Build quality, incredible value, spectacular overall sound, could not expect any better from solid state amplification

none so far

I have used multiple amps throughout the years, and from my first listening session through several months later after this amp had settled in, I could not expect any better sound in my listening room with the perfect match this amp makes with my PSB Stratus Gold i speakers. The bass is incredible (Stratus Gold i strengths), background incredibly quiet, with crisp/clear/accurate mids and highs. This amp and speaker combination has worked incredibly well for the wide range of music that I listen to (10% Jazz, 30% Classical, 60% Rock).

I recommend that you give this amp a listen before buying others, it can be had for $1500.00-$1600.00. An incredible value, excellent build quality, built to last. I feel it will be my amp for many years to come. I do not think that I could get any better sound with spending more (Classe, Krell, McCormack). Bryston is well known for quality and superior products, and this steady performer has good reviews for a good reason. Just find one and listen to it.

I have not found it be too forward. It creates a nice central focused voice during vocals which I prefer, and I sense a nice dispersion to the instruments so I get a good feel of the proper location. It has firmly replaced my latest amp the Parasound HCA-2205a which has been relegated to center and rear channel duties.

Other Equipment:
Parasound AVC-2500
Parasound HCA-2205A
Bryston 4B ST
Harmonic Technology Pro Silway MK II interconnects
Nordost SuperFlatline Gold biwired speaker cable

Similar Products Used:

Parasound HCA-2205A, McCormack DNA-2 Deluxe, Classe CA-400, several Krell Amps

Robust, cheap,

Haven't found any

I bought this amp after auditioning it with the Bryston pre-amp and the Conrad Johnson PV10AL. Sounds much better with a tube pre-amp. A much wider sound stage and fuller sound. Have now the CJ for a Hovland 100( another valve pre-amp). It really does sing. Linked to Zingali studio monitors with Analysis plus silver oval and oval 9 bi-wire. A great sound.Well controlled and deep bass and smooth treble. With a good pre and decent speakers, why pay more? It tells you exactly what is there. I bought my Bryston after reading the reviews at this site. They pretty well sum up my findings- a good allround piece of kit

Similar Products Used:

Linn LK1 LK2 combo Chord Krell

excellent build and sound

Not absolutely transparent

The Bryston is excellent value. It has awesome bass, power reserve and has good speed producing a foot a respectable foot tapping performance. Competes with amps at least twice the price. The bass control is world class. It has a good image which is layered and wide. It is a well controlled beast that unleashes thunder when required but can be as gentle as a pin drop in the instant. It is flexible. It can be bridged into mono for more power. It can be driven via balanced cable and has a ground lift switch at the back. Bravo Bryston.

Similar Products Used:

SimaAudio Moon 5, Naim NAP 250

It's intersting reading these reviews in comparison to those of the 3B-ST. It seems there are problems with the 4B-ST while the 3B-ST reads like the greatest amp in the world...What's really going on here? How could the 3B be "better" than the 4B when the 4B has more current/voltage deilvery. From what I know, Bryston doesn't pull any punches and everything is designed the same, measures flat, so the models should then sound alike with differences only in power/current delievery and requirements. I haven't heard them side by side, but would love to do so...in a blind taste test. This is the only way to clear up the controversy...

No Solid State Grain, powerful bottomend, smooth midrange.

highend extension.

