My Favorite Solid State Amplifiers!? Burson Timekeepers

#hifi #audiophile #burson
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[@Newrecordday2013]

Check ‘em! www.bursonaudio.com/products/timekeeper-3x-grand-tourer/

[@G3rain1]

Did Burson ever give an explanation for the thin sound you experienced?

[@MrBoomtheroom]

@@G3rain1 probably not.......

[@philippelabrecque6658]

Very interesting Ron! I can confirm that the problem you had when you were at Dan's house is because you went from using XLR's to RCA's. The exact same thing happened to me and I just couldn't believe it either. When an Amp is truly differential the xlr's make a huge difference contrary to what some people think. When I hooked up rca's the sound wasn't bad but it lost a lot of detail, soundstage width and depth and clarity and I was using very good quality silver rca's and from the same brand as my xlrs. I thought it could be because neither the rca plugs on the amp or preamp were ever used, because burnin of plugs is a thing but now I'm sure that differential designs are just better, but I didn't think there would ever be that much of a difference, that's for sure! As for your amazement of the Amp I'm convinced it's because they've perfected a new kind of Switching mode power supply. I've seen even some of the best components and compagnies slowly go that route in recent years. Even compagnies that boast hybrid power supplies are now using switching mode power supplies on their extra high end models. There is surely a reason for this and it's in what you describe in your review. Switching mode is faster , more dynamic and more precise but used to be noisier and sound thinner. Not anymore. Now compagnies have figured out a way to make them noise free and we hear the difference in a big way. I think in a few years the big transformers of hold will be a thing of the past.

[@vaejoviscarolinanus]

I have used their op amps for modifications and they are top notch. Breath taking is the best way to describe the difference between the cheap oem and the op amps that these guys make.

[@jerometrudel100]

Hi from montreal much fun listening to your reviews! good review here to...again :D cya soon man!

[@davidorrick63]

Thanks Ron for the great review always enjoy it these monoblocks may be the answer for Magna pan owners God bless have a great day

[@dilbyjones]

I can tell your experience through what you are saying in this review. Kudos.

[@aceofspades6667]

I would suspect with these Burson monoblocks the pre-amp pairing is critical.. they will like the Serene but love the Soloist 3 Grand tourer pre/hp amp as they are voiced appropriately. I wonder how these would respond to a tube/tube hybrid pre in the chain.

[@rotaks1]

What a great review! Loved the narrative. Very well done episode. Hearing about your experience with the Burson, one might conclude that Danny might need to check and upgrade the parts of his speakers to get these bad boys to sing! Maybe its the tube connectors!😛

[@connorduke4619]

Or the No-rez damping? ;P

[@HD-su9sq]

My head is stuck with trying to understand how that wallwart can deliver the current required. I'm not saying you're wrong about the sound. I'm sure if Burson put a 20lb transformer in the chassis, they could sell twice as many units!

[@paulgood2218]

Great review thank you

[@Justwantahover]

I built my latest big speakers and as I was voicing them I was listening with my brain. That is until I could no longer listen with my brain and the music just took over instead. They must be nailed, then. Been listening to them for a week and haven't changed them since and no fatigue yet.

[@keithwalker8090]

When the President of Warner Bros., Joe Smith inquired when the Grateful Dead Album would be finished, (at the time it was 6 months behind schedule) bass Player Phil Lesh told Mr. Smith that they had to go to Los Angeles and record smog and to the desert and record clean air and mix those two and use it for the backdrop. So yes air has a sound.

[@psysword]

Great review. Bought the amps and breaking them in as we speak

[@xzing7]

How are you getting on with your Amplifier's. Can you leave a mini review during your busy schedule (listening to music 🤣). Greatly appreciated 🙏.

[@psysword]

@@xzing7 yup on it

[@anthonyhopkin]

Hi Ron. Love the OTT hyperbole ;¬) and not a tube in sight. You could try something by Leema next. A UK company set up decades ago by ex BBC engineers. Love everything mine does into a pair of M3 Sapphires. Greetings to you and yours.

[@btscott1]

Interesting review. Will be curious on how this compares to the Benchmark ABH2 which in my opinion is the "Benchmark".

