PS Audio M700s or older Bryston 4bsst / 4bsst2 ?

@jbuhl yeah you're right.  Just gotta find the right deal so I don't get hit too hard on the resell.

I have the s300 and think its a great amp.  Only one way to find out.  Buy a Bryston and compare head to head.  Then sell the loser.  I did this with a pair of Quad speakers.  Bought them used and compared head to head with my Focals.  Ended up keeping the Focals and selling the Quads but totally enjoyed listening to the Quads and it was well worth the few hundred bucks it cost me to roll them through my system.

Looks like no one has really dealt with both of these amps and can speak to it.  

I'm really trying to find the best amp for my Wilson Watt Puppy 5.1s.. 

It's unusual that you would find a different post of mine and stick it into this one. I never used the SLI80 as a preamp. It was just a curious question if it would work with no power tubes. I compared the Belles to the PSA with a real preamp (Belles VT-01) and it was just as I said. The PS audio amps had more dynamics and detail.

((((Can I remove the power tubes from my SLI 80 and use the “subwoofer out” jacks to send the signal to my amp. That way I could have a remote-controlled preamp. koestner)))
Koestner,The Pre amp is way more important in driving amps I would suggest you get a real preamp with decent matching Gain ARC, Belles ETC. The Belles amps you listened to will wake up and should then easily convince you of their abilities and superb performance. Best JohnnyR

There must be someone you can borrow an amp from. I recently compared the Belles MB200 monoblocks to the PS M700 monoblocks and found the M700' to be superior in everything but giving off heat. I liked the Belles, but the PS had more dynamics and details.

When they start leaking and/or the SQ squares off. Distortion.

How exactly do you know when they'll need to be recapped?  

I think it really depends on the vintage of the Brystons but rest assured that at sometime either sooner or later they will need recapped and that will be quite expensive.