Burson Buffers?

It worked on my midfi Onkyo CD changer. The Burson did provide a little more punch and a bit more clarity. For a player with the reputation of the 840C it's questionable if the Burson will be a detriment or a plus. It did not help my better players sound better. But the proof is in the listening.

A friend and I compared the Burson to a Goldpoint stepped attenuator, using a 840C and Pass Monoblocks.

Even though the goldpoint was built with quality parts(silver wire, copper RCA jacks), the Burson had better transparency, dynamics, and extension on both ends. I would highly recommend it.

I can find out which value Goldpoint later this week, but we used the single ended input on a pair of Aleph 2's.

To the OP. I know you say you have low bass output from your new 840C. I also have a new 840C. The only upgrade I have is a PS Audio AC3 1M PC. I have never listened to the stock cord, so I don't yet know what difference the PC provides. Anyway, sometimes I think that the unit doesn't do bass so well, then I put in a different CD and voala, good bass. Seems very CD dependant for me. Overall, I'm quite happy and I am running McIntosh power with ML Vantages, which are not known for the stongest bass. I'm wondering if you have enough runnin time (breakin)?... And in the end, I'm also interested in this Burson Buffer. Hope to hear about it soon.

I do remember you comparing the 840C to a Nak cassette deck. Maybe that deck just has less upper end extension and so it sounds like the 840C is underpowered in the bass department. In any event, I hope you figure out your conundrm and a great fix, if that's what is needed.

I have tried their Burson Buffer and PI-160 integrated amp and they are both very good.

The buffer is system dependent. Any source machine with 150ohm or above output impedance should benefit greatly from the buffer. Anything under 150ohm is less preditable.

It pays to contact Burson Audio directly, and they are pretty friendly folks.

A friend of mine owns the Burson--he's an audio zealot I suppose you'd say--he has an Oppo DVD player, an Exemplar, a Cambridge. We listened to each unit with and without and I'd say that the results with every unit were nothing short of remarkable. Not one of those, hold your head at a certain angle and maybe you'll hear it--flat out spectacular. We then brought it to my house and a/b'd it on my Exemplar Player, again, remarkable. I really can't say enough good things about it. The best 'relatively' inexpensive improvement I've seen in digital.
Highly reccommended.

Larry

As with most things that we review and talk about...
input from anyone not actually having had the unit in their posession, is not valid, IMHO.

Larry

As with most things that we review and talk about...
input from anyone not actually having had the unit in their posession, is not valid, IMHO.

Categorical, all-encompassing statements such as that are not valid, imho.

It is certainly legitimate, it seems to me, to comment on issues related to impedance mismatches, gain mismatches, signal-to-noise performance, and a plethora of other technical and spec-related issues, without first-hand experience. Assuming, of course, that the person commenting knows what he or she is talking about.

And in choosing some aspect of a system configuration, it is certainly both legitimate and desirable to have and/or solicit spec-based understandings that will allow potential mismatches to be ruled out from consideration. That will narrow the field of candidates that need to be assessed based on first-hand experience with sonic performance.

I am in essential agreement with Tvad's comments. Although I have no experience with the Burson buffer, I believe that based on technical considerations I can say the following with certainty:

1)For a component with high output impedance, meaning that its output impedance at any frequency approaches 1/10th or more of the input impedance of the component it is driving, the buffer is likely to be beneficial.

2)If the interconnect cables to the destination component are long and/or have high capacitance per unit length, and the buffer has a lower output impedance than the component driving it, it may be beneficial. That can be analyzed quantitatively, if anyone is interested.

3)If neither of the above factors are applicable, the sonic effects of the buffer, if any, may or may not be subjectively preferable in any given system, and need to be assessed by listening.

Regards,
-- Al

Great post Al.

I totally agree with Lrsky's assessment on the Burson buffer. It totally transformed my system too. And the thing is that it even works great on other sources such as my PC and my Ipod.

Some people even turns the buffer into a low gain preamp.