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Writer: Christopher Vacano
Source: ModWright-modified Transporter, Empirical Audio Pace Car II & Overdrive Signature DAC, Paul Hynes regulated power supply, MusicVault music server, ModWright-modified Sony NS-9100ES
Preamp: ModWright LS36.5 with PS36.5
Power amplifiers: VAC PA100/100, Gamut D-100, Gradient active crossover designed by Gamut
Speakers: Quad ESL-63, Gradient SW-63, Kings Audio Hummingbird electrostatic supertweeters
Power Conditioners: Nordost Quantum Qx-4, Audioplan FineFilter II, Audioplan Power Plants
Cabling: Omega Mikro Planar Active, Crystal Cable Reference, Artisan Ultimate Silver, Shunyata Python power cables
Headphone system: Sven Boenicke-modified Stax SRM-T1 tube amplifier, Gingko Audio platform, Stax SR-Lambda Signature, Stax SR-404 Limited
Sundry accessories: ASI acoustic resonators (full complement), Clearaudio Magix2 isolators, Mapleshade platforms, Acoustic Revive RR-77 Schumann Generator, RIQ-5010 Quartz Insulators, RGC-24 Ground Conditioner, REM-8 EMF Canceller, QR-8 Quartz Resonators, Finite Elemente Resonator, Shun Mook Mpingo discs, Black Diamond Racing isolators, LessLoss Blackbodies
Room size: 4.2m x 3.1m dedicated nearfield listening room with brick walls, concrete floor and fitted carpeting. Full acoustical
room treatment with Acustica Applicata DaaD diffusor/absorber elements
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Introduction. Many years back, my first profession was that of a recording
engineer with subsequent technical projects for professional
audio firms—EMT, Solid State Logic, Otari—within recording
studio, film and broadcast facilities throughout Europe. Since
then I have shifted my professional focus over to the financial
industry but have retained my passion for realistic music
reproduction and its underlying technological trends. |
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Relocation to Switzerland some 15 years ago enabled
me to set up a dedicated near-field listening room
within our house much to the delight of my wife
whose acceptance of audio systems other than B&O or
Piega living-room designs has always been close to nil.
But more on the WAF later.
In 2008 I expanded my system’s source from a Sony/ModWright SACD player to a server-based system
including Neal van Berg’s MusicVault, a ModWright-modified Transporter and lastly an outboard
DAC and reclocker from Empirical Audio. Aside
from this I have always been a big fan of electrostatic
transducers—the ‘typical’ transparency affinity—and have owned Quad/Gradient speakers and Stax headphones
for longer than I care to mention. With
this in mind I was very eager to enroll in the Burson/Audez’e People’s Review and consider myself very
fortunate in being able to evaluate this innovative equipment
and carry out direct comparisons within my current
system and listening context.
Review process.
I would like to mention that I viewed the supplied Burson/Audez’e
components as a combo and as such did not compare
the Burson to my preamp consisting of the two-piece ModWright tube-regulated linestage. I did however
compare:
• the Burson DAC to my Empirical Audio reclocker/DAC/Paul Hynes PSU;
• the Burson/Audez’e combo to my Stax SRM-T1/Lambda Signature.
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Burson HA-160D DAC. The Burson DAC was compared to my Empirical Audio Pace
Car II reclocker feeding the Overdrive Signature DAC both
powered from a Paul Hynes regulated external PSU and
sourced from the ModWright Transporter network player.
Alternately I connected the Burson DAC and Empirical
Signature Overdrive DAC to the S/PDIF output of my Sony
9100ES SACD player. During the course of multiple listening sessions I switched
between different music genres including vocal ballads (Eva
Cassidy, Mike Silver, Sara K.); piano instrumentals (Yiruma);
Soul (Joss Stone); Pop (Roxette, Hurts); Rock (Sunrise Avenue,
Wayne Jackson, The Eagles); Celtic (Loreena McKennitt), Jazz
(Patricia Barber, Ben Webster, David Sanborn) and classical
(Verdi Nabucco Chorus, Beethoven Symphony N°. 5).
The outward appearance of the Burson HA-160D made
an extremely solid and high-quality impression. Whilst I
did not open the unit to examine interior components, it
is a well-known fact that Burson utilizes discrete conversion
and class A output stages, custom voltage
regulation, a metal film resistor attenuator, two power
transformers for digital and analog circuits as well as
high-grade Wima, Dale and similar premium parts.
