Sweet treble and midrange

Deep bass.

This is one amp that can compete with the big ones. A great sound for efficient speakers in a medium to small sized room. Audiophile sound on a budget. Thanks to the folks at Bryston for all their helpful e-mails.

Similar Products Used:

NAD, Rotel

Great build quality.

I own this amp for about a year. I bought it used for $450. This little amp produces real clean sound. The bass is tight and well controlled. I use this amp with the Bryston preamp .5b and the combination is is hard to beat for the money. I bought the preamp used also for $270. The great thing about Bryston is that it produces great sounding equipment along with a 20 transferable warranty.

Exceptional durability, excellent customer service

None so far...

I recently saw a used 2Bst in a pawn shop. It looked okay on the outside, but looking through the top vents, I couldn't see the power transistors or any componentry. All there was was a mass of gummy looking lint, ashes, and metal filings. I haggled the price down to $120cdn without so much as powering it up (I didn't want to with all the metal floating around inside).
Once home, I removed the cards, and discovered the contamination was so severe, even high pressure air only dislodged surface goo - the rest stayed put. I got a brush and some cleaning solution and went to work.
After much scrubbing, I was able to reveal all the components, and verified that none looked blown. With tweezers, I removed the remaining aluminum filings from inside, many of which were shorting components.
After a quick rinse, I dried the boards in my oven (pilot light only!),
and got ready to test...
The results? Both channels work just fine, both audibly and on 'scope.
I swept with 20-20k, and the only variance I saw was probably in my test equipment.
I suspect the amp was from a night club, probably for DJ booth monitors. Over years of abuse, a constant rain of beer and ashes and goo coated the boards. This actually acted as an insulator for the aluminum slivers I found throughout. As I received it, the amp was
ready to immolate itself... and now it works 100%! Amazing. It will
now have a safe home as the main amp in my home studio, driving
Soundcraft Absolute Zeros and JBL Control 1c's. And the sound... it's replacing an Ashley SRA-120, and the increase in clarity is astounding.
I'm convinced! Also, Bryston's support when I called with questions was great. They are checking warranty status, and sending a service manual. Kudos to Bryston for great quality in manufacture and service.

Similar Products Used:

Ashley SRA-120

Transparent, open and airy, warm -almost tube-like

Maybe a liitle more power for control. Maybe!

Several months ago I wrote a review under both the Bryston B60 and their 3B amplifier. The proof that I was won over was the fact that I put my electronics up for sale. Once sold I headed down to Bryston dealer to confirm my decision and place an order.

Before ordering a B60 and a 3B I gave a listen to their pre-amp driving a 3B and compared it to my intended combo. A little better but, mainly different. Finally, I tried one last combination: The Bryston pre-amp. feeding a 3B for the woofer/mid-range and the power section (basically a 2B) of the B60 to drive the tweeters. WOW! Even the store owner did a double take.

MAGICAL. The best of all worlds. The focus, dynamics and openness that a quality pre-amp provides, the sweet, airy sound of the B60/(2B) from the tweeters and the control, detail and quickness of the 3B for the rest. The stores B&W 802s sounded better than I have ever heard. They came to life and sang like never before. It just felt right. The music was dynamic, controlled, detailed and a focused and holographic soundstage was produced. And, just as important given their past reputation, no matter how loud we set the volume AT NO TIME DID IT GET HARSH.

I ordered a BP 25P with a 2B (the second Bryston amp will come when finances allow).

In regards to the 2B, they seem to be giving the tweeters and overall sound a sweet and airy sound -almost tube-like. When I have had the wiring to run the 2B solo (i.e. driving the total speaker), I'm almost even more amazed at its qualities. Very open/transparent and decent base control of my LINN Isobarkic Sara9s.

A word on Bryston service. In trying to compare the sound of the LINN Powertek and BRYSTON 2B, I blew-up my new 2B. I delivered it to UPS at 18:45 on a Monday evening and by Wednesday at 10:45 UPS were knocking on my door with a working 2B. A 41 hour turn-around time. I had read about BRYSTON service -now I can testify!

Although I had been planning on adding a 3B or 4B to drive the woofer/mid-range, lately I have been reading more and more comments on the benefits of not going beyond a single pair of output transistors per channel. Could be one of the key reasons why the 2B sounds so very musical. I may end-up with a second 2B instead of a 3 or 4B. Anyone have any thoughts and/or experiences?

Similar Products Used:

LINN, Naim & Rotel

Tight fast bass, musical yet detailed, small size.

None for the price I paid, In a perfect world it could be a bit airier on the top end.

