[hafzz123]

CGSF plays really well with a lot of headphone/genres. It sounds quite allrounder without major downside

The synergy that impressed me the most was CGSF with power demanding planar ( Diana TC for example ) pairing. It is still one of the best pairing that I've heard

 

[Slim1970]

Contrary to you I probably wont "buy and sell" my way through as many amps since I got the impression you've cycled through quite a few, haven't you?
I'm looking to get a "substantially better" device compared to Hypsos/OOR...
Solid state that is and unfortunately cheaper then HM1 which narrows down my search but still juggling 5 to 6 amps and SF being one.
Problem is I'm under the impression, I comprehend Head Fi more and more as thread/brand/device echo chamber.

Do you experience one of your HPs having best synergy with SF? Or is it like the tide which lifts all boats? Same with musical preference. thanks!

Head-fi is journey. I think everyone should tryout as much gear as you can afford or demo. That’s really the only way one can truly find out if an amp, headphone, or DAC is really for you. Yes, I cycled through a ton of gear. Since I there's no head-fi shops in my area, buy and try was my only option. Going through that process, I was able to find the headphones and associated components that suits my sonic taste the best.

As far as a best headphone that pairs well with the Silver Fox, in my collection they all do. One of the best qualities of Silver Fox is its tuning. The Silver Fox also has great technical performance. Combine the Silver Fox’s tuning and technical ability you have a pretty complete headphone amp in my opinion.

 

[Erikbarone]

I found out about this amp too late, I'm gutted now because I missed the 10% off Black Friday sale from the distributor Power-Holdings around Black Friday last month. Does anyone know if there will be similar sale around Christmas / New Year? or this is only once a year during Black Friday. Thank you.

 

[sahmen]

I found out about this amp too late, I'm gutted now because I missed the 10% off Black Friday sale from the distributor Power-Holdings around Black Friday last month. Does anyone know if there will be similar sale around Christmas / New Year? or this is only once a year during Black Friday. Thank you.

This question is best directed to @ArthurPower himself. I am sure he'd be happy to provide you with the right answer. Feel free to PM him too if he does not answer you quickly enough on this site.

 

[chesebert]

I found out about this amp too late, I'm gutted now because I missed the 10% off Black Friday sale from the distributor Power-Holdings around Black Friday last month. Does anyone know if there will be similar sale around Christmas / New Year? or this is only once a year during Black Friday. Thank you.

There is so much margin built into these products that I am sure if you just call and ask for a discount you will probably get one - no one actually pays retail in the hifi market. There are new/near new units sitting on the market for months at msrp with 0 taker.

 

[kumar402]

There is so much margin built into these products that I am sure if you just call and ask for a discount you will probably get one - no one actually pays retail in the hifi market. There are new/near new units sitting on the market for months at msrp with 0 taker.

I agree..always a good idea to call and talk in person for some friendly discount.

 

[Tubewin]

I owned the Burson Soloist 3X GT with upgraded op-amps and I still prefer the Silver Fox. Without the upgraded op-amps, the Soloist 3X GT is several steps behind the Silver Fox. With the upgraded op-amps installed in the 3X GT, it's a very competitive amplifier.

I curious to hear what has changed with the Burson Audio Voyager from the Soloist 3X GT. I do like the Burson house sound overall, but there is something quite magical with the Silver Fox when compared to every other amp I've heard or owned.

I owned the original Soloist 3xGT and felt that it had a metallic timbre and thin mids. I'm a little disappointed to hear that the 3x GT, albeit upgraded, is competitive with the silver fox.

 

[project86]

I'm with you, not a fan of the 3x GT, and even with the opamp swaps I wouldn't put it in the same league as the Silver Fox at all.

I used to like the older Burson gear well enough, back in the days of linear power supplies and discrete designs rather than opamps. Can't say I'm a huge fan of their change in direction.

That said, I have had some great results with their opamps in certain applications. So there's still potential there.

 

[Slim1970]

I owned the original Soloist 3xGT and felt that it had a metallic timbre and thin mids. I'm a little disappointed to hear that the 3x GT, albeit upgraded, is competitive with the silver fox.

