Very quiet amp. Neutral sound. Much higher wattage than rated. Great warranty.

None.

I bought the 3B-ST amp after auditioning about one dozen potential candidates. Let me start by saying that this amp is incredibly quiet. When I first hooked it up I thought the speakers weren't working because I wasn't hearing the typical static on the line when running no audio! The amp was tested against all the major players in this price range including: Adcom, NAD Silver, Classe, Audio Research, Krell, etc. I found this amp to be an exceptional performer. It was the only amp to not "add" anything to the end result. I attribute this largely to its incredibly quiet design. Additionally, I run this amp with Martin Logan SL3's which are not known for their great bass, that is until you hook up the Bryston. This amp delivers extremely powerful and quick bass into the 4 ohm load of the ML's without whimpering and dimming my lights like the other amps did. The bass is not the only thing going for it. The entire audio range is represented clearly and NEUTRAL. I don't know why people consider an amp that adds 'warmth' (aka: noise) a Good Thing. If you need your amp to add distortion to your signal to make it sound better you need to either get a better player or get a better recording.

Other factors that weighed in on my decision include the fact that many recording studios use Bryston equipment themselves. Logically it would follow that albums mixed using a particular manufacturer's equipment probably sound best being played back on it too.

Also the Bryston amp is much more powerful than stated in the specs. The 120WPC rating is closer to 150WPC. Bryston is also nice enough to include the QA test measurements for your actual amp. After their extensive 100 hour burn-in you can actually read the final measurements for your amp (actual wattage, noise levels, etc.). I found this to be a nice touch over the typical equipment vendor that gives you a black box that you hope is within spec.

Also I was looking to spend considerably more for the other amps on the market and I almost skipped looking at the Bryston. The brainwashing of the magazines that "more is better" is simply not true with this amp. I would put Bryston equipment up against any other vendor at any price range.

Finally, the staff at Bryston were very helpful. Besides taking almost an hour talking to me about their products and answering my questions, they also gave me frank advice about many of the "tweaks" on the market from cables, to vibration isolation ("Don't waste your time.") They were incredibly helpful and had a confident attitude about their products (as well they should given its excellent performance).

I liked this amp so much that when it came time to buy a pre-amp I tested they Bryston BP-20 along with about six other contenders. It should come as no surprise that I ended up buying the Bryston pre-amp too (which is also incredibly quiet).

I have no problem recommending this product to anyone I know. I would certainly buy another.

Equipment:

Speakers: Martin Logan SL3
Amp: Bryston 3B-ST
Pre-Amp: Bryston BP-20
CD Player: California Audio Labs CL-5
Interconnects: DIY Canare cable with Neutrik RCA
Speaker Cable: Generic solid core 12 gauge bi-wire.
Tweaks: I don't practice VooDoo.

Similar Products Used:

Adcom, Classe, Audio Research, Krell, NAD, Linn

This is the perfect amp. I have a thing about amps and I've owned many of them over the years, and have listened to many more during stints as an audio salesman etc. Most amps a.) break (can you say "tubes"? FFZZZZZZTTT!! Poof! AUGH!), b.) are noisy, or c.) are fussy, non-linear, limp-wristed, soft, thin, grainy, flat, or otherwise don't do everything they're supposed to do consistently. Either that, or they aren't reliable. I even had a British amp with one single control on it--the on-off switch--that broke. Sheesh! It sounded good; you just had to unplug it to turn it off.
Anyway the Bryston 3B ST is my idea of what a power amp should be. Not too powerful (I've never heard a superamp I really liked the sound of--just the big Krells, which you'd have to say have no sound and which are total overkill in terms of cost-efficiency. In fact I tend to like sub-100-wpc amps best, and get very suspicious of amps with higher power ratings). It's light, reliable, powerful, great-sounding, and takes control of a wide range of speakers with imperturbable authority. You can move it around easily, and--hey! what a great idea!--the people that make it _guarantee_ it. Not like my Ultimate White Elephant Melos Pure High-Current PieceOCrap whose scoundrelly makers no sooner sold it to me than they forsook it like Judas denying Christ.

