⌈ BURSON AUDIO was founded in 2001 in Melbourne, Australia, by MARK BURSON and JOHN DELMO. One of the company's aims was to oppose commonly used integrated circuits. Instead, the company proposed its own, “discrete” ones. Today, it offers not only OP AMP replacement chips, but also DACs, headphone amplifiers, preamplifiers and power amplifiers. We are testing the Timekeeper Voyager Max monoblocks, its top-of-the-line models, with optional Fusion Core power supplies. ⌋

BURSON AUDIO'S WEBSITE lists 2001 as year “zero”. As with other projects run by enthusiasts, this is a rather arbitrary date, or simply the year when the brand was officially registered. Elsewhere, we read that as early as 1996, a group of enthusiasts gathered to replace integrated circuits, especially the ubiquitous NE5543, which has its roots in Philips designs, with discrete circuits. But ones that could be soldered in place of op-amps; op amp (op-amp) - Operational Amplifier, the official name of integrated circuits.

The group in question was led by friends Mark Burson and John Delmo. Both are now retired. Initially, they focused on products for the professional market, but gradually paid more and more attention to home audio. The company has grown since then, but it is still a small, specialized manufacturer with thirty-two employees in production, logistics, marketing, and sales.

When asked about it, company’s representative answered as follows:

Our project team varies from project to project and we often work with external designers, including firmware engineers from India and operating system driver developers from Germany. It's great fun to work with such a diverse team!

For the Timekeeper Voyager project, we would especially like to thank Bob Katz from the USA (digido.com). Since 2015, Bob has been actively involved in Burson projects, contributing to innovations such as MUSES72320 or discrete op-amp volume control. He also recommended the use of EXICON MOSFET transistors in our TK Voyager project.

The company's first products were small desktop devices, and these remain at the center of Burson's thinking about audio. So not some huge and powerful amps, not large chassis, but neat, home-friendly products. Which is a serious problem with amplifiers. The company is not a fan of class D, and its power supplies are fully stabilized. The first step in this direction was a switching power supply developed in 2016, which allowed its headphone amplifiers to maintain a slim profile while providing over 10 watts of output power in pure class A.

In 2024, as I read in an email, “we took the next step forward by creating a 500W power supply (The Fusion Core) with a noise filtering network and GaN transistors.” The company emphasizes that this was a breakthrough for them, enabling the development of “lifestyle-friendly” amplifiers such as the Voyager Timekeeper, which operates at idle with a power consumption of only 100 W, delivering the first 25-30 W in class A.

Achieving this quality using traditional linear power supply designs would make the amps much bigger and heavier (our previous generation Timekeeper Monoblock, which used a linear power supply, weighed close to 30 kg). Fusion Core provides high efficiency without compromising size or aesthetics.

Timekeeper Voyager is available in two versions:
• STANDARD with compact Super Charger 32 V/7 A power supplies,
• MAX with Fusion Core 32 V/15 A power supply featuring GaN transistors.
We are testing the latter.

▌ Timekeeper Voyager Max V400

TIMEKEEPER VOYAGER V400 is a high-current, fully discrete monaural audio amplifier; we need two of them for a stereo system. The device delivers 100 W at 8 Ω and as much as 200 W at 4 Ω. It belongs to the top Voyager series, below which there are also the Grand Tourer, Performance and Party series; a separate section is “accessories”, which includes a key auxiliary device for these amplifiers, Fusion Core power supplies. Apart from the V400 monoblocks, the top series includes the Solo preamplifier.

Burson specializes in small products, initially intended for the “desktop” use, and later also for classic audio devices. But even in their case, the dimensions are really small. The tested amplifiers measure 265×270 x 85 mm and weigh seven kilograms. And yet, these are not D Class amps, but classic AB Class devices. The weight reduction was achieved by using outboard power supplies and not using heat sinks.

It is one of those devices that feature a stabilized, direct current power supply. Part of it is inside the device, but the first section uses a small, separate chassis. Do you remember that we talked about 2017 and a breakthrough in the field of power supply? This is the solution: instead of a conventional transformer-based linear power supply, the manufacturer claims to use the “industry's first” power supply based on GaN transistors, called Fusion Core 32 V/15 A. They have a power of 420 W each and are placed in large, rigid aluminum housings. They are connected to the amplifiers with long cables terminated with convenient screw-on plugs.

