Burson Soloist 3X Grand Tourer Head Amp/Pre Amp w/Sub out - 10W XLR

[rreynolds]

Great review. His impressions are in line with what I've experienced so far. Glad some of us took advantage of that pre-order special! Can already see the GT remaining in my chain for years to come.

 

[Tubewin]

This review said. in Hypsos

He said "I expected hearing a big change with the Hypsos and the change was definitely there". But he goes on with a disclaimer saying that it wasn't worth it to him since he had cleaned up his power lines in the walls and upgraded those cables, "However, it needs to be said that if I wouldn’t have all those power improvements, then Hypsos might further elevated GT’s performance over the Super Charger 5A".

So, I guess it depends on how you have everything setup. It won't make a big difference if you already have clean power, I agree with you there. It will make a more noticeable difference if you did not take precautions, like upgrading your internal wiring in your house/apartment.

 

[rreynolds]

i’ve had no complaints with my GT since November, just enjoying it everyday with TC and Susvara with just a feeling of satisfaction. You know as audiophiles you sometimes have a niggling feeling that something’s wrong somewhere that needs to be fixed/tweaked/improved? I don’t have that with the GT. It’s nice to see a review from someone with a depth of experience and multitude of gear who like the GT as much as I do. Would be nice to share a beer over these things.

Now I haven’t decided yet if I like those red accents. It’s eye-catching for sure. But I think I prefer my all-silver look. The red just reminds me of Xduoo and I’m not a fan of those.

Agreed. It's rare when you can sit down and truly feel satisfied with your purchase. Scratching the ''audiophile itch''. The GT is one of the few that have been able to do that in an ocean of amps. Bravo to Burson for going all out.

 

[Designer Tiger]

He said "I expected hearing a big change with the Hypsos and the change was definitely there". But he goes on with a disclaimer saying that it wasn't worth it to him since he had cleaned up his power lines in the walls and upgraded those cables, "However, it needs to be said that if I wouldn’t have all those power improvements, then Hypsos might further elevated GT’s performance over the Super Charger 5A".

So, I guess it depends on how you have everything setup. It won't make a big difference if you already have clean power, I agree with you there. It will make a more noticeable difference if you did not take precautions, like upgrading your internal wiring in your house/apartment.

Well, he said that. I actually have no idea. I am using isotek sigmas and super charger to feed my GT and I do hear big difference. The only complain from me is the sing end sounds better then the balanced. and most of my cables are balanced cable.

 

[rmsanger]

Has any Soloist 3GT owners tried out the Mysphere 3.2 + Sub option? Based upon Sandu's write-up of the 3GT and another review of the Mysphere 3.1 & 3.2 I'm thinking this is going to be the way to go. Perhaps with a Rel T7 / T9 midfield in a small room... Putting together the budget now but that might be the move.

 

[Pashmeister]

The GT scored higher than the Ferrum Stack in his written review. Pretty impressive considering the price difference.

He’s quick to clarify that he still thinks they’re pretty equal and it all boils down to personal preference. I guess if you have a GT or a Hypsos+Ooe (or Volot), you shouldn’t really feel like you’re missing out.

 

[Tubewin]

Well, he said that. I actually have no idea. I am using isotek sigmas and super charger to feed my GT and I do hear big difference. The only complain from me is the sing end sounds better then the balanced. and most of my cables are balanced cable.

So, when you have it plugged in single ended does the sound stage collapse? The mids sound a little stretched when you have it plugged balanced? I can try using my stock utopia cord into the single ended port and see if the mids improve.

 

[UntilThen]

https://soundnews.net/amplifiers/headphone-amps/burson-soloist-3x-grand-tourer-review/

Sandu's written review is out.

Pretty similar to my experience with the GT.

Thank you Sandu for such a comprehensive and thorough review, you even used the hypsos power supply in the review!

A unique review done only in his style. Well done. As I sit here listening with NAD M51 > Soloist 3XP with super charger in power amp mode > LCD4, I can't help but feel that the coupling is perfect. Now I'm just more intrigue with the GT as it seems to up the ante even more.

 

[801evan]

Hypsos isn't all that great. I've modded it and while the performance improved quite a bit, it still can't catch up to an Ifi Elite (sans ferrite). I've lent my Hypsos to a friend and we're letting the supercharger break in and it seems like he does prefer the supercharger. I'm waiting to get my turn in trying it out. This comparison is behind a line conditioner. It's enough for me to not be curious on a Hypsos Orr, but I'm curious on a elite ifi 24v + ORR.

The balanced side has bigger sound stage, but the all images and sound itself are stretched to be longer, the sound density became thinner.

This is usually the sound characteristic of higher gain. Balanced might have made the effect more obvious as GT's architecture is a dual mono design. I usually prefer SE in general since balanced is merely bridged amping when driving HPs and will half the damping factor, double the noise, which is a factor sensitive to high performance HPs like the Susvara. It is only in a few cases where balanced will sound better than SE but I think it's because the SE side is borked since designer placed priority on the balanced architecture side.

 

[Designer Tiger]

So, when you have it plugged in single ended does the sound stage collapse? The mids sound a little stretched when you have it plugged balanced? I can try using my stock utopia cord into the single ended port and see if the mids improve.

I feel like the sound stage and image in SE is normal

 

[Pashmeister]

I feel like the sound stage and image in SE is normal

I dunno what’s up with your device, but balanced sounds significantly better to my Susvara.

 

[Tubewin]

Hypsos isn't all that great. I've modded it and while the performance improved quite a bit, it still can't catch up to an Ifi Elite (sans ferrite). I've lent my Hypsos to a friend and we're letting the supercharger break in and it seems like he does prefer the supercharger. I'm waiting to get my turn in trying it out. This comparison is behind a line conditioner. It's enough for me to not be curious on a Hypsos Orr, but I'm curious on a elite ifi 24v + ORR.

But the ifi elite isn't compatible. It pushes 24v at 2.5a when the GT requires 24v at 5a. My hypsos is powering it fine at 24v 2.9a (hypsos capable of 6a), still .4a more than the ifi elite can provide.

 

[SlothRock]

^^ I thought someone said Ferrum themselves mentioned the Hypsos can’t do 5A or 24V, one of those two, and thus may not be able to power the GT in the most demanding situations where it would call for that type of power? I know in most situations it would be fine but the Hypsos doesn’t technically get up to the max power the GT can draw from what Ferrum said

 

[801evan]

But the ifi elite isn't compatible. It pushes 24v at 2.5a when the GT requires 24v at 5a. My hypsos is powering it fine at 24v 2.9a (hypsos capable of 6a), still .4a more than the ifi elite can provide.

That's correct. My point is Sandu may be correct with the claims of the supercharger not being worse than the Hypsos based on my Elite vs Hypsos comparison. And for the curious, Orr may have an edge if paired with Elite 24v.

 

[Dr_Hibbert]

.