Soloist
Soloist Headphone amp/Preamplifier$999.00
The Soloist is the least expensive Musicians series Burson product. It is a superb preamplifier and headphone amplifier. It will drive all headphones and uses a fully discrete Class A symmetrical FET input stage with only 21 parts. This compares to the typical 50 parts used in most of the competition. As a preamp the Soloist is a great value at $999.00 but when you add in the superb headphone amp the value is unsurpassed.
In the new Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity review they summed up with:
"Unfortunately, I missed the boat with
the Burson HA-160, but given the feedback it received, I knew I was in for a
treat with the new Soloist. Its fit and finish are top notch; going above and
beyond what you would normally see in a headphone amplifier. Its Variable
Output Stage makes the Soloist a versatile amp as it allows for it to handle
highly sensitive headphones as well as load-demanding planar magnetic cans.
Even with the power hungry HiFiMAN HE6 the sound was dynamic, full, precise,
and, most of all, musical. From its
high-end build quality to its sinuous sound and low noise floor, the Burson
Soloist delivers on all fronts and it easily fulfilled my expectations from a
$999 headphone amp."
Read the entire review at:
Input impedance: 36.5 KOhms
Frequency response: ± 1 dB 0 - 50Khz
Signal to noise ratio: >96dB
THD: <0.03% at 30ohm with 1W ouput
Channel separation: >73dB
Output power: 4W at 16 Ohms
Input impedance: >8K Ohm @ 30 Ohm, 1W
Output impedance: <1 Ohm @ 30 Ohm, 1W
Power dissipation: >25W, internal, regulated power supply
Inputs
3 x gold plated RCA (line level input)
Outputs
1 x headphone jacks 6.35mm
1 x RCA Pre Amp output
1 x Soloist Headphone amp / Pre-Amp
1 x Power cable
1 x RCA pair input cable
1 x User Manual (including 24 months warranty registration information)
General
Weight: app. 4.5 kg
Colour: silver anodized aluminium
Dimensions: 180 mm x 255 mm x 80 mm
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| Soloist SL Headphone amp |
Soloist SL Headphone amp
$599.00
Just like the Soloist, the Soloist SL is completely discrete in design. It uses no IC's. It features the same 21 component Field Effect Transistor input stage and the same discrete power supply network which brought popularity to the original. Assembled with the same high end components and operating in pure Class-A, the Soloist SL carries the same sonic signature which has been described as the utmost in organic and transparent.
The Soloist SL is housed in a refined and precision folded 3 mm aluminum casing that is unmistakably Burson. This case also works as a singular heat-sink for the entire machine ensuring stable and optimized performance at all times. This case really puts the conventional 1 mm folded steel case and generic heat fins found on most of the competition in the price range to shame.
The Soloist SL sits elegantly on any desktop or in an audio rack. But with 2 Watts per channel into 16ohm, the Soloist SL is one of the most powerful headphone amps in the world. It is capable of driving most if not all headphones to their full potential. Coupled with a 2 level gain switch, it offers infinite flexibility.
Max Output Power @ 8 Ohm: 2W
VOS Output Stage: 2 Levels
Volume Control: 24 Stepped Attenuator with ALPS Pots
Enclosure: 4mm Folded Aluminum
HA-160D
HA-160D headphone amp/ Preamplifier/DAC
$1299.00 Sale $990.00
The HA-160D took over 18 months to realize. Apart from the DAC chip, the entire machine was meticulously hand assembled with top grade, perfectly matched discrete components. It is powered by 5 sets of custom built low noise power supplies to eliminate noise pollution. There are two custom built transformers to ensure the job was done properly. One transformer is used to power our HD Audio DAC, while the other purely supplies power to the hungry Class-A amplification circuitry. It ensures that the DAC stage and the headphone amp stage are working independently and at an optimum level, while still in complete synergy.
The result is a high definition DAC, headphone amp, preamp 3 in 1 machine that is entirely uncompromised. The 160D has 3 analog inputs, one 24/192k coaxial digital input and a 24/96k USB input. It has a set of preamp outs and 2 headphone outputs and a USB input. The preamps output impedance is only 60 ohms so it will work with all amps, solid state and tube.
To better serve the growing popularity of PC based audio systems, the HA-160D also features a USB input (24 bit/96k) function which is compatible with both Mac and PCs.
