Toussaint’s Burson Soloist Voyager with HEDD HEDDphone and Focal Utopia

Published on

Sales Burson
January 21, 2025

Post Info

Feedbacks - Fusion Core, Feedbacks - Soloist Prime | Voyager
Audeze LCD-2, Audio-GD R28, Auris Audio HA2-SE, Behringer Truth B3031, Burson Fusion Core, Burson Soloist Voyager, Burson Voyager, Focal Utopia, HEDD HEDDphone, Sennheiser HD 560 Ovation, Tsakiridis Achilles, WiiM Pro

Through experience, I’ve learned that high-quality power supplies play a crucial role in enhancing the audio performance of my gear. This is why I decided to pair the Soloist Voyager with the Fusion Core. The Voyager is an incredibly powerful headphone amp that rivals, and in some aspects even surpasses, both my high-end tube amps (300B monoblocks) and my speaker amp (7x100W), even when driving demanding headphones. It offers the same impactful slam and three-dimensional soundstage as my previous setups, but the Voyager takes it further with even greater transparency and control. I’m truly impressed by its performance! I’m confident that the Fusion Core plays a key role in unlocking the full potential of this exceptional headphone amplifier.

The System

Listening with

HEDD HEDDphone · Headphones: open-back, AMT (air motion transformer, VVT), circumaural · discontinued

Impedance: 42 Ω
Sensitivity: 87 dB SPL / 1 mW ≈ 100.8 dB/V (calc.)
Frequency response: 10 Hz – 40 kHz
Plugs / cables supplied: not published
Other: impedance “42 Ω flat”

Matching notes: At 42 Ω and 87 dB/mW, the HEDD HEDDphone is a low-impedance load, and a fairly demanding one: about 2.9 V (200 mW, 69 mA) for 110 dB SPL (calc.). Burson does not publish a 42 Ω rating for the Soloist Voyager. Its 32 Ω and 100 Ω ratings (8 W XLR / 4 W SE; 3.8 W XLR / 1.9 W SE) fall either side of it. The Soloist Voyager’s 0.5 Ω headphone output impedance is 1/84 of the load. ^{[1] [2] [3]}

Focal Utopia · Headphones: open-back, dynamic (40 mm beryllium M-dome), circumaural · discontinued

Impedance: 80 Ω
Sensitivity: 104 dB SPL / 1 mW @ 1 kHz ≈ 115.0 dB/V (calc.)
Frequency response: 5 Hz – 50 kHz
Plugs / cables supplied: 6.35 mm cable and 3.5 mm cable, 4-pin XLR cable; Lemo connectors at the cups
Other: THD <0.2% @ 1 kHz / 100 dB SPL

Matching notes: At 80 Ω and 104 dB/mW, the Focal Utopia is a low-impedance load, and an efficient one: about 0.56 V (4 mW, 7.1 mA) for 110 dB SPL (calc.). Burson does not publish a 80 Ω rating for the Soloist Voyager. Its 32 Ω and 100 Ω ratings (8 W XLR / 4 W SE; 3.8 W XLR / 1.9 W SE) fall either side of it. The Soloist Voyager’s 0.5 Ω headphone output impedance is 1/160 of the load. ^{[4] [5] [2] [3]}

Audeze LCD-2 · Headphones: open-back, planar magnetic, circumaural

Impedance: 70 Ω
Sensitivity: 101 dB/1mW (at Drum Reference Point) ≈ 112.5 dB/V (calc.)
Frequency response: 10 Hz – 50 kHz
Plugs / cables supplied: 4-pin XLR cable; 4-pin XLR to 6.35 mm adapter cable; 6.35 to 3.5 mm adapter
Other: recommended power >250 mW;

Matching notes: At 70 Ω and 101 dB/mW, the LCD-2 is a low-impedance load, and an efficient one: about 0.75 V (7.9 mW, 11 mA) for 110 dB SPL (calc.). Burson does not publish a 70 Ω rating for the Soloist Voyager. Its 32 Ω and 100 Ω ratings (8 W XLR / 4 W SE; 3.8 W XLR / 1.9 W SE) fall either side of it. The Soloist Voyager’s 0.5 Ω headphone output impedance is 1/140 of the load. ^{[6] [2] [3]}

Sennheiser HD 560 Ovation

Behringer Truth B3031

Burson

Burson Soloist Voyager · Headphone amplifier / preamp (Class-A)

Output power (XLR / SE): 16 Ω 10 W / 5 W · 32 Ω 8 W / 4 W · 100 Ω 3.8 W / 1.9 W · 150 Ω 1.3 W / 0.65 W · 300 Ω 0.64 W / 0.32 W
Output impedance: 0.5 Ω (headphone); 25 Ω (pre out)
Gain: 3 levels: High full power (XLR 10 W / SE 5 W), Medium 50%, Low 10% (IEM); dB not published
Inputs: 2x XLR; 2x RCA; mic bypass
Input impedance: 38 kΩ
Input sensitivity: RCA 2 V; XLR 4 V+ (line level)
Outputs: XLR + SE headphone; XLR + RCA pre out; RCA subwoofer out
Other: THD <0.0015%; FR ±1 dB 0-48 kHz; Standard/Deluxe: 24V5A PSU or Super Charger 5A, V6 Vivid or V7 Vivid Pro; SP02 installed

^{[2] [3]}

Burson Fusion Core · Power supply (GaN, 24 V or 32 V)

Other: Fusion Core 24V: 24 V/15 A, 2.5 mm barrel (centre +); Fusion Core 32V: 32 V/15 A, 4-pin DC plug (Timekeeper 3X GT / Voyager / GT4); noise floor <1 µV; 100-240 V AC

^{[7] [3]}

Burson Voyager

Also in the system

Audio-GD R28

Auris Audio HA2-SE

Tsakiridis Achilles

WiiM Pro · Streamer: network streamer with DAC

Output impedance: not published
Output voltage: RCA not published
Inputs: RCA line in (1 Vrms, 48 kHz/24-bit ADC); Toslink in (192/24); Wi-Fi 5; 10/100 Ethernet; Bluetooth 5.1
Outputs: RCA line out; optical; coaxial (to 384 kHz/32-bit per page, bit-perfect to 192/24)
DAC / chipset: TI Burr-Brown PCM5121
Other: built-in DAC SNR 102 dB, THD+N 0.009%; AirPlay 2, Chromecast, Spotify/TIDAL Connect, Roon Ready; USB-C 5 V power

^[8]

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.