[Riddo]

Whew! Thank you, kind sir.

I also wouldn’t opposed if anyone’s able to provide pics of their set up with the GT and headphones plugged in. Not being weird or anything.

 

[Pashmeister]

Can someone post pics of their GT so that those of us who are still in excruciating wait can take the edge off?

 

[greyforest]

What headphones are you using that you prefer the SE over BAL? Could it be a better impedance matching when you use SE, for your specific headphones?

Unfortunately I’ve already sold all my easy-to-drive cans and I’m left with TC and Susvara. I don’t even think about using SE for any amp anymore, but I think SE still has plenty enough power and It would be interesting to try them out with the Sus/TC to compare.

Anyway regarding theoretical comparisons vs other amps — whether it’s a rehash of other people’s reviews, or based on your own experience, they’re both opinions. I use a power amplifier (OG Burson timekeeper from 2012) for my Susvara and TC and I’d say I prefer it over the Formula S/Powerman, arguably one of the best amplifiers for TC (and Abyss recommends it). My expectation of the GT is a performance that is on par with my TOTL headphone experience for TC/Susvara. Barring any potential unit variation on the fan/controls, I hope it meets my expectations especially from a sonic standpoint.

Unfortunately, I do not have experience with the GSX-Mini, nor do I expect to have a use case for it with my hard to drive planars, so I cannot form an opinion nor will it matter to me. It will matter to many folks who do use easier to drive cans than my Sus and TC, so here’s my (hopefully very logical) suggestion — if one is curious about how GSX-mini compares vs the GT on specific cans, you can take a look at the comparisons between Soloist 3XP and GSX-Mini first. There’s already comparisons that can be found already, as I understand they kinda occupy a more similar tier/target market, and both have been around for a while now.

From what I’ve seen there are folks who have a preference for 3XP over GSX-Mini (always subjective of course). And it’s then logical to conclude that those who prefer the 3XP over the GSX-Mini, will find the GT even better for obvious reasons. For those who prefer the GSX-Mini over the 3XP currently, it’s just a wait and see if the GT’s improvements over the 3XP will be enough for them, after enough experience.

audio quest nightowl is a easy to drive can 32 103
adx5000 is relatively hard to drive 450 99

they both sounded better in SE with 3gt

i have gsx mini and 3xp compared head to head. mini is superior in every way, but not by a lot

and i sold mini cause the value of 3xp is greater

3gt is a step up compared to 3xp for sure


i think 3gt and 3xp both smeared bit of detial, and push the energy to upper and lower end of the sound makes it slightly v shaped.
this trade off gives 3gt a vast horizontal soundstage and transparency. but it makes some headphones sounded thin

 

[qsk78]

Looking forward to your impressions. If 1266 and Susvara both sound great with it then It will work with my NM-1 too

 

[Korean audiophile]

audio quest nightowl is a easy to drive can 32 103
adx5000 is relatively hard to drive 450 99

they both sounded better in SE with 3gt

i have gsx mini and 3xp compared head to head. mini is superior in every way, but not by a lot

and i sold mini cause the value of 3xp is greater

3gt is a step up compared to 3xp for sure


i think 3gt and 3xp both smeared bit of detial, and push the energy to upper and lower end of the sound makes it slightly v shaped.
this trade off gives 3gt a vast horizontal soundstage and transparency. but it makes some headphones sounded thin

Could it be you have thin sounding headphones? I used the lcd-4 and Zmf VC on the 3XP and those two have never sounded thin nor V shaped to me. Could it also be your chain maybe also thinning your listening experience also?

 

[Korean audiophile]

audio quest nightowl is a easy to drive can 32 103
adx5000 is relatively hard to drive 450 99

they both sounded better in SE with 3gt

i have gsx mini and 3xp compared head to head. mini is superior in every way, but not by a lot

and i sold mini cause the value of 3xp is greater

3gt is a step up compared to 3xp for sure


i think 3gt and 3xp both smeared bit of detial, and push the energy to upper and lower end of the sound makes it slightly v shaped.
this trade off gives 3gt a vast horizontal soundstage and transparency. but it makes some headphones sounded thin

Before I decided on the GT I was mulling over the mini but Goldensound said in his review that the mids gets muddy up abit on complex passages so I went with the GT mostly because my experience with the 3XP has been so great.

