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Thread: Bryston 10B, how good is it?

  1. #1
    Senior Member martin2395's Avatar
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    Bryston 10B, how good is it?

    I gave up on the KBX since there is no service manual available at all and the cost of reconfiguring the unit would've probably been insane but I just spotted a nice looking Bryston 10B for sale..
    I have to admit it, it's tempting as hell ;D

    What do you guys think, would it be any better than a modded to the max BSS FDS360 (Muse KZ caps, LM4562NA and OPA2134 op-amps, beefed up PSU and with 300Hz/24dBoct. cards)?
    Also is it worth it considering the enormous price difference!

  2. #2
    Dang. Amateur speakerdave's Avatar
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    I don't have a wide experience of crossovers, so I have not done comparisons, but--

    The Bryston I believe is all discrete componentry, has selectable 6, 12, and 18 dB slopes, independently selected slopes and hinge frequency for high pass and low pass, and a good selection of fixed crossover frequencies, so it was very nice for experimenting, but I found that once I had chosen a crossover frequency I preferred a charge coupled textbook passive 12 DB crossover for my TAD TD/TH4003 and a UREI 525 that lets me dial in the low pass for the woofers. Additionally I use White Instruments fully passive model 4004 equalizers in front of the woofer amp.

    I do believe you will find a difference between a very good analog processor like the Bryston 10B and very good digital. But still, it may not be ultimately satisfying, and it is very expensive new. I would suggest you try to get a trial of one or buy a clean used one at a price that will let you out of it with little pain. Mine were older; newer ones may be different.
    "Audio is filled with dangerous amateurs." --- Tim de Paravicini

  3. #3
    Senior Member martin2395's Avatar
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    Thank you for your reply, I plan to use the 10B as 300Hz/12dBoct. 2 way stereo xover, I already built Giskard's 9V 3155 cc networks.

    The price seems about right, I think. The dealer wants €800,- for the 'normal' version with XLR outputs also the BSS is still a money sinkhole, now I have to troubleshoot the PSU as the negative rail psu went bust.

  4. #4
    Dang. Amateur speakerdave's Avatar
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    That sounds like a reasonable price. I think you will enjoy the crossover in that application.
    "Audio is filled with dangerous amateurs." --- Tim de Paravicini

  5. #5
    Senior Member martin2395's Avatar
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    Sometimes I question myself....what am I busy with for god's sake. The reg turned out to be OK and I was measuring wrong pins.
    I was almost certain that both 7815 and 7915 had the same pinout - NOPE, they don't! So I was measuring the voltage difference between the in and output

    But I bought the Bryston so I have that going for me, which is nice

  6. #6
    Senior Member martin2395's Avatar
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    I have been listening to the Bryston the whole evening and I like it, it is dead quiet while the BSS even with all mods still has audible hiss. Could it be because the earth wire is disconnected on the BSS?

    And indeed - the Bryston sounds more airy and open while the BSS certainly has a sound signature of its own.

    BTW, my 10B is the 2nd SUB version from 1991.

  7. #7
    Senior Member martin2395's Avatar
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    I was looking at the manual and to me it looks like when you use an XLR-RCA adaptor on the output, you will get a 180 phaseshift and it shorts the output? (the modern XLR-RCA adaptors have pin 1 and 3 shorted)

    http://bryston.com/PDF/Manuals/300001%5B10B%5D.pdf

  8. #8
    Senior Señor boputnam's Avatar
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    Read it again: "The polarity of the input signal will be maintained at the 10B’s output."
    In Pin2 hot = Out Pin2 hot. Same for Pin3.

    Never had a problem, but I don't adapt the outputs from XLR-RCA (time to change your amps...? ).
    bo

    "Indeed, not!!"

  9. #9
    Senior Member martin2395's Avatar
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    I asked Bryston and they confirmed what you wrote, I got confused by the pic I found in the manual.
    http://puu.sh/dq1Ot/030c1c8abe.png

    It maintains the phase but throws the HOT on pin 3 again while RCA-XLR adaptors have pin 1 and 3 shorted so your hot is then shorted to ground.

    I love my Krell ksa50MkII, sadly the 1st gen Krells aren't balanced. AFAIK the first balanced Krell poweramp was the KSA-80B.
    I also had a fully recapped KSA-80 but stupidity took over and I sold it, also had the KSA200B in original condition but the 80 did sound much better. The 200B was too sluggish for my taste while the KSA80 had a more open, airy sound.
    The ML33x series did look interesting to me until I found out about their issues and (very) expensive repairs.

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