Bryston BP-25 Preamp, 10B-Sub Electronic Crossover, and 3B-ST Amplifier - Measurements and Review

[MAB]

Those Bryston 2b power amps were always on my list. They looked the business!

2B-LP Pro – Bryston

bryston.com

I'm going to test a 2B-LP with RCA inputs next, as well as a .5B preamp. After seeing how well the units in this test performed, I'm eager to see if the older gear I have is still working well.

 

[shuppatsu]

My dad's home theater used Waveform Mach 17s for the three front speakers. Each one used a Bryston 5BST, with each of its three channels used for the woofer, mid, and treble separately. He also had a 5-channel Bryston power amp for the surround eggs.

I never lived in the house during that time, but my experience was that one channel or the other was seemingly always down or malfunctioning. He would send them in for repair, and they would do it for free, but the process would take time. And in the meantime, the home theater was out for the count or in limp mode.

He used the entirety of the 20 year warranty. He sold the main speakers with the 5BSTs, but he still uses the 5-channel amp for his current, much-scaled-down home theater. It was repaired under warranty right around year 19, has been going strong for a couple years as far as I know.

I'm not sure what to draw from this other than that tri-amped speakers triple your amp failure exposure? And that cheap monos like the V3 might be a better way to go, just keeping a couple on hand for any malfunctions.

 

[MAB]

Ohhhh that's good to know! Not to mention too, I want to get around unbalanced electrical issues. The Topping PA5 II (or Plus) is a possibility. I know it was recommended here, but the review did leave some things to be desired. Maybe you have a recommendation for Class D?

There are many reviewed here. I just got my mom a WiiM amp with PEQ, it is great. I used the room correction to help her out in her apartment, she seems happy. I like the sound. I have PuriFi and Hypex, they are both great too but overkill for many, likely including myself. I did get them because the are used in a high efficiency system where the noise is audible. but barely to be honest. Otherwise the 3BST, assuming yours is performing like mine, is going to be so awesome that even a more awesome amp isn't going to make one iota of difference in the sound.

Btw, does your Bryston have any low (very low) hum or buzz? I started to notice some in mine in the last few months, around the time I bought new speakers, which are 4 ohm (the Philharmonic Audio Ceramic Mini). We're talking the kind of noise you can't hear during the day, no vent or a/c can be running. the room has to be quite silent. It might even be normal across all amplifiers. Thanks!

Mine do not, unless I hook them up to a really high efficiency speaker like a compression driver on a lens. Even then, I have to get my ear very close.

Are you sure it's the amp? Or is it something the amp is amplifying that the amp is hooked up to? Most likely, usually free to fix, is a ground loop.
If it is the amp, Bryston can likely fix it.

If I had a Bryston amp and didn't need another amp, I would buy a new pair of speakers.
Amps that are working properly just don't have any sound.

 

[theREALdotnet]

My analyzer can only handle 8 Volts without either engaging the internal attenuator, or using an external divider.
The difference you see between the two graphs is the internal attenuator so I could measure above 8 Volts.
Sorry I didn't make that clear. Tell me if I am still not making sense!

Not sure I understand. Why is the sharp upward turn in distortion between 1V and 2V shown in the first graph not seen the second graph?

 

[MAB]

Not sure I understand. Why is the sharp upward turn in distortion between 1V and 2V shown in the first graph not seen the second graph?

OK, I think I understand your concern. It is confusing, but the two are of the same distribution. The original graphs I posted don't help. Here is a repeat of the measurement, but this time same scale and overlaid with just the THD, 18dB FS vs. 42dB FS with the internal attenuator and so the penalty is apparent, about 15dB.

Both have the same knee, it's the degraded performance of the analyzer that obscures things.

You probably notice the blue 18dB FS trace if extrapolated, looks like it might be a few dB higher THD than the brown 42dB FS trace. I am pretty sure I am starting to overload the input of the analyzer even before I get to 18dB FS.

The two are the same measurement, differing by the input performance of the analyzer with and without the attenuator, and a slightly overloaded input as I reach the upper end of the 18dB FS input range.

 

[Neddy]

I have a 2B-LP as well, but one channel has some hum. I contacted the US repair rep, and he kind of talked me out of having it repaired, claiming it was probably 'normal', and was not interested in arguing with him about it. I'll be very curious to see your measurements.
I haven't decided to resell it as is, or have one more go at the repair guy (they are modules, so not hard to ship.)
The 3B and 2B make a nice pair in the rack, though and would make a nice set of amps for a two way system.

 

[MAB]

I have a 2B-LP as well, but one channel has some hum. I contacted the US repair rep, and he kind of talked me out of having it repaired, claiming it was probably 'normal', and was not interested in arguing with him about it. I'll be very curious to see your measurements.
I haven't decided to resell it as is, or have one more go at the repair guy (they are modules, so not hard to ship.)
The 3B and 2B make a nice pair in the rack, though and would make a nice set of amps for a two way system.

Interesting.
I will focus on hum to some extent when I test them, and try not to procrastinate!

 

[mcdonalk]

I was fortunate enough to have ordered 2 Bryston components early enough so that their delivery could fall within an eye of the recent tariff turbulence.

When my old Topping D90 DAC was having a problem, I had literally no place to go for support, and emails were unanswered. I replaced that temporarily amusing cereal box toy a few years back.

In contrast, I had a minor issue with one of the new Bryston devices (of which there were already two workarounds!), and filed a report online, updates of which were emailed to me, and even a phone call from Bryston occurred to walk me through making specific observations.

