burson new soloist headphone amp - Page 50

I keep trying to get a BHA-1 but no luck so far.  And those that have heard both won't talk.  Sigh.

Hm, one of my local audioshops have a fair bit of Bryston products, I'm currently auditioning a BDA-2, so perhaps I can get my hands on a BHA-1 aswell...
But I no longer have access to a Soloist :-(

 

I saw some reports that were critical of the circuit design used in the BHA-1. Nevertheless it is a competitor and a worthwhile comparison. Hopefully someone will be able to compare these two at some point soon and be willing to talk. Having said that, if one was clearly better than the other I suspect we would have heard from someone by now.

Here's what I think: I think the soloist does very nicely with virtually any headphone you throw at it (except for the HE-6, but what's new!). I think that if someone just wants to get one headamp and be done with it, Soloist is the one.

On the other hand, where is the wow factor with this amp? I just don't hear it. For instance, I get wowed when I hear the T1 driven by the Decware CSP2. I get the same feeling with the HD800 and LCD2 driven by the Decware Taboo. I get goose bumps with the TH900 driven by the Hifiman EF-6. I'm in heaven with the ATH3000Anv driven by the Grace 902b amp. Thus, the problem for me is that the Soloist is a jack-of-all-trades yet master of none. Does amazingly well in the versatility department and it does sound darn good, but for me it kind of lacks the Wow factor.

Solude, you have sold wa22, b22 but having Soloist. What quality is it that you like on Soloist more than the 2 aforementioned amps? I am curious. Thanks

The three are voiced similar but as you move from WA22 to B22 you gain a little control and the sound stage is less 3 blob and spread out.  Moving from the B22 to the Soloist cranks up the clarity and stage focus.  Also better extension into the sub bass.  I haven't heard a better solid state amp yet.  And while I preferred the Peak with the LCD-2/3, with the HD800 the Soloist is awesome.

Thanks solude.
You prefer Soloist to the legendary b22, that speaks a lot for Soloist. Makes me want b22 a little less.

How about vocals details, breadth, air? especially female on wa22, b22 and Soloist?

Same as above.  Air, details and breath scale up as you go WA22 to B22 to Soloist.  The B22 isn't bad it's just different.  Staging makes things larger and less specific on the B22.  Some may prefer that to the Soloist laser focused staging.  Detail wise the Soloist is again sharper where the B22 is as detailed but either because its faster or has less 3rd harmonic distortion sounds more rounded and laid back.

Which is why I have my own B22 coming soon.  Because while the Soloist's increased sharpness was obvious synergy for the LCDs, the B22's larger imaging and smoothed presentation may work better with the HD800 I use now.  And it's a beauty =)  This is rough shot from when we were rolling LED colours.

 

Sweet.

Nice amp! how many boards if b22 are you having? and who built it?

Did you ever try v200 (compared to soloist) with your hd800? sounds like a good match?

I don't have any headphones that need more power than a 2ch B22 can provide so... 2ch.  SolderWorksAudio did the hands on and most of the part selection, I did the face feature set selection.

I am currently using a Musical Fidelity V-Can II to drive my JH16 FreqPhase IEMs.

The minimum volume (once you get to the point where there is volume is both ears) is quite loud.

I am therefore only able to listen for short periods of time.

So I am looking for new headphone amp, and the new Soloist SL looks very interesting.

Has anyone tested it with the JH16 FreqPhase, which has a sensitivity of 118db and an impedance of 18 ohms, or similar low impedance, high sensitivity IEMs?

Is it able to produce a low volume?

 

Also, has anyone tested the Soloist vs the Soloist SL?  The only difference that I see is the volume control (ALPS vs 24 stepped attenuator).

Will this have a noticeable effect on the sound quality?
 

I have tested the Soloist (stepped attenuator) with Shure SE-535(36ohm, 119 SPL/mW), no problems with noise that I could hear.