Bryston Verses Denon Take/Two

[agular]

What a BIG surprised, I always thought that more power meant better sound. Boy was I in for an eye-opener. After receiving my LITTLE Bryston 2B-LP the 60 Watt per channel amplifier I proceeded to do my listening tests. The Bryston sound verses the Denon AVR-5805 what a BIG difference. The Bryston has a more open sound; the Denon has a somewhat compressed sound not as clean as the Bryston. I could achieve very loud volume levels in my 20’X21’ theater room with the Bryston without the green indicator light going to “RED “which would indicate clipping. I took this experiment one step further. The Denon AVR-5805 has the abilities to Bi-Amp, so I Bi-Amped the mains with the Denon 170 watts to the tweeters and 170 watts to the woofers on both speakers the sound was overpowering WOW. Well I thought I am going to buy some more cables for a permanent install. I re-hooked the Bryston back into the system and was somewhat disappointed. How can this be, the Bryston sounded so much more detailed with a much cleaner sound, it imaged much better, and the biggest sound stage I have ever heard. I really wanted the Denon to sound better but the Bryston Blows the Denon away.

 

[mtrycrafts]

.How can this be, the Bryston sounded so much more detailed with a much cleaner sound, it imaged much better, and the biggest sound stage I have ever heard. I really wanted the Denon to sound better but the Bryston Blows the Denon away.

Perceptual confusion, that is how Human bias plays all sorts of tricks on us all, or it can. No one is immune.

It would be interesting to follow this up with a levels matched DBT listening

http://webpages.charter.net/fryguy/Amp_Sound.pdf

http://www.matrixhifi.com/pruebasciegas.htm

 

[wire]

What a BIG surprised, I always thought that more power meant better sound. Boy was I in for an eye-opener. After receiving my LITTLE Bryston 2B-LP the 60 Watt per channel amplifier I proceeded to do my listening tests. The Bryston sound verses the Denon AVR-5805 what a BIG difference. The Bryston has a more open sound; the Denon has a somewhat compressed sound not as clean as the Bryston. I could achieve very loud volume levels in my 20’X21’ theater room with the Bryston without the green indicator light going to “RED “which would indicate clipping. I took this experiment one step further. The Denon AVR-5805 has the abilities to Bi-Amp, so I Bi-Amped the mains with the Denon 170 watts to the tweeters and 170 watts to the woofers on both speakers the sound was overpowering WOW. Well I thought I am going to buy some more cables for a permanent install. I re-hooked the Bryston back into the system and was somewhat disappointed. How can this be, the Bryston sounded so much more detailed with a much cleaner sound, it imaged much better, and the biggest sound stage I have ever heard. I really wanted the Denon to sound better but the Bryston Blows the Denon away.

Yep
Ive got a 4B ( 24 years and counting ) , I tell these guys a story of the Lively soundstage the Bryston has . Also the story of how my girlfreind didn't like the 4B in my room , when i compared it to a varity of quality power amps , she said she didn't like the way the the Voice was set back so far in the soundstage in the 4B . I kinda like a Big Live like soundstage .
Agular
You should try a 4b for test drive , same sound and alot of clean detailed power .
A key to Bryston amps and how good they are is there resale Value , take a look at a Denon ( Denon made a very good Amps back then , way better than Yammy ) power amp that is over 20 years old and see the resale difference .

 

[TruthRight]

Listening...

...will always tell you which amplifier is better when you listen and compare; opinions, suppositions and beliefs in the hereafter not with standing. When one amplifier is better then another, you need only listen to tell the difference and that is where your money goes.

 

[PENG]

...will always tell you which amplifier is better when you listen and compare; opinions, suppositions and beliefs in the hereafter not with standing. When one amplifier is better then another, you need only listen to tell the difference and that is where your money goes.

If that is true, we wouldn't be seeing such never ending arguments about which amps sound better, or whether they even sound different.

 

[gene]

What a BIG surprised, I always thought that more power meant better sound. Boy was I in for an eye-opener. After receiving my LITTLE Bryston 2B-LP the 60 Watt per channel amplifier I proceeded to do my listening tests. The Bryston sound verses the Denon AVR-5805 what a BIG difference. The Bryston has a more open sound; the Denon has a somewhat compressed sound not as clean as the Bryston. I could achieve very loud volume levels in my 20’X21’ theater room with the Bryston without the green indicator light going to “RED “which would indicate clipping. I took this experiment one step further. The Denon AVR-5805 has the abilities to Bi-Amp, so I Bi-Amped the mains with the Denon 170 watts to the tweeters and 170 watts to the woofers on both speakers the sound was overpowering WOW. Well I thought I am going to buy some more cables for a permanent install. I re-hooked the Bryston back into the system and was somewhat disappointed. How can this be, the Bryston sounded so much more detailed with a much cleaner sound, it imaged much better, and the biggest sound stage I have ever heard. I really wanted the Denon to sound better but the Bryston Blows the Denon away.

This is surprising as I have found the 5805 to sound stellar in Bi-amp mode. Its got the largest power supply ever put in a receiver and a superb DAC section. You may want to make sure the amps are level matched will making this comparison. Also make sure the bass management is disabled on the 5805, run it in pure direct mode.

 

[mtrycrafts]

...will always tell you which amplifier is better when you listen and compare; .

And, when it doesn't, what then? Where does imagination enter into this?

 

[bandphan]

It would be interesting to follow this up with a levels matched DBT listening

Thats all that matters in the scientific realm

 

[mtrycrafts]

Thats all that matters in the scientific realm

Yes But, it would be beneficial if science played a larger roll with all out there. Perhaps scarce resources would return better dividends

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

What is the voltage gain of the Bryston vs. Denon?

If the gain on the Bryston is 20dB and the Denon is 16dB, wouldn't the Bryston just sound LOUDER, which would then be perceived as CLEARER and BETTER, etc.?

 

[PENG]

What is the voltage gain of the Bryston vs. Denon?

If the gain on the Bryston is 20dB and the Denon is 16dB, wouldn't the Bryston just sound LOUDER, which would then be perceived as CLEARER and BETTER, etc.?

It could be, clearly the Denon has more power but it is possible that in the OP's case he does not need that much power so the Bryston is not at disadvantage. We really don't know if the OP had done any level matching in his comparison listening. In a properly controlled DBT he may not be able to tell the difference but then it would still prove that more power does not always mean better sound.