Denon Amp verses Bryston

[cornelius]

Poor Spock, that constant Human/Vulcan struggle inside - do I trust my ears, or do I read the specs - the struggle may never end...

 

[cornelius]

I've seen countless Bryston amps in recording studios over the years. Some quite old, putting in hour after hour of service - they're great amplifiers.

Actually, Bryston takes their specs very seriously - a signed sheet of the specs is included with the 20 Year warrantee card with every amp. Many times the published specs are very conservative, compared to the signed ones that the owner ultimately holds in their hands...

 

[wire]

I've seen countless Bryston amps in recording studios over the years. Some quite old, putting in hour after hour of service - they're great amplifiers.

Actually, Bryston takes their specs very seriously - a signed sheet of the specs is included with the 20 Year warrantee card with every amp. Many times the published specs are very conservative, compared to the signed ones that the owner ultimately holds in their hands...

Yes , I agree .
Studios use them for a reason .
When i got my power switch changed 3 years ago ( just before the warrenty expired ) . The tech , tested my amp and found out it it specs were much over the 250 x 2 rms and wanted to buy it off me . To me Bryston is in a different class than the power amps you get in a reciever ( mine is from experence) .

 

[PENG]

One thing about Denon's mid to high end receivers is that relatively (e.g. to Harman kardon) they are not as amp limited. As a result their two channel output ratings are typically quite respectable even into a 4 ohm load because the P/S only has to feed 2 channels.

In all of my listening tests I have not been able to say with certainty that I can tell my GFA555, 3805, 4308 and 4B SST apart, with either the receiver pre-outs or the GFP565 preamp. Based on my understanding (however limited) of electrical/electronic theories, I do not believe the claim that preamps affect sound quality more so than power amps anyway. I do prefer the 4B SST and it does seem to sound a tiny bit more transparent, but heck I paid enough for it. I won't bet my money if I have to pick it out in a DBT though. Actually I may if the B&W802D is used, that thing does seem to have better resolution than my Veritas.

To conclude, if I had the 5805 I would not bother hooking up that little 60 W Bryston. There is no reason to believe that the Bryston would improve the sound quality and you may actually get the opposite effect depending on your listening habits. I would use the Bryston in a smaller room for some serious 2 channel music listening instead.

 

[TLS Guy]

Question about a 60 Watt per channel Bryston 2B-LP Amplifier? I have a Denon AVR-5805 receiver that its rated output is 170 Watts per channel. I would like to use a Bryston amplifier to run my mains using the pre-outs on my Denon. Would I possibly here an improvement in sound quality over the Denon amps?

The Bryston has less power reserve, so almost certainly the Denon will sound better. The Denon has three times the power into four ohms. That is highly significant.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Even if Mark Levinson came out with a $20,000 100 WPC
4-Ohms Amp, it's still 100 watts.

The Denon 5805 produces 340 Watts into 4 ohms. Let me see. 340 Watts vs 100 watts. Hmm. No Contest. Denon is the winner.

Now if you had the Bryston 4B, 6B, 7B, etc., that would be a different story.

 

[mtrycrafts]

Even if Mark Levinson came out with a $20,000 100 WPC
4-Ohms Amp, it's still 100 watts.
.

I thought perhaps that price tag gave it some extra magical capabilities

 

[wire]

Even if Mark Levinson came out with a $20,000 100 WPC
4-Ohms Amp, it's still 100 watts.

The Denon 5805 produces 340 Watts into 4 ohms. Let me see. 340 Watts vs 100 watts. Hmm. No Contest. Denon is the winner.

Now if you had the Bryston 4B, 6B, 7B, etc., that would be a different story.

Note
i would still give the 3B consideration , if you cant afford a used 4B . The 3B's are very much built like a tank also and have great power reserves , they should last most of your life with out replacing , unless you get upgradeitess again ( Bryston holds its resale value very well ) .

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I think the point of this whole post is that when you have a Denon amp that can produce 340 watts into 4 ohms ( and probably 500 watts into 2 ohms), adding another amp of any kind is not going to improve the sound.

You can add a $100,000 amp that has a 100 yr warranty and it still won't improve the sound.

The Bryston amps are great, but they won't improve on the 340 watts.

Will the 100 watts Bryston amp improve the sound of most 100 watts receiver? Possibly. I can agree with that. But not the Denon 5805.

 

[PENG]

Will the 100 watts Bryston amp improve the sound of most 100 watts receiver? Possibly. I can agree with that. But not the Denon 5805.

Even then it still depends on the speakers. May be I am stating the obvious, but the 100W Bryston cannot improve the sound unless the speakers cooperate.

 

[wire]

Even then it still depends on the speakers. May be I am stating the obvious, but the 100W Bryston cannot improve the sound unless the speakers cooperate.

Peng your on to something , but its very complicated .

 

[TLS Guy]

Peng your on to something , but its very complicated .

No it is not complicated it is simple. The limiting factor of any decent amp is power. Music has a huge dynamic range, but every time you double power output all you get is a miserable 3 db in spl. So the Bryston will run out of gas well before the Bryston. When an amp runs out of gas it sounds horrible even if it is a tube amp with so called soft clipping.

