Absolutely astounding value. I actually preferred it to Krell FPB 200.

I have listened to just about every combination of pre/power on the market and I can honestly say that the Bryston equipment is AMAZING! Clean,musical,built extremely well,20 year warranty- and works very well with many different speakers,more than what I can say for others-- KILLER on Vandersteens. BUILT TO LAST!

My review below.

Great Amp. I listened to this amp and compared it directly to the Bryston4B st. I THINK I prefered the 3b over the 4b because it sounded more musical
and Airy with good bass and smooth highs. I must say though that im not 100%
sure if it realy sounds better than the 4b because I need to compare the amps with My own music and not the salesman's music which I wasnt so familiar with.
Anyway the 4b sounds good with a louder and deeper low than the 3b. I own an Aragon 8008BB (200 watt,dual mono amp.) And it was hard for me to tell which
amp I liked more because I was listening to the 3b with energy speakers and not Tannoy speakers which I have at home.The sound was Clear, Mids were EXCELENT,and bass was tight and well controled. The Aragon I believe, has a better sound in the high's which sounded smoother and clearer allso with a deeper bass ( killer bass) on the other hand I think the bryston sounded GREAT in the Mids where im not sure if the aragon does as good? Great amplifier and built like a tank. I think its a little expencive considering the fact that it was only 120 watts and there are many amps who give more for this price, like the Acurus for example which is also an excelent amp. Sound was excelent overall and I love this amp. 5 for sound 4 for price.

After having read all the great review about this amp, I just have to try it out myself. First out of the box, the first impression of the sound was its richness (I had it drive a pair of NHT SuperOne). The bass extension was also very dynamic and deep, not to mention the beautiful highs and warm mids I heard. But, its the first time that I heard this quality of bass coming from the SuperOnes (had them for about 6 months, powered by Linn Majik integrated amp). Compared to the Linn, the sound is definitely music to my ears (athough the Linn is not to far away in its performance).
Conclusion ? I love it. I will be using it to drive a pair of Hales Revelation 3 (just bought a pair and waiting for their burn in to complete - yes I'm a firm believer in burn ins). Will feedback later on its compatibility with the speakers.

Hmmm! I loved this amp (Bryston 3B-ST). I just bought in Audio market (used). I owned a Bryston 4B NRB but compared with 3B-ST and I liked 3B-ST better (tighterbass and cleaner treble) run with B&W 801 S3 and preamp Threshold T3. I highly recommended for who are looking for solid state amp . Five stars easy.

I do not intend to be polemic, but for those who make big claims on power amplifiers such as the BRYSTON 3B and the ARAGON 8008, as well as for those who want to purchase a new multichannel power amplifier, my advise is short and simple: "Do not make any claims, and DO NOT purchase any multichannel power amplifier, until you have tried the CITATION 7.1 power amplifier (150W x 4 channel, 500W x 2 ch., bridged)".
Granted, CITATION dealers are scarce (CITATION brand is manufactured by MADRIGAL
AUDIO LABORATORIES), ads and reviews on CITATION equipment are rare, and the CITATION 7.1 is not unexpensive ($2,850), but this is a monster (MONSTER!) piece of equipment in any regard: definition, power, finesse, built quality, beauty, etc.(let aside weight: nearly 80 pounds). We are talking KRELL-league here! We are talking nearly orgasmic experience here! (bridge one CITATION 7.1, hook it
up to your power-hungry speakers and you´ll see what power and control is!!!).

My humble advise: Give CITATION 7.1 4-channel power amplifier a try (for both Home Theater & Music). Your bases are not covered until you have listened to this magnificent piece of equipment.

José Vicente Gomez

I've had this amp for about a month now and I'm very happy with it. Here are some points:
Good:

1) Very good power rating. Lots of dynamic headroom, lots of damping, lots of slew rate. I'm driving a pair of NHT 2.5i's and the speakers threaten to
fall appart and I've haven't seen the yellow clipping threshold color on the LED's.

2) Very low noise and distortion. Of course, considering that my speakers are pumping out about 5-10% THD at reasonable levels means that the only distortion that I could possibly hear is maybe some 3rd order at relatively low volume. But it makes me feel good that I think the amp is squeaky clean.

3) This thing won't break. Its used by professionals everywhere and even if it does, it guaranteed for 20 years!


Bad:

1) There was an initial problem with AC hum, especially after I got a new A/V amp (Yamaha DSP-A1!!!!! yahoo!!) and hooked it up. The solution was to lift the chassis ground off the signal ground (switch at the back) which reduced it quite a bit and then I hooked up a wire between the chassis of the DSP-A1 and the 3B-ST. Note that the DSP-A1 does not have a 3-prong grounded power cord. This reduced the hum so that I had to place my ear right by the mid-range to hear it. Good enuf.

2) The rack mountable front panel does not match anything else I got so its kinda funny looking.

So overall I really don't see any problem other than looks.

I recently decided to upgrade my entire audio system and spent about 3 months listening and comparing various models of CD players, Pre Amps, Power Amps and Speakers. My preferencein terms of sound signature is for products that are quite transparent with little or no coloration. My music tastes are mostly classical (large and small scale orchestral and opera) with
occasional evenings listening to 60s, 70s and 80s rock. (Beatles, Rolling Stones, Eagles, Elton John...).

This is a quite unasuming unit, however it is very well put together with good attention to detail. Back panel layout is simple and straight forward.

Sound quality is very precise, smooth and clean with an inaudible noise floor. Bass control is excellent, listen to any piece with plenty of slap an slam and you will find out what you have been missing. Mids and treble presented in an effortless fashion. No audible crossover between channels (even when driving one side flat out with a relatively low level on the other side).

One small quibble, don't place this unit on carpet and drive it hard - it will get hot and trip the thermal cutout. (I found this out listening to Eagles Hotel California at insane levels). Moving the unit off the carpet onto a solid base fixed the problem! My speakers are 4 Ohms so they pull a lot current, however, from an audible point of view the Bryston is up to the task.

I did listen to some Krell and ML units when I was shopping, the differences in sound were very small, and to my ear not really better or worse just different! If you are looking for an amp is this power range give this one a try you may surprise yourself and save some $ compared with other high end power amps.

On the subject of power rating Bryston is quite conservative the test data from Bryston showed the unit will develop 156Watts into 8 Ohms. Plenty of power and margin for almost any use.

Don't forget the 20 year warrantee and it's built to last twice as long.

Purchased these from Gaston at Avtech in Canada. Instant improvement to my home theater setup. I upgraded from Rotel separates. My system now includes the Bryston amps, Angstrom 100 pre/pro and Monitor Audio speakers with a Toshiba 2108 (waiting on the 3109) DVD player. The Brystons have opened up the soundstage and I am hearing nuances and instruments in recordings previously buried in the mix. Fit and finish are superb and the folks at Bryston have promptly answered all product inquiries (Thank you James Tanner). A great product for anyone looking for more than a taste of the high-end.