Bryston B-60R SST Car Amp

I think it safe to say that most practical audio buffs are constantly searching for the ideal balance of compromises in a stereo component. To the careful shopper, every component they buy is a carefully-considered blend of size, cost, durability, usability, objective performance, and subjective quality.

The Bryston B-60R represents a fine example of balanced value in an audio product. It offers exceptional sound quality in very compact and reasonably-priced package. By saying "reasonably-priced," I am not comparing it to your average mass-fi integrated amplifiers or receivers, which usually cost significantly less than the Bryston's non-trivial $1800. But in terms of pure musical enjoyment, it is both a significant upgrade over your top-of-the-line Circuit City home theater special and a great value compared to the vast majority of high-end gear.

Description

The entire amp, being 17" wide by 10.75" only 1.75" tall, will easily fit into spaces that are hopelessly tight for a separate preamp and amp; even receiver fans will be pleased with its very slim profile. The unit is not a lightweight though, being extremely solid and well-built with a hefty feel. Bryston's famous 20-year transferrable warranty is included of course.

The amp is rated very conservatively at 60Wpc RMS, but every unit that leaves the factory is hand-tested and includes a specification sheet with individual measurements. The unit I evaluated was rated at 70Wpc RMS, and all distortion components were extremely low (under .01%). The line output of the preamp section has particulary impressive drive capability, being able to directly drive headphones via the front panel headphone jack. On the back panel are four line-level inputs plus a tape loop, and a preamp-out/amp-in loop that is connected by default with two gold-plated jumpers. Speaker outputs are via Bryston's own insulated 5-way binding posts, which are quite large and rather awkward to use. Front-panel controls include power, tape monitor, input select, volume, and balance. The B-60R includes a hefty machined aluminum with just three tactile membrane switches, volume up/down and mute. The $300 price difference between the B-60R and the remote-less B-60 seems excessive, but a Bryston dealer informed me that almost every customer who opts for the B-60 later regrets not getting the remote control. The unit as tested is $1800 MSRP, but can often be found around $1600 or less retail.

Operation and Technical Stuff

Inside my unit (manufactured around Spring 1999 with a Rev. 1.5 circuit board) I got a look at the discrete op-amps in the preamp section and the very simple amplifier section (identical to Bryston's 2B amplifier) employing two metal-can Motorola bipolar devices per channel. The layout is very clean and well-executed, with a very professional and utilitarian feel to it. The unit is very smooth and seemingly bulletproof in everyday operation. On power-up, a time delay circuit mutes the preamp output for several seconds. An additional new muting circuit on the amplifier's input circuit also eliminates any last trace of turn-on thump that a few people complained about with the original design. The headphone jack includes an internal switch that puts the preamp output into mute mode when a headphone is plugged into the unit, thus allowing completely silent private listening. The remote control casts a strong beam and works well with the exception of a very slight and often unnoticable clicking sound in my unit when increasing the motorized volume control. Overall, the unit is a joy to operate in everyday use.

Setup and Source Material

The Bryston was used with my Sony DVP-S7700 dvd/cd transport and modified MSB Link DAC exclusively as sources. Digital cables included AR and Monster Interlink 100 toslink, generic RG-6 coax, and an expensive Cardas cable I can't remember the name of. Interconnects consisted of a hodgepodge of homebrew interconnects, Kimber PBJ, Cardas 300B Microtwin, and Cardas Golden Cross. Speaker cables were a 8 foot run of the fantastic Analysis Plus Oval-12 cable, by far the best speaker cable I've used to date.

Amplifiers compared to included the Rogue 88 tube amp, Audio Refinement integrated, and old Adcom GFA-535II, and my personal reference, my highly-modified Rega Brio integrated. If you are laughing at my diminutive, $500-retail Brio, let me just say that after my tweaks and hacks (it was nowhere as good in stock form) it has hands-down shamed some much more expensive and highly-touted amplifiers in auditions with different listeners.

