Burson Soloist Review Introduction As any of the Sydney Head-Fi crew could tell you, I'm obsessed with tone. If a system gets tone right, I'm prepared to forgive quite a few shortcomings in other areas. If a system gets tone wrong, it doesn't matter how fast, resolving, spacious or engaging it sounds; I won't like it long term.   Considering that my budget for audio equipment has never been vast (I try to keep each component under the 1 kilobuck ceiling), I've usually had to pick gear that compromised in one or two areas in order to maintain...

    Introduction Burson Audio are quickly making a name for themselves as purveyors of solid state amplifiers with a difference. Namely, introducing the ephemeral quality musicality into the transistor domain, a sphere previously dominated by somewhat derogatory terms such as "analytical", "clinical" and "sterile". Only a few years ago, the world of high-end audio was neatly split into two camps; those who cherished a valve amp's ability to recreate natural tone and timbre, and those who preferred solid state's low noise floor, transient...

Introduction I’ve been a “headphone audiophile” for the better part of 5 years now, searching for the elusive holy grail of headphone systems. During that time I’ve had the pleasure of auditioning some of the best headphones from every significant manufacturer, including the AKG K701 and K1000, Beyerdynamic T1, Stax Omega 2, Sennheiser HD600/HD650 and HE60, Grado RS-1, PS-1 and GS-1000, Audio-Technica W5000, W11JPN, and L3000, Ultrasone Edition 9, and others. Some of these I’ve even owned myself for periods of time. Audio nirvana is a very...

Introduction Burson Audio Melbourne, or Team Burson as they’re affectionately known, don’t seem to like integrated circuits much. As a matter of fact, they’ve published an extensive article on their website as to why integrated circuits suck and are only used by dodgy manufacturers that want to cut down production costs. Surprisingly however, their argument against little bits of silicon doesn’t take the predictable and well-worn track back to the glowing triodes of audiophile antiquity. Enter the HA160, based on the Burson discrete HD opamp and...