 

[m9dlh]

Could it be you have thin sounding headphones? I used the lcd-4 and Zmf VC on the 3XP and those two have never sounded thin nor V shaped to me. Could it also be your chain maybe also thinning your listening experience also?

I also have the LCD-4 and find the sound to be thin.

 

[Korean audiophile]

I also have the LCD-4 and find the sound to be thin.

So are going to return it?

 

[krude]

I also have the LCD-4 and find the sound to be thin.

Have you tried slotting in Classics? I had Classics + Sparkos in my XP and it smoothed out the treble and added more body. Rolling op amps is literally the biggest benefit of those amps.

 

[greyforest]

Could it be you have thin sounding headphones? I used the lcd-4 and Zmf VC on the 3XP and those two have never sounded thin nor V shaped to me. Could it also be your chain maybe also thinning your listening experience also?

adx5k is bit thin sounding cause it goes for transparent sound.
but nightowl is full sounding headphones. i do enjoy both of them for different music

my dac is not thin sounding with other amp.

 

[Tubewin]

audio quest nightowl is a easy to drive can 32 103
adx5000 is relatively hard to drive 450 99

they both sounded better in SE with 3gt

i have gsx mini and 3xp compared head to head. mini is superior in every way, but not by a lot

and i sold mini cause the value of 3xp is greater

3gt is a step up compared to 3xp for sure


i think 3gt and 3xp both smeared bit of detial, and push the energy to upper and lower end of the sound makes it slightly v shaped.
this trade off gives 3gt a vast horizontal soundstage and transparency. but it makes some headphones sounded thin

What gain setting did you use on each headphone in xlr? What gain setting did you use in SE for each headphone? I'm assuming you raised the volume when using single ended.

 

[qsk78]

because my experience with the 3XP has been so great.

Agree. 3XP does not sound thin at all. And it is not V-shaped. Great combination with Composer 3XP.

 

[krude]

Agree. 3XP does not sound thin at all. And it is not V-shaped. Great combination with Composer 3XP.

3XP is equally vshaped (or ushaped) from my experience. It has to do with Vivid op amps I think.

 

[Korean audiophile]

Goldensound has a great review on the mini. He has honest feedback on it.

Here is the gs-x mini thread. All of your posts are referring to it. You may find others there who also believe it is the totl amp.
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/new-amp-from-headamp-gs-x-mini.883745/

Golden sound said the mids got muddled up during complex passages zeos also said blah

 

[Pashmeister]

It’s only been my first couple of hours with the GT, driving Susvara. No burn in; I am pretty sure sound will improve with burn in.

My chain: Qobuz/Roon - HQPlayer PCM 768kHz - Rpi4 streamer - Iso Regen - iFi iPurifier - SRC-DX dual BNC into Hugo TT2 - Burson GT. Very transparent and cleaned up source, I believe I am hearing the GT unadulterated here.

First impressions are very good. Glare/graininess/compression might be mistaken for more details, but the GT is detailed but smooth; I won’t call it smeared, my test tracks whose tiny nuances I’m very familiar with, sound very detailed without being harsh. I would say analog sounding and without digital glare. It has a slight warmth that I typically enjoy, and the bass is deep and precise. Black background. Good body in the mids. Crossfeed implemented well. I am still playing around crossfeed, and so far my preference is the lowest crossfeed setting in GT, partnered with lowest crossfeed setting in my Hugo TT2. I don’t get a thin sound, so I dunno if it gets picky with other cans. I think the GT could virtually be a pair of Soloist 3XPs slapped together to form a dual mono amp with an improved preamp section.

Fan noise is inaudible for my use case and environment.

I should have been patient and let it burn in first but I am impatient. Out of the box I am pleased. So I can only expect it to open up more by next week. I would choose this over Ferrum Oor+Hypsos (I haven’t heard the Volot). There’s new toy bias (let’s be real), but then I don’t see myself selling/returning this to replace it with the Oor.

I’ll keep listening and over the next few days I’ll use the 1266 TC and also use my Tube Preamplifier with it.

The controls suck, but not a deal breaker for me. In a week I’ll be used to it. I still think it’s a bargain when I consider the Susvara/TC amplifier competition.