There are products whose mere sight inevitably creates the desire to own them. Because they have a unique character. Because they have an inherent aesthetic that goes far beyond mere use. Because they anticipate the technical progress of their respective time due to their superior functionality. Design and technology legends that we would like to introduce here in loose succession – like Burmester.
The record player Burmester 175 belongs, according to the judgement of proven HiFi professionals, with its excellent sound to the absolute top of the world. They are enthusiastic about the authentic sound, tell how the room opens up with the sounds from the audience, the atmosphere is immediately there, the applause of the audience sounds great and realistic. Neil Young’s acoustic guitar sounds energetic and precise, the 1963 Wagner Ring with the Vienna Philharmonic under Georg Solti striking, or even: “Here you think you can look into John Coltrane’s sax funnel, it sounds close, dry as dust, direct and incredibly fresh.”
There are experts who claim that the Burmester 175 establishes its own league and is unique in the world of turntables. This has its price: the Burmester 175 currently costs around 39,000 euros.
Only true legends sound this good
As a young engineer, Dieter Burmester is involved in the design of precision medical devices and is a passionate rock bass player on the side. When his preamplifier gave up at the end of the 70s, he quickly soldered together his own thing: the 777 preamplifier. He succeeds in creating a masterpiece at the first attempt and thus founds Burmester Audiosysteme GmbH in Berlin-Schöneberg in 1978 – with the goal of creating high-end devices of the absolute top class, the perfect combination of superior sound, technological innovation and timeless design. Almost from the beginning, he executes his models in the characteristic chrome design and brands them with his name in cursive.
The rest is history
In 1980, Burmester developed the world’s first modular preamplifier, the Model 808. In 1991, the company launches the first belt-driven CD player, and in 1994 the actively regulating 948 Power Conditioner, which frees the supply voltage from interfering DC components. In 1997 the new Burmester Reference Line sees the light of day and sets standards in sound quality, innovation and workmanship to this day. The naming ‘Reference’ is practically dictated by the world’s trade magazines, as all products in this line are honored with reference titles. In 2005 Burmester approaches the high-end class of the automotive industry: For the Bugatti 16.4 Veyron the company develops an exclusive sound system for more than three years, in 2009 the cooperation with Porsche starts, in 2012 with Mercedes-Benz. And finally, in 2018, Burmester introduces the 175 turntable as “the zenith of what is possible in matters of sound quality.” The audio pioneer himself was not allowed to experience the overwhelming success and the jubilation of the entire high-end audio industry over the 175. Dieter Burmester passes away in August 2015 at the age of 69.
