Emotiva vs. Classe vs. Bryston

[wire]

Hey everybody,

I am curious, how does Emotiva compare to Classe or Bryston. I have Paradigm S8's v2 and I drive them with the XPA-3 and a Yammy rxv3800 as pre/pro. Although the XPA-3 is good it starts to lose it's detail and separation as soon as you start to turn the vol. up (it just gets loud) so I think the 8's need a little more stable juice.

A few people recommended the Wyred4sound amps which are extremely intriguing to me but I don't know that much about them. I thought about getting the XPA-1's for my fronts but here's my problem, I don't have the REAL ESTATE to hold (2) 90 lb amps and a 70 lb amp, so I have to get 1 amp that has significant power to drive the 8's to their potential.

Here are my choices since they all fall within about the same price range as the XPA 1's:

Used Classe CA-400
Used Bryston 4B SST
Used Anthem Statement P2

I am definitely not apposed to the Wyred4sound or others similar but I don't know enough about them to make the decision.

Thanks for all of your suggestions and help!

Jeff

Hi
Ive got a 4B and have had it for over 20 years now . This thing is tank , I power a pair of 6ohm Polk SDA's . It doesn't run out juice , If you know the SDA's , they are imaging speakers and need alot of juice , so the 4b has been matched with them for about 20 years now and to answer your ? . The Bryston does not Distort @ high Volumes or blow tweets @ high Volumes .
PS
In My earlier days , i would often make the 2 green lights in the front of the bryston peak red for hours (hehe) and clear as a bell @ MAx Volume and no blown tweeters .
And to answer 3db ? , yes the 20 year warrenty is transferable . Bryston mightbe the last amp you will have the rest of your life , most go to Tubes after that .

 

[mperfct]

Don't kill me if this is crazy... but what about Sunfire Grand Cinema Amps?

 

[3db]

Right there with NAD, a step below B&K, Arcam, Anthem, Rotel

With Krell as King Of The Hill


BTW - you know who's a HUGE audiophile?

Fabio. He has bought speakers and amps that the high end companies made as prototypes, but ultimately decided were to expensive to bring to market.

Krell is over priced boutique shite. As far as I'm concerned, none of the amps listed in this thread will ever come to close to Bryston. Why? Bryston is the ONLY company I know that offers a 20 yr warranty on their products. Thats saying alot right there. They stand behind their products. Sure there maybe amps out there that have betters specs but the specs at this playing field are so inaudable that it doesn't really factor into the equation. I've read where clients brought back their equipemnt 5 years past its warranty and they still repaired for free.

Emotiva, Anthem NAD, Rotel Krell...none these manufacturer's come close to the warranty offered by Bryston. Get yourslef a Bryston. You'll have an amp that will last you a lifetime.

 

[greggp2]

There's no denying that Bryston's warranty is phenominal. Their Amps are also around 5x more expensive than Emotiva. If you can afford a Bryston, then purchase it.

I on the other had, like good quality product that costs less. If I have to buy 2 or 3 Amps over the course of 20 years from a company like Emotiva, I'll still save more than 1/2 of what a Bryston will cost me new. If the sound quality is close, why shell out the extra money. At least that's my opinion....

 

[jb5200]

Awesome!!! Thanks for the input. I am going to try and I mean try to have my buddy bring his XPA-2 over to see the difference between that and my XPA-3 and start from there. I too am a person who likes to get quality for their money, I am a teacher and on a teacher's salary you can't afford the expensive stuff. Yes my speakers are expensive (at least to me) but I am still paying for them and will be for quite sometime.

Trust me, don't think I'm not going to keep my eyes peeled for a steal on a Bryston/Classe/Anthem etc. If something pops up I might jump on it. But like I said, I am just getting into this audio stuff and I gotta say, "I'm hooked!" Although my fiance begs to differ. She always asks the question, "Why do you need more speakers?" My response, "It's not a matter of needing more, but a matter of needing better!"

Again I really appreciate everybody's thoughts and I apologize about my gripe before, that just might be my own audio frustrations of always trying to get better, and trust me, I know it can be a losing battle with audio b/c there is always going to be something better out there!

Thanks again,

jb

 

[greggp2]

No prob Jb. Good luck. Hopefully your friend has a strong back because the XPA-2 weighs almost 90lbs. I had fun carrying that thing into my house and putting it into my entertainment system. It's working great though. I may actually buy an XPA-3 or XPA-5 to go along with it very soon...

 

[3db]

There's no denying that Bryston's warranty is phenominal. Their Amps are also around 5x more expensive than Emotiva. If you can afford a Bryston, then purchase it.

I on the other had, like good quality product that costs less. If I have to buy 2 or 3 Amps over the course of 20 years from a company like Emotiva, I'll still save more than 1/2 of what a Bryston will cost me new. If the sound quality is close, why shell out the extra money. At least that's my opinion....

I agree with you in general. However, I understood the thread to read that the OP could get any of these amps on his list for roughly all the same price as he's looking at used.

 

[greggp2]

I agree with you in general. However, I understood the thread to read that the OP could get any of these amps on his list for roughly all the same price as he's looking at used.

If that is the case, then yes, a Bryston would be the way to go. I looked on Audiogon though and it wasn't even close. A new Emotiva is still less than 1/2 as expensive and in some cases 1/4.

But if money were no object!!! Yeah, who wouldn't want the amp with the Bryston reputation and warranty? I'll take one!!! I'm jealous you have one actually!

 

[3db]

If that is the case, then yes, a Bryston would be the way to go. I looked on Audiogon though and it wasn't even close. A new Emotiva is still less than 1/2 as expensive and in some cases 1/4.

But if money were no object!!! Yeah, who wouldn't want the amp with the Bryston reputation and warranty? I'll take one!!! I'm jealous you have one actually!

OMG I wish. I have a Yamaha RX-V1800 which is gutsy enough for my needs and room size.

 

[wire]

Don't kill me if this is crazy... but what about Sunfire Grand Cinema Amps?

Very good Amps .

 

[wire]

I agree with you in general. However, I understood the thread to read that the OP could get any of these amps on his list for roughly all the same price as he's looking at used.

Yeh
I understood it was Used also . I would even now pick a used 4Bryston over a new Emovita amp .

 

[greggp2]

Check out the used Amp prices of the Brystons on Audiogon. For comparable power to Emotiva, they are still 4x more...

 

[ParadigmDawg]

Listen...do you hear that...mmmm...sounds good doesn't it....just a little Rotel, some cheap Digms and Jack Johnson.....

 

[greggp2]

Listen...do you hear that...mmmm...sounds good doesn't it....just a little Rotel, some cheap Digms and Jack Johnson.....

Must be those speaker cables...

 

[ParadigmDawg]

The OP already told you once not to jack up his thread.

It's ok if I do it...I am a Spartan...

Must be those speaker cables...

 

[greggp2]

Listen...do you hear that...mmmm...sounds good doesn't it....just a little Rotel, some cheap Digms and Jack Johnson.....

Imagine how good it would be if you were using an Emotiva Amp...

 

[ParadigmDawg]

Did that last week....

This reminds me of the days Craig(Highlander) and I would drink and ruin threads, back before he was working so much.

I took my acoustic panels down so we could paint and I am quickly reminded that amps don't matter, panels do....

Imagine how good it would be if you were using an Emotiva Amp...

 

[greggp2]

Well, I can't become a Spartan without being a point whore, so I'm hi-jacking threads, and then I'll jump in my Evo and speed off...

 

[greggp2]

Besides, he's going to buy an Emotiva I think. He seemed to indicate that earlier, so this thread is pretty much dead anyway..

 

[ParadigmDawg]

So in the end, after all the talk....he made a bad choice?????

Besides, he's going to buy an Emotiva I think. He seemed to indicate that earlier, so this thread is pretty much dead anyway..