BRYSTON BP25/4BSST

CONTROLS Solid and dependable switching controls echo the high build quality of the Bryston duo. The volume pot Is silky-smooth and Is the only function aside from mute and phase switching that can be controlled by the heavy-machined alloy remote. CONNECTIONS Bryston’s slimline preamp means lots of socketry packed into a small space to Include both balanced and two pairs of single-ended outputs. There are also balanced inputs on the preamp, a connection type popular in Bryston’s native Canada. Seven single ended Inputs also nestle with a pair of tape loops.

This powerful combo from Canada delivers bags of musical detail and bass that's deeply gripping The heavyweights, in more ways than one, of this group are Bryston’s stalwart BP25 preamp and one of its new SST power amplifiers, the meaty 4B SST.

The BP25’s ultra slimline casework is enabled by the outboard nature of its power supply — you have to follow the umbilical to locate a genuine on/off switch on this unit. It’s equipped with a heavyweight and highly simplified remote handset which does volume, mute and phase. Phase, or polarity, inversion is a hot topic in North America where its audibility or otherwise has been known to consume many a column inch. It’s less of an issue over here, which is probably healthy — the more you consider the minutia the less you hear the music!

The 4BSST power amp is one of a new breed of SST designs from Bryston, with increased power, reduced distortion and doubled power supply capacitance compared to the previous ST range. The 4BSST is a middleweight in the range but still kicks out 300 watts, providing you can find the power switch. We had to resort to the manual, such is the subtlety of the membrane switch that forms the front panel badge! Build quality with both units is extremely high — it has to be if a 20-year guarantee is going to be supported for customers like the BBC.

This, the most expensive combination in our group, turned in the most transparent and substantial performance. It seems that you can’t beat watts if bass weight and control are the goal, but power alone by no means equates with quality. In that respect the Brystons are unusual.

The first thing that hits you (by its absence) is the quietness of the background — noise levels are seemingly non existent despite the vast power on tap. This means that all the fine detail, all the low level effects and background samples can be heard clearly. The more I listened to Missy Elliott’s Under Construction with this combo the more I appreciated the work that went into it. You can hear details that most good amps hint at but rarely reveal to the full.

Tonally the pairing is a shade on the ‘dry’ side. There isn’t quite the fluidity of, say, the Exposures, but there is more detail and if that turns you on you’ll love the Brystons. Imaging likewise is not quite in the very front league — there’s plenty of depth and resolution of reverb is fine, but you don’t get maximum precision. The preamp appears to be the limiting factor here. Team the 4B SST up with the Exposure XXIII for instance and things snap into focus with superb depth and height resolution.

What you get in abundance is bass. Deep, powerful, gripping and subtle, you’ll be shocked at some of the low notes that are lurking on your discs. Check out Goldfrapp’s Paper Bag or the Peace Orchestra and feel the power. If you’ve got ‘difficult’ loudspeakers or you like to play loud, this is the mutt’s nuts.

But this is clean, sophisticated power. There’s none of the edginess that used to be associated with big amps, and neither are the Brystons slow. They may not have the tempo of the Naim combo but you get a tremendous sense of precision. More telling is the variation between recording styles they reveal — it’s not just musical styles that should vary from disc to disc, and an amp that shows as much is a more accurate and revealing device. The Brystons are certainly that.