The very thick aluminum casing makes the Burson
much heavier than its dimensions would suggest
which has advantages in terms of eliminating audible
chassis resonance. All this for $1.250 ($1.100 street
price)? That was the first thought that came to my mind.
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In October of 2009 I purchased what was said to be a
state-of-the-art conversion system from Empirical Audio
including a reclocker (Pace Car II), custom-built
Signature Overdrive DAC plus an outboard regulated
power supply from Paul Hynes in the UK. This system
has since advantageously bypassed the internal converters
of my ModWright Transporter. Empirical specializes
in jitter reduction technology which sets this modular
system apart from many competing components,
albeit at a cost of over $7.000 including the linear regulated
PSU which has since replaced the four standard
wall warts. Very high-quality components like Black
Gate and Sonicap Platinum caps are utilized here as well as
special low-jitter upgrade clocks (44.1 & 96kHz), very
short signal paths and an I²S digital connection between
reclocker and DAC. No contest I thought to myself as
I was setting up the Burson HA-160D alongside my
established digital source gear.
I must admit that I was more than a bit surprised after
having compared both DACs based on my initial
impressions.
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It seemed challenging at first to detect major differences
between these two setups. Both DACs had a very detailed analytical but never
harsh presentation – very natural and ultra quiet. Soundstaging was excellent on both.
I became increasingly intrigued and started comparing
and listening to different types of music. The incredible
transients and dynamics of the Rodrigo y Gabriela
(11:11) guitar riffs swung the presentation decisively in
the Burson DAC's favor. I simply heard more shades of
dynamic contrast together with a 'weightier' presentation
and enhanced PRaT. As the differences between the
two DAC setups had been small on other types of music
i.e. Celtic, female vocal ballads etc., I searched for
more impulsive tracks this time in the form of Patricia
Barber’s Modern Cool. The bass and drums on "Factory"
and "Light My Fire" again scored big time with the Burson
in the areas of reproducing dynamics and PRaT.
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My
more elaborate gear sounded flatter on occasion, meaning
that it did not present dynamic contrasts and musical
flow of rhythm quite as involving. Granted these differences were not major but could be discerned in direct
comparisons. A significant point though was the difference
in price for this level of high-end performance.
During my listening phases I placed a Finite Elemente
resonator on top of the Burson. That's a device which converts
even the smallest mechanical chassis vibrations into
heat. I could not make out any differences in sound.
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Incidentally I used the HA-160D with the standard
basic cables supplied – no high-end cables that might
result in further sonic benefits.
In summary the Burson HA-160D offers sound and
build quality I never thought possible at this
price. The presentation was especially remarkable
in terms of immediacy, dynamics and tonal
richness without sacrificing transparency, in some respects
more akin to a high-end tube than transistor
amp. The build quality, resonance-free chassis,
elaborate power supply and high grade components inspire
confidence for a long and reliable life span. Operation
is simple and input/output connections were fine for
me. Although it would be nice to have XLRs, they
would need to be true symmetrical paths which would
undoubtedly increase the price. Whilst the elaborate
stepped attenuator is a big plus, I would prefer to have
smaller volume steps but again that’s a trade-off that
would necessitate more high-quality film resistors at
higher prices. The wife acceptance factor was
10 on a scale of 1 to 10, with lots of praise for the elegant
appearance plus a sound quality assessment of
‘that’s very engaging to listen to’. |
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Burson HA-160D + Audez‘e LCD-3.
During this part of the review I would have liked to use
another dynamic headphone on the Burson and also another headphone amp for driving the
Audeze’s LCD-3 with a dynamic competitor (the Audez’e
LCD-3 is a dynamic headphone with planarmagnetic
transducers). My setup however includes a vintage
Stax SRM-T1 tube amplifier intended only for use with
electrostatic headphones because it supplies the required
580V bias voltage for polarizing the electrostatic headphone
diaphragms. My SRM-T1 has recently been
modified by Sven Boenicke of loudspeaker fame and
is no doubt in the same league as the Burson but without
digital circuitry. My headphones feeding the SRMT1
outputs are of course electrostatic and include a
Stax Lambda Signature and a newer Stax SR-404 Limited.
In some respects I do not think that these phones
are in the same league as the LCD-3 whereby a comparison
with a Stax SR-007 Mk II might have been a
fairer match. Interestingly the newer SR-404 Limited
sounds inferior to my older Lambda Signature. It seems
to me that Stax has made significant advances with electrostatic transducers only with the advent of the SR-
007MkII and the newer and far more expensive SR-009.