[@aceofspades6667]

Sandu from Sound News has a lengthy youtube video where he makes this comparison along with an extensive written review.

[@lesbusa]

My throat is sore. Some dude just reached in and snatched the words right out of my mouth.

[@siegfried898]

Anyway, Rons opinion would be interesting too. Especially in the case when using a good tube preamplifier with AHB2. E.g. Doge8. Can this combination compete with tube pre + Burson timekeeper gt? Thx!

[@antonellacucchiara9531]

great way ti do a review !

[@lorddarphyve]

I really wish I could try these in my listening room.

[@seanoreilly8603]

What would you recommend as a pre-amp with these.

[@chengo51]

For low end & high end at very low level, the magic is Loudness , we used to have it into the integrated of the 70ties, I have it in my Dac.....but for these monos, what's about the "Thereness" ?

[@carlsitler9071]

My favorite amp is the Mcintosh MC451.

[@neilsnyder7915]

Can the Timekeeper GT with the Soloist GT as a pre-amp be used as a headphone amplifier?

[@Paulisrock]

Hi, I have a B&W 702 S2. Do you think it is a good match with Timekeeper 3xGT with Soloist?

[@mindhead1]

Nice review. Would love to hear how this Holo Audio/ Burson setup compares to a more affordable Schiit setup with say Bifrost/Freya/ Aegir (mono block) setup. Also, what speakers did you use in this review?

[@reestyfarts]

Reminds me of the massive oil burning steam locomotive in the Sacramento Railroad Museum.

[@dendenovich8366]

Please give a rating of speakers and amplifiers and the best synergy

[@TheKb117]

hoping for a sound demo vs another amp... please :D

[@neilsnyder7915]

can the timekeepers be used with the Soloist GT for headphone listening

[@ALBEVA]

Do you test it with Burson Soloist GT or other PreAmp?

[@antonellacucchiara9531]

can you tel me the best amp with no fan with the form factor of ayre monos? i have to buy those?

[@sean_heisler]

Love that patch! And that beard is getting badass, man!

[@Newrecordday2013]

Thanks man! My sweet wife made me that patch! She’s rad as heck!

[@coreylayton2258]

Ron, did you try rolling the opamps. Burson makes a couple of models of opamps for their gear and maybe Danny's system would have synergized better with one of the alternative opamps.

[@aceofspades6667]

There are high quality Op amps from Staccato, SIL, and Sparkos Labs. Most people owning the Soloist 3GT/XP will role in the SIL and Sparkos along with vivids in the different stages.

[@phantomplastics6582]

Ron - please try the new GaN1 from Peachtree. It's a different technology that replaces your DAC, preamp, power amp and interconnects. Incredibly transparent and uncongested.

[@vaejoviscarolinanus]

I agree with you, I just replaced my speakers with magnepan LRS and I needed to get a higher current amp . I decided to order a Peachtree Gan400 and give it a try.The Gan400 is a grandslam that is not even broken in yet from what I’ve been told. The system is hurting my face from the smiling that I have been doing.

[@psyphonyxaudio]

Just watched Jay's video on these too =) nice!

[@Newrecordday2013]

Yeah we had no idea we were posting the same day lol - funny.

[@psyphonyxaudio]

@@Newrecordday2013 - I see Thomas posted a few months ago .. Now I've seen just about all the videos and reposted them too ..haha =)

[@ANGEL90004]

I currently own the Burson Timekeeper 3i and am wanting to upgrade to separates. For the amp I have narrowed down the choices to the Timekeeper 3x gt and the benchmark AHB2. My concern is that the AHB2 has better SINAD and SNR measurements, would you say that the Timekeeper 3x gt is just as resolving when it comes to detail retrieval when compared to the benchmark AHB2?

[@KJ-yq5gm]

did you pull the trigger on either one? I am in the same boat as you, but I am also looking at the Odyssey Stratos Extreme. I just haven't found good technical review on the Stratos.

[@ANGEL90004]

@@KJ-yq5gm I will be buying the burson gt monoblocks soon within the next 3 weeks. I would have bought them sooner but i recently purchased a new dac the holo audio spring 3 kte with preamp. When I get the Burson amps ill let you know how they sound on my setup currently using KEF R3 Meta speakers!

