[paulBAW]

I currently have a NAD intergrated amp, rated at 50pch. I'm getting Energy Veritas 2.1 bookshelves and I want to later upgrade my amp.

I'm Canadian and I'm guilty of liking Canadian made products. I've heard Bryston stuff before, the B60 intergrated amp and a 9B SST in stereo. Many things account for me liking Bryston. I suppose its the fact that they stand behind their product with a 20yr warrenty that really puts a smile on my face. When so many manufactures are shying away from warrenty, Bryston makes you feel like a lifetime partner. And therefore, I want a Bryston. To me its a Porsche. That car you've always wanted regardless of what else is out there.

I've been looking at the used market. I've found the Bryston 3B ST as low as $1200.00 (3yrs old, balance of the warrenty) and I could couple that with my NAD intergrated and use the NAD as a pre. My question is I wonder what I could get a Bryston B60 intergrated used for or a 2B amp for used? The 2B and B60 are rated much lower at 60 watts, but I have a feeling it would be more then enough for the rather tame Veritas. I could at a later date use the B60/2B as a power amp for rear speakers if I so choosed. I guess my question is how big is the difference in sound quality from a B60 to a 3B ST? And what could I expect to pay for a used B60 or 2B amp? I just recently picked up an issue of HiFi Choice magazine and they used the Bryston B60 intergrated with a couple of PMC FB1 Floor standing speakers, and they had little problems driving the speaker. A NAIM cd player was the source. I was wondering if I could save some more dough, yet not lose as much sound quality because of the Bookshelve size and the sensitvity of the Veritas.

[paulBAW]

Must be Some current or past Bryston Owners on this forum.

[GordonL]

As far as used prices, you could check the completed auctions on ebay to get a rough idea.

Bryston makes excellent gear and whether a B60/2B/3B is sufficient for your needs depends on how loud you like to listen, speaker efficiency, room size, etc. Really the only way for you to know is to try to audition them in your system in your home. As long as you're not driving them to clipping, you probably won't notice much difference sonically. Bryston tends to be conservative with their specs so their 60 watts is probably more like 80.