This amp should be on your short list if you are looking to spend under $3K. The 4BST's build quality is solid and is a great value for $2350 list. I have sold many (I'm a dealer in the states) and have not had any trouble with any 4BST's. Not to mention the exceptional customer service by Bryston. Bryston is a constant leader as rated by dealers across the country, year after year.
If you are considering between the 3BST and 4BST save your $$'s a little longer as the 3BST can clip a little too quickly especially with less efficient speakers and definitely in a home theater environment. If you listen at low levels you will not have a problem with the 3BST clipping but I am cautioning the people like me who like to open it up now and then.
This amp will work exceptionally well with holographic, very detailed tweeters like B&W's, Dynaudio, Proac, Meadowlark and all metal dome tweeters. I say this because the amp is characterized by many (including myself) as a little darker than most. (Those 1-out-of-10 who call it bright, look closely at your other components.) Tube lovers tolerate or even embrace this amplifier because it exhibits no solid state "grain" like a Krell or Parasound to name a few. Nothing is for free. You do sacrifice upper-end detail and extension in comparison to a Krell, Sim Audio and even Parasound for example and these may sound better to your ear with different pairs of speakers. If you have the above stated speakers, you already have an abundance of detail. The last thing you would want is more detail with this type of speaker (and the usually associated solid state "grain") especially when playing non-reference recordings that can be bright by themselves. Make sure you own a very transparent preamp and you will minimize the loss of any detail.
Another advantage (or slight disadvantage) with speaker synergy is the Bryston uses a feedback loop that fattens-up the bottom end and gives it a "full sound". This is especially important to European speakers who tend on being lean on the base. Using a Bryston with a pair of B&W's or Dynaudio for example, will increase the base (some argue artificially) but this is what most ears will like making it an exceptional match.
For larger speakers (usually the case) that have full sound to begin with, the Bryston may muddy it up and sound a little too "tubby". Best to look at an amp like the Bel Canto EVO for these situations that is leaner sounding. The new digital amps have very low distortion like the EVO by Bel Canto and are considered thin sounding in comparison. This tinner sound is not for everyone though…. Speakers designs will follow in the long run. I diverge….
If you have a speaker that seems to demand amplifier detail like Gershman Acoustic, Aerial Acoustic, and Talon (to name a few) you may be craving the detail of an amp like the world class Sim Audio or even a Krell (which is not as good as the Sim).
A new amp that will give the Bryston some honest competition is the Plinius 8200P at $2K list. This is an EXCEPTIONAL amp (my favorite at this price point) see (http://www.PliniusUSA.com) and also is worth a listen. No, I do not work for Plinius, just trying to give tips on my favorite hobby/job. Basically, it has beefier amplification that the world-class 8150i integrated and without a preamp section built in. Ops, I diverge again.
In short, the 4BST cannot be beat in customer service and reliability. You will hard-pressed to find a better amp below $3K list. I can list DOZENS of amps at 2X plus prices that are inferior. Just because you spend more does not necessarily mean you get better sound. About 60 other reviewers on this site agree!
Feel free to email or call with questions (even if you already own one).
Just trying to save the world from bad Audio!
Steve (Owner) of Sound Video in MN
Phone 763-753-9349 or Email: herra001@tc.umn.edu
Sound Video
Custom Audio & Home Theater
Authorized Dealer Featuring: Aerial, Acurus, Aragon, Bryston, B&K, Bel Canto, Class'e, Cinepro, Denon, Dynaudio, EAD, Energy, Gershman Acoustics, Gallo, Harmonic Tech, Kimber Kable, Lexicon, Marantz, Meridian (within 1 month), Monitor Audio, M&K, NHT, Parasound, Pioneer, Plinius, PMC, PSAudio, Richard Gray, Runco, Speaker Craft, Sherwood NewCastle, Sim Audio, Stewart Filmscreen, TacT Audio, Toshiba & Velodyne

Similar Products Used:

Sim, Class'e, Krell, Bel Canto, B&K, Aragon, Plinius,etc

bass, detail, quality of construction, warranty

a little bright

i've been using a parasound hca-2003 for the last 4 years before giving this amp a test drive in my system. the byston has much more low end slam. incredibly detailed and dynamic. a little bright on certain source material. when i switched the parasound back in I couldn't believe what i was missing. the parasound sounded so much leaner compared to the bryston. well worth the $$$ and the warranty can't be beat. highly recommended.

