Simon’s Burson Conductor 3 Reference with Denon AH-D9200

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Sales Burson
November 23, 2021

Post Info

Feedbacks - Conductor 3R | 3XR
Burson Conductor 3 Reference, Chartwell LS3/5, Dan Clark Audio ETHER 2, Denafrips Ares, Denon AH-D9200, Lumin Mini, Luxman SQ38u, luxman SQ38u; Chartwell LS3/5, ZMF Auteur

The Burson takes place on my work desk and provides the perfect compact solution to power my difficult headphones.

The System

Listening with

Denon AH-D9200 · Headphones: closed-back, dynamic (50 mm nanofiber FreeEdge), circumaural

Impedance: 24 Ω
Sensitivity: 105 dB/mW ≈ 121.2 dB/V (calc.)
Frequency response: 5 Hz – 56 kHz
Plugs / cables supplied: not published on spec page
Other: max power input 1,800 mW; bamboo housing

Matching notes: At 24 Ω and 105 dB/mW, the AH-D9200 is a low-impedance load, and an efficient one: about 0.28 V (3.2 mW, 11 mA) for 110 dB SPL (calc.). Burson does not publish a 24 Ω rating for the Conductor 3 Reference. Its 16 Ω and 32 Ω ratings (7.5 W SE; 5 W SE) fall either side of it. The Conductor 3 Reference’s 0.5 Ω headphone output impedance is 1/48 of the load. ^{[1] [2] [3] [4]}

Dan Clark Audio ETHER 2

ZMF Auteur · Headphones: open-back, dynamic (biocellulose), circumaural

Impedance: 300 Ω
Sensitivity: ~96 dB/mW (approx., “~” as published)
Frequency response: not published
Plugs / cables supplied: not published (ZMF lists no connector type)

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Burson

Burson Conductor 3 Reference · DAC / headphone amplifier / preamp · discontinued

Output power (headphone): 16 Ω 7.5 W · 32 Ω 5 W · 100 Ω 1.75 W · 150 Ω 1.16 W · 300 Ω 0.58 W
Output impedance: 0.5 Ω (headphone); 1 Ω (pre out); 25 Ω (DAC out)
Output voltage: RCA 2 V (DAC out)
Gain: High / Medium / Low; dB not published
Inputs: 2x RCA; USB (XMOS; PCM to 768 kHz/32-bit, native DSD512); Toslink; coaxial; Bluetooth 5.0 aptX HD; microphone
Input impedance: 40 kΩ
Input sensitivity: line level
Outputs: RCA pre out; RCA DAC out; 2x 6.35 mm headphone
DAC / chipset: 2x ESS ES9038Q2M
Other: Model R180 (3R); SE only; THD <0.0015%; FR ±1 dB 0-58 kHz

^{[2] [3] [4]}

Also in the system

Denafrips Ares

Lumin Mini

Luxman SQ38u

Chartwell LS3/5

Specs from manufacturer data unless a source below says otherwise. “calc.” values are worked out from those figures (V = √(P × R); 110 dB SPL used as a loud reference level). Gear listed without specs is not in our spec library yet.