Best of all, the 3B ST is _super quiet_. I just hate any component--especially an amp--that adds spurious noise, either electrical (i.e., emanating from the speakers) or physical (i.e., emanating from the device). I remember audtioning a power conditioner that sat over in the corner and _buzzed_. Criminy! At every silent passage in the music, my head swivelled towards the corner and my attention locked on the buzzing transformer in the power conditioner. I should pay money for that? No need; there are plenty of annoying noises in the world already, at both the meta- and the micro-levels. I also remember an early experience with a high-end amp that buzzed like a bloody bee. I mean, this thing was _fierce_. When I mentioned it, the tweak salesman whipped out a dB meter and _measured_ the buzz at one meter, proclaiming it "not too bad." Hmm, well, I would say that would depend on whether you're a _hopeless flaming masochist_. What are you supposed to do, put it out in the garage? The 3B ST by contrast just sits there (in the same room, even) and does its fine work. No buzzing, no humming, not a whisper. Ahhhh.

I've heard amps that "sound better" (the Pass Aleph Nulls, for one). I've heard amps that have more power, in case you're the type who likes to pretend that things are difficult for amps by choosing evil-to-drive speakers (the Krell Audio Standard, for one, which required dedicated 40-amp circuits _for_each_channel_. Not while there are starving children in the world, or anyway not prior to my planned win of Lotto). Get, and be, real. Get a decent pair of speakers that offer good efficiency. If you like tubes, get a tube preamp--the audio bolsheviks notwithstanding, tubes don't have any business in a device meant to drive modern dynamic multi-driver speakers of nowadays-average efficiency. If, on the other hand, you want an amp that will drive most speakers with a minimum of muss and fuss and a maximum of musicality for the bucks, get a Bryston 3B ST and chill for the duration. You not only won't be sorry, you'll continue not being sorry for a long time--and how many audio components that you've ever owned can you honestly say that about?? C'mon, stop lying--how many _really_?

Please note that I don't own this amp, so these five stars are not just there to validate my own purchase decision (it hurts my arm to pat myself on the back anyway). This is written out of flat-backed slack-jawed objective admiration. This really *is* a superior audio product in every single way that counts, in my opinion.

My amp is a 1986 Bryston 3B pro model. Due to the XLR outputs.
was originally appalled to find out the amp didn't work with normally configured XLR to RCA cables. After we rewired the cables everything was fine. pin 3 is the output vs. 2 on a normal setup. My old Dynaco still hangs with this amp (it's heavily modded) but it's got some weird buzzing going on with it and my old haffler is pretty hard to listen to.
This was a great deal because the owner went to powered moniters. Tho it's 15 yrs old it still have close to 5 yrs left on the transferrable warranty. CAN YOU DIG IT?! got to be one of if not the best warranties. The Bryston guy i got hold of said it's two generations old but very similar to the new stuff which is close to $2K. I would have been disapointed at that price pt but i'm tickled pink at my price point. The Green LED array is certainly unique. The caps in this thing take several minutes to discharge when you turn it off. For a non tube amp i think it kicks ass.
Smooth and deep bass. 3D soundstage par none.

Can be harsh sounding with weak recordings. Better recordings bring out the best.

Well it's far from perfect. But for my money i can't see anything out there to compete with it. When i get my tube amp fixed it'll be interesting comparing things. I'd probably sell my Tube amp but my Dad built it and i'm going to hold onto it.

Similar Products Used:

Adcom

Great Canadian Craftsmenship, structurally sound and built.