This review setup involved the following signal paths:
• Transporter > Pace Car reclocker > Signature DAC
analog out > Burson/Audez’e combo
• Transporter > Pace Car reclocker > Signature DAC
analog out > ModWright linestage > Stax combo
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Photos compliments of Woo Audio
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After plugging in the LCD-3 and listening to the Burson/Audez’e combo I thought, wait a minute, something’s
definitely not right here. Murphy’s law was at work.
I had selected the wrong output for the Audez’e LCD-3. They came to life after connecting to the left output
labeled “H” for high gain.
The first things that were noticeable immediately on the
Audez’e LCD-3 were the very earthy and well-defined
lower bass presence and extension plus the way in
which large-scale dynamics were presented. The Audez’e
had very palpable bass. Just listen to Patricia Barber’s Modern Cool and the amazing reproduction of the
drums, bass and guitar lines. It’s very pronounced and was
immediately audible. The same held true for the Eagles' Hell Freezes Over XRCD when listening to the "Hotel
California" bass lines and drum sound. The soundstaging
was very good, indeed far better than the typical
between-the-ear events many headphones without
external crossfeed circuitry reproduce. Clarity, subtle
articulation of detail and the way transient attacks were
presented all came through very good but not as good
as electrostatic phones can be in these respects. Whilst I
don’t have a dummy head with measuring gear to substantiate
this, the frequency balance of the Audez’e felt
warmer than I personally prefer, leaving me with an
impression of slightly recessed highs compared to the
mid and bass spectrum. That said the tonal balance of
the Audez’e is such that it does cater to a broader range
of music and recording styles. I listened to all available
music genres but spent a good deal of time with Verdi’s Nabucco Choruses and Reiner's Beethoven Symphony N°. 5 both on XRCD.
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Photos compliments of Woo Audio
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Turning to the Stax combo I can now acknowledge that
the Lambda series of headphones is not the best model
for comparison with the Audez’e LCD-3. It should
really be a Stax SR-007 Mk II. Those familiar with the Stax Lambda series know that their
biggest drawback is a somewhat etched presentation in
the upper midrange. Dynamics, impact and deep bass
are very good but not state-of-the-art. The SR-007 MkII is much better in this respect.
However, these electrostatic phones really shine in terms
of clarity, transient speed and subtle articulation of musical
detail at different listening levels. Here even the
Lambdas are superior to the LCD-3 in my opinion. The
setup was interesting because the two headphones were so
very different in tonal character. The Audez’e LCD-3
did leave me feeling somewhat unhappy about my Stax
Lambda particularly concerning low-end corporeality
and upper midrange glare. The latter is especially
evident due to the inherent coloration but also
because many engineers boost high frequencies in the
mix. My ideal headphone would really have to combine
the virtues of both – perhaps a Stax SR-009 or
Audez’e LCD-4 without a $10.000 tube-based
HPA to go along.
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Oh yes, I touched on the WAF for the Burson earlier on. With regard to the Audez’e
headphones, I got a WAF of 10 for the stunning
Zebrano ear cups but only a 5 for the sound (seemed
to have a ‘dark’ presentation) and a 1 for the heavy
weight. That’s the way the cookie crumbled.
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Closing comments. In any case it was a real highlight to be able to extensively
listen to and review these meticulous audio products.
Having spent literally decades enjoying high-end
consumer equipment, it’s very plain to see the rate of
change at developing better sounding (and better built)
gear at lower prices than previously possible. Apropos
prices, having lived in the USA, Germany and Switzerland,
it has always been aggravating to see local
prices amounting to the typical USD retail price times
an unrealistically exaggerated exchange rate factor (plus
sales tax and S&H) for identical gear in Germany and
Switzerland. Seemingly the situation in Switzerland has
recently become more realistic but I’m not sure about
Germany. Hopefully these large price discrepancies
which are to the detriment of the end user will be
evened out over time. I know that manufacturers in the
pro-audio world do undertake corrective measures with
their international distribution. But this topic
would fill the context of another review.
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My sincere thanks to all involved for supplying this
enlightening review opportunity. The bottom line in a
nutshell is really this. Go for it, listen to this equipment and
judge it for yourself. The value for money at this high
a quality level has never been rosier. Take it from an unbiased
expert. Romeo my Chartreux cat always welcomes
new encounters as you can see. He acknowledges
the bottom line in his capacity of a listening expert with
superior auditory ability.
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