The device also features power supply noise filtering, called Silent Power Module 2. These discrete circuits sitting within their own heat sink and they replace the integrated circuits used by almost all manufacturers. Burson claims that the power supply noise is only 0.8 nVrms with these and that they are better than battery power:

At the heart of the Timekeeper Voyager is our unique power supply network, which offers ultra-low output impedance, which translates into better power transfer to the transistors. Operating at 170 kHz (compared to just 50 Hz in traditional linear power supplies), it pushes power supply noise beyond the range of human hearing. In addition, power regulation is handled by our Burson Silent Power Modules, offering 200 times better noise rejection than standard regulators, ensuring the cleanest sound possible.

The device is encased in a very rigid and exceptionally beautiful aluminum chassis with copper-plated side panels. The small buttons are also made of copper – the power switch on the front panel and two on the back. The latter are used to select the input – RCA or XLR – and to activate the additional buffer. This is based on the discrete seventh-generation V7 Vivid chip. The manufacturer suggests turning it on if the output impedance of the source is high or – this is my input – if the output signal of the source is too low. In addition to impedance matching, the buffer also adds 6 dB of gain.

WHICH INPUT WE CHOSE and whether we use the buffer is indicated by a row of mini LEDs on the front panel, which change color depending on our choices. As it happens, green and red are reserved for the RCA inputs, so it was an even more natural choice for me. The colors cyan and blue are assigned to the XLR input. It was surprising that when the amplifier was turned on, something inside made a short sound, as if to confirm our choice. The row of LEDs I mentioned also expanded.

An important element of the amplifier's design are the output transistors, which the manufacturer mentions in several places. We read about them:

As a starting point, we carefully selected British Exicon MOSFET power transistors, which provide exactly the sound we expect, i.e. a full and textured midrange with lively dynamics. The transistors we have chosen perform best when they are operated at high bias current, providing exceptional sound quality.

The Voyager Timekeeper operates at a high bias current, which allows the transistors to operate in the “most linear area”, resulting in a low level of distortion. The use of the proprietary Cool Case housing is intended to eliminate the need for large heat sinks, thus reducing the cost of the device's production. Let us add that the output transistors – in this case three pairs, working in a push-pull system – EXICON ECX10P20 + ECX10N20 – are screwed to the heat sink, and the latter to the housing.

It has already been mentioned in the text above, but let's summarize: the amplifiers look great. They are also very precisely made. The choice of colors, the arrangement of the controls and, finally, the proportions of the chassis are really “on point”. You can see how far the company has come from earlier versions of the Timekeeper monoblocks, for example from the version we tested in 2013; more → HERE ˻PL˺, to the latest Timekeeper Voyager.

It is still not clear where the devices are manufactured, even though the packaging emphasizes in several places that Australia is the company's headquarters and where the device designs are developed. However, I have not found the magic “Made in ...” anywhere. But maybe it just doesn't matter.

▌ SOUND

HOW WE LISTENED • The Burson Audio Timekeeper Voyager Max V400 power amplifier was tested in the “High Fidelity” reference system. It was compared to the reference amplifier, i.e. the Soulution 710 solid-state power amplifier. During the test, I used the Ayon Audio CD-35 HF Edition SACD player and the Lumin T3 file player as analog and digital sources, respectively. The Ayon Audio Spheris III was used as a preamplifier.

The preamplifier and monoblocks were connected using Crystal Cable Absolute Dream RCA interconnect. The Burson Audio devices were powered by Acoustic Revive Absolute Power cables, and they drove the speakers via Crystal Cable Da Vinci speaker cable. The speakers used in the test were my trusted Harbeth M40.1. During the test, the devices were placed on their feet on the upper carbon shelf of the Finite Elemente Pagode Edition Mk II rack.