[@connorduke4619]

Terrific review! Are these going to be your new reference system power amps?

[@Newrecordday2013]

For solid state balanced - yup, they are!

[@KJ-yq5gm]

@@Newrecordday2013 Are they still in your referecne system? I am thinking of going from a Kinki EX-M1+ to these but with a Parasound P6 Preamp. Really love that parasound flexibility with the crossovers and phono stage. Still going back and fourth if I am downgrading going to those. Any input/feedback on your long term experience would be great.

[@michaelgarnett832]

Id be interested in shoot out w parasound jc1 - 25 watts in class A

[@vincentturri6709]

After hearing about the results with Danny's gear, has anyone used these successfully with other GR speakers? Did you or your bro hook them up to the Oticas?

[@vincentturri6709]

Hobbs confirmed he could not them them working right on Danny's gear.

[@idray986]

Hows the room coming out?

[@zelareka]

better than the hegel h30a?

[@snowrang3r657]

Could you ask Schiit if you can review a pair of Tyr's? I'd love to know how they compare.

[@Newrecordday2013]

Very soon!

[@tbullard3]

Still waiting.

[@condorito692]

Great review! Any advice preamps pairing?

[@Newrecordday2013]

I used the Holo Audio Serene, worked beautifully!

[@condorito692]

@Newrecordday2013 Thank you my brother for this info. I really like your narratives, you are very eloquent. Best Regards, Miguel S.

[@jamestartaglia7686]

How do these compare to kinki audio...🤔

[@jimibird1]

High praise which i know doesn't come easy

[@Newrecordday2013]

That’s true!

[@patricksmith1026]

Does anyone know if this review is for the older version of the mono blocks? Before the SILENT POWER 1 & SILENT POWER 2 modules were available? I believe that might be the case as this review was done before the end of 2022, but I cannot find when Burson did the somewhat silent update to the 3X GTs. Apparently, anything after S/N 72350225 has the SP1 power modules and can be upgraded to SP2 power modules. Any serial numbers before that are not designed for SP module upgrades. I just bought a used pair of older Timekeeper 3X GTs before I know this SILENT POWER module update was implemented. I also ordered the Caladans, which are supposed to be rather efficient speakers, and I do not listen terribly loud, so maybe the noise floor improvement offered by these silent power modules is only really noticeable at higher volume levels? I"m sure my older pair will still sound good, but I am just not sure if all of the glowing reviews I have been watching and reading are in reference to models with the silent power upgrade. If Ron gave this glowing review to the older version of these mono blocks, then I am sure they should be good enough to hold someone with my much less refined listening setup. If anyone is familiar with this, I would love to hear your thoughts on sound improvements of the SP modules and when this upgrade was implemented by Burson. Or any other thoughts you may have. : ) Thanks.

[@Newrecordday2013]

It was before the silent power modifications. I sent mine in and will have them back very soon. Thanks!

[@patricksmith1026]

@@Newrecordday2013 Got it! Burson will offer an upgrade to make the older units current? Or are you just having them replaced? Thanks!

[@Newrecordday2013]

@patricksmith1026 actually one of my amps had an issue and was sent in to get fixed. They decided to do the upgrade for me. I don’t know about the pricing or options for the upgrade but I’ll find out.

[@patricksmith1026]

@@Newrecordday2013 - Many thanks! Would love to know if there is a road to upgrade. : )

[@redstarwraith]

Hey Ron, did I miss the part where you talked about what speakers you paired these Bursons with?

[@Newrecordday2013]

I’ve had them on every speaker I’ve reviewed in the last 6 months and all the speakers I have in house.

[@redstarwraith]

@@Newrecordday2013 Thanks Ron. Apologies if you said that and I missed it. I was distracted by life a couple times.

[@Newrecordday2013]

@@redstarwraith dude no worries!

[@stephencosta6814]

@@Newrecordday2013 hey Ron I don’t know if you said it what preamp did you use PS a long time fan since the beginning my friend..lol

[@van94weightlossjourney]

I’m still pessimistic. Many cheap amps use fans and switching power supplies. However the sound is more important regardless. I guess I’m pessimistic because the sum of the parts don’t add up. The monoblocks are $4K.

