15-watt SET tube monoblock amplifiers driving a set of full range ribbon speakers? Have I lost my mind? Nope. Listening to Radiohead’s Ok Computer, I’m swimming in an Olympic sized pool of sound. This is every audiophile cliché you can think of and then some. Crazy. To be fair, the ampsandsound Bryce amplifiers don’t quite have the push with these ribbon speakers that my Pass Labs XA200.8 monos or the current X600.8 monos in for review; yet at reasonable listening level they are doing quite well. Interestingly enough, the best sound is with the 8-ohm tap, not the 4. With tubes, always investigate everything.
At this power level, tube choice on the Bryce amps is critical to maximum enjoyment with your speakers. You can use them with KT88s or 120s, but you’ll only get 10-12 watts per channel. At this point, every watt counts. We can forever discuss the sonic differences and nuances of the various SET amplifiers with 2A3 (a couple of watts per channel), 300B (about 8-9 watts per channel and the other contenders. However, in the case of the Bryce amplifiers, SET means single ended Tetrode. The big difference between 2 watts per channel and 15 is speakers they can power comfortably. If you’ve got a pair of Klipsch LaScalas (about 103dB/1-watt) live it up – any of these amplifiers will blow you out of the room.
Not an SET in the way you might be thinking
This amplifier is a single ended design, however this is single ended tetrode amplifier, not a single ended triode. Ampsandsound’s designer, Justin Weber describes it this way: “The tetrode’s robust nature and warm sonic signature is chosen here as a counterpoint to our Black Pearl and Calypso amplifiers. Where the Black Pearl uses a 300B in true triode mode without feedback for maximum liquidity when paired with our ultra-wide bandwidth transformers.
The Calypso uses tetrode output tubes KT88, KT120 or KT150 connected in triode mode. Combining this with a negative bias supply maximizes the bandwidth and provides great midrange. While the tetrode needs a bit of feedback to achieve its full potential, they do offer more realistic power.”
With a pair of Zu DW6s and Heretic AD612s at my disposal, I suspected a lovefest, as the 8 WPC Nautilus headphone amplifier killed it in this application. Much fun as the Nautilus is with headphones, it was even more fun driving sensitive speakers. If you love sheer musical emotion and engagement, there is something so spellbinding by low powered tube amplifiers and efficient speakers, that nothing else can deliver it in this fashion. I was an inch away from wanting to buy the Nautilus when Weber suggested that I might want to hear his Bryce monos first. I appreciate his enthusiasm. Yet with both of these speakers, I swapped the supplied KT120s for KT88s.
More often than not, products taking cues from vintage models goes horribly wrong, no matter what the intention. Ampsandsound’s Justin Weber succeeds brilliantly on every level. In addition to the incredibly cool form factor of his amplifiers (also available in a wide range of super stylish colors) the most important thing Weber has taken from the good old days of American manufacturing is build quality.
We noticed this with his headphone amplifier, reviewed about a year ago. When you remove the bottom cover and peek inside, there are no circuit boards or plug-in connectors to be found – anywhere. That’s a great thing if you want to hand your tube amplifiers off to the next generation. Same for the parts count – the best stuff available lurks inside, along with proprietary transformers built to Weber’s exacting specification. Ask any tube loving old-timer and they will tell you that much of the magic in a great tube amplifier lies in the mystery of the transformers. Remember the McIntosh MC30? Uh huh.
What made so many of those old amplifiers great was their enchanting midrange. Because speakers of that vintage didn’t have a lot of low-frequency extension, no one noticed their lack of ability. Revisiting an MC-30 these days was a high school reunion level disappointment. Yikes, what was I thinking? To be fair hooked up to a pair of LF limited speakers it’s still fun, but.
Moving on
Because the Bryce monos use special Cinemag tranformers to provide balanced inputs as well as the single ended RCA inputs it offers more compatibility with a wider range of preamplifiers. Much like my Nagra 300B amplifier, I prefer the slightly more soft tonal rendition provided by the transformer inputs. I’m sure you can experiment with this until you go crazy!
Most of the listening here was done with the BAT VK-80 tube preamplifier in balanced mode, the Pass XS Pre in balanced and RCA mode and the Conrad Johnson GAT preamplifier in RCA mode. All were excellent, and I can only imagine how an all ampsandsound combination would sound now that Weber is offering his own preamplifier. Hint, hint.
As much fun as the high sensitivity speakers in my collection have been with the Bryce monos, most of the listening time here has been spent with the 89dB/1-watt Peak Consult Sinfonias. ($69k/pair, and reviewed here). As someone who rarely listens super loud anymore, 15 watts per channel is plenty when listening at comfortable levels. Combining the Peak’s smoothness with the liquid presentation of the Bryce monos is more than just a little slice of heaven.
