Note that this is a discontinued product. You may want to visit the brand's page here to browse their newer products.
What reviewers think
Bloggers and YouTubers have tried this product—so we've summarized their strongest opinions below. Links to full reviews follow.
Product Strengths
- Increased dynamics, added bass weight, a lower noise floor, and greater overall resolution compared to the 011
- Unravels the layers of texture in dense and compressed recordings with fantastic results
- Projects an expansive soundstage well beyond the boundaries of the speakers, creating a sense of depth
- The internal DAC implementation is transparent and performs on par with the best DACs in the $4,000–$5,000 range
- Electrically and mechanically built to an incredibly high standard with a 'jewelers finish'
Product Considerations
- Is balanced throughout and uses XLR inputs and outputs, which may be inconvenient for some users with unbalanced equipment
- The XLR pin out is different on Burmester gear, requiring a special XLR adaptor, custom cables, or switching speaker leads when mating with other manufacturers' components
- A single set of variable level XLR outputs may be a shortcoming for users with powered subwoofers
Comparisons (according to reviewers)
- The 088 represents a significant step up from the 011, offering increased dynamics, bass weight, lower noise floor, and greater resolution
Takeaway: The Burmester 088 preamplifier is a hand-built, high-performance component that delivers exceptional sound quality and is built to last. It offers a significant upgrade for those seeking a destination product to enjoy for a very long time.
All
088
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Manufacturer details
- Weight: 9 kg (19.8 lbs)
- Width: 482 mm (19")
- Height: 96 mm (3.9")
- Depth: 346 mm (13.6")
- Inputs: 6 XLR / 1 by module
- Outputs: 1 main XLR, 1 tape XLR
- Headphone jack: 1x 6.3 mm
- Module slots: 1
- Optional modules: Phono MC/MM (sym XLR), Line (RCA), DAC (USB, RCA)
Brand highlights
Taking a step back to look at reviewers' thoughts of the brand's entire lineup—not just this product—what stands out most is the following:
- The brand's products feature a high level of configurability including adjustable gain, loading, and capacitance, allowing for fine-tuning to specific system needs and preferences, though this adjustability may not always be easily accessible or well-documented.
- Burmester aims for a sound that combines refinement with a powerful and controlled bass response, creating a large-scale soundstage with solid instrument placement.
- Reflecting German engineering principles, