[King of Pangaea]

Quote:

Here's the details.
 

 1. The size of the power supply has been doubled...from 4700uf to 10,000uf PS caps (2 pcs) plus,
    the quality of the PS caps has been upgraded to the "audio-grade" Nichicon KG Gold Tune parts
.
 2. All the power supply rectifying diodes are changed from standard speed parts, to the very best
    CREE Silicon Carbide SCHOTTKY type diodes...16 pcs.
 
 3. The volume attentuator is changed to the 48 position Khozmo "shunt" type. It has double the
    number of positions; plus far better switch and contact quality; and a far better feel.
 
 4. All the RCA jacks are upgraded to the VAMPIRE "Direct Gold over Copper" type, instead of
    the standard gold over nickel over brass type.
 
 5. The 4 "most important" signal path resistors are changed to the VISHAY "naked" Z-Foil type.
    These are the best resistors in the world!
 
 6. All critical caps upgraded to the Nichicon "audio-grade" non-polar ES series.
 7. Many other sonically critical resistors upgraded to the non-magnetic TAKMAN audio-grade metal
    film resistors, from Japan.
 
 8. Soundcoat chassis damping added to the top cover (insides) to reduce resonances.
 
$1850 is the retail of the stock unit……the retail of the aftermarket mod is $995….however, if you buy in pre-modded (Bundled)  - it's $2495….a $350 savings !
 
To me the stock Burson made great music but the Signature makes beautiful music. And that's hard to put a cost on if you know what I mean.

How can one be sure that modding the original design will result in a better sound?  When you have achieved great synergy between your cans and amp, which is the holy grail to shoot for in this game, how can one be sure that changing the formula which achieves the best sonic product to date, will give you an improvement?  It could easily be postulated that any monkeying around with the current formula could result in a diminishing of performance.  Thus only a hands on/actual listening to the modded result with your chosen phones can provide the listener with a definitive answer as to what to do.  Not an anti-modder, just positing an idea.  Just an 'If it works, don't mess with it' idea.  No telling what the result for you will be.

 

[Solude]

The circuit isn't changed just part selection so the overall character shouldn't be all that different just dialed in.  I'd be more interested to see if PC would be game to up the bias on request.

 

[WALL-E]

Quote:

It's a fair price. Whether it amounts anything is another question. Would have liked to see the bias doubled though. Certainly enough sink to take the heat maybe not enough supply.

 
I think the price is fair enough, summing up the top quality parts used to this mod, carefully selected to tune the sound signature, the labor, difficulty and complexity, experienced technician will need at list day or two to do this upgrade plus some testing all of this translates into a cost.
 
The Conductor enclosure reminds me of my old (end of 90's) Densen beat b-100 integrated amplifier by giving the first few watts in class (A) making the sound very pleasure to listen at low level, the Burson uses the same idea, using thick aluminum housing as a heatsink. I would have liked to see the bias doubled too. I didn't see why not? Actually we didn't know whether circuit is or isn't changed, pcx has replaced most critical components but could have changed some resistors value in bias circuit to adjust the bias current. The Burson recommended to leave headamp connected to mains all the time for better sound quality and there is some reason why, with the increase of the heatsink temp, slowly growing bias current to finally settle down the equipment should be connected to the mains all the time. This translates into better/warmer sound.
 
Ruby Tiger you had both of them is there any temperature difference in touch (underneath of unit, getting hot first) between the stock one and your pcx signature? Curiosity killing me.

 

[dan.gheorghe]

If the added quality is fair, the price is fair, and of course we are discussing about audiophile improvements here...even 5% could be enough ) . Hope we read some reviews soon

 

[buson160man]

Quote:

Was the Conductor you auditioned new? The Conductor tends to sound sterile before burn in

 I suppose that could have been a possibility. I must add that I have changed the stock fuse in my ha-160 amp to a hifi-tuning supreme fuse and I am using a outrageously expensive power cord on my burson when I listen to it. I use a nordost brahma power cord on it which is ridiculous but I already had one that I was using in my speaker based living rrom set up. I found that the amp became much more dynamic and much quieter sounding with the fuse and power cord upgrade. You would be surprised at how much better the burson got with the upgrades.
  But the best amp that I have heard was the allnic audio otl tube amp that I heard at the chiunify 7 Chicago meet this month .From what I heard I seriously doubt the conductor even with extensive burn in would come close to touching the allnic amp. When I first saw the amp I thought it was a integrated speaker amp with a headphone output it sure looks the part. I was shocked when I found out that it was just a headphone amp. Not taking anything away from the burson but it looked like a toy next to the allnic amp. The displayer was using a mytek 192k dac in his setup.I heard some very good set ups at the chiunify meet though not all (I wished I had a chance to listen to the balancing act which someone had brought) but I came a little late and the meet pretty much stopped at 300 for the raffle.But of the amps that I heard I was very impressed by the allnic otl with hifi man  he-500 phones it floated my boat.

