[oldson]

i am on the search for a new SS amp to replace my old Violectric v200.
i would like fully balanced.

one option i am considering is the Burson soloist 3xp and , while reading reviews, i have learned that it has a volume bypass or power amp mode.
this is really appealing on the versatility front as i could run my otl valve pre out into it for a different flavour.
all this got me thinking "are there any other amps out there with this feature?"
i can not think of a single one.

any suggestions would be appreciated, new or used, budget is around £1K.

 

[tesarpa]

My understanding is that if you set max volume, you effectively turn any headphone amp to power amp mode.

 

[oldson]

My understanding is that if you set max volume, you effectively turn any headphone amp to power amp mode.

that is not bypassing the preamp section so likely to induce noise, surely?

 

[Aeonyx]

Ferrum OOR has power amp mode that bypasses the preamp

 

[tesarpa]

that is not bypassing the preamp section so likely to induce noise, surely?

I'm not sure about different topologies, sorry. I just remember Jason Stoddart (Schiit Audio) replying to request for home cinema switch on their preamps saying "All our preamps has it. Just turn the volume to the max." In your case, I guess the tube amp generates distortion by magnitude higher than solid state amp, so it shouldn't present any problem. But it's just a guess.

 

[oldson]

could be a nightmare if i forget to put vol pot back.

the way i see it, the idea is to bypass the built in preamp so that it does not influence the sound. turning it to max defeats that object entirely.
Jason suggesting that sounds like a cop out , imo.

 

[oldson]

Ferrum OOR has power amp mode that bypasses the preamp

sadly out of my price range but interesting to know others have the feature, cheers