Bryston BHA-1 vs Burson Soloist 3xp
BHA-1 Specs: (From bryston.com)
Power Output (per channel): 2W @ 32Ω
Input Impedance: Unbalanced 10KΩ
Balanced +15kΩ/-5kΩ
Sensitivity:
HI (approx 20 dB) setting: 70mV in = 100 mW out into 50 Ω (500mV in = 5V out)
LO (approx 14 dB) setting: 140mV in = 100 mW out into 50 Ω (500mV in = 2.5V out)
Features:
- · 3 stereo inputs: RCA, XLR, and 3.5mm TRS
- · Fully Class A discrete operational amplifiers.
- · Low distortion, high power output
- · Balanced output
- · Switchable gain
- · Fully convection cooled means no noisy fans
- · Machined and anodized aluminum enclosure and dress panel
- · Legendary Bryston 20 Year Warranty
Soloist 3xp Specs: (from bursonaudio.com)
Power Output (per channel): 32 Ohm. 4 / 2W
Input impedance: 35 KOhms
Output impedance (Headphone Amp): 0.5 Ohm
Output impedance (Pre-Out): 25 Ohm
Features:
Inputs:
1 x XLR
1 x RC
1 x Mic
Outputs:
1 x XLR Preamp/DAC
1 x XLR Headphone Jack
1 X SE Headphone Jack
- · Three levels of feedback based gain, matching headphones from 60db to 108db sensitivity.
- · Burson proprietary Max Current Power Supplies eliminating noise and unveiling micro-details.
- · High current Class-A and fully discrete circuitry, achieving incredible sound.
- · The same MUSE72320 based volume control used in ultra-high-end preamps, achieving phenomenal channels balance and soundstage.
- · Headphone power amp mode to remove volume control from the signal path and reach even higher transparency.
- · Opamp rolling to tune Soloist 3X to your preference.
Build Quality:
The BHA-1 is a Bryston product, home of the legendary warranty, and it feels like it. The grain and texture of the silver is lovely to the touch, the knob spins with pleasant feedback, the switches feel authoritative, easily clicking into position, with no confusion as to the current state.
Operating temperature was in the range of 94-96 degrees Fahrenheit, measured in a room that averaged 78 degrees during testing.
The Soloist’s case is a handsome finned aluminum rounded rectangle, with a screen for displaying volume and navigating the menu. The screen looks great in flat orientation, but I can’t figure out how to make it rotate when you put the amp on its side. The menu system is not fun to navigate when you have to, using the volume knob[1]as a jog dial and accessing the enter / select function by pressing the knob in. The aluminum case is finished nicely. The remote is a aluminum stick about the size of a fat crayon, and provides input and volume control from the listening position.
Operating temperature was in the range of 103-107 degrees Fahrenheit, measured in a room that averaged 78 degrees during testing.
Listening . (via ZMF Autuer and LCD2.2 – pre fazor)[2]
Testing consisted of several days of listening to one, then the other, then some A/B testing}, and finally, randomly swapping back and forth while typing this sad excuse for a review. Specific track sampling included at bottom of review.
The story here is not one of major differences. These are two excellent solid-state amplifiers that have both earned reputations as standouts in their price range. Conclusion: Need a remote? Buy the Soloist 3XP. Don’t? Buy the BHA-1.
Seriously. This stuff is really close to each other. You won’t be upset buying for a feature on one or the other that makes your day. They both have pre-outs, both only balanced. The Soloist has an interesting configuration where you can run it as an amp only controlling volume with an upstream component. The Burson has remote. The Bryston has more inputs. The Soloist 3XP runs 10 degrees hotter than the BHA-1 but is 1/3 the size.
The Soloist 3XP is just ever so much sweeter in the treble. Maybe richer. Maybe lusher. The BHA-1 has a way with everything below about 250hz though. The Hegel boys claim their amp magic is due to dampening factor. Maybe that’s part of the situation here, as the BHA-1 just seems to control the drivers a little better, resonance is full, but stops before overhang. This results in a slightly silent-er silence between notes, which creates the illusion of more impact and dynamics. Level matched, the BHA-1 seems louder. But up from there, in the vocals zone, The Soloist holds its own with a slightly mellower take on things, which if you listen to a bunch of crap recordings (as we all should, it’s where some of the best music is) can be a welcome touch. If your values tilt the other way, the BHA-1 has greater capability create order out of chaos and is clearer when it gets congested. Someone will show up to tell me this is about transients, or that it can’t possibly be true. All this reviewer knows is what he hears, and that he promised @ProfFalkin to never use the term PRAT in a review again.
Which leads of course, to the section of Pace, Rhythm and Timing. The BHA-1’s excellence with the space between notes and the bass makes it a more compelling amp. If you get deep into the bourbon, the BHA-1 is more likely to present a version of Mr. Blue Sky that has you stripped to underpants and ready to burn down a town. Not that the Soloist 3XP is languid. the Caroline Shaw / So Percussion collaboration moves and shimmers and hammers as it should, however, the finale of Macklemore’s “Can’t Hold Us” lacks the same degree of urgency in comparison.
Vocals: That tiny bit of extra happy happy in the Soloist 3XP is best heard with a female vocalist that can slip to bright on the wrong gear. Listening to Joni Mitchell’s “California” for example. it can take just a tiny bit off the edge. Again, this is splitting hairs, it isn’t the BHA-1 is bright, just that the Soloist keeps the edge at bay a little longer.
The Autuer is not a great sound staging can. the amps kind of have to fight their way through the can’s tendencies. The presentations looked a little like this:
Via the Audeze LCD 2.2, the imaging was much more cohesive and expansive on both amplifiers. However, the separation was better on the BHA-1.
Ultimately what we have here is a pretty decent 2 amplifier illustration of the bathtub curve. To plot a bathtub curve, you put price on a vertical axis and performance on the horizontal, and then draw a relatively flat line that curves up to almost vertical with the curve existing in a very small range.
As you progress through the range of performance available, you come into ever decreasing rates of performance to dollar. The BHA-1 retails for roughly double the Soloist 3xp. Yes, I like it better. You’ll need to decide if it is better enough for you.
Some Sample Tracks:
World Saxophone Quartet: Holy Man
Miles Davis: Someday My Prince Will Come
Woody Herman: 23 Red
Iron & Wine: Father Mountain
Elgar: Cello Concerto. (DuPre & Barenboim)[3]
Brahms: Ein deutsches Requiem
Shaw / Attacca Quartet: Orange
Gillian Welch: Revelator
Black Pumas: Black Moon Rising
Tom Petty: Grew Up Fast
Ben Folds: Late
Passenger: Sword from the Stone
The Flaming Lips: Brother Eye
[1] If you have one. My Soloist (purchased direct from Burson) came without a volume knob attached. The unboxing of a new toy is a sacred time, and to have that experience sullied by a major missing piece is unforgivable. It’s the biggest missed opportunity I’ve ever personally seen. There have been QC issues with this amp reported, I did not personally experience anything other than the missing volume knob.
[2] Level matched, balanced in, balanced out, pi2aes-> tt2 → amp; blah blah blah. Not blind. Highly caffeinated.
[3] All others are crap. Please play the first movement at my funeral, followed by the recessional hymn, for which I request “Kick out the Jams”.