My listening tastes are in purely acoustic (classical) music, with much of my collection consisting of classic remastered analog recordings from the 50's and 60's, with a few newer digital recordings such as an excellent performance of Schubert's "Great" Symphony on DG (performed by the Vienna Philharmonic conducted by Gardiner). Specific attention was paid to reproduction of large symphonic works, violin, piano, and male voice.

Sound Quality

There are numerous professional reviews of the B-60 available, most of which are extremely positive, so I won't go into great detail in analyzing its sound but will concentrate on my impressions based on my listening tastes. A few reviews on the internet have criticized the Bryston as being bright, but I on the contrary found it if anything on the mellow and warm side, and can only conjecture that their units were not as well broken-in as mine was. Soundstaging is surprisingly good for such a small amp, with good width and respectable depth and a nice solid feel to individual performers on the stage. Bass was also quite good, being a tad warm but solid and well-extended, though of course the bottom two octaves (20Hz - 80Hz) don't have the sort of power you get with a megawatt amp. Highs were also well-extended, with cymbals and brass sounding natural and open but never too edgy.

But where the amp really shines is in the midrange, where it seems to have great resolution of fine details and nuances. Strings have good body, not being threadbare and weak as with the vast majority of mid-fi gear. Voices have natural timbre, though i sense just a bit of a nasal coloration at times. For chamber or solo music, small jazz ensembles, etc., this is a tough amp to beat at the price. The lack of grain throughout the midrange and extending into the treble hints at the performance of much more expensive gear.

It also does not get congested or hard with large-scale orchestra music, though there is a definite limit to its dynamic ability. Still, the soundstage remains stable and wide with larger ensembles, and the clarity of the midrange allows you to delineate individual instruments and sections with ease. The combination of smoothness and clarity in the midrange is very rare in an amp of this price, and makes listening to acoustic instruments in particular rewarding.

Negatives stem in large part from the limited power and small size of the amp, which translates to the aforementioned lack of large-scale dynamics and moderate soundstaging. The amp by no means sounds small, but it definitely doesn't sound huge either. Also, the nasal coloration I noticed on voices seems to show up as a very slight veil over the sound in general. Perhaps the warmth and smoothness of the sound comes at the cost of the last few degrees of transparency, a tradeoff i think most buyers would be more than happy to make at this price. Still, if you are a detail freak, you will probably want to look elsewhere. I also felt that the midbass/bass lacked a little "rhythm" compared to the better British gear which excel in this regard; the beat seemed just a tad bit more distant and harder to find.

Comparisons

The Audio Refinement costs considerably less (under $1k I believe), though its exterior build quality mimics much more expensive gear. However, I found its presentation uninteresting at best, being too veiled and slightly hard, with the coldness I find typical of less accomplished solid-state amps. The old Adcom 535II also suffers in this regard, and I could not get either to open up and sing the way the Bryston could. The Rogue 88 is not an integrated amp, but regardless I found it a useful comparison. The Rogue is a modern tube amp with the traditional tube virtues (smooth and unfatiguing character, liquid midrange, natural dynamic ebb and flow, great nuance and detail) along with surprising dynamics and bass extension and control. In terms of inner detail and subtle instrument timbres, it was tough too beat. Woodwinds in particular sounded wonderfully "woody" and natural, and horns had a beautiful full-bodied character compared to the Bryston, which was no slouch in these areas either. However, as with most reasonably-priced tube amps I've heard, the pleasing sonics come at the cost of absolute transparency, as there is a level of coloration, a nasal quality, that ultimately gets in the way of the music. Overall, I found the Bryston to be a more accurate amplification device, despite the Rogue communicating what seemed like greater detail. It'll be a toss-up based on taste, but the Bryston held up very well to the more expensive tubed competition.

Conclusion

I'll have to concur with the glowing reviews in the press about this amp: it truly is a tremendous value. I haven't surveyed the latest competition in the market, but I think you'll still be hard-pressed to find a more musical, more well-rounded package for the money. What it may lack in the last level of transparency, dynamics, and soundstaging it makes up for with the tremendously balanced performance and the sheer convenience and durability of its design. It has performance to satisfy a die-hard audiophile in a tidy, convenient package that even your wife or parents will love. In that respect, it's about as perfect as amps come.