Non seen

Great sound and clarity coming from this amp. Very powerful to say the least. Green lights turn yellow then red, to tell that the speakers are on the verge of clipping. No fans needed, has heatsink body and fins on the side of the body of the amp to distribute heat evenly. Bridgeable and has exceelent power to spare. I have Cerwin Vega LS15 speakers hooked up to this amp and it is like adding a porsche to your home audio sound system. I recommend that you use 12 gauge speaker cable when hooking the components up, helps alot for overloads and power delivery to the speakers being used. The most noticeable thing to this amp is it's 20 year warrenty, and I can guarentee that you will never have this amp breakdown on you at any time. i personally have used mine in DJ applications and it performed great.

Similar Products Used:

Amcron, EV Amplifiers

Build quality, customer service, price, measured favorably against the best in the industry and sound simply fantastic!

None that I am aware of

I am starting to suspect that those Canadians have discovered a secret, unknown to the rest of us in the "free world" about how to make quality products reasonably priced. Or, is it that they have not been inflicted by the "scientific" marketing of other products the journals in the audio industry.

Be it as it may, the 3B ST illustrated to me how important amplifiers could be with quality speakers. I use PSB Stratus Silver i. While with my previous amplifier/pre-amp the sound was decent, detailed, but not exciting, with an average bass, something very interesting has happened with the Bryston paired with Morrison pre-amp.

The same speakers have much more detailed and immediacy of sound. The bass is full and highly pronounced with mid and high crystal clear. I listen primarily to Jazz and Classical. The Bryston/Morrison bring to the fore the music and at times it is strange to hear things I have never been aware of in the recording. Live recording in Jazz clubs sound as if they take place in the listening room.

Classical music: While with another amp/pre-amp strings are not well defined and the orchestra sounds a bit far from the microphones, with Bryston/Morrison, there is a sense of removing the blinds from the windows and seeing reality as it really is. When the recording is mediocre, you will know it all too well. But, when the recording is fine, you are in for a treat.

Pay attention, committed listener: in this review I am not using any audio terminology, loved so much by those "cool" audiophiles who seem to hear things even the delicate of all measurements cannot identify.

Going to back to where we started, the Canadians have indeed discovered that each sale does not have to bankcrupt the customer, but rather encourage him/her to upgrade in the foreseable future, all that while enjoying a very high quality sound from well designed and well produced products.

Similar Products Used:

None.

I have a 3B NRB matched up with Bryston's BP-20 Pre Amp. Wow baby! Talk about reaching out and pulling me into the music! I've sweetened the upper frequencies just a bit but lost nothing in detail with Cardas Cross Cable connecting the two. Try this on a CD player too and you'll have goosebumps!! Now that ST series are out, if money is tight and you can't afford one, grab an NRB. You won't be sorry!!!

The best amplifer I have heard hands down at $1500! This amp pushes theenvelope, it is open, dynamic, highly musical, and most of all it revealed
suttle details of a recording like not many oters I have heard, this amp
DEFINES vale.

March 13,1998
Dear reader,

I would like to ask for your opinion if bryston 3B-st is suitable
enough already to drive my vandersteen 2ce. Im deciding to buy either
4b or 3b.

I purchased a 3-B used, for $700. It is probably an older model, not the ST I don't think. But it beat easily other amps anywhere near the price range, that I have occasionally auditioned both before and after the 3B purchase. It's not too forcing, just very natural and easy to listen to: just that quality that manifests itself as a lack of artificialness and wins you over. It teams up very well with my AR SP-9 (which HAS to have those Russian tubes, of course). Highly recommended.

I purchased the 3B-ST this weekend and can't stop listening! In its price range, it is by far the best sounding amp out there. The soudstage is much wider than that of others at this price. The bass control is superior, as is the control of female voices that seem "shrill" on other amps. Additionally, the output seems far more powerful that the 120 wpc. My Bryston replaces a 10 year old Carver M1.0t that was 200 wpc and the 3B-ST appears much more "powerful." I purchased the amp with a new cd player, the Denon DCD-1650. Together they are superb.