system:

bryston 4B-ST for fronts
parasound hca-2003 for center and surrounds
ead theater master encore pre-amp/processor
sony 7700 dvd player
pioneer elite cld-59 ld player
legacy classics front speakers
legacy monologue center speaker
nht super one surrounds
legacy lfextreme subwoofer
sony 36 inch xbr flat screen
straightwire interconnects and cables

Tight bass, Overall quality (construction, appearance, sound)

none at this price

I bought this used with about 10 hrs. on it & have only had it hooked less that a week but already the quality is showing. Much more detail along with tight bass were the first things I noticed. For example, a friend was over & I played the cut Low Rider by WAR. She heard words that she could never make out before. Also on that CD on Spill The Wine, the bass does an upward spiral that makes you sit up & take notice. Tight. I paid about the same for this piece as I did for a set of Adcom 565 monoblock's back around 1990 & the difference is considerable. They are two different animals but I'm talking about what you get for your money. The Adcom played very loud but had noise. The Bryston is very quiet & has a good soundstage. Also, this is for the individual who rated the 4B ST with two stars (way down the list) that said the only thing to say was... Sunfire? The Sunfire was sure enough a smokin' piece of gear. By smokin' I mean it caught on FIRE! Yep, when I brought that thing home & fired it up for a bit of critical listening, about an hour into it I thought my spkrs. were having a seizure. They started wheezing & sputtering so I ran into the next room where my rack is set up (logistics dictate a 34' run of spkr. cable-I'm using AQ Crystal single biwire)and the Sunfire was burning. OK, it was only a real small flame inside but nonetheless burning. My spkrs. were OK. Bottom line here without all the superlatives usually found in these reviews (although I do agree & enjoy reading them-just not my style)is that the Bryston is a solid piece with performance that can wake up a system. It certainly made me a believer. The rest of my system is: Cary SLP70 pre amp, Musical Fidelity Elektra E624 CD player, AQ interconnects & spkr. cable, Infinity Kappa 8 spkrs. (old style)

Similar Products Used:

Adcom, Sunfire, Parasound

Bass slam, superb construction and the best warranty in the business!

Can be a little forward sounding without the right preamp...

I have always been and will continue to be a large supporter of Bryston products. I started 12 years ago with a 3B and a .5B preamp. They matched very well with my speakers at that time -Magnepan SMGa's. I went to Acoustat hybrids in a larger room and the 3B ran out of steam. Sold the 3B and .5B and bought a 4B-ST. What a huge difference - being just twice the power at 4 ohms than the 3B was there was little difference in "loudness" but sonic control went through the roof. No straining whatsoever! Sonically the ST series is definately better than my older version. I changed my speakers to Magnepan 1.5's and the 4B was just the ticket - its a great marriage. Great soundstage and imaging. Many think that Bryston gear can be forward sounding - thats possible depending on your interpretation but I found it was very dependant on the source and speakers. I matched the 4B-ST with a Bryston BP-25 and to me it was a little aggressive. Changed to a tube preamp and voila - sonic bliss.

There are many good amps out there but here in Canada its hard to beat Bryston. With the current exchange rate hovering around 50 cents on the dollar, McCormack, Aragon and others can't compete. The only amp I liked better was the Sim Audio W5 but at its current price here in Canada (over twice the cost of the 4B-ST) its not nearly twice the amp! Chris Russell and James Tanner at Bryston are great people who help out any way they can supporting the best warrantied product on the planet. Choosing an amp has many variables - but when you weigh the build construction, sonics, power, price and warranty, the 4B-ST is hard to beat!

Associated gear:
Rogue 66 preamp
Arcam Alpha 8SE cdp
Magnepan 1.5 speakers
Coincident CST interconnects
Analysis Plus Oval 12 bi-wires

Notes - the speaker binding posts on the 4B-ST are quite wide so make sure your cables will fit and it was my experience that when mating a Bryston preamp to the 4B-ST I found that copper interconnects worked better than silver.

