Quote:
I also know that is is not the thread to do it, but there is something I have to say about the Burson amplifier. This amplifier seems to be nice enough on the outside and inside. Good quality parts throughout (some are excellent) and yet disappointing in every respect. The sound is slaughtered like a rabbit as far as dynamics goes. Obviously, it is something that confirms the rule that even high quality parts cannot erase the mistakes made during the eletrical design. Just mentioning it in contrast with some other opinions here on what or who can be considered an expert in design of audio amplification.
I could name a few more but then I risk being deleted from the community altogether for it is an extended hand of the marketeers.
What Burson did you listen to? I have owned ha-160ds, listened to ha-160d and have th
e Burson Conductor now.
When I had the DS i had 2 headphones : hd650 and grado rs2i and for a while lcd2. With hd650 it was absolutely awesome. I loved the lcd2 on it too, but i had the feeling the headphones can do better.
I did not like the Grado RS2i on it, i just couldn't listen to it. My galaxy s (Wolfson wm8994 dac) was a much better pairing for the rs2i than the ha-160ds.
I have also listened to hd800 on it for a week. Well... it didn't impress me, I do not think it is a good pair.
Ah, the ha-160ds improved substantially with my PS Audio Duet power conditioner. Even though Burson markets the ha-160ds being the same with the 160d but with less options, it has a weaker power source, which benefits more from power conditioning.
So it is all about pairing. I am not saying burson is the best, but I liked it very much in pairing with hd650 and even lcd2.
After the 160ds, I got the Burson Conductor. This baby is in a different league. When I went to listen to it at a good friend, I did not expect too much of a difference. It was huge with lcd2, so i bought it. The surprise was with hd800. I had the feeling it is a good pair with it. The sound is much more smooth, the bass is better, the brightness went away, I even liked listening to rock music on hd800
Ah and the Conductor did not benefit from my ps audio duet power conditioner. Actually it restricted dynamics a loot! I asked the burson team about it and they said that the conductor already has a 5 step power filtering inside, and power conditioners usually make it worse . I have also noticed that my wireworld aurora cable was not a good match either, because it restricted dynamics, bass and introduced sibilance . The cable has some filtering inside which may get in the way of the 5 step filter inside conductor.
We also tested LCD3 and
M2Tech Vaughan, and I found that Vaughan was indeed a liiitle more smooth and had a blacker background (it runs on battery, so the power is clean and cables make no difference) and more details, but the differences were so little. I actually preferred the Conductor over Vaughan, but that was just me (conductor seemed to have a better bass with the audeze headphones, and better lower midrange).