Thanks for taking the time for that great write up. Especially taking the time to compare a few of the most talked about op-amps for the Soloist.
I’ve heard the GSX Mini doesn’t have as much treble emphasis as it’s big brother (GSX mk2), but that it still likely has a small bump somewhere.
Glad to hear the GSX Mini and BF2 seem to synergize well. I don’t think I’ll be disappointed pairing mine with a Yggdrasil, knowing the BF2 is sometimes called the mini-Yggy.
I’ll add my thoughts on how the GSX Mini and Yggy pairs once I have both in house. Though could be a few weeks.
Thanks. I think the Bifrost 2 and GSX mini synergize well in terms of warm vs bright, but I’ve been told by another Mini owner that the Bifrost 2 is still the bottleneck in terms of detail and resolution, which I fully believe. Spring 3 is currently on my radar as well as the rumored Yggy A3.
I was thinking of trying the sparkos op-amps too but it looks like I’ll stay away from them. I do have the Classics coming in and I’ll post some impressions on those and see if our thoughts match up (I use a different DAC tho so it probably won’t).
Anyway, thanks for sharing your thoughts! It was great.
Great read thanks for sharing. To my ears, although I didn’t have a lot of time yet with either of these, the Soloist sounds brighter (listening with a RME ADI-2 DAC, balanced in and out to a LCD-5).
I also get a noise floor on the high gain on the soloist compared to the dead silent mini.
I’d say that after a couple of hours with each, at the moment I prefer the mini by a large margin. Might be price bias as well.
Hi orrman, I have MM-500 (similar impedance to LCD-5). Have you compared Adi-2’s amp and GS-X mini? Or can you? I’ve been eyeing GS-X for a while but am currently happy with Adi-2.
I just received a black GSX Mini from the used market in great condition at a price I couldn’t refuse. I mean this to be the counterpoint to my Violectric 280.The Vio provides the warm, powerful soul of music and my hopes are that the GSX will provide the detail, neutrality and technical skills. I’m looking forward to mixing and matching with the various cans I have and playing around with synergy.
Just checking out a few test tracks. My source is a Bifrost 2/64 with Lokius EQ… Lana Del Rey, Steely Dan’s Aja, Coltrane’s Greensleeves, GNR, Soundgarden/Outshined, now playing Comfortably Numb.
These pair at first blush very well with my LCD-X and LCD-3. The LCD-3 can come across as veiled, muffled, wooly even with the the wrong synergy. These sound the best I’ve heard mine sound. In fact with the Vio 280, which has a warm tube adjacent sound, it’s sometimes too much of a good thing. Here, the resolution and treble of the Mini seems to work very well with the dark nature of the LCD-3. They sound neutral with a gorgeous bloom. GSX has a harder edge. Vio has the gorgeous lush rush.
Now playing The National Anthem by Radiohead…just stunning. I can only imagine what a LCD-4/5 might sound like.
I’m also a metal fan. Threw on one of prog-death giants, Opeth’s magnum opuses-Ghost Reveries co-produced by Stephen Wilson, OK, here come’s some Tool/Pushit & The Grudge . I’m kinda blown away how the LCD-3 with GSX-Mini sound with rock music over all.
I think this is pretty much endgame for me with the LCD-3. About as much as I could ask for overall balance and uber technical chops. I’ve searching for this sound for a long ass time.
4 years after this post was written, but I think I concur with you . I have a GSX Mini and Violectric 289 that I’ve been running with a Bifrost 2/64. I feel the Bifrost is very good with my GSX Mini with Planars. It’s brilliant with my LCD-3. It’s good with some genres on my Vio 280 but sometimes it doubles down too much on the warmth factor and can sound muddy or muddled and limits treble detail which is a weakness of the 280. I just bought a RME ADI-2 with the Vio 280 in mind. Initial impressions are that the RME is terrific with the Vio and neutralizes the warmth a bit and adds clarity overall. That’s without working through the EQ options which look vast on the RME. And, per my tastes, the RME might be a bit too analytical/neutral/detailed for the GSX Mini as it doubles down on those qualities. I’ll caveat, that I tend to like warmer, even darker sound signatures.
So GSX-Mini (neutral leaning bright) benefits from the R2R slightly warmer and fuller bodies qualities of the Bifrost.
And the warm, tubey sounding Vio 280 benefits from the detailed, neutral more analytic RME AD-2.
Time will tell if these initial observations hold up.
I’ve been eyeing GS-X for a while but am currently happy with Adi-2.