Bryston BHA-1 vs Burson Soloist 3X GT

Short answer

  • More power: the Burson Soloist 3X GT, with 4.00 W into 32 Ω; the Bryston BHA-1 has 500 mW (balanced: 8.00 W against 500 mW). The Burson Soloist 3X GT drives 1 headphone to 100 dB that the Bryston BHA-1 cannot (Symphonium Titan).
  • Hiss with sensitive IEMs: cannot be compared — the maker of the Bryston BHA-1 publishes no noise figure.
  • Price: the Burson Soloist 3X GT costs $404 more; what that buys on these numbers is set out further down, under What the price difference buys.

Both are desktop amplifiers, $2395 against $2799.

The Burson Soloist 3X GT reaches 100 dB on 567 of the 567 models here, the Bryston BHA-1 on 566.

Every published figure, next to each other

SpecificationBryston BHA-1Burson Soloist 3X GT
Power into 32Ω500 mW4.0 W
Power into 150Ω358 mW650 mW
Power into 300Ω445 mW320 mW
Power into 600Ω667 mW160 mW
Output impedancenot published0.5 Ω
Output noisenot published1.5 µV unverified
Price$2395$2799
Headphones it reaches 100 dB on
out of 567
566567

Not published means the maker leaves it out, so that axis cannot be compared.

The 4.4 mm or XLR socket, rated on its own

BalancedBryston BHA-1Burson Soloist 3X GT
SocketbalancedXLR4
Power into 32Ω500 mW8.0 W
Power into 300Ω445 mW derived640 mW
Output impedancenot published0.5 Ω
Output noisenot publishednot published
Headphones it reaches 100 dB on
out of 567
566567

Through the balanced sockets the Burson Soloist 3X GT reaches 100 dB on 567 of the 567 models here and the Bryston BHA-1 on 566. Derived figures are worked out from the loads the maker did publish.

Where each power figure comes from

LoadBryston BHA-1Burson Soloist 3X GT
32 ΩPublishedPublished
150 ΩDerivedPublished
300 ΩDerivedPublished
600 ΩPublishedDerived

Both makers publish a power rating. Bryston BHA-1 publishes at 32 Ω and at 600 Ω; Burson Soloist 3X GT at 32 Ω, at 150 Ω and at 300 Ω. The other rows are worked out from those.

So the two columns are not equally firm row by row: at 600 Ω only the Bryston BHA-1 figure is the maker’s own and at 150 Ω and at 300 Ω only the Burson Soloist 3X GT figure is the maker’s own. On those rows the derived number is the one to doubt first.

What the labels mean.

The headphones that tell them apart

1 headphone reaches 100 dB on the Burson Soloist 3X GT but not on the Bryston BHA-1 — Symphonium Titan.

566 of the 567 models here reach 100 dB on both.

Headroom and hiss on 8 models, both sources

Headroom is at a 100 dB SPL peak.

The widest gap on the list is the Campfire Audio Andromeda 2020: Burson Soloist 3X GT has +28 dB of headroom there against +15 dB. 13 dB is about 20 times the power, which matters for peaks rather than for how loud the music sits.

The hiss columns are empty for Bryston BHA-1 and Burson Soloist 3X GT because neither maker publishes no output noise figure.

HeadphoneImpedanceNeedsBryston BHA-1 headroomBurson Soloist 3X GT headroomBryston BHA-1 hissBurson Soloist 3X GT hiss
Shure SE8469 Ω0.04 mW+35 dB+48 dBnot publishednot published
Campfire Audio Andromeda 20209 Ω4.0 mW+15 dB+28 dBnot publishednot published
Audeze LCD-2 Classic70 Ω0.79 mW+27 dB+35 dBnot publishednot published
Beyerdynamic DT 1990 Pro (250Ω)250 Ω0.63 mW+28 dB+28 dBnot publishednot published
HiFiMAN HE400se25 Ω7.9 mW+17 dB+27 dBnot publishednot published
Audio-Technica ATH-R70X470 Ω1.6 mW+26 dB+21 dBnot publishednot published
Sennheiser HD 600300 Ω6.6 mW+18 dB+17 dBnot publishednot published
HiFiMAN Susvara60 Ω50 mW+9 dB+17 dBnot publishednot published

The gap in dollars, against the gap in numbers

The Burson Soloist 3X GT costs $404 more than the Bryston BHA-1. Out of the 567 models here, that difference buys 1 more model driven to 100 dB.

Nothing runs the other way: there is no axis here on which the cheaper of the two does better.

Only published figures count here; blank axes are counted separately.

Both pages in full

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