Read the 6moons review at:
http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/burson5/1.html
- Three components in one: Headphone amp, DAC, preamp
- Precision engineering
- Discrete components used instead of ICs
- 'Class A' operation with no heatsink
- Dual power transformer design
- Five independent sets of low noise power supplies
- High accuracy 24-step volume control
- Double layer, high-density construction
- Premium components used throughout construction: Elna for audio, Wima, Dale, Philips
- Burson HD audio opamp in the output stage
- Burson Audio discrete (IC free) low noise regulator technology in the power supply
- Resonance-Free Aluminum (RFA) enclosure: High precision 6mm machined aluminum case
- Color: silver anodized aluminum
- 1 USB Connection (Support up to 24bit @ 96Khz with 10ppm low jitter clock)
- 1 Coaxial RCA (Support up to 24bit @ 192Khz)
- 3 gold plated RCA line level inputs
- 2 headphone jacks 6.35mm
- 1 preout with 10dB of gain
- Input impedance: 36.5 K Ohms
- Frequency response: ± 1 dB 0 - 20Khz
- Signal to noise ratio: 110dB
- THD: <0.12% at 150mW , 0.06% at 100mW
- Channel separation: <54dB
- Output power: 250mW (less than 1% distortion)
- Output impedance: Pre-out 60 Ohms, phones out 5.6 Ohms
- Power dissipation: >25W, internal, regulated power supply
- Dimensions: 10" x 9.8" x 3.1"
- Weight: 13.2 lb
HA-160DS Headphone amp with DAC
$999.00 Sale $790.00
Basically the same as the HA-160D above without the preamp in a 16% smaller box for $300.00 less. The 160DS is designed for the headphone listener who does not need a preamp as well. It has a coaxial (24/192K), USB (24/96k) and analog input. It uses a fully discrete analog output stage and drives most headphones with ease.
Conductor
Conductor Preamp/DAC with headphone amp $1850.00
The Conductor is Burson's best Preamp/DAC/HP amp. It offers state of the art performance and exceptional value. It uses the exceptional Soloist headphone amp with 4wpc and will drive any headphone that we are aware of. It adds a superb 32 bit/192k DAC featuring the ESS 9018 sabre chip and very high quality preamplifier.The volume control is a precision stepped attenuator for superb inter channel balance and imaging. It has 2 line level inputs as well as 3 digital inputs. This includes a 24 bit/192k asynchronous USB input stage with low jitter clock. Circuitry is fully discrete with a Class A symmetrical FET input stage.
Conductor Features
- Fully discrete circuitry
- Fully symmetrical FET input stage
- Pure Class A operation
- Quality components
- ELNA Slimic 2
- DALE military graded resistors
- Low noise toroidal transformers
- 3 levels VOS output stage
- Pre Amp: 7 - 18db
- Headphone Amp: 0.18W - 4W
- Perfect control for any headphone and speaker system
- 24bit 192K USB Asynchronous Transfer USB Receiver
- Tenor TE8802 chipset with dedicated low noise
- Power supply
- Low jitter clock
- 32bit ESS SABRE32 Reference DAC
- Tailored FET Output Stage
- Low Jitter Clock
- Full Function Pre Amp & DAC
- 2 x line level RCA inputs
- 3 x digital inputs
- Direct DAC line cout
- Variable Pre Amp out
Conductor Specifications
- Measurement
- Input impedance: 36.5 KOhms
- Frequency response: ± 1 dB 0 - 50Khz
- Signal to noise ratio: >96dB
- THD: <0.03% at 30ohm with 1W ouput
- Channel separation: >73dB
- Output power: 4W at 16 Ohms
- Input impedance: >8K Ohm @ 30 Ohm, 1W
- Output impedance: <1 Ohm @ 30 Ohm, 1W
- Power dissipation: >45W, internal, regulated power supply
- DAC Specification
- Channel Separation: 140 dB @ 1KHz, 130 dB @ 20KHz
- THD+N: 0.0005% @ 1KHz, 0dBFS
- COAX & Toslink / SPDIF : 32 bits / 44.1K, 48K, 88.2K, 96K, 176.4K, 192KHz
- USB Specification
- OS Requirement: Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Mac OS X
- USB : 24 bits / 44.1K, 48K, 88.2K, 96K, 176.4K, 192KHz
- Support up to 24bit @ 96Khz with 10ppm low jitter clock
- Asynchronous Transfer Mode
- Inputs
- 1 x USB Connection
- 1 x Coaxial RCA (Support up to 24bit @ 192Khz)
- 1 x Toslink / SPDIF (Support up to 24bit @ 192Khz)
- 2 x RCA line level input
- Outputs
- 1 x headphone jacks 6.35mm
- 1 x RCA Pre Amp output
- 1 x RCA DAC direct line out
- General
- Weight: app. 6 kg
- Color: silver anodized aluminum
- Dimensions: 265 mm x 255 mm x 80 mm
- Package content
- 1 x Conductor Headamp / Pre Amp / DAC
- 1 x Power cable
- 1 x RCA pair input cable
- 1 x RCA Coaxial cable
- 1 x USB cable
- 1 x User Manual (including 24 months warranty registration information)
