Posted by saltyflies (A) on June 22, 2005 at 12:21:03

In Reply to: AR LS 16 MkII & Bryston 4B SST good match for 3.6R? posted by BigMagFan on June 21, 2005 at 09:14:31:

Everything counts at this level, but do believe the room, speaker and amp followed by the front-end has a higher order of importance than the pre-amp. Pres do add value, but since I don’t need one (single source and passive friendly) they’re a nice to have and more like condiments or gravy where amps are the main course. Get the speaker to amp & speaker to room synergy right first, then take your time fussing with the rest. Tonality is owners choice, but imo - the 3.6’s needs an amp that is 1) big enough to light her up 2) stabile enough to not clip, 3) refined enough in the HF for the ribbon, 4) nimble enough to not slow her down and sounds better with ones that are lively, PRATier, w/ ballsier bass than the ultra-refined, dynamically reserved stuff.

I’ve read (not heard) the SST has been improved, so my experience with the older ST is probably mute, but did find the older ones a bit dry and brassy. Great lows, but the mids and highs seemed strident. Maybe an isolated incident - the 4B-ST seemed to have a “glass jaw” and got more easily confused when pushed, with complex music and clipped quicker than other amps with similar power ratings, running full range. Do a good stress test on your SST and listen for distortions to be sure. If the SST holds it together, you should be fine and congrats on your new toy.

I tried several preamps Adcom, CJ, Rogue, ARC instead of the BP-25 and preferred the Rogue 99 magnum b/c it made the ST midrange fuller, highs sweeter and less edgy overall. The dry, analytical nature of the ARC-16 sounds great infront of less aggressive sounding amps, but made the ST even harder. I love the SimAudio cpds, but the full suite albeit tonally neutral and very clean is abit too cold where the ARC would add a touch of bloom.

Believe what your ears say - not hearsay.