[HPiper]

Wondering if anyone has ever had the chance to compare these two amps and if so your impressions, which did you prefer and why.

 

[Whitetriton]

I'd be curious to hear this as well.
 

 

[jackwess]

I've only seen some brief comparisons of the Mjolnir and Soloist. 

 

[techboy]

Please delete

 

[Whitetriton]

Has anyone had the chance to compare these two amps themselves and if so, what are your impressions? Which did you prefer and why?

 

[techboy]

You are comparing a Honda to a Mercedes S class

 

[Whitetriton]

Hi Techboy,
 
Actually, I'm hoping to hear somebody else that has heard both compare the two.  I can't speak to the original poster's intentions, but I have a Lyr and am curious what, if any benefit, stepping up to the Soloist might bring.  I can appreciate that it might be better (at the cost, it "should" be better).  I was asking if anybody who has heard them both could give examples of what it is that they found to be different and/or better to help me decide if it would be worth it, to me, to pull the trigger on the purchase. 
 
I heard the Soloist at the most recent LA meet, but it was quite noisy in the room and I was not able to really hear much of anything.  There is nowhere around where I live, that I have been able to find, where I can demo a Burson.  I searched on head-fi and found this thread which was started by a fellow head-fier and thought I'd bump it. 
 
Have you had a chance to listen to either headphone amp?
 

 

[Fearless1]

Quote:

Hi Techboy,
 
Actually, I'm hoping to hear somebody else that has heard both compare the two.  I can't speak to the original poster's intentions, but I have a Lyr and am curious what, if any benefit, stepping up to the Soloist might bring.  I can appreciate that it might be better (at the cost, it "should" be better).  I was asking if anybody who has heard them both could give examples of what it is that they found to be different and/or better to help me decide if it would be worth it, to me, to pull the trigger on the purchase. 
 
I heard the Soloist at the most recent LA meet, but it was quite noisy in the room and I was not able to really hear much of anything.  There is nowhere around where I live, that I have been able to find, where I can demo a Burson.  I searched on head-fi and found this thread which was started by a fellow head-fier and thought I'd bump it. 
 
Have you had a chance to listen to either headphone amp?
 

I own the LYR and have heard the Soloist with my LCD-2 and He-500. The Soloist is tighter and faster then the LYR with a better sound stage, but the LYR (with good tubes) holds it's own against all the amps I own/tested. The LYR has a warmth and smoothness to it that I do like over most of the solid state amps I have tested/own. I think it comes down to preference of sonic signature. I can get the LYR to sound very clinical with certain tubes, it will never replicate the sound stage I heard from the Soloist, but honestly it was not far off to my ears. I have about 3 hours spent with the Soloist so take what I say with a grain of salt. I actually prefer my SA-31 over the Soloist.
 
Quote:

From what I have read a lyr can't even come close to a solonist sl. A mjolnir might come close to a solonist but I am not sure about this. Solonist sl and lyr are themselves a league apart leave alone solonist.

Have you heard any of these mentioned amps? And if so , what tubes did you hear with the LYR?

 

[HPiper]

Quote:

You are comparing a Honda to a Mercedes S class

Yes, but which one is the Honda?

 

[Whitetriton]

Thanks Fearless1.  I really appreciate you taking the time to share your experience.   I tell myself to just stop searching for new gear and enjoy the music. . .but I still keep coming back here.  

 

[Enthusia]

From what I have researched the Lyr is the best if you want to power hungry ortho's. It has has a higher noise floor which definitely is not recommended to be used with IEM's. Also there is a channel imbalance at lower listening dial position. The Soloist on the other hand can also power everything on the market today and with the three different gains and low noise floor, although it is a 4 watt amp, you can use sensitive IEM's with it but don't expect much linear control over the volume.

 

[Sanlitun]

I think it really matters which phones you are intending to use.
 
After I had got my HE-500's I went looking for a new rig to replace my Asgard 2 and Bifrost setup. The conductor was at the top of my list and I had pretty much made my mind up to buy. But when I went in and listened to the Conductor with HE-500's I was unimpressed and certainly thought it was not a real upgrade considering the cost. At the dealer there they had a Lyr and just out of curiosity I took a listen with the Lyr fed by the DAC side of the Conductor and found the sound I was looking for. So I ended up with the Lyr and a Sabre based DAC.
 
I think if I had listened with HD800's I can see how this would have probably gone a different way.
 
I completely agree with what Fearless1 says about the Lyr above; with the right tubes it is indeed one of the best amps available under $2k. However it can be a very big issue to find those tubes.
 
Hope this helps in some way..

 

[Whitetriton]

Thank you Sanlitun. I appreciate your input. The HE-500 and Lyr do sound very nice together. That's for sure.

 

[atsq17]

I haven't done an A-B comparison but when I had a Lyr with the LCD2.2 I found the Lyr with the stock tubes a bit boring. I changed to the 6N1P-VI (from Schiit) and it was more exciting but occasionally fatiguing. 
 
I am now running a MrSpeakers Mad Dog with a Burson Soloist SL and the this is just pure magic to me. I cannot give you a straight answer to your question and different pairings give different results. 
 
As far as I am concerned, my experience with the Lyr was mediocre but the Soloist SL is very positive (my current setup).