Christer’s Burson Conductor 3 Reference with Magnepan 1.6 and Sennheiser HD 800

Published on

Sales Burson
December 9, 2020

Post Info

Feedbacks - Conductor 3R | 3XR
Bluesound Node, Burson Conductor 3 Reference, Krell KAV-300i, Linn Majik, Linn Sondek LP12, Magnepan 1.6, Sennheiser HD 800

I just got the C3R. Love it from the beginning! Had a Burson ha-160D until now, and loved it for many years, but the wife (and me too) hated the cracks from the attenuator. Even the wife is happy now with the C3R.

The System

Listening with

Magnepan 1.6

Sennheiser HD 800 · Headphones: open-back, dynamic, circumaural (ring radiator) · discontinued

Impedance: 300 Ω
Sensitivity: 102 dB SPL @ 1 kHz, 1 V (as published) ≈ 96.8 dB/mW (calc.)
Frequency response: 14 Hz – 44.1 kHz (-3 dB); 6 Hz – 51 kHz (-10 dB)
Plugs / cables supplied: 6.3 mm stereo jack plug; 3 m cable
Other: THD <=0.02% (1 kHz, 1 Vrms); max input 500 mW

Matching notes: At 300 Ω and 102 dB/V, the HD 800 is a high-impedance load that needs voltage more than current: about 2.5 V (21 mW, 8.4 mA) for 110 dB SPL (calc.). Burson rates the Conductor 3 Reference at 0.58 W (SE) into 300 Ω, which is about 13.2 V RMS (calc.), roughly 14 dB more than that. The Conductor 3 Reference’s 0.5 Ω headphone output impedance is 1/600 of the load. ^{[1] [2] [3] [4]}

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

Bluesound Node · Streamer: network streamer / DAC with headphone out

Output power (headphone): 16 Ω 0.16 W · 32 Ω 0.23 W · 250 Ω 0.053 W · 600 Ω 0.022 W
Output impedance: not published
Output voltage: RCA not published
Inputs: Ethernet; Wi-Fi; optical/analog 3.5 mm combo; HDMI eARC
Outputs: RCA analogue; optical; coaxial; USB; headphone
DAC / chipset: ESS ES9039Q2M
Other: SNR 118 dB; THD+N 0.0007%; up to 192 kHz, DSD256; AirPlay 2, Roon Ready, Tidal/Qobuz/Spotify Connect

^[5]

Krell KAV-300i

Linn Majik

Linn Sondek LP12

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.