Everyone I’ve seen who upgraded to the better tubes was very happy so think you made the right choice there.
Is Burmester 232 worth the price?
Just bought a Burmester 232 integrated amplifier for a hefty price tag. Similar priced models like Accuphase E800 are available for half off on eBay.
Did I make a good decision or should I have gone with Accuphase or Esoteric? Pointers are greatly appreciated. Why is Burmester considered ultra high end?
Showing 9 responses by soix
While the Aero isn’t necessarily a warm DAC per se, it should certainly be warmer/fuller sounding than your Wiim and a significant improvement across the board. The nice thing about tubes is if you find you want even more warmth you can swap tubes to tailor the sound more to your liking. And my bad, you’re correct the Aero has XLR outputs but does not have a balanced input, which was a curious omission to me unless of course it’s not a fully-balanced design that my guess is it’s not. Anyway, don’t neglect the digital cable between the Wiim and Aero because it can make a huge difference. I’d check with LTA as to which input they prefer but would think it’d be USB. Here are a few solid recommendations that won’t break the bank… https://www.lavricables.com/cables/ultimate-silver-dual-usb-a-b-interconnect-cable/ |
Strictly and practically speaking I’d say wait until your amp has broken in over at least 200 hours so you can see which direction you might want to go sonically with a new DAC once the sound settles because it could change significantly and there’s really no rush. That said, I have some thoughts for you to research in the meantime… I’m a fan of LTA and own one of their preamps, but their DAC is tubed and in your situation I’m not sure you want to start messing with tubes, and it doesn’t offer balanced connections that personally I’d prefer to use with your fully-balanced amp. I’d strongly consider looking into the Denafrips Terminator 15th DAC for its combination of sound quality and price… https://www.denafrips.com/product-page/denafrips-terminator-15th-r-2r-dac https://soundnews.net/reviews/sources/denafrips-venus-15th-r2r-dac-review-a-feast-for-your-ears/ That said, if you can’t help yourself there’s a lightly used Terminator 15th available now, so at least if it doesn’t work out you can likely turn around and sell it for little loss. https://www.usaudiomart.com/details/650241770-denafrips-terminator-15th-dac/ |
It’s fine to trust your ears, but your Wiim is far beneath your system and although you may like the sound now you won’t know how much better it can be until you try something better, and there is far, far better out there. I’d suggest trying a better DAC with the Wiim first to start to hear what’s possible. For perspective, if I had your amp/speakers I’d have a streamer and DAC totaling in the $10k range so they’d be more inline with the sound/quality of your other components. In audio, the chain is only as strong as the weakest link and everything matters, and in your system the Wiim is a glaring weak link and is significantly holding back the performance of your system whether you recognize it or not. But I’ve only been at this for 40+ years so what the hell do I know? I’m just trying to help you here and pretty sure others will largely echo what I’m saying, but do with this what you will. |
So, if I’ve got this right you’re using a $330 Wiim streamer/DAC with an amp and speakers worth upwards of $40k. I know you said you don’t think DACs are all that important and assume you’re of a similar mind about streamers, so all I’ll say is you’re not getting near the performance your other equipment is capable of. As an analogy, what you’ve got here is like having budget all-season tires on a Ferrari — sure it’ll work, but you won’t get nearly the performance out of it that you paid dearly for. |
I highly doubt you’ll be unhappy with the 232, although given you said you prefer a warmer sound I might have pointed you toward Gryphon or Vitus but I’m sure the Burmester will sound fantastic. My bigger concern is with your speakers that are decidedly not warm sounding speakers but may still sound great with the 232. What amp are you using now, and what are your source components, cables and interconnects? And by all means give the amp around 200 hours of playing time before making any firm conclusions. |
Burmester is certainly a highly-regarded brand with good reason, but whether it’s worth it is a personal value judgement and depends largely on if it delivers the sound you’re looking for better than something else because that’s the final arbiter in the end. Did you research other products from the likes of Gryphon, Vitus, Boulder, Constellation, Soulution, etc. to see which produce sound characteristics you were looking for or did you just buy Burmester blind based on reputation? Whether it was a good decision depends on your personal tastes/system and how the Burmester sounds to you. If there are areas you find lacking that may be an indication something to explore further but may not be related to other components besides the amp. Sorry I know this is a non answer, but it’s a question that’s really impossible to answer at least without knowing a lot more. |