 

[RubyTiger]

Quote:

 
I think the price is fair enough, summing up the top quality parts used to this mod, carefully selected to tune the sound signature, the labor, difficulty and complexity, experienced technician will need at list day or two to do this upgrade plus some testing all of this translates into a cost.
 
The Conductor enclosure reminds me of my old (end of 90's) Densen beat b-100 integrated amplifier by giving the first few watts in class (A) making the sound very pleasure to listen at low level, the Burson uses the same idea, using thick aluminum housing as a heatsink. I would have liked to see the bias doubled too. I didn't see why not? Actually we didn't know whether circuit is or isn't changed, pcx has replaced most critical components but could have changed some resistors value in bias circuit to adjust the bias current. The Burson recommended to leave headamp connected to mains all the time for better sound quality and there is some reason why, with the increase of the heatsink temp, slowly growing bias current to finally settle down the equipment should be connected to the mains all the time. This translates into better/warmer sound.
 
Ruby Tiger you had both of them is there any temperature difference in touch (underneath of unit, getting hot first) between the stock one and your pcx signature? Curiosity killing me.

Once I swapped the unit's out the older one never went back in. I had found my sound.The new unit seems' to run about the same temp as the older, on top that is. Sorry I couldn't help. Maybe email them or call even?

 

[King of Pangaea]

Quote:

The circuit isn't changed just part selection so the overall character shouldn't be all that different just dialed in.  I'd be more interested to see if PC would be game to up the bias on request.

I am not saying the circuit has changed, just the component parts.  The caps and diodes have been changed: that might modify the sound somewhat, for some people for the better, for others possibly for the worse.  My point is that anytime you change anything in a closed circuit situation, the result may be different that what it was before.  Might be an improvement, might not.  If you toy with the part, might not the gestalt also be not quite what it used to be?

 

[Solude]

Somewhat but having had a few Dynalo and B22 amps over the years, changes to parts or even the entire supply haven't changed much.  They still sound like Dynalos and B22s if that makes sense.  The newest Dynalo, GS-X mk2, though changed through hole for SMD and cranked the bias and supply lines.  It's still unmistakenly Gilmore but dialed in.

 

[RubyTiger]

Quote:

I am not saying the circuit has changed, just the component parts.  The caps and diodes have been changed: that might modify the sound somewhat, for some people for the better, for others possibly for the worse.  My point is that anytime you change anything in a closed circuit situation, the result may be different that what it was before.  Might be an improvement, might not.  If you toy with the part, might not the gestalt also be not quite what it used to be?

The sound is warmer and smoother. Maybe they are one in the same but regardless I find it to be less fatiguing with a bit more of that midrange magic that audiophile's crave. I doubt hard rock or metal lovers looking for an adrenalin rush that so many powerful solid state amps can provide will seek this one out. I do not know if I can explain it well enough but I find the Signature has more detail, transparence, palpable, air, soundstage, etc. at a lower given volume level than the stock unit. Much like the way a good tube amp bloom's earlier vs a solid state that detail improves as you increase the volume. Not that it does not get better with more volume as it certainly does. I'm still feeling it out and am not quite ready to give a better description.
Quote:

Somewhat but having had a few Dynalo and B22 amps over the years, changes to parts or even the entire supply haven't changed much.  They still sound like Dynalos and B22s if that makes sense.  The newest Dynalo, GS-X mk2, though changed through hole for SMD and cranked the bias and supply lines.  It's still unmistakenly Gilmore but dialed in.

Off topic but can you tell me if an audio cable can be dialed in? I'm not sure what was meant but it was said to me awhile back.

 

[Solude]

Dialled in means to take something and make it better at what it's already good at.  You could say the LCD-3 is a dialled in LCD-2.

 

[Mediahound]

So I have a Conductor on the way. Do most just leave it on all the time? Or, do you turn it off when you are not using it? 

 

[Solude]

Always on here.  Even my tube gear.

 

[negura]

Quote:

So I have a Conductor on the way. Do most just leave it on all the time? Or, do you turn it off when you are not using it? 

 
Absolutely always on. I recently moved house and the Conductor was on and off for a start, after a long while. It sounds much better once it's properly warmed up a few hours. To me it's suboptimal sound otherwise. 

 

[MIKELAP]

Quote:

So I have a Conductor on the way. Do most just leave it on all the time? Or, do you turn it off when you are not using it? 

I turn it off. but i put a 100% wool blanket on hit taken from himalayan sheep from a pasture between 10 and 15000 feet of course but thats me . Or Burson says to warm it up 30 minutes before hand

 

[Mediahound]

Quote:

Always on here.  Even my tube gear.

 
Quote:

 
Absolutely always on. I recently moved house and the Conductor was on and off for a start, after a long while. It sounds much better once it's properly warmed up a few hours. To me it's suboptimal sound otherwise. 

 
Thanks. What does the OSX Burson USB driver do? Is it some app I have to install or is it just something that runs in the background?