The verdict - Burmester 232 is worth MUCH MUCH MUCH more than its price!!!


My system:

Burmester 232  + Focal Kanta 3s + LTA Aero DAC with upgraded Ray Reserve 6SN tubes+ Wireworld Eclipse 8 cables + Axxess Interconnects

 

Spent in excess of $50,000 and the sound I am getting is priceless! And my system has not even broken in yet. Thanks to all folks on this forum for their invaluable input.

madhusudan_ramaswamy

Showing 2 responses by pindac

Nothing to do with the OP's equipment that is owned, but is relating to a Streamer Experience as a Source.

On a System minus the Source Equipment, I was able to be demo'd Valve Amp's > Speakers and Wiring Loom that exceeded £100K on retail value, which was being used by a work from home audio dealer.

I was demonstrated at the dealers home, not too far from my own home, a TT and Tonearm, that was eventually agreed on as a sale price that I was crazy to not to commit to. From recollection I was close to 70% saving on the Newest Model to be made available, and because of the design, the differences in models was more akin to the Colour of the Corian Plinth, more than anything to do with the TT's mechanics / electrics.

The auditions took place over a few occasions, and I would suggest, I got a very good handle of the system, and a few owned Phonostages were introduced as  well to enable a better grasp of the system capabilities with the TT in use.

The Dealer was to become an intensely focused purveyor of Digital Sources and was moving on to handling a large range of products that support the Digital Source to be used in system.

To show me where my future was laid, following the last of the Analogue Source demo's, I was introduced to a Flag Ship Streamer Source, that was quite an expensive product in comparison to the TT that was just agreed on as a sale.

I could refer to the new arrangement as a Analogue / Digital Comparison, as a few Albums used on the TT, were used as tracks for the Digital Source demo'.

Firstly, I should say the system was presenting a rich tone, which for myself was easily noticeable, but that was solely resulting from the resident Valve Amp's and Horn Speakers, the Analogue Source and loaned Phonostages were not the cause of the rich tone being so noticeable. 

I was also aware the System was not as revealing as my own system and systems I was familiar with that are based at other residences, I was confident in my assessment the Horn Loudspeakers were with too much Upper Bass that was migrating into the Midrange and Upper Frequencies, diminishing the presence of these frequencies, hence my suspicion the system was not being optimised at being able to be revealing as a result of the Speakers in use and the management of the Space the Speakers were used in.

Then the Digital Source was presented, I was agog to be given the demo' of thr Streaming Device, this was alien to me. CD was my main experience of a Digital Source across the years of my interest in audio.

To be given a chance to be demo'd Streamed Music in a very expensive system was a real treat to be had. As the first sounds were heard, it was apparent something was amiss with the End Sound. After a few tracks in and a few familiar track now heard, the assessment was that this Source was extremely Poor.

I was dying a slow death and was needing to make excuses to leave.

I was left very impressed with the user Interface of the Digital Source, and since have always expressed a interest in creating a set up that has this convenience of usage.

I have also extended my experiences of hearing Steamed Music as a Source, an know today, there is better at a much much cheaper cost.

In my limited experiences of Streamed Music as the Source Material, I would not be suggesting to anybody the Streamer Device is the most advantageous way to get the best Source Material to be replayed in a system.

I would be at the front of the queue to suggest, the convenience of the Streamer Device comes with a real attraction as a user interface.

There is also the possibility in the world of using the Streamer Device, the tech on offer has an appeal in conjunction with the End Sound able to be created.

Certain tech' and the user interface, rings in accordance with another's wants for a tech interface. Where the user interface is being prioritised and favoured as an  interaction, to the point where it takes precedence over the quality of the End Sound that is being created.

I strongly recall much of the talk about the Streamer in use was to do with the simplicity of use and the ease of accessing a massive music library.  

This was most likely something that occurred with CD at the time it was prime as the Source.

Some of the advocates of CD as a Source, would have favoured a Multi Play CDP over the Single Play CDP, solely for the user Interface and not their perception of the quality of the End Sound.       

       

@madhusudan_ramaswamy Your membership on the Gon is very short.

Let a little bit more be known, I visited the Gon for quite a few years prior to being a participating member, have you been a forum observer prior to your pulling the trigger to join?

What was experiences with assembling an audio system prior to the most recent system being used?

Has part of your interest in audio been creating opportunities to experience audio systems / devices beyond the owned system or create different permutations for a assembly within the owned system?

FYI, I have zero experience of the products being discussed within this Thread. 

For the onlooker at the Gon, who is considering a largish budget and who may be expressing an interest in this report.

If a used sale item purchase is not a concern, a fully loaded 232 > Kanta 3 > LDA Aero is able to be acquired without too much effort required to discover sale items, where a combined purchase price is $22K, offering up a saving of $28000 on the main products used in the system being reported on.

If the OP does choose to inform on what was being used in their system and introduced to their system, prior to the latest assembly of devices being reported on.

Using the assessment of the OP only, especially as of yet, an OP who has not revealed much about their experiences had in audio.

There is an opportunity presenting itself, which could serve as an indicator to what a known assembly of devices costing  $22K if bought used, is like as a comparison to another assembly of devices used in a system used by the OP.

As in Audio, experiences are vast, and others who have a above average range of experiencing audio devices will be better grounded to know where diminishing returns on a Products cost to Performance prevails and where synergy has been discovered through adding a device into an assembly of devices.

These extended experiences reported on, which have some which will be resulting in substantial impression being made, are also experiences where costs to achieve such a positive impression are seen to be achievable with a much more realistic outlay of monies within the broader audio community.