Tracking through the Lucky Thompson Quartet’s Lucky Strikes album (on vinyl, of course, but you can stream it till you find it) or your favorite bop record quickly reveals everything that makes the Bryce monos so precious. What you get here, that you don’t get with your favorite $3,000 tube amp is a level of resolution in every aspect of musical reproduction. The way cymbals decay, the textures present in stringed instruments, and mostly the way the music you are listening to breathes in and out as it occurs naturally. The dynamic jump of the woodwind instruments grabs you like nothing else, and there is an overall naturalness to the presentation that you notice much more when it isn’t there anymore.
I can go on and on forever about this track and that track but I won’t bore you. You might hate my musical choices. But suffice to say that the word natural keeps coming up with everyone that’s taken the time to hear these amplifiers. It’s a kind of natural that keeps you in your listening spot much longer than is prudent, searching for another track, another album. The more experience you have with acoustic instruments and hearing unamplified voices, the more these amplifiers make sense and you realize there is no shortcut to achieving what Weber and his team have accomplished here.
Even more praise
What makes the ampsandsound amplifiers a cut above, is their big power supplies (tube rectified too!) and marvelous output transformers. These speakers make bass. Bass in all the right places – extended and detailed. With a pair of ribbons! Yikes. Output transformers that can do this aren’t cheap. I keep harping on this, but refinement costs money.
Again, heading back to the dynamic speakers in my collection the same low frequency detail and control is present and accounted for. Tracking through hip-hop, electronica, and (too much) prog rock, the Bryce monos go deep, revealing information you may not have heard before. Precious few tube amplifiers and even fewer SET amps deliver solid bass response. This is truly what makes the Bryce monos some of the most musically revealing amplifiers I’ve experienced.
Thankfully with this level of build quality, and only three tubes per amplifier you won’t be spending time in the shop, and you won’t be spending too much money shopping for tubes. There are no variations on the theme for the KT150 or the KT120, but you might be able to tube roll the KT88, and there are definitely many variations on the 12AX7 input tube and 5AR4 Rectifier tubes, so maybe we’ll do some tube rolling and do a follow up.
I try to stay away from that, because it starts a never ending story and I’m too OCD start down the rabbit hole. However, I’m sure that like any other great tube amplifier, you can probably fine tune the sound of your Bryce monos to infinity if you’d like. Like maybe one of those $200 Mullard NOS 5AR4s. See where this goes? If you have the restraint to just unbox your Bryce monos and enjoy them, you will never be disappointed.
So, the money phrase for the Bryce monos is zero disappointment. If you are using them with a set of speakers that will let them properly express themselves, there will be no time lost pondering anything missing. There isn’t. That’s the highest praise I can give anything. You won’t grasp this until you hear these for yourself.
Old world craftsmanship in the year 2024
I hinted at the level of build quality that goes into these amplifiers, but in closing I can’t stress how much this contributes to the level of sonic expression the Bryce monos deliver, but the amount of confidence you’ll have in writing the check. The solder joints are perfect. Everything is mounted to turrets just like the best amplifiers from the golden years of tube audio – and guess what, most of those amps are still running too. Even though you have “dangerous voltages and no user serviceable parts inside (by mere mortals anyway) you owe it to yourself to take the bottom off. And the steel that the chassis is made of… wow. You could flatten a Kia with the bottom plate. It feels more like something that came out of a cold war era submarine than an audio amplifier.
There is a level of love involved here. That’s what makes these amplifiers so special. If you are not a technology and build quality junkie, you may not appreciate this aspect of the Bryce monos. I truly hope you are.
Are they for you?
Seriously, don’t buy a pair of these amplifiers if you’re new to audio. You won’t appreciate them. Imagine someone giving you a Leica M6 as your first camera, or a perfectly restored Porsche 356 as your first car. With no data points to base your experience on, you’ll never appreciate the nuance that these time-honored classics bring to your world.
If you have the right speakers and you’ve been looking for sheer magic after a long journey with other amplifiers, there’s no quicker path to heaven. A few days with the Bryce monoblocks will make them one of your most treasured possessions. I’m never parting with these. #toneaudioapproved
Peripherals
Preamplifier BAT VK-80, Conrad-Johnson GAT, Pass Labs XS Pre
Phono stage PASS Labs XP-27
Analog Source SME 20 w/iV.VI tonearm and Hana Umami Red
Digital Source dCS Vivaldi ONE
Speakers Heretic AD614, ZuAudio DW6, Clarisys Audio Studio Plus, Peak Consult Sinfonia
Cable Cardas Clear
