Bryston vs Rotel amp for B&W setup

[alpina]

Hi all,

Our speaker choice is 95% decided and will comprise of either:
1. 804s with htm3s with 705s with aws750; or
2. 703s with htm4s with 705s with aws750.

Assuming for a moment that we go with option 1, we would love to hear your opinion of which of the following amp will best suit our application. Our choice atm is made up of:

1. Bryston 9B-SST
2. Rotel 1095
3. Rotel 1077

Will the 9B and 1077 sound underpowered when compared to 1095? Will they handle 804's better than ok?

Really interested to hear comments on 9B as it cost more than the 1095 and 1077 combined.

Want to make the right choice with components first time as we are having our av rack custom built to fit the components and modifications to joinery will be difficult once fabricated.

If I was to go with option 2 speaker choice, would your advice change at all?

Regards,

Julie

[mat]

I'm in a similar situation, I choosed the option 1 for speakers. Had demoed 704, 703, 805s, 804s and 802d. For me the differences between 800 series and 700 worth the extra cost. Smooth sound, less "harsh", best mid range... overall a winner for me. The 802d was demoed just for pleassure after the 'realistic-affordable' session and was a real step up, however too costly for me at this moment. Anyway was really pleased with the sound of the 804s, so I decided to go for 804s and HTM3s. Now, for the amp choice I'm a bit lost also. I'm trying to decide between 1095 or 1077 (I even thought about a 1075 second hand temporally just because I can get it very affordable and later add a 1080 to the ecuation or sell it later and get a 1095 or 1077). Hope to make a choice really soon but for the moment is not easy for me. Let's see what the experts say here and will be a nice help for us :T .

[alpina]

hi matt,

looking forward to seeing how this thread progresses.

the bryston is expensive by comparison to the rotel but we can stretch to afford it if worthwhile given that we have agreed that wont go bigger than 703/804 size speakers.

little concerned if the power of the bryston or 1077 is enough - mainly because we have had advise before that the 1075 (similar specification power) would not be adequate for the 703/804 and that we should go with the 1095.

understand that we have a 2600 already and have no intention of changing it (very practical processor for our application with hdmi and upscaling). we will be using 2 channels for zone 2 (outdoor speakers) and will have 5 free channels as we intend to preout these into either the bryston or rotel. please advise if you think we should look at it differently - eg biamp rb9, use spare channel for center and use 2ch on 2600 for 705s etc etc?

would really love some assistance here

cheers,

julie

[aud19]

Ooooh if you can afford the Bryston I'd be leaning there myself... :yesnod:

[eddiem67]

Bryston>Rotel

[htsteve]

New Rotel Amps

Alpina,

For the price of the Bryston, you might consider a Rotel RB-1092 (500W x 2, $2500) and the RB-1091 (500W x 1, $1500) to drive the fronts. Or, really cool would be three RB-1091's for the fronts. These are quite small and give off very little heat in addition to being able to drive speakers well. These amps should also allow you to upgrade speakers later without having to upgrade amps. Then get a 1075 to drive the rears and other zones (or use the 2600 for now. What brand is the 2600?). Hope this helps.

[alpina]

hi htsteve,

wow! that sounds like a lot of power

big question for me if i go bryston (lots of $$$) is whether or not these speakers will be adequately powered by them - ie, 125*5. i think multiple brystons is out of the question for it will practically double the cost.

cheers,

julie

[aud19]

IMO the 9BSST would be at minimum, (worst case scenario, heaviest possible load due to an extremely demanding music/movie pasage...) at least "adequate" for power. Otherwise the 99.9% of the rest of the time that you'll be using it it will be better than adequate and IMO give you greater listening pleasure over the Rotels. Besides if down the line you feel the desire for more power you can already start to plan adding a 4B to your mains :P

[alpina]

Besides if down the line you feel the desire for more power you can already start to plan adding a 4B to your mains :P

hi jason,

did look at the 4b and still can but if i went that route, there would be no need for the 9b would there (only need 5.1)? a 4b + 9b = ridiculous amt of money

not sure "adequate" cuts it for this sort of money for us? should i be looking at another bryston setup instead of the 9b?

