Gl2k sounds amazing on the soloist. I could say with a fair amount of confidence that for different use cases I could be totally content with the burson for music with any of my headphones, the parasound a21+ for my he6se when I really feel like letting it stretch its legs, and the a90 for specific listening and I donāt have any amp itch at all. The a90 gets a lot of hate these days but itās solid. The soloist is a firm step up in musicality and driving power over the a90 but I donāt see myself abandoning the a90 altogether anytime soon though, it has its place.
So do you like the he6se better on the parasound than the Burson? Also I assume Burson more musical does that mean it has less detail than a90?
Hmmā¦thatās a touchy question. I would say that I do enjoy my HE6se on the soloist 3x performance with super charger the most and though Iāve heard a lot of speaker amps through my he6, speaker amps arenāt just a āfixā for the power needs and most Iāve heard sound like garbage. I remember m0n recommending it a long time ago and itās the only speaker amp Iāve heard that I donāt have a single issue with synergy wise with the he6. The burson is definitely close (and honestly for most people close enough not to warrant the behemoth that is the a21+) and I donāt want to say the burson has less detail than the a90, just that itās presented a lot differently. Exclusively with the he6 I feel like the a90 is lacking on power from time to time but the he6 isnāt the reason I still own the a90 (though it was the reason I bought it 
) and the reason I keep it around is the super low noise floor while still having enough power for basically every headphone out there. Itās nice for ripping apart tracks to actively listen and for gaming I love the complete lack of noise. All of the detail is there on the soloist, and more importantly leaps more resolving power which from what I can tell comes mostly from the class a driving power it has. I would say the burson is a solid choice for everyday listening, a90 for analyzing, and the a21+ for the overall experience. But with the super charger, Iād put the soloist as my number 1 pick. Flawless synergy with the he6 and most hifiman products in general.
1 Like
Oh and the burson has a big leg up on soundstage over the a90.
1 Like
thanks for the info its very helpful!!
ok so the super charger is amazingā¦it should come with their products. noise floor (that was very there before) is completely absent now. bass is tighter, highs are more tame, mids are ever so slightly fuller. solid product but it with how big of a difference it made it should definitely come with the amp.
edit: detail is noticeably improved as well.
3 Likes
have your rolled op amps? Just wondering if you found that the op amps to make a larger impact or super charger.
they definitely make a bigger difference but i ended up liking the vivids the best anyways and this is just a huge step up in clarity and overall performance and the noise floor completely disappeared.
I just got my Soloist and love it. I canāt wait to pick up a Super Charger now!
iām starting to understand their claim of charging the capacitors twice as fast and i never thought this amp was ārunning out of steamā in some songs (after the :30 bass slam and onward in kill jill by big boi) but just wow its so much more held together. i initially thought that was a bit of bass overlap in the song but it absolutely is not. noise floor is substantially lower than my a90 now (both high gain and max volume attenuated by my passive preamp volume knob) and that was honestly one of the only reasons iāve kept the a90 around other than the no frills/no fun perfect flatness.
3 Likes
Well just got this email:
View this email in your browser
Burson Soloist 3X Grand Tourer - 10Wpc Headphone Amp / Preamp
https://www.bursonaudio.com/products/soloist-3x-grand-tourer/
The GT is a result of collaboration between us and every audiophile who loves the Soloist lineage. It tackles engineering challenges and rejects industry assumptions.
The resulting Soloist 3X Grand Tourer is nothing the industry has ever seen before. It is a new level of musical experience.
Main Features:
-
Inside the GT, there are two independently powered mono amps outputting 10Watts pc for headphones. They are placed in mirrored symmetry to achieve the highest possible channel separation.
-
Five sets of Burson proprietary Max Current Power Supplies. (MCPS), Each tuned to maximise performance, so much so that they need active cooling.
-
Combining a new resonance-free enclosure with the quietest cooling fan money can buy, the GT is quieter than the ambient noise of an empty recording studio.
-
To eliminate cross channel interference, each channel has its own MUSES72320 + V6 Vivid discrete buffer volume control.
-
It can emulate speaker listening through three levels of hardware-based headphone crossfeed.
-
Its preamp allows the volume of each output to change separately. We call it soundstage centring for speakers.
-
The GT also allows Headphone + Subwoofer listening.
Limited production:
Due to a global shortage of IC chips (The GT uses two MUSES72320 and a range of controller chips and quality components), We can only produce a limited number of Soloist 3X GT in 2021. So get in quick and pre-order the GT before it runs out.
Ship from Early November 2021
MSRP: 2499USD shipping worldwide
Pre-order Offer + a free Cool Stand:
Webshop Link: https://www.bursonaudio.com/product/soloist-3x-gt/
2249USD + 55USD delivery* worldwide
2 Likes
yeah i saw that and it hurts. itās calling me.
1 Like
the spread on selling the 3xp and buying one of these is too much of an L for me to take now. But is a product I will be watching in coming year or so.
looks like it takes a 24v 5a power supply so the super charger wonāt work on it. iām guessing theyāre gonna release a super charger 5a sometime soon to go with it.
I asked them to compare the GT against 3XPā¦ I asked about the SQ benefits and about the power supply; their response:
Thank you for your email and for your interest in our Soloist 3X Grand Tourer.
The Soloist 3X GT has a high output and its power supplies are tuned to about 10 times harder than the Soloist 3XP
Regarding its performance, It has a higher channel separation hence lower cross channel interference and noise.
It also has a lower output impedance which can match more power amps.
The power supply that comes with the Soloist 3X GT is bigger than the one that comes with the Soloist 3X Performance.
When you asked that, did you mention how it compares to the Soloist w/ a Supercharger?
I can guess maybe soundstage and blackness will improve but it seems to me it might be similar more or less.
Nope based upon the response it seemed like I was getting canned sales responses. I wanted to know specifically what I should expect for improvement with the TC over the standard 3XP. I also asked if the GT included the upgraded power supply or if they were going to be selling that as an ad on. The response I posted is what they sent back.
1 Like
Nice to see the addition of the Noctua fan. They make really solid and quiet fans for the PC.
I am currently using a Vornado desktop fan a buddy bought me for the Soloist. Works great. I had also purchased the stand for the unit: (What is great about this fan is if you hit the blades with your fingers or a cable it just slows down since they are soft nylon)
I think itās interesting to have an active cooling solution like a Noctua fan inside the case and right on top of the circuitry.
Wouldnāt the fan induce EMF interference? It is a spinning flux inducing machine. Iām sure Burson wouldāve thought about it but hmmā¦
Isnāt there a reason why Class A, heat exhausting amps all have passive cooling instead of a fan?
I have never seen an amp with fans inside.
Per Burson:
The power supply included in our Soloist 3X Grand Tourist is a standard 24V/5A power supply.
We donāt have a āSuper Chargerā for the GT at the moment but it is on our to-do list. But even with the standards 24/5A PSU, the GT is many times better than even the Soloist 3X-P. : )