» RECORDINGS USED FOR THE TEST ⸜ a selection

⸜ KING CRIMSON, Lark’s Toung in Aspic, Atlantic/Wowow Entertainment, Inc. | Discipline Global Mobile – IEDG-05, Platinum SHM-CD (1973/2016).
⸜ COLEMAN HAWKINS, The Hawk Flies High, Riverside Records/Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab UDSACD 2030, SACD/CD (1957/2006).
⸜ MAX ROACH, CLIFFORD BROWN, Daahound, Mainstream Records/Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab MFCD 826, CD (1972/?).
⸜ KINDNESS, Something Like a War, Female Energy/Tidal, FLAC 16/44,1 (2019).
⸜ AKIRA KOSEMURA, LAWRENS ENGLISH, Selene, Akira Kosemura & Lawrens English/Tidal, FLAC 24/48 (2024).
⸜ LUCRECIA DALT, Cosa Rara (En La Playa), RVNG Intl./Tidal, FLAC 24/96 (2025).

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I COULDN'T START THIS TEST ANY OTHER WAY THAN WITH KING CRIMSON'S Lark’s Toung in Aspic. On the day I started listening to the album, we received the sad news of Jamie Miur's death. The Scottish musician played with KC from 1972 to 1973 and recorded this album with the band. Miur, who played percussion instruments and the autoharp (˻ 1 ˺), was the originator of the album title. It was his inspiration that led John Anderson, the lead singer of Yes, to read the Autobiography of a Yogi, written by the Hindu guru Paramahansa Yogananda, and to create the album Tales from Topographic Oceans (Atlantic, 1973).

With these thoughts in my head combined with a little curiosity, I listened to the entire album; there was no other way. The thing that caught my attention was the way Burson Audio amplifiers present the attack of the sound. They do it as if it were the most precious thing in the world, and they were supposed to take care of this element of the presentation, as if they had to protect it at all costs. The thing is that the attack is extremely fast, but also silky. There are no sharp edges or “barbs” in it, which makes it seem absolutely natural.

OK, I may have hurried the praise of the natural sound, as perhaps it wasn’t that important in such a cool rendition of Steve Wilson's 2012 mix, which was included on the Platinum SHM-CD release with a 7-inch cover. The smoothness of the attack was combined here with equally natural dense, warm colors. It was the complete opposite of what I had heard a moment before from the Perreaux 300iX amplifier. While the amplifier from New Zealand pushed forward, transported us to an open-air concert with twenty thousand fans, the Australian gems transported me directly to the studio.

Voyagers are so enjoyable, so captivating and also so forgiving that their presentation is hard to resist. While immersive performance, not only by Perreaux, but also by the Grandinote system, review of which you can also find in this month issue of the “High Fidelity”, shortens the time of communing with music because we burn out faster, Burson Audio devices extend this time. And they do it perfectly.

The sound of Bill Buford's drums and Miur's percussion instruments was resonant and deep. It also had a certain “chic” to it, which made its sound relaxing at the same time. The same goes for John Wetton's bass, which was strong, dense and deep. It was not as precisely controlled as with Soulution or Perreaux, nor did it go as deep as with the former. Fripp's guitars were also a little less selective and did not have such resolving textures. As you can see, it's not a matter of power – Timekipper Voyager offers 100 W at 8 Ω, while Soulution offers 125 W.

However, bearing in mind the price difference, Soulution costs about six times as much, as well as in size, it was not difficult to forget what I had just said. As long as I compared them 1:1, track by track, it was obvious. However, when I started listening to music only with Burson, it vanished. And that's because they are devices with an incredibly captivating sound. Warm and forgiving. Not really, it's not about avoiding problems but about shaping the sound in such a way that if something is too sharp, like the slightly emphasized sibilants in Weton's vocals, or too dark, like the sound of COLEMAN HAWKINS' album The Hawk Flies High, it will be signaled.

Nevertheless, when I turned on the amplifier from Australia, I was immersed in the warm sun, in the soft, delicate sand of the beach. Forgive me for these kitschy comparisons, but they somehow fit the mood I was in during these listening sessions. In my defense, the amplifier I tested has something endearing about it that – if it is „our sound ” – is seductive.

However, we know that the top of the band is clearly warm. The faintly audible percussion on Hawkins' album, in the Mobile Fidelity version, from one of the first SACDs in its history, was hidden behind the rest of the band. But when the leader's saxophone came in, when the trumpet with the mute played a solo, as in ˻ 1 ˺ Chant, then they came to the fore, they were big, tangible. But a powerful trumpet, like the one in ˻ 2 ˺ Juicy Fruits, with its incredibly long note in the second minute, will also be “here and now”, but not through sharpness, but through a strong, clear sound.

