Bryston 14B³ Stereo Amplifier Reviewed

Greg Handy auditions Bryston’s 14B³ stereo amplifier, a Class AB design rated at 600 watts per channel at eight ohms and 900 watts per channel at four ohms.

Bryston is a Canadian AV company based in Ontario. The company was originally an electronic medical device manufacturer before becoming an audio component manufacturer. As such, Bryston understands the importance of implementing exceptionally high-quality parts in life-saving medical equipment, and the company now applies that philosophy to creating cost-no-object audio components. Bryston products are hand made in the Canadian facility, with no outsourcing and no shortcuts. New products are not introduced annually to artificially improve the lineup and drive sales; rather, Bryston introduces new models when they contain real advancements–which is what Bryston promises with its new Cubed amplifier line, consisting of the 28B , 14B , 7B , 4B , 3B , and 2.5B .

Reviewed here is the 14B³ ($10,795), the top-of-the-line stereo amplifier. The 14B is essentially two 7B mono amplifiers built into one chassis in a dual mono design (Bryston says that the two 7B amps have slightly higher combined power supply capacitance). At 600 watts per channel at eight ohms and 900 watts per channel at four ohms, the 14B is a true heavyweight. And I mean literally: weighing in at 91 pounds, with 19 inches of width and 18.4 inches of depth, the 14B feels like Thor’s Hammer. Total harmonic distortion is less than or equal to 0.005 percent from 20 Hz to 20 kHz at full power. All voltage gain stages have regulated power supplies, while each channel has its own independent power supply. Power transformers for each channel store energy for maximum dynamic range.

Bryston’s guiding principle in amplifier design is faithful reproduction of the recorded music by having the lowest distortion with minimal noise to achieve the best performance. In comparison with the previous SST2 product range, Bryston was able to significantly lower distortion at the input stage to 1/1000th of one percent, improve common mode noise rejection to reduce electro-magnetic interference, and boost the noise-rejection capabilities of radio-frequency interference while decreasing standby power consumption. Lastly, Bryston refined the line’s faceplate, made of hefty aluminum that exudes quality and elevates the product’s appearance.

All Bryston amplifier designs are based on Class AB output stage architecture, as opposed to Class A. Bryston is quick to point out the inherent benefits of this design–namely, improved linearity and lower distortion, without the massive heat and power consumption. Bryston carries over its Quad-Complimentary topology from the previous SST2 product line, effectively eliminating upper-end harmonic distortion, which resembles Class A amplifier performance without the drawbacks.