Bryston 3BSST pwr. amp

[Jimi]

I own their HW-17i record cleaning machine. This is another area where a vinyl lover can improve his/her TT sound. If you clean a record that has no scratches it can VASTLY reduce surface noise.

Is that one of those machines that cleans with fluid and uses a vacuum ? I've heard Nitty Gritty makes one ($500) and that you can even hear the difference if you clean a brand new factory sealed record. Have you tried cleaning a new record with the HW-17i ? If so , what were the results?
Thanks for your help.

[Jimi]

I would give Clearaudio Products a 5 star rating personally.

I own much more music on C.D than on vinyl. So I'm not sure how deep I wanna go with vinyl. I could buy a Pro-ject Debut Carbon TT and a Cambridge Audio 751 Blu-ray player for less than the price of a Clearaudio Concept (once you add the $300 for the dustcover). I'm not sure what I wanna do yet. So I'm getting lots of info and taking my time. Though I've been buying lots of used vinyl lately. So maybe a less expensive table is the way to go. If I remember correctly I thought I read in another post that you have a 751. If so how do you like it? Thanks

[luteman]

I always clean a brand new record, I was told about "molding compound" something involved in the manufacture of the album I guess. It sounded excellent, keep in mind I hadn't listened to to it before hand so I didn't have a accurate comparison. The NG $500 machine I haven't seen, the VPI dispenses fluid, rotates both directions and uses a vacuum. But it also costs about $1700, with the Nitty Gritty you would probably have only the standard direction of rotation and have to apply the fluid by hand but you would get used to having a steady hand for it.

[Jimi]

I always clean a brand new record, I was told about "molding compound" something involved in the manufacture of the album I guess. It sounded excellent, keep in mind I hadn't listened to to it before hand so I didn't have a accurate comparison. The NG $500 machine I haven't seen, the VPI dispenses fluid, rotates both directions and uses a vacuum. But it also costs about $1700, with the Nitty Gritty you would probably have only the standard direction of rotation and have to apply the fluid by hand but you would get used to having a steady hand for it.

Wow $1700 for a record cleaning machine. You must have a lot of records. Hopefully the VPI will last a lifetime. Thanks

[luteman]

I highly recommend the Cambridge 751, audio and video are excellent. I would double check the pricing you were talking about. I mean being able to get a Project TT and the 751 for less than the Concept. In my area a Project TT starts at about $400 and the 751 brand new is in the $1200 range. I would personally go for a Concept (depending on budget of course) but I am much more into vinyl than CD.
I have never heard the Project but you may spend the $400 and then later (again depending on cash flow) wish you had gone to a higher table.

[Jimi]

I highly recommend the Cambridge 751, audio and video are excellent. I would double check the pricing you were talking about. I mean being able to get a Project TT and the 751 for less than the Concept. In my area a Project TT starts at about $400 and the 751 brand new is in the $1200 range. I would personally go for a Concept (depending on budget of course) but I am much more into vinyl than CD.
I have never heard the Project but you may spend the $400 and then later (again depending on cash flow) wish you had gone to a higher table.

The Pro-Ject Debut Carbon is $449 , Cambridge Audio 751 is $1250 for a total of $1699. The ClearAudio Concept alone is $1575 plus $300 for the dustcover , Total $1875. I could buy the Pro-Ject and the Cambridge at the same store and get at least 10% off for a total of $1521.10. About $350 less than the Clearaudio. I'm unsatisfied with the sound of my cheap Panasonic Blu-Ray Player. I own way more c.d.'s than vinyl but like you I really love vinyl. I do often think about buying the lower cost TT and then being dissatisfied. I've got a super cheap Denon TT now and the Pro-Ject is way better than that I'm sure. I don't have HDMI on my receiver , so if I did get the Cambridge I would be using the stereo analog out. Is that as good sounding as the reviews say. Thanks a lot for your help.

[SoundGame]

Jimi, you could also consider keeping you Panasonic as a transport and adding in a reasonably priced standalone DAC, such as the Music Fidelity M1-DAC A, that I recently reviewed with a Squeezebox Touch. There is also the Squeezebox Touch, which is out of production but can still be found selling well below its original MSRP but the Squeezebox Touch alone would not let you play CD through it, as it only has USB, ethernet and wireless input capabilities. Don't rule out a DAC with your existing CDP but that said the Cambridge internal DACs should significantly outperform your current Panasonic.

[Jimi]

Jimi, you could also consider keeping you Panasonic as a transport and adding in a reasonably priced standalone DAC, such as the Music Fidelity M1-DAC A, that I recently reviewed with a Squeezebox Touch. There is also the Squeezebox Touch, which is out of production but can still be found selling well below its original MSRP but the Squeezebox Touch alone would not let you play CD through it, as it only has USB, ethernet and wireless input capabilities. Don't rule out a DAC with your existing CDP but that said the Cambridge internal DACs should significantly outperform your current Panasonic.

SoundGame , I don't know what you mean by using the "Panasonic as a transport." Could you please explain ? I do need something that I can play C.D.'s through. Thanks for the advice.

[wicklowboy]

I recently purchased a Bryston 3B-SST. It was used but has about 12 years of warranty left. I've only had it for three weeks so I'm still adjusting to its sound or more accuratly its lack of sound. Its as neutral as Switzerland.
It does seem to sound slightly better in balanced mode but that could be my imagination.
I'll give you some further thoughts when I shake this flu bug that has my hearing and every other part of me working at sub par.
FWIW it sounds a little bit to the cooler side of things compared to my long time reference Classe' Ten.

[Suave]

Congrats on the new amp! Neutrality in an audio component is generally a good thing, not something to complain about Shake off the flu and give it a good listen, I would imagine it should easily beat your old Classe Audio amp in most respects. Give us an update when you've had a good chance to do some deeper listening.