Amplify Audio Reviews reviewed the Burson Soloist Stellar in its Deluxe edition and called it, in a word, dynamite. His summary: a compact Class A headphone amplifier and preamp that is “very muscular, full-bodied, dynamically explosive” while still having finesse.
He highlights the fully discrete Class A design, the Cool Case 2 aluminium chassis acting as a passive heatsink, and four Onsemi MJE15032 transistors per channel. The Deluxe edition adds V7 Vivid Pro op-amps, Silent Power Level 2, the Super Charger 5A supply and the dual-tone remote. He also notes he has used Burson gear for some time without reliability problems.
Bass control is where the Stellar impressed him most. He found it exceptionally controlled, explosive and physical, with tremendous sub-bass and “serious speed underneath the weight”. He scored bass control 10/10.
He describes the tuning as “neutral rich” rather than dead neutral. The midrange has Burson’s trademark density: rich, vivid and substantial. Treble is open, extended and resolving, without glare.
He rated resolution and soundstage at 9/10 each, with a wide, deep stage, solid imaging and fantastic separation. In his words, it is “technically accomplished without sounding clinical”.
Against measurement-focused amps, he found the Stellar bigger, denser and more physical. Against warm amps, it is faster and tighter. The Soloist Voyager remains “the monster”, but the Stellar delivers a lot of Voyager DNA in a smaller footprint: “Burson concentrated… compact, not little.”
The Soloist Stellar gets his enthusiastic recommendation: “at this price point, I can’t think of a better amp”. It is “powerful without being brutish, rich without being syrupy, detailed without being sterile”.
Discover the full features and specifications on the Burson Soloist Stellar product page.
