Burson HA-160 Headphone Amplifier : Perfekt match med AKG 701/702

Moiz Audio

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To audiophiles, music is like a religion! Through music we rise above the daily confines of our lives. Music enables us to travel through time and space, to see life through the eyes of others and to fall in love all over again.

Listening to music is a very personal adventure that lasts for a life time.

However in our ever increasingly cramped society with its accelerated lifestyle, this very personal experience is all too often rudely interrupted. From the sporadic mobile ring tones, the neighbor's dog, the Harley Davidson starting up, or the microwave that just keeps on beeping to remind us we have uncollected food waiting for us, all of these things interrupt our fellow audiophile from their pilgrimage of music.

At times like this, we need an uncompromising Head-Fi system.

Uncompromising is the only word worthy of our Head-phone amp - HA-160. The HA-100 employs an advance discrete power supply and power filtration network, and, for the very first time, the Burson opamp technology has been channeled into a head phone amplifier. True to our design philosophy it is completely free of ICs.

Well, listening to an IC based machine is like listening to a grand concert through a key-hole! With ICs you are missing out on the micro detail that makes music musical and the macro dynamic that thumbs our hearts with excitement. There is only one reason for an IC to appear in audio gear, and that is cost saving at the expense of music!

 

Moiz Audio

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There is a common misconception among audiophiles: That is an Integrated Operational Amplifier (IC Opamp) is equivalent or even superior to a discrete design. Nothing can be further from the truth!
Restricted by the fabrication process and technological limitation an IC Opamp is an inferior substitute for a proper discrete design. An IC Opamp is entirely constructed on a single dice of silicon waver, which is smaller than a grain of rice. Limited by its size and heat dispersion, it is impossible to incorporate a top quality audio transistor like the A970, or K170 which feature in the Burson Audio discrete design. During the construction of a discrete transistor a chemical optimization process take place for each pieces of silicon according to there application (NPN or PNP). This optimisation process is critical to the performance of the final product. Some of the benefit included:

Optimized for breakdown voltage and performance.
Optimized for near-true complementary.

But this process can not take place on an intergraded circuit since all transistors is fabricated on the same piece of silicon. This is one of the major drawn back of an intergraded circuit compare to a discrete circuit. All components on the silicone dice are formed by droplet of chemical. This fabrication process can not create quality parts like the 1% tolerant metal film resistor, or the super stable silver mica capacitor. Since they are all connected (hence integrated) they can not be individually tested and matched. In an IC opamp the conductor layer that connects all the parts is formed by a layer of aluminum vapor that is thinner than the water vapor left on foggy windscreen. This poor conductor is the silent killer to musical texture.

The close proximity of components also poses a problem for audio signals, where that delicate signal that music lovers pursue, will be masked by EMI noise. In the end, the consumer is getting an opamp that is built with a bunch of second grade parts that is unable to yield the best results, connected via a thin layer of aluminum foil.

An IC opamp is nothing more than a cost cutting substitute in audio application which we hate with a passion!

Some say, “You have to match the right head-phone amp to the right head-phone.” We say , “That’s only true if the head-phone amp is not good enough!” Burson Audio never beats around the bush. We believe that if our amp can drive the best then it will drive the rest.

 

Moiz Audio

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The function of Opamps at the output stage is as important as the lens on a cinema projector. Regardless of the analytical capability of the audio gear, an inferior opamp will halve a machine’s performance, and distort every dB of sonic imagery. Just like our acclaimed P-160 amplifiers, the HA-160 features our Burson HD audio opamp. It enables the HA-160 to reproduce music in superior resolution and accuracy. Building of HD Audio Opamp
The team at Burson Audio has been developing the HD Audio Opamp project for a number of years now. From the first version to the current production, improvement has been made along the way, as part of the quest for perfection. The foundation of the HD Audio Opamp is a sophisticated Voltage Differential Amplification network. The entire opamp is constructed from audio graded transistors and resistors. Such a design will ensure minimal coloration and maximum dynamics, but this design feature also posed a great challenge to production; without rigid component matching, it would be easy for sonic imbalance to occur. We only use a 1% tolerant resistor. Before soldering them onto the PCB, we put them through a component burn-in module. After 50 hours of burn-in, each resistor will then be retested and matched before proceeding to our assembly line. The result of such a quality control process, is a further 10% of component rejection. This strict and very expensive BURN and MATCH process ensures the stability of the circuit. It ensures a perfect balance of sonic imagery across the entire frequency spectrum. It also guarantees a stable and realistic sound stage between the speakers.
Furthermore we insisted on a top quality lead free solder and temperature controlled soldering process. This was the only solution to reducing heat stress on our components, and minimizing short circuits caused by a soldering bath used in large-scale production. Cost focused manufacturers would never adopt such an approach due to the significant increase in production costs. Burson Audio on the other hand knows that only our level of quality control can produce opamps worthy of our badge. Only our level of quality control can produce the best Opamp in the market.

 

Moiz Audio

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Just like an athlete needs clean air to perform at an optimum standard – audio equipment needs clean power to reproduce transparent and natural music. Utilizing the Burson Audio discrete (IC free) low noise regulator technology we have ensured that only the cleanest power is running through every component of our HA-160. Instead of depending on a standard regulator like most audio brands, we have developed a sophisticated noise filter and voltage stabilization network that perfectly matches each circuit design. Our low noise regulator is able to filter over 99% of unwanted noise and keeps the voltage fluctuation to less than 1% of our target benchmark. The Burson power filtering system ensures that music is reproduced with natural color, texture and emotion. We recognized a need for clean power long before it became the world’s talking point. When power leaves the generating station it is pretty clean. Unfortunately, every device attached to it draws a current which corrupts the purity of the voltage wave form. Open air high voltage cables can pick up radio signals from all kinds of sources. Transformers throughout the national grid are running close to saturation point, which creates more distortion. From large electric motors such as those used in factories, to baby alarms and hairdryers, all can pollute to intolerable levels. It does not end there! The power supply from most hi-fi equipment are amongst the worst polluters. A large amount of interference is generated by the standard voltage regulators; they inject noise of their own due to the nature of their operation, blocking out musical detail that we work tirelessly to preserve
 

Moiz Audio

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At the time when an audio signal is passing through the volume control, it is still at its weakest. At this stage, the audio signal is very vulnerable to noise pollution and interference. A major source of such distortion is the commonly used remote volume control adopted by most manufactures. Burson Audio recognized the drawbacks associated with remote volume controls and deemed them unacceptable. Instead, we developed a 24 stepped attenuator, constructed with the best quality components available. Our Burson stepped attenuator ensures preservation of even the weakest audio signal; The air between instruments, the decay after an attack and all micro details that makes music enjoyable. The Burson stepped attenuator is built with premium quality components combined with our solid machined aluminum knob. It ensures a smooth and well controlled mechanical movement. The volume curve was tailor made to suit our 160 line giving the user a smooth control over the entire spectrum. The decision to adopt a custom built step attenuator over a remote volume control was controversial but the result was certainly not.

 

Moiz Audio

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The HA-160 is housed in a 6mm case, constructed from high precision machined aluminum. This enclosure allows the AB-160, to achieve a very high mechanical damping factor, which reduces any microphonic effects, that may degrade the clarity of sonic performance. The enclosure was also constructed to act as a giant heat-sink, which allows the Class-A headamp to run cooler, and remain optimized at all times.



Resonance Free:
We took great care during the design process to ensure the thickness of each wall varied from each other to increase the mechanical damping factor. The RFA enclosure displayed superior mechanical noise rejection (internal and external) compared to the conventionally folded steal enclosure used by most audio manufacturers.

Optimizing the Idle Current:
The geometry of the case and the precision of the enclosure allow the entire case to disperse heat evenly, and act as a giant heat sink. A steel folded or thinly built aluminium case could never achieve this. The AF enclosure removes the need for those ugly heat sink fins and allows our machines to be set to a high idle current, which results in lower distortion, higher output and better overall dynamics.
 
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