rotel option seems easiest (ie, cheapest with more power) but we have not discounted bryston for sonic performance and bulletproof build.

regards,

julie

[george_k]

Alpina,

Given your location why not look at PLINIUS they are made in New Zealand their stuff is in league if not slightly above Bryston

http://www.pliniusaudio.com/index.asp

[aud19]

hi jason,

did look at the 4b and still can but if i went that route, there would be no need for the 9b would there (only need 5.1)? a 4b + 9b = ridiculous amt of money

not sure "adequate" cuts it for this sort of money for us? should i be looking at another bryston setup instead of the 9b?

rotel option seems easiest (ie, cheapest with more power) but we have not discounted bryston for sonic performance and bulletproof build.

regards,

julie

Julie, as I said I feel the Bryston will give you the better performance regardless. And 99.9% of the time it will have more than enough power. Only under very rare and extreme cases do I feel you will even have the chance of hearing anything resempling deficiencies in the power. The choice seems to be between slightly more, but "lower" quality power (which minimal difference will hardly be noticed or be needed) or vice versa. If I had that budget and it was my money I'd be spending it on the 9B

[alpina]

Julie, as I said I feel the Bryston will give you the better performance regardless. And 99.9% of the time it will have more than enough power.

would a 6b (300*3 and roughly same price as 9b) be a better option for fronts with perhaps a 1080 for rears? ideally a 4b for rears would be ideal and look prettiest but pretty sure budget wont stretch. or just stick to 9b?

julie

[Phil Rose]

I can't speak to the Rotel but, can say that if you get the Bryston 9B-SST you won't be sorry. I have N804s for my rears powered by an ATI AT-1505 (150 x 5) and they've never run out of power. BTW the front N802s use 7B-STs which give incredible control of the bass. For a time the N802s were run by the 1505 and the amp never ran out of power. Brystons are conservatively rated, have very good current capability and are extremely neutral. Also, the B&Ws are pretty efficient (except for a few dips in the LF region). It should be a great amp/speaker combo for you.

[DavidB]

I've just bought a 9BSST myself and loved the sound with the B&W's, I bought it second hand and it's rated at 145w per cahnnel. It's going to be used to power my HTM2D, CWMDS8 surrounds and also some Signature 7NT's that are in another room. My main speakers will be 802D's which are going to be driven by a Dynavector HX 1.2.

System gets installed next month.

[NonSense]

Julie

If you describe to us what type of listening you wish to achieve, this might help everyone with the advise.

If you are looking for HT performance, then putting the money into a good multi-channel amplifier is the way to go. If you want exceptional 2CH playback (and good HT) then buying a great 2Ch (or 3CH) amp for the mains (+center), and a lesser amp to service the surrounds is probably the better option.

IMO, if you are trying to cut some corners, the amplification for the surrounds is one place to look. The surround content is generally much less with respect to the mains and you can go with a lesser amp without losing much performance. (Rotel RB-1070 would be enough for example)

The center does deserve some good amplification though.

[alpina]

If you describe to us what type of listening you wish to achieve, this might help everyone with the advise

hi bruce,

our listening is predominantly HT - i would say 70/30

Would a 6b and say a 4b or 1080 not be overkill for 804/htm3/705 combo? 300*3 bryston amp for 804s with htm3 sound like a lot of power. for the record our room size is 5mt wide * 12mts long * 3.5mts high and we will be sitting on width wall - ie, 5mts from speakers so not that far

ideally a 4b for rears would be ideal and look prettiest but pretty sure budget wont stretch. or just stick to 9b?

regards,

julie

[alpina]

think we will go 6b for main amp - better to be safe than sorry

so, do we go 2b or 3b for 705s?

finally, out of curiousity silver or black?

thanks for all your help guys?

julie

[irishwombat]

Hey Alpina
where do you get your Bryson's in Sydney ?

[alpina]

Hey Alpina
where do you get your Bryson's in Sydney ?

check pm

[grit]

Hey Julie,

Silver's the "in" color, but let your stand and personal tastes dictate. I couldn't stand silver for a LONG time. Then I saw the Rotel stuff in silver (with black trim) and was in LOVE!

Post us a pic when you get it all set up!