November 2009 Reviewed by Howard Kneller	Bryston 9B SST2 Multichannel Amplifier

Description Model: 9B SST2 Price: $6695 USD Dimensions: 19"W x 5.25"H x 19"D Weight: 76 pounds Warranty: 20 years parts and labor (transferable) Features (cont'd) 140Wx5 into 8 ohms, 200Wx5 into 4 ohms (manufacturer rated)	Features Separate amplification modules, each with dedicated power supply Remote trigger switch Detachable 15A IEC power cord RCA and fully balanced XLR inputs Selectable gain Gold-plated audio connectors All A/C power shielded from audio circuitry Available with 19" (with front handles) or 17" faceplate Rack-mountable 19" version Silver or black finish

Respect. In the entertainment world, everyone from Aretha Franklin to Ali G demands it. Rodney Dangerfield claimed to have never gotten it, and Carrot Top is apparently doing just fine without it. In politics, Nelson Mandela and the Dalai Lama get most of it. And when it comes to business, Warren Buffet has cornered the market in it.

Looking to high-end audio, Bryston Ltd., a Canadian manufacturer, indisputably gets its share of respect and then some. For the past 35 years, Bryston has quietly but steadily gained a reputation for building rugged, high-quality components, particularly power amplifiers. In fact, Bryston products are popular with recording studios and other professional users who demand both performance and reliability.

Therefore, when my editor asked if I wanted to review Bryston’s 9B SST² five-channel home-theater amplifier ($6695), it was a fait accompli. But respect can take you only so far. As a reviewer, I can’t respect any piece of audio gear, not even a Bryston, based on reputation alone. Before I could start to think of it as an amplifier that I could love, the 9B SST² would have to woo me.

Lust

Normally, I wouldn’t discuss setting up a product before describing its features. But setting up the 9B SST² triggered in me an emotion that was neither respect nor love, and for which I was totally unprepared. I am talking about lust. My gosh -- this was the sexiest amplifier I have ever reviewed: nothing short of an ultramodern design statement of clean, uninterrupted lines. Even now, as I now write this review weeks later, I can’t help but make an occasional trip to my listening room to marvel at the 9B’s construction. It’s heavy and rock-solid, with build quality that appears to be second to none.

Despite the 9B SST²’s 76-pound weight, setting it up was an easy one-man job, primarily because two sturdy handles were mounted to its 19"-wide faceplate. (It can also be ordered without handles, in which case it’s 17" wide.) This simple yet smart feature, which many manufacturers don’t offer, made it quick work to remove the 9B from its box and get it into my system.

Respect

The 9B SST² is a class-A/B amplifier that delivers a claimed 140Wpc into 8 ohms or 200Wpc into 4 ohms. Its construction is modular: each channel is self-contained and connected to its own power supply. This, among other things, helps reduce crosstalk between channels. Since the modules are removable, you can order the 9B with three, four, or five channels, and purchase additional modules as you need them.

The 9B has 30,000µF of filter capacitance per amplifier module. It can therefore keep an enormous amount of power on reserve to handle large cinematic or musical climaxes. Additionally, the 9B’s slew rate (i.e., the speed at which it can handle transients) is 60V/µs -- twice that of many other amps.

The 9B’s claimed damping factor is greater than 500 at 20Hz when connected to a speaker with a nominal impedance of 8 ohms. The higher this factor (or the lower the amplifier’s output impedance), the better the amp can theoretically control the movement of the speakers’ drivers and thus precisely control their output. Many high-quality class-A amps have damping factors that approach 200.

On the front of the 9B is a power switch, and LEDs that indicate aspects of the amp’s operating status. A look at the rear panel reveals a circuit breaker, as well as single-ended RCA and fully balanced XLR inputs. The rear panel also has, for each channel, switches that allow you to invert the polarity of the input signal and adjust the sensitivity, aka gain.

Proving the adage that it’s hip to be squared (or something like that), Bryston’s new SST², or "SST squared," amplifiers, including the 9B, sport a number of improvements over their predecessors. These include a fully balanced input stage; power-supply boards that directly plug into all of the components; soft-start circuitry that gradually ramps up power, thus causing less strain on your home’s circuit breakers; fewer circuit boards and less internal wiring; redesigned power-supply transformers; and a new output choke.

Also, according to Bryston, most amplifiers are designed to sound best at about 1/3 power and up. Bryston states that, as a result of additional SST² technology borrowed from its 28 SST² 1000W monoblock ($18,000/pair), the 9B sounds its best from the very first watt.

Impressive specifications do not always translate into great sound. They can, however, suggest that an amp is well constructed and contains quality parts. And speaking of construction, Bryston designs and manufactures its products to a standard that seems to approach those used in the military and aerospace industries. Unlike some other manufacturers, all assembly is done by hand -- each 9B SST² takes about 35 hours to put together.

What audiophiles erroneously call burn-in is actually run-in -- in the latter, the product is merely being operated, not subjected to the temperature cycling and other stresses I’m about to describe. Before any Bryston amp leaves the factory, it’s connected to a "burn-in table." During 100 hours of continuous testing on this table, it’s put through a range of input cycles and thermal stresses to duplicate a broad spectrum of operational loads. This greatly accelerates the appearance of any tendency to premature failure. Having survived the burn-in table, the amp will likely last for many years without failure. And when it’s time to open the box containing your 9B SST² -- or any Bryston amp -- you’ll find a "Final Checkout List" on which a Bryston quality inspector has handwritten the results of the aforementioned tests, 40 measurements in all, then signed his or her name.