All things being equal the higher the current and power reserve the better an amp will sound, until the point where in the application of use it is unlikley to clip.

Although average power is way below almost any amps max power compatibility, the peaks ruin the show when an amp is not powerful enough. Unless you are using highly sensitive speakers with a sensitivity of 96 db 1 watt one meter or greater the Bryston will not cut it.

 

[russ_l]

Honda Accord Yes

Bryston is in the business of perfecting sound not stuffing as many things as they can in the cheapest way possible, this is not saying Denon is junk....far from it but I would think Bryston is a better thought out product with better parts and more thought into how they perform. Comparing Denon to Bryston is like comparing a Honda Accord to a Porsche.....they both do the same exact thing but one is approached very differently from concept to production than the other.
I know the drill, here come the rants.........I will reply to all insults and character slams when I am done mowing the lawn ok guys?

Chadnliz- stop picking on my six-day old Honda Accord, my first new car since my 1964 Pontiac GTO. I have the high performance four with 326 miles on the odometer and the gas guage is only down between 1/2 and 3/8!! Lots of extra money (now) for the toys (the Denon separates).

 

[mtrycrafts]

...in an, Any Amplifier vs Any Amplifier comparison, let us not use names, they get in the way...that no one suggested the most obvious answer; as there is only one reason your asking, "you" want to know. What the others are saying are "opinions" regarding something, they themselves have never heard, it's almost laughable...may I, respectfully, suggest, recommend...listen to it. Whichever product sounds better to you, use it. Pretty simple, na?

And, when you listen to something, it becomes a fact, or, just another "opinion?"

 

[wire]

No it is not complicated it is simple. The limiting factor of any decent amp is power. Music has a huge dynamic range, but every time you double power output all you get is a miserable 3 db in spl. So the Bryston will run out of gas well before the Bryston. When an amp runs out of gas it sounds horrible even if it is a tube amp with so called soft clipping.

All things being equal the higher the current and power reserve the better an amp will sound, until the point where in the application of use it is unlikley to clip.

Although average power is way below almost any amps max power compatibility, the peaks ruin the show when an amp is not powerful enough. Unless you are using highly sensitive speakers with a sensitivity of 96 db 1 watt one meter or greater the Bryston will not cut it.

Yes
If you look @ a 3B ( equal in so called power ) vs the Denon and match the speakers ( couldbe 4ohm ) . Could get complicated . Then the Denon runs out of gas , and you couldbe in the risk of buying new tweets . .

 

[mtrycrafts]

Yes
If you look @ a 3B ( equal in so called power ) vs the Denon and match the speakers ( couldbe 4ohm ) . Could get complicated . Then the Denon runs out of gas , and you couldbe in the risk of buying new tweets . .

Not sure about that as the Denon tested with 300 watts into 4 ohms. Is that not enough?

 

[wire]

Not sure about that as the Denon tested with 300 watts into 4 ohms. Is that not enough?

I dont know , check the 3Bryston Headroom . Which 1 will run out of gas 1st . I'm not a betting man , if i was , i would bet on the thoroughbred . That Denon is a beast of machine .

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I dont know , check the 3Bryston Headroom . Which 1 will run out of gas 1st . I'm not a betting man , if i was , i would bet on the thoroughbred . That Denon is a beast of machine .

So if the Music/Movie Sound requires 300 Watts @ 4 ohms and the Bryston can only crank out 100 watts @ 4 ohms, how will it sound?

On the other hand, the Denon can crank out 340 Watts @ 4 ohms.

Heck, my Denon was tested by The Audio Critic to pump out 400 watts into 1 ohm. If the speakers (like MartinLogan) go down to 1 ohm and require 300 watts into 1 ohm, how will the 100-watts-4-ohms-Bryston sound?

 

[mtrycrafts]

So if the Music/Movie Sound requires 300 Watts @ 4 ohms and the Bryston can only crank out 100 watts @ 4 ohms, how will it sound?

On the other hand, the Denon can crank out 340 Watts @ 4 ohms.

Heck, my Denon was tested by The Audio Critic to pump out 400 watts into 1 ohm. If the speakers (like MartinLogan) go down to 1 ohm and require 300 watts into 1 ohm, how will the 100-watts-4-ohms-Bryston sound?

Are these trick questions?

 

[wire]

So if the Music/Movie Sound requires 300 Watts @ 4 ohms and the Bryston can only crank out 100 watts @ 4 ohms, how will it sound?

On the other hand, the Denon can crank out 340 Watts @ 4 ohms.

Heck, my Denon was tested by The Audio Critic to pump out 400 watts into 1 ohm. If the speakers (like MartinLogan) go down to 1 ohm and require 300 watts into 1 ohm, how will the 100-watts-4-ohms-Bryston sound?

Yeh did you not see the 3 before the B .
I think the 3B is 150 x 2 @ 8 ohms . Not sure the headroom on it @ 4 ohms .