The mono blocks clearly and densely showed Oscar Petiford's double bass. But also with an emphasis on the filling, smoothing the attack and shortening the decay. This is exactly that kind of playing. And, and this is very important, it is not monotonous in terms of tonal colors, dynamics or stereoscopy. Each of the albums will have its own expression, its own characteristics. Like Daahound, the album by MAX ROACH and CLIFFORD BROWN, recorded in 1954 but released only in 1972. It is lively, powerful, dense and monophonic. But its monophonicity is not a “point” on the horizon, but a wide panorama, large plans and bodies. It must be said that the Mobile Fidelity reissue, still on an aluminum CD, still pressed in Japan by Sanyo, is exceptionally good.

What we see and hear sort of contradicts in terms of the scale of sound offered by these small monoblocks. It's POWERFUL presentation! When Adam Bainbridge, using the stage name KINDNESS, begins the album Something Like a War with the words: “There will be people who will say / 'You don't mix this with that' / And you will say 'Watch me'”, his voice, stylized to sound like on stage, is powerful. The processed sound of the double bass and cello is similar. These are not ‘natural’ sounds, but used in the musician's own way.

The whole album is based on powerful, low bass. Burson demonstrates this skill in a very nice way. It does not focus on selectivity, it does not provide precise insight into phrasing or sound attack, but infuses everything with dense tonal colors and quickly extinguishes them, preventing them from dragging on. I had a similar experience with DRAKE's new album Some Sexy Songs 4 U, especially track ˻ 1 ˺ Crying In Chanel. Listen to that bass with Burson and you won't be able to stop smiling.

Also more delicate pieces benefit from this, such as ˻ 1 ˺ Crescens, a track from the album Selene by Japanese composer AKIRA KOSEMURA and Australian musician LAWRENCE ENGLISH. The fleeting ambient sounds were presented smoothly and seamlessly. LUCRECIA DALT sounded equally cool in her track entitled Cosa Rara. Her doubled voice surrounded the listening area, and the bass guitar had a clear place in the center of the stage. The hand-played drums were precise and dense - more dense than selective. That's what these amplifiers are like.

▌ Summary

I HAD FORGOTTEN how the device from this brand sound like, as the last time I listened to any of them was a long time ago. And it’s a shame. It is a coherent, well-thought-out idea of how music should be listened to at home. Extremely different from what Grandinote and Perreaux, for example, offer, but equally appealing. I would even say that it is more acceptable in the long run. And much more versatile.

And that's because there is nothing to bother or irritate listener in it. We are encouraged to listen for a long time, to sit down with it, to listen with friends, even those who need to be told what the “cable break-in” is. Australian amplifiers are resolving and dynamic, but that is not where their value lies. And on fullness, on the close perspective, tangibility and scale of sound. And all this without exaggeration, in a cultured, composed way. I wouldn't be surprised if someone, after just one song with the Timekeeper Voyager Max amplifiers, said: “Life is beautiful!” ●

▌ Technical specification (according to the manufacturer)

Inputs: RCA, XLR
Outputs: speaker
Input impedance (RCA): 100 kΩ
Input impedance (XLR): 200 kΩ
Frequency range: 20 Hz - 20 kHz
THD: below 0.03% (1 kHz)
Output impedance: 0,015 Ω (20 Hz - 20 kHz)
SNR: 110 dB
Input buffer (RCA): 6 dB
Input buffer (XLR): 12 dB
Gain: 29 dB
Output (4 Ω): 200 W per channel
Output (8 Ω): 100 W per channel
Power consumption (idle): 100 W
Power consumption (standby): more than 1 W
Power supplies: Fusion Core 32 V/15 A
Dimensions (WxHxD): 265×270×85 mm
Weight: 7 kg

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THIS TEST HAS BEEN DESIGNED ACCORDING TO THE GUIDELINES adopted by the Association of International Audiophile Publications, an international audio press association concerned with ethical and professional standards in our industry, of which HIGH FIDELITY is a founding member. More about the association and its constituent titles → HERE.

→ www.AIAP-online.org