This little amp drives my audioresearch bookshelf speakers with ease, taking control of the drivers throughout the frequency range. It's a very nice amp and for the used price on the internet it simply cannot be beat. My unit is almost 10 years old but it's got 10 years left on the warranty so I am assured good sound from it until I am 30+. A very nice amp, highly recommended.

Similar Products Used:

Harmon kardon, B&K

I ave been meaning to review several items in my system for a while and since I woke up early here goes. I bought the Bryston 2B-LP to use in a biamp configuration with it's cousin, the Bryston B-60 integrated amp. They run my Legacy Classics with the interconnects and cables by being MIT Terminator 2. I find this amp to be a solid contender in this price range. I have run solo using the B-60 as just a preamp to get a sense of what it can do and in both instances I am quite pleased. The 2b-LP has extended highs, smooth mids and excellent bass punch for it's size and relatively inexpensive $850 price tag. Bass punch is important because the Classics move a good amt. of air and get down into the 20's. If you are not going to go all out and don't need a ton of power this amp should suit you just fine. Plus the infamous 20 year warranty. In absolute terms I give this amp four stars but for the price I would raise it 1/2 star.

I have listened to a pair of 2B-LP's for the past ten years with a great deal of satisfaction. Used a Line Drive preamp and ran into a pair of Mission Argonauts, a 4 ohm speaker with a very high level of sensitivity. I ran both amps bridged, against Bryston's suggestion. Blew myself away for ten happy years before recently upgrading. While the 2B-LP is a great little amp that is smooth and open across the spectrum, there was an immediate increase in sound detail and depth when I moved up to my McIntosh MC300. However, for a smaller listening area with highly dynamic speakers I do not believe you can go wrong with 2B-LP. In ten years I never had a squawk out of them (even when running with the LED's showing red flashes). Would agree with the 4.5 stars in a previous review.

I have listened to a 2B-LP for the past ten years. Used to drive a pair of Rega/camber 3.5 at the beginning, and a pair of Mission Argonauts 780 (4 ohm speaker) later, i continue to feel that this amp was a great buy. I have compared it with few amps (like classe, celeste, audiolab) and this amp continue to be competive. 3 years ago, i returned my amp to BRYSTON for a complete checkup. For a small amount of $25, they certify me that this amp continue to perform like a brand new, even after 10 years. Sweet treble,good bass, transparent, neutral and detailed mid, my bryston little amp is not yet to be replaced. My cd player (kinergetics kcd-40) or my speakers (Mission Argonaut) will move before...

There seems to be a run on users here like myself that have been using the 2B "Pro" for over 10 happy years. I have been using this amp in tandem with the Bryston .5B preamp feeding PSB Project B2's. I first auditioned the system in 81. I can still remember Steely Dan's "Gaucho" album -it sounded sooo good. I was impressed by the realism, smoothness and linearity. Very real and balanced.This is a punchy little amp that will fill the average living room or apartment with Full spectrum sound. Boys and Girls, this sounds like a really expensive amp.

It does not have the power to run big woofs or run mid range definition with ultra hi fi amps you may pair up to your mint Quad ESL's. Hook this up with a relatively sensitive speaker and it will earn your respect in hi fidelity and dependability.

I have to rate this product as 4 stars, and follow others with one half star for the stellar factory warranty and service. I have never had difficulty with a Bryston product, but after 19 1/2 years of faithfull service wouldn't you send her back to the factory for a free (less Freight) check-up just to be sure?
I listen to jazz , blues, rock, classical and have found this amp to be a versatile performer...with a 20 year guarantee. Is there no end in sight?

I just bought a 2B-LP used, sound unheard, for $400. I dropped it into a rig to temporarily replace a Counterpoint NPS 100 which is being upgraded. Rig: Counterpoint SA3000 preamp modified, EAD ultradisc 2000 CD, Kimber select interconnects and double run 8TC speaker wire, ESP power distributor, Morel Acoustics speakers, and REL Storm sub.


I am mightily impressed with this amplifier, especially after a good warmup period. I have not succeeded in driving this amp to clipping, despite the relatively modest power rating. Don't need more power in my 12x15 room. The control the amp has on these fast Morel drivers is excellent. I bet it's tighter than my Counterpoint.



The only way it loses out to the tube/ss hybrid is in realism and dimensionality, and sweetness in the treble. However, the Bryston is pretty damn good. And for $400, I am amazed (as opposed to the $3200 I will have sunk, all told, into the Counterpoint).



No way you can do better than the 2-B at a used price of $400. An Acurus A-200, at $1000, that I listened to is not as good. So even for the retail $850 the Bryston is better, despite the discrepancy in power rating. The Acurus is just too hi-fi sounding. 4.5 stars for the 2B-LP.