And, they sound great, too.

 

[The_Fall]

Designed and manufactured in Canada!

 

[eric-c]

self confessed Bryson Fanboy. Bought a 3B Pro new back in the late 80's from a DJ store. Sold it (big mistake) to get an "audiophile" power amp from a new company (which ended up being in business for about 20 years) and this was its first product and this new amp kept self destructing because of a faulty design. Anyways years later I had an all Bryston amplification chain in my Theatre: SP 1.7, 6B SST, 4B SST, 3B SST. Then in the last two years went on the hunt for the Bryston SP3 (or JBL Synthesis SDP-45) prepro as these are discontinued and it was my dream prepro (all I need is 7.1) and highly acclaimed. Found one locally with the 4k HDMI upgraded boards and jumped on it. I went with active speakers and my amps sat in storage as I wanted to keep them. In the past year, I ended up selling them. The Bryston products have outstanding resell value. Their support is best in class in the industry. James Tanner, the president frequently post and responds on another forum. I love how they put the QA test sheets in for each of their products. Bryston recently merged / got bought by the company that makes Axiom speakers.

 

[Angsty]

I am so delighted with this test! I have the Bryston BP-25DA (serviced), the 4B-ST (re-capped) and the BP-1.5 (serviced) in my main system. Glad to see that the test results mirror those I have seen elsewhere. I've have the 4B-ST and the BP-25DA for almost 20 years now and don't plan to part with any of them.

 

[Hart]

I used to have Bryston 4BSST. I always wondered if it was a true high fidelity audiophile amp or more of a "commercial" amp. i.e. sturdy and powerful but not necessarily high fidelity. Looks like it does quite well. Built like a tank and the warranty is like 20 years? That says a lot especially having equipment break after a few years and after the one year warranty was up. I had two pieces from Arcam blew up, never again...

 

[Angsty]

I used to have Bryston 4BSST. I always wondered if it was a true high fidelity audiophile amp or more of a "commercial" amp. i.e. sturdy and powerful but not necessarily high fidelity. Looks like it does quite well. Built like a tank and the warranty is like 20 years? That says a lot especially having equipment break after a few years and after the one year warranty was up. I had two pieces from Arcam blew up, never again...

Not high fidelity? Please elaborate.

 

[Neddy]

Compare with Crown 1502 measurements

 

[Hart]

Not high fidelity? Please elaborate.

Excellent specs.

 

[Anthony LoFi]

I was a country distributor for Bryston in the mid to late 90's. I have personally owned a 4BST Pro and a BP25. As the distributor I was contacted by an elderly gent who owned an early 2B (not heat sinks mounted on the front) who wanted a new front plate. His was chipped and scratched. Cosmetic only. I didn't have a price but the customer didn't mind paying. My next shipment arrived with said new front plate. The invoice from Bryston didn't include a cost on the item. I (yes) faxed them that they haven't charged me. They answered "no charge". My customer was ecstatic. Only had two warranty claims, one was beer split into the unit, the other was where the owner dropped the amp.
The only complaint I got was from an existing user of 3B/4B to power his rental live rig wanting captive speaker output connectors as the binding posts wore out?
Also if a channel had failed (usually short circuit outputs), I could repair locally as the main circuit board had edge connectors to feed the heat sinked power transistor side panels. Easy to replace, only screw driver needed for same day service. I sent the dud panels back to Bryston which they replaced free of charge.

 

[Angsty]

Excellent specs.

I understand your point - the misunderstanding was mine.

 

[kemmler3D]

Great review, and good info... Looks like these are really worth grabbing if they come up secondhand.

 

[MAB]

I used to have Bryston 4BSST. I always wondered if it was a true high fidelity audiophile amp or more of a "commercial" amp. i.e. sturdy and powerful but not necessarily high fidelity. Looks like it does quite well. Built like a tank and the warranty is like 20 years? That says a lot especially having equipment break after a few years and after the one year warranty was up. I had two pieces from Arcam blew up, never again...

I see it differently.
I normally associate "true high fidelity audiophile amps" with middling to poor performance and fidelity. Often accompanied by fragility, instability and incompatibility.

For example, let's compare THD for the past several recently tested amps in Stereophile, using the measurements they provide with their Audio Precision analyzer. I selected only super premium gear, tested in the last ~year. The Rogue Audio Dragon is a Hypex/Tube hybrid that demonstrates what an audiophile manufacture can do to degrade the performance of a high performing commercial product to the level of tasteless joke. The rest are the usual mixture of tall tales of bespoke BS, with little feedback. I captured each amp's THD vs. Power using WebPlotDigitizer, and compare to my 3BST measurements (the blue inverted triangles at the bottom of the THD plot ).

With he exception of the Boulder which is tied with the Bryston for THD performance, the rest of this list are beaten by wide margins, 2 to 3 orders of magnitude difference in THD for some. A "professional" amp like a Crown will also beat most of these "audiophile" amps in THD, even if not performing quite as well as the Bryston. THD is just one of the many areas where the audiophile amp group has poor performance. And as good as the Bryston is, it gets beaten by many amps tested at ASR, like the Hypex and PuriFi commercial designs which go into all sorts of applications.

 

[Andreas007]

Great to see how the specs are fulfilled even after such a long time. Bryston is a great company.
My old Bryston B60 integrated amplifier is now 30 years old and still works perfectly for a friend of mine to whom I gave it. I think it will outlive us both.