In light of the above, it’s easy to see how Bryston can afford to offer one of the best amplifier warranties in the business: 20 years parts and labor. As if this were not enough, this warranty is transferable.

Respect? I cry uncle.

Love

Of course, the best-looking and hardiest home-theater amplifier in the world isn’t worth much if it doesn’t sound good enough to win a place in your ears and heart.

No worries here. In fact, the 9B SST²’s stellar performance with music leads me to think that it might be misleading to call it strictly a home-theater amplifier. Dances of Old Vienna (CD, FIM LIM K2HD 034), with Willi Boskovsky conducting the Boskovsky Ensemble, contains a perfect selection of waltzes from the era of the Johann Strausses. What immediately hit me as I listened to this disc was the 9B’s musicality, including its almost nonexistent level of noise and its ability to convey the grandeur of the hall where the recording was made.

The harmonic complexities of the violin are notoriously difficult to accurately reproduce. On track 1 of this disc, for example -- Johann Strauss Sr.’s Tivoli-Rutsch Waltz, Op.39 -- the notes of Boskovsky’s violin came across as rich without sounding bright or harsh, as is often the case. The 9B even exposed the unique timbre of the particular violin he used.

Turning to movies, The Incredible Hulk is not only a great action movie, but the Blu-ray edition of it is a superb home-theater demo disc that provided the perfect opportunity for the 9B SST² to strut its cinematic stuff. Explosions of all sorts sounded clean and visceral -- only a very few multichannel amps have that type of slam and dynamic impact in the upper bass. When the Hulk threw an unlucky bad guy through several glass walls (chapter 5), the sound of breaking glass was detailed, sharp, and crisp. The 9B also superbly rendered firefight scenes (e.g., chapters 5 and 10), distinguishing from the din of the associated mayhem from the sounds of machine-gun fire and the clanks of spent cartridges hitting the floor.

In chapter 6, the Hulk, transformed back to mild-mannered Bruce Banner, inexplicably finds himself in a jungle paradise replete with the soothing sounds of a tranquil waterfall and the calls of exotic birds. The 9B’s super-low noise floor permitted this scene to provide a superb and delicate contrast to what had been, until then, mostly loud and intense action scenes.

In chapter 18, the big New York City street-fight scene between the Hulk and his powerful nemesis also displayed the 9B’s ability to excel at both macro- and microdynamics. I could clearly hear the embers of the many burning fires among the sounds of urban carnage, which included the pulverizing of streets, cars, and buildings.

There has recently been some chatter among audiophiles that Bryston amps and MartinLogan speakers do not make a good match. According to these sources, such a combination of equipment makes for sound that is, among other things, too analytical. While matching equipment can be very important, I experienced no mismatch between the 9B SST² and my MartinLogan Summit X speakers -- only extremely good sound.

Comparison

The character of my long-term reference multichannel amplifier, the Halcro Logic MC50 ($5990), is something akin to the air in the Swiss Alps -- cool, clean, and crisp. While some home-theater amps blow through their work with heavy artillery in tow, the MC50 uses something decidedly more lean and detail-oriented -- a weapon more akin to a surgeon’s scalpel.

The 9B SST² trod something of a middle ground. It rendered a beefier, warmer, more full-bodied sound than does the MC50, yet also somehow managed to squeeze more detail from movies and music. Both amplifiers beautifully rendered the rainstorm that opens "The Sweetest Taboo," from The Best of Sade (CD, Epic EK 66686). However, the 9B SST² was better able to parse the sounds of the individual raindrops of that storm. Also, on "Seu Jorge e Dona Ica," from Larry Coryell’s Three Guitars (SACD, Chesky SACD289), the Bryston brought a bit more weight to Badi Assad’s kalimba, or African thumb piano. I heard similar differences with a variety of sources, both film and music.

One downside of the 9B SST² was that, unlike the Halcro MC50, it ran hot. A class-D switching amplifier, the MC50 never even really gets warm. Of course, at the end of the day, each is a top-notch amplifier that should make the short lists of even the most serious music and home-theater aficionados.

Final thoughts

The Bryston 9B SST² looks like a million bucks, and its rock-solid construction means it will likely see your kids through nursery school, kindergarten, grade school, college, and grad school. And it performs at a level that will scare the bejesus out of amps costing twice as much.

During my time with it, the 9B earned my lust, my respect, and ultimately, my love. Many amplifiers can evoke one or two of these emotions, but it’s a rare breed that summons all three. All of which means that, in addition to earning my affections, the Bryston 9B SST² has won a Reviewers’ Choice award as the best multichannel amp I’ve heard. Unconditionally recommended.

Manufacturer contact information:

Bryston Ltd.
P.O. Box 2170
677 Neal Drive
Peterborough, Ontario K9J 6X7
Canada
Phone: (705) 742-5325
Fax: (705) 742-0882

Website: www.bryston.com

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