart.
professorsvsu

Showing 2 responses by auxinput

So you still have the Parasound A21?  Interesting.  One of the things I have recently found is that Parasound fuses the crap out of their amps.  The A21 has a main 15A on the outside and four 8A fuses internally (after the transformer).  They are all larger 6x32 size fuses.  Putting in Furutech fuses made a significant difference in the fullness and resolution of the sound.  I don't know that you want to try this experiment, as it's a $325 experiment, but it would be interesting to see how the Parasound circuit stands up without stock fuses getting in the way.  The Bryston amps typically don't use fuses at all - they like circuit breakers.
@xcool - I have found that the Parasound amps are not necessarily bass monsters.  In fact, you need a really good high current low resistance power cord to improve the bass on JC1 monoblocks!

That being said, the Bryston are not bass monsters either, especially on a faster high resolution preamp such as Parasound JC2.  If you had a warm/slow preamp, the Bryston would probably be a better match.  The Bryston's are very fast responding amps and need a warm full sounding preamp, such as a Marantz or maybe even McIntosh type warmth.

I'm not sure what to recommend to you for strong bass.  Maybe a Pass Labs X250.8 would be good, but I don't know how they are on bass.  Maybe others can chime in with recommendations.