I use the Burson as a reference DAC and reference desktop amp. Everything about the sound screams precision. It keeps the music together better than any of my other gear. I haven't delved into more expensive amps, but it is far and away the most impressive piece of gear I own.
I use it to drive my Sennheiser 650s direct, my Woo WA6, and my Genelec 8040s through a CleanBox Pro. My old rig (not really that old!) was an Apogee Duet, which struggles with echoes and transients. The Burson is clean and spacious. It's not even a contest. The Apogee D/As, which make a lot of today's modern music, pale by comparison.
The solid state amp took the doors off the Woo WA6 with a standard tube set. Once I put the Princess tube in, it became a closer match with the Burson still in the lead. Subbing a GZ34 tube and they're virtually neck and neck (though the GZ34 still needs burn in time). I doubt I could tell which is which in a blind taste test. It's splitting hairs. The bass sounds slightly cleaner on the Burson, which I tend to like. But honestly, when you get to this level of performance, there's no right answer, it comes down to preference.
The point being-- the Burson is dang-good. The pre-amp is the best I've heard. I could easily get by with just this box and be perfectly happy, but I love playing with the Woo. Once the honeymoon fades, I could see myself selling the Woo down the road. I'll be spending money on a pair of LCD-2s or Sennie 800s before I bother with the signal again. If I were building a rig from scratch-- the Burson would be at the top of my shopping list.