[@siegfried898]

Reviewer British Audiophile speaks about relatively small soundstage in the width and depth. Ron, and some other reviewers report the opposite. Why there are such opposite opinions on the soundstage size?

[@Newrecordday2013]

Hard to say - what songs, what preamp, what room, how far are the speakers in the room, what dac or front end? See, it’s really hard to say without a lot more context.

[@dontcare563]

I also have a Holo Audio May KTE and Serene KTE preamp. I am exclusively using them just for my headphone setup and have no speakers or Speaker amp. This is interesting to me because I'm looking to get speakers and a speaker amp but have no idea what a good match for the Serene Preamp would be for a Power amplifier. It just seems like nobody talks about that.

[@lukerestlessstudios]

I really hope Holo comes out with a power amp.

[@jurgengrau1840]

@@lukerestlessstudios I am with ya on that Luke. Loving both my May Dac and Serene coupled with Audio Research amp but looking for Solid State that would mate well.

[@aceofspades6667]

Holo Bliss is out... perhaps see if you get can get a demo model from tim to compare against the Serene.

[@dontcare563]

@@aceofspades6667 Wouldn't do any good for me. I have RAAL Ribbon headphones and a dedicated RAAL VMP-1 Triode headphone amp. These headphones can't be used with other amplifiers without a special adapter box. In my Case I have the best amplifier they make dedicated just for these headphones.

[@aceofspades6667]

@@dontcare563 raal makes an adapter to fix the low impedance level works on both the orginal raal headphones “ear speakers” and the new foam circumaural ones. Really helps open up the amplifier constraints. I would also suggest your try out the Mysphere 3.1 or 3.2 if you enjoy the Raal presentation. If you go to sonus aparatus forums mon has an exceptional write up on Mysphere compared to raal and the flagships.

[@mikehuntington4440]

Are these the 3xGT model?

[@Newrecordday2013]

www.bursonaudio.com/products/timekeeper-3x-grand-tourer/

[@kinkias]

More than once I have loved new gear fresh out of the box just to be let down by its performance once it was burnt in..

[@iettord3124]

Hey Ron, what do you really think?

[@Newrecordday2013]

Its debatable if we landed on the moon.

[@MrBoomtheroom]

better than AHB2?

[@Newrecordday2013]

I like them more, yes.

[@mat.b.]

That beard still growing...

[@goodsound4756]

Black background with no noise? These amps need cooling fans, go figure!

[@drumnman2195]

A "British Audiophile" didn't love them.

[@aceofspades6667]

he loved them just not for the price. The pricing in the UK for Burson distributor is crazy high. Kinda like how accuphase and luxman get crazy marked up by the US distributor. He responded to me that these Monos were clearly 1-2 steps above the Hegel H190 integrated he reviewed.

[@drumnman2195]

@@aceofspades6667 I was concerned about the preamp matching and wondered if Ron noticed this ? Also the sound stage width and especially depth comments. Maybe B.A. system wasn't balanced with referenced to Philippe's comment below. Otherwise I am considering.

[@aceofspades6667]

@@drumnman2195 Sandu from sound news does a pretty good review on these monos… he goes into pre amp pairing as well. I think Thomas touched base on this subject as well. He has a bunch of buddies that he refers as Mr x, y, and z and they all tested these monos in their chains.

[@hemispherecompensation]

He didn't love them as standalone power amps. He recommended running the Soloist 3X GT along with the Timekeeper 3X GT - not as great if pairing with other preamps.

[@dmark2639]

Constructive criticism: Too much talking, although what was said was good. Not enough glamor shots of the product. I want to see the product and it's features if I am considering buying it- not just hear a reviewer talk.

[@reserva120]

Sure, I bought the Full set of Benchmark after seeing your review, But Now after this review I'm taking a sledgehammer to them an tossing them in the Garbage. Boy that was close.

[@meutubedou]

🤣🤣 11:48.. “It all sounds free to dance within the “Soundstage”.. You betcha it is🤗 16:08 Soundstage is realized.. It exists.. Thanks for solving that audiophilemania puzzler 😂😂 Mensa approved ✅