Could a lower power amp actually be "better" ? (1 Viewer)

[Kevin C Brown]

JT- Complicated and won't make sense to anyone but me...

I looked at the 3b-st/nt212, to go with a 9b-st/nt512. I have read all the reviews, seen all the measurements, but to me, the 3b-st/nt212 is just not a substantial enough box. 17" wide, by about 6" tall, by only 9" deep, and weighs about 22 lbs. (I call it a "shoebox" amp.) Bottom line, and Ricky has had a lot of heartache over this , *I* need to be satisfied with the final combo.

So then I switched gears to the 5b-st and 8b-st. 3 channels plus 4 channels, and they actually use the same chassis, so they "stack" more nicely. (I actually have a 60lb balanced power unit on top of the two amps I have now, in the rack under my TV. That would be impossible with the 3b-st/nt212.) But they are really hard to find. And I'd need to find a 412 to go with that 312. Even harder to find. (And I even rationaize the 3 + 4 combo is better for heat dissapation than the 2 + 5 combo.) So I found a brand new 5b-st plus an 8b-st just decided to do it.

Charles- My advice you you is: do *not* go and read all the reviews on Bryton's site. There's no turning back after that. The only other combo I thought seriously about, was the Proceed AMP5 plus either the AMP2 or the BPA-2. But I looked for months, and never did find a BPA-2...

 

[Charles Gurganus]

I hear ya Kevin. I've even tried to rationalize that Bryston wouldn't work well with NHT's but then I've heard that contradicted on several occasions.

 

[Felix_H]

Kevin: I think your 5B/8B combo is a better choice than the 9B/3B combo. Down the future if you have a huge room, you could always put the 5B up front in the roomand the 8B in the rear of the room where the suround speakers are. Better to have shorter speaker cable runs. With a 9B, it would be much tougher.

Charles: The Proceeds that Kevin stated are good as they are Levinson quality. Aragons are good too especially the 8008's

 

[John-Tompkins]

Roger that.. Ive been through around 35~40 amps in the last 5~6 years (amp slut ) The Brystons are my favorite match with my NHT 2.9's and now my NHT T5's

 

[Kevin C Brown]

Dang, and I think that going through about 12 amps over the last 15 years is a lot... But, I've had Acurus of one kind or another in my system for the last 8 of those years.

JT- What else have you looked at? You still have the Integra pre/pro?

 

[Ricky T]

Kevin,

Sure the 3bst might be only 6 inches deep and 22 lbs, but all of these 125 wpc modules are the exact same size. Why would the modules in the 5bst and 8bst be any different from the ones in the 3bst? Basically, each module is about 8 or so lbs, and the rest are the various chassis weights.

 

[John-Tompkins]

Yea Im still using the Integra DTC 9.4 and Im 100 percent happy with it..Its gonna stay in my rack for a good long while. As far as amps go Im done..Dont even have the urge to change (hence I havent visited this board in awhile)

 

[Charles Gurganus]

Sure JT, I've heard that before (I may have even said that myself).

 

[Kevin C Brown]

Ricky- Yes, I know... But in this case, I need the bigger chassis to put the Equi-tech on top of. I got them yesterday. Quite beautiful. Works of art. Engineering marvels. And all that!