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Keith Jarrett recently made the observation that jazz critics don't talk about swing anymore. Jarrett speculated that critics either fail to recognize swing when they hear it,…

But audiophiles don't get excited about Bryston—not, at least, those hard-core audiophiles who love to keep changing equipment, who think of hi-fi as a competitive sport. Bryston! Why, their 2B amplifier has been in production for almost 20 years! How boring.

How boring, too, the fact that Bryston equipment is now guaranteed for 20 years. Who owns something for 20 years? (Bryston customers, obviously.) My buddy The Brass Ear…

Many integrateds lack a headphone jack,…

The Anti-High End.

That's who I felt like with this amplifier and it felt all right. Good, even. Let me 'splain.

You've been to the shows, you've read the 'zines, you've visited your local hi-fi salon—which means that you've seen the BIG SYSTEMS. Big speakers. Big amps. Big turntables even, fer crissakes. You know it's what you want, what you would have if you could. It's enough to give a guy (but probably not a gal, as gals seem to be more sensible about these things) System Envy. Size does matter.

…

Comparisons were made with the JoLida SJ 502A integrated amp, and also with the Sonic Frontiers Anthem PRE 1L/AMP 1 combo. Analog playback: Linn Axis turntable, Linn Basik Plus tonearm (with stock Linn wiring), Benz Micro Glider cartridge. A VTL 2.5 preamp and the Anthem PRE 1P phono stage were used for their phono sections (reviews of both forthcoming), linked via XLO Pro Type 100 interconnects. Digital playback: Enlightened Audio Design CD-1000 CD player, connected via Synergistic Research Alpha. Speakers: NHT 2.5i and Joseph Audio RM-7si…

J'ai eu un coup de foudre, as some French hi-fi critics like to say. "I had a thunderclap."

This time it was literally true.

Early last summer, lightning struck the transformer on the street outside our house and the lights went out with a terrible bang. Fortunately, I had disconnected the two hi-fi systems but not our home theater setup—Marina's seestem, in which I'd installed the Bryston B-60 integrated amplifier that I wrote about in May 1997 (Vol.20 No.5). I had also neglected to disconnect the…

The Bryston B-60R was hot, but not alarmingly so, following its one-hour, 1/3-power preconditioning test. The B-60R's line input impedance measured 51.6k ohms at 1kHz, a comfortably high value that should be compatible with any consumer program source. The Bryston's output impedance is very low—under 0.04 ohms up to 1kHz, increasing to 0.06 ohms at 20kHz. The output impedance at the B-60R's tape outputs measured 49.5 ohms and was virtually unchanged with changes in source impedance, indicating buffered tape outputs. The output impedance at the preamp outputs…

Description: Solid-state line-level integrated amplifier. Inputs: Four gold-plated RCA line-level, one tape loop. Outputs: ¼" headphone jack, 1 pair 5-way speaker terminals. Pre-out/main-in RCA jacks.
Preamplifier section: Frequency response: 20Hz-20kHz, ±0.5dB. Maximum output: 15V. IM or THD at 3V output: <0.005%. High-level sensitivity: 500mV. Rated noise: 100dB below 500mV, 20Hz-20kHz. Input sensitivity: 500mV. Input impedance, 50k ohms; tape input impedance, 10k ohms. Preamp and tape output impedance: 100 ohms.
Amplifier section: 60Wpc into 8 ohms (…

Individual performers were also large—arguably, in some instances, too large—but not distractingly so. The 011's…