Similar Products Used:

Adcom 5802, Sim Audio W5, Older Bryston 3B

Superb bass control and dynamics; transparent; neutral tonal balance; very revealing. Outstanding build quality and value.

Very revealing of poor recordings and weaknesses in audio chain; not "euphonic" in any way.

In my opinion, the Bryston 4B-ST is one of the outstanding amplifier values in high-end audio. Bryston's design and manufacturing philosophy (Bryston also builds Lexicon) is to offer the best possible build and sound quality at affordable high-end audio prices. They succeed admirably in their goal, not only providing a fine product, but also a 20-year transferrable warranty that is backed by the finest service reputation in the industry. I have owned the 4B-ST amp for about 8 months, and am extremely pleased with its performance. I own the 17" version (with both the silver and black faceplates), and think the cosmetics are cleanly attractive, albeit rather utilitarian (understandable given Bryston's history in pro audio gear). The sound quality offered by this amp, however, ranks among the best available regardless of price. The amp is a true, dual mono design, with two large power transformers, and a totally modular design for each channel of amplification. Each channel is built on a separate, easily replaceable assembly which doubles as the heat sink. Parts quality is very high, and circuit design (by Stewart Taylor, hence the "ST" reference on the line of amps) is very straightforward. The amp is rated at 250 wpc, but typically produces about 300 wpc, with distortion levels around 0.001%, and S-N ratios in the 116-118 db range. The amp's listening qualities are hard to define, because it is so clean, transparent, and dynamic. The Bryston amps have been called "bass masters" because they do such a fine job of reproducing and controlling the bottom end, and with my Vandersteen 3A Signatures, the 4B-ST is outstanding. Tonal balance is very neutral from top to bottom, neither warm nor cool. I have two "caveats" to share: first, this amp seems to take a long time to break in. I used my amp nearly continuously for 2 months before it seemed full settled. The second caveat is that this amp is very accurate, though not etched in any way, so it will fully reveal the strengths and weaknesses of upstream source material and equipment. Hence, to be sure you get the most performance from this amp, you will need to team it with comparably high-quality equipment. I have owned a number of high-quality amps over the years, and have NEVER heard a better performer at this price range.

Similar Products Used:

Aragon 8008; Adcom 5500 and 5802; auditioned Ayre K-3 amp.

Absolute accuracy, extended bass response and dynamic range

My first Bryston was a '79 model year 3B. I lost that in a divorce - the good news for Bryston is that my ex is still using the amp today. The absolute durability of the 3B and Bryston's contunued support of a 20+ year old product convinced me about the company, but when I looked to replace my B&K I did the full range shop before settling back on Bryston. In short, everything else sounded to me like something...a Classe' sounded lovely, but somehow too much so, the Adcom's sounded harsh at times and didn't have the Bryston's seemingly endless power. Most of the other products in this price range had one weakness or other...lack of low end extension, graininess in the high end, whatever.

In the end, the Bryston 4B-ST married to a Bryston BP-20 preamp and my ARCAM CD Player sounded great at all volume levels with my PSB Stratus Silvers, modest Audioquest Type 6 speaker cables and Cardas Crosslink interconnects. Even better, I'd been considering a subwoofer with the Stratuses and the B&K, a need that vanished the minute I cranked up the 4B - the amp was so smooth and substantial in the low end that the Stratuses leapt to another performance level entirely. The upper midrange gained an openness I'd not heard before, all without sacrificing elsewhere. I concluded it was an amp I would be happy with for a long time...maybe even as long as Bryston was willing to provide warranty coverage. That could be a long time; the 20 year warranty is no gimmick...the old 3B will still get their loving care if ever needed - I've never heard of Bryston refusing to fix a problem for nothing more than shipping cost. I look forward to many years of tweaking my system with the 4B-ST at the center of my audio world.

Next...upgrade the ARCAM and some cabling tweaks.

Similar Products Used:

B&K ST140, Bryston 3B