It's not, I meant competitive in a general sense. The Silver Fox is a much better amp, which is why I sold it the 3X GT once I got it.

 

[skylinekursk]

I had great opportunity and compare 3 amps.
Wells audio HeadTrip 3 lv2, Niimbus US5 pro, cen.grand i9-906 Silver Fox.
HT is THE stage champion without any doubts, it is both wide and deep, very 3-dimensional, everything is neatly lined up around the head.
SF is like HT in width, but lose to other 2 amps in depth. US5 is deep and very good layered, but same time narrower than the other two (US5 builds quite tightly without compromising positioning).
HT is better in transparency, timber, details and resolution. Excellent, simply excellent micro and macro dynamics. Bass impact and hardness (elasticity) the best I've ever heard, it would seem that this is the best transistor, but, probably, it is already the best in terms of versatility, but it has its own but... The most neutral, almost dead neutral yet very musical.

US5 has the blackest background, which also catches the eye and gives a very noticeable effect.

Let's talk on "grey zones" of amps
- SF has that weight of notes, top end air, transparency and good detail retrieval. Top end is somewhat bright, low end is massive and thick, mids are full. I never faced something similar sounding. It's almost everything and now. Yes I'd like to have more depth and hardness on lows (like HT) with texture of HT and US5. SF is smooth, very smooth sounding amp.
- US5 is dense, weighted and most dark sounding with sparky top end. It has lower transparency and detail retrieval than HT. I want to say it has matte sound without gloss.
- HT is very punchy, hard hitting with amazing resolution and separation. From the beginning I thought it has not so much weight of notes and sounds bright but after burn in SQ become darker with much more meat on bones.

overview
from dark to bright US5-HT-SF
punch from better to worst HT-US5-SF
details/resolution from better level to lower HT-US5=SF (last two almost the same result)
power - all 3 can drive anything...
dimensions from smaller to bigger US5-SF-HT
musicality (liquid sound) from best to worst SF=HT-US5. That doesn't mean US5 is dry to analytical, it just on 3rd place

Any of these amp can be end-game.

In the end I sold SF and quite sure HT3 lv2 can be the one and only.

P.S. my equipment: PS audio DS mk2, aurender n200, snorry trion headphones.

 

[ChJL]

Interesting comparison, reminds me when OCD Mickey explained how he found MPD-8 (4 times €€€) to be better then Holo May. Execpt he actually disliked the "DAC from China"
Some reviewer used "smooth operator", SF might be tooo smoooth...

 

[sahmen]

I had great opportunity and compare 3 amps.
Wells audio HeadTrip 3 lv2, Niimbus US5 pro, cen.grand i9-906 Silver Fox.
HT is THE stage champion without any doubts, it is both wide and deep, very 3-dimensional, everything is neatly lined up around the head.
SF is like HT in width, but lose to other 2 amps in depth. US5 is deep and very good layered, but same time narrower than the other two (US5 builds quite tightly without compromising positioning).
HT is better in transparency, timber, details and resolution. Excellent, simply excellent micro and macro dynamics. Bass impact and hardness (elasticity) the best I've ever heard, it would seem that this is the best transistor, but, probably, it is already the best in terms of versatility, but it has its own but... The most neutral, almost dead neutral yet very musical.

US5 has the blackest background, which also catches the eye and gives a very noticeable effect.

Let's talk on "grey zones" of amps
- SF has that weight of notes, top end air, transparency and good detail retrieval. Top end is somewhat bright, low end is massive and thick, mids are full. I never faced something similar sounding. It's almost everything and now. Yes I'd like to have more depth and hardness on lows (like HT) with texture of HT and US5. SF is smooth, very smooth sounding amp.
- US5 is dense, weighted and most dark sounding with sparky top end. It has lower transparency and detail retrieval than HT. I want to say it has matte sound without gloss.
- HT is very punchy, hard hitting with amazing resolution and separation. From the beginning I thought it has not so much weight of notes and sounds bright but after burn in SQ become darker with much more meat on bones.

overview
from dark to bright US5-HT-SF
punch from better to worst HT-US5-SF
details/resolution from better level to lower HT-US5=SF (last two almost the same result)
power - all 3 can drive anything...
dimensions from smaller to bigger US5-SF-HT
musicality (liquid sound) from best to worst SF=HT-US5. That doesn't mean US5 is dry to analytical, it just on 3rd place

Any of these amp can be end-game.

In the end I sold SF and quite sure HT3 lv2 can be the one and only.

P.S. my equipment: PS audio DS mk2, aurender n200, snorry trion headphones.

If I might ask a question, did you pair all three amps with the same DAC and source during this testing? I ask because as a general rule I get somewhat concerned when the sounds of amps are unilaterally compared without the mention of any contribution of the sound of their respectively paired DACs, which tends to happen a lot although most people would agree when asked that DACS also have their say in determining the way the headphone/transducer at the end of any chain sounds in ways that cannot be counted as negligible...

One thing I am curious about is your "Dark to bright" rankings... I also have a Silver Fox and a Niimbus US4 in my stable at present, and having paired both of them with my Sonnet Pasithea for listening to the SUS and other cans, I wouldn't characterize the Niimbus US4 as "Dark" in any way as opposed to the "Silver Fox's" "bright." That apparent discrepancy is one of reason explaining my question about the possible influence of your paired DACs. I'm not really questioning anything you might have hear. I'm just wondering about roles (if any) the input of paired DACs may have played in your evaluation

 

[skylinekursk]

If I might ask a question, did you pair all three amps with the same DAC and source during this testing? I ask because as a general rule I get somewhat concerned when the sounds of amps are unilaterally compared without the mention of any contribution of the sound of their respectively paired DACs, which tends to happen a lot although most people would agree when asked that DACS also have their say in determining the way the headphone/transducer at the end of any chain sounds in ways that cannot be counted as negligible...

One thing I am curious about is your "Dark to bright" rankings... I also have a Silver Fox and a Niimbus US4 in my stable at present, and having paired both of them with my Sonnet Pasithea for listening to the SUS and other cans, I wouldn't characterize the Niimbus US4 as "Dark" in any way as opposed to the "Silver Fox's" "bright." That apparent discrepancy is one of reason explaining my question about the possible influence of your paired DACs. I'm not really questioning anything you might have hear. I'm just wondering about roles (if any) the input of paired DACs may have played in your evaluation

I've put my gear in the end of short review.All 3 amps was on audition at my table at the same time. Tonal balance with more bass emphasise and less highs I call dark. The bright is opposite. They are not darkest or brightest on market it's just compare between them.

Interesting comparison, reminds me when OCD Mickey explained how he found MPD-8 (4 times €€€) to be better then Holo May. Execpt he actually disliked the "DAC from China"

We are talking about TOTL of 3 brands and this is amp (no digital part, just analog) so im sure it's fine to compare even with double price tag difference. About smoothness please read above..

 

[ChJL]

We are talking about TOTL of 3 brands and this is amp (no digital part, just analog) so im sure it's fine to compare even with double price tag difference. About smoothness please read above..

Alright, doesn´t really matter but I liked that you "just" looked at performence and not price. But when I looked it up 15k USD not even considering buying it over here... that´s 4 potentially 5 times as expensive as SF for me.

Listening to electronic music... ambient, techno, D&B and such (don´t know what "audiophiles" mean with EDM) I take all statements, impressions and reviews with a big grain of salt.
Again I´m not one of those with 5 or more pages (not listings) in classiefieds, of gear tried out, tested and sold. Unfortunatley - have gotten the answer that´s the way to find out BUT maybe I find a shortcut...

So I was intrigued with your description of HT and since smooooth gets mentioned so predominantley with SF (and cen.grand DACs) I´m wondering which TOTL -meaning around 5k mark - SS amp would suit my listening habit best.

 

[ChJL]

and onward from that point of wondering I've read the CFA3 thread from page 1 quickly realising "alright I've found it" ca. to page 66 finding out the most respected builder of it stopped making it.
What?
back to SF also because if I'm not mistaking I recognize (ex)owners of CFA3 now using/liking SF "just as much"???