I’ve just received my first toy in 12 months! It’s an Australian made Burson Audio HA-160 purchased from Partsconnexion.
Pics:
http://i38.tinypic.com/1zy989l.jpghttp://i37.tinypic.com/1zl50y1.jpghttp://i37.tinypic.com/s5g36d.jpghttp://i36.tinypic.com/2i8gpab.jpgBurson Website:
http://www.bursonaudio.com/ha100.htmI was very impressed with their integrated amp PI-160 previously so when PCX putted the HA-160 on sale, I just couldn’t resist. : )
Built quality:
Very elegant! Simply the best looking headphone amp I’ve ever seen. Silver rushed aluminium casing with the Burson Audio logo engraved on the front plate. The entire case is aluminium (not just the front plate) which keeps the temperature of this class-A operation under control. It’s been on for about 12 hours now and it’s just a bit warm.
The size is about 6 * 3 * 8 inch, not big but weights around 3 lbs.
Functionality wise it’s lean. One pair of RCA input, power switch on the back, 2 sets of outputs to better match headphone impedance and a step attenuator volume control.
I am resisting the temptation to open the bonnet… just for now….
Sound:
It is burning-in over the weekend but my first impression is overwhelmingly positive! It is already betting the crap out of my old Lehmann.
The amp is driving my HD650 very comfortably although I am still waiting for the bass section to open up just a bit more. The mid and high are already beautiful. A bit tube like… a bit sweet but very refreshing and very musical. Plenty of “air” between instruments and the micro details are very satisfying. I guess it’s a shrunk down version of their integrated amp as they bear a similar flavour.
I will give a more detailed listening impression once this baby is fully burn-in : )
