Plinus vs. Burmester amps

Hi Falconquest,

Let me offer you my take. I currently own a Burmester 956mk2. It is the best amp I have ever owned. It combines the best qualities of solid state and tubes. I have never owned the 2 Plinius amps you are considering but did own the Plinius 9200 integrated. I liked the Plinius a lot but the Burmester is in another league. On the other hand, it is not a fair comparison due to the tremendous price difference between the 2 products. I owned the Pass Labs XA100.5 monoblocks prior to buying the Burmester amp. I sold the Pass Labs amps as I found Burmester to embody the best attributes of Class A sound and yet have more dynamic slam compared to Pass. I am not sure if you can extrapolate my experience with the Pass Labs Class A monoblocks to the Plinius Class A amps you are considering. All I know is that buying the Burmester put an end to my amp search. I have owned it for almost 2 years now. I will say that if you go for Burmester, my suggestion would be to buy the cheaper 956 as it does not suffer in comparison to the 911 which is twice the price. Saving a few bucks never hurts!
I hope this helps.

Hi Falconquest,

With those speaker specs, the Burmester 956 would hardly break a sweat. I have used it with multiple speakers--the toughest load was 87db and 4 ohms. The amp drove the speakers to satisfactory levels without even getting warm.
Also, unlike pure Class A amps, I can leave the Burmester on all the time without spiking my electricity bill.

Hi Falconquest,

At this level, I feel both Burmester and the Plinius amps you are considering are going to have excellent sonics. The bass quality and ability to control the woofer of the speakers (because of its very high damping factor) are specialties of the Burmester amp. I have not heard anything that betters it.
The burmester will be easier on your electricity. I had to turn on my Pass Labs monoblocks at least 1 hour before listening so that they could give their best performance.

Hi Trai,

Which speakers were they using with the Burmester amp? If they were showing with Burmester speakers that might explain the tendency towards brightness as Burmester speakers tend to sound clinical.