I was used to the smoothness of my previous Classe and bottom line is the Bryston was too much in your face and caused listening fatigue. I was looking for an amplfier to replace my older Classe CA201 which would sound better and play louder and thought the Bryston would be the ticket. What type of music do you listen to most? I wonder if our preferences are due to type of music we listen to rather than system synergy.I listen primarily to Classic Rock and the bass punch and ability to produce room suddering bass was equal to or better than the Bryston.Įven though the Bryston 14BSSt was rated at 600watts per channel it did not sound as dynamic as the Classe with 200 wpc. For instance, do those of us with 802 and 800 models prefer the Bryston over the Classe since these models have bigger woofers? Do those of us who listen to jazz prefer the Classe over the Bryston? It would be interesting to do a survey of the participants in this forum to find out what music they listen to, their speaker type and the amp. I can see why a lot of people favour the Classe. I found that the Bryston portrayed female vocals more realistically but the Classe made them beautiful to listen to.Ĭlearly the amp of choice is going to be a matter of not only taste but the type of music played. The Classe was brilliant with female vocals. The soundstage size on both were identical. Each instrument and vocals occupied a larger space than with the Bryston. With the Classe each instrument and the vocals seemed bigger in the soundstage. Nevertheless, thanks to the Classe's smoothness and warmth, 'The Wall' album was generally more enjoyable with the Classe than the Bryston. The introduction to 'another Brick in The Wall - part 3' is explosive with the Bryston but polite with the Classe. This detail was lost when the Classe was used. When she then moves to the bathroom, her voice again echoes differently again. When the girl on Pink Floyd's 'One of My Turns' in 'The Wall' walks into an adjoining room to get a drink of water I can hear her voice echo differently to when she was in the main room. There was no reverberation there on Tin Pan Alley or the Carpenter's 'Yesterday once more' or during the intro to Iron Maiden's 'Number of the Beast'. You couldn't hear the 'venue' the way you could with the Bryston. The Classe seemed to filter out some detail as well. Stevie Ray Vaughn's guitar on Tin Pan Alley didn't have the realism and bite that it did with the Bryston. Furthermore, the Classe lacked the attack of the Bryston. The Classe's bass was definitely bigger than the Bryston but this was due to it being a more flabby rather than deeper or louder. Despite all the positives stated above, on the whole the system didn't grab me. My own first impression was not favourable. My friend who helped with the transport of the monoblocks was very impressed. The background was blacker (quieter) and there very little hiss coming from the speakers when the music was not playing. It was immediately apparent that the Classe was a lot smoother in the top end. The Bryston was swapped out for the monoblocks. Pure AV power conditioner for the pre-amp and CDP However, like most audiophiles, I wondered if I could be happier. Note that I am happy with how the Bryston performs. I was keen on improving my sound and thought that the Classe might do the trick. I have also seen a few posts elsewhere saying that Bryston and B&W are a bad match. Many of you maintain that Classe and B&W are an excellent match. The only reason I trialed them was the loyal Classe following in this forum. My local dealer had a couple of Classe CAM 350 monoblocks for sale and was kind enough to allow me to home trial.