It worked on my midfi Onkyo CD changer. The Burson did provide a little more punch and a bit more clarity. For a player with the reputation of the 840C it's questionable if the Burson will be a detriment or a plus. It did not help my better players sound better. But the proof is in the listening.
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The 840C User Manual shows an output impedance of less than 50 ohms. This is quite low, and will provide an excellent impedance match even with passive preamps. I'm doubtful that a Burson Buffer would have any audible effect. However, if you access to one without obligation, it's worth the experiment. |
OK, post the rest when you know it. The Aleph 2's single ended input impedance is 10k ohms. Pretty low. |
...an addendum to my prior post. In order for the Goldpoint attenuator to work properly with the Aleph 2 amps (utilizing their 10k ohm input impedance), the Goldpoint's attenuator value would have to be 10K ohm or lower. The stock configuration for the Goldpoint attenuators is 25k ohms. This is info available from the Goldpoint website. If the Goldpoint attenuator you heard had a value of was 25k ohms or higher, then it would be a bad match for the Aleph 2, and would explain why the Burson Buffer had a beneficial effect. |
To the OP. I know you say you have low bass output from your new 840C. I also have a new 840C. The only upgrade I have is a PS Audio AC3 1M PC. I have never listened to the stock cord, so I don't yet know what difference the PC provides. Anyway, sometimes I think that the unit doesn't do bass so well, then I put in a different CD and voala, good bass. Seems very CD dependant for me. Overall, I'm quite happy and I am running McIntosh power with ML Vantages, which are not known for the stongest bass. I'm wondering if you have enough runnin time (breakin)?... And in the end, I'm also interested in this Burson Buffer. Hope to hear about it soon. I do remember you comparing the 840C to a Nak cassette deck. Maybe that deck just has less upper end extension and so it sounds like the 840C is underpowered in the bass department. In any event, I hope you figure out your conundrm and a great fix, if that's what is needed. |
I have tried their Burson Buffer and PI-160 integrated amp and they are both very good. The buffer is system dependent. Any source machine with 150ohm or above output impedance should benefit greatly from the buffer. Anything under 150ohm is less preditable. It pays to contact Burson Audio directly, and they are pretty friendly folks. |
A friend of mine owns the Burson--he's an audio zealot I suppose you'd say--he has an Oppo DVD player, an Exemplar, a Cambridge. We listened to each unit with and without and I'd say that the results with every unit were nothing short of remarkable. Not one of those, hold your head at a certain angle and maybe you'll hear it--flat out spectacular. We then brought it to my house and a/b'd it on my Exemplar Player, again, remarkable. I really can't say enough good things about it. The best 'relatively' inexpensive improvement I've seen in digital. Highly reccommended. Larry |
As with most things that we review and talk about...Categorical, all-encompassing statements such as that are not valid, imho. It is certainly legitimate, it seems to me, to comment on issues related to impedance mismatches, gain mismatches, signal-to-noise performance, and a plethora of other technical and spec-related issues, without first-hand experience. Assuming, of course, that the person commenting knows what he or she is talking about. And in choosing some aspect of a system configuration, it is certainly both legitimate and desirable to have and/or solicit spec-based understandings that will allow potential mismatches to be ruled out from consideration. That will narrow the field of candidates that need to be assessed based on first-hand experience with sonic performance. I am in essential agreement with Tvad's comments. Although I have no experience with the Burson buffer, I believe that based on technical considerations I can say the following with certainty: 1)For a component with high output impedance, meaning that its output impedance at any frequency approaches 1/10th or more of the input impedance of the component it is driving, the buffer is likely to be beneficial. 2)If the interconnect cables to the destination component are long and/or have high capacitance per unit length, and the buffer has a lower output impedance than the component driving it, it may be beneficial. That can be analyzed quantitatively, if anyone is interested. 3)If neither of the above factors are applicable, the sonic effects of the buffer, if any, may or may not be subjectively preferable in any given system, and need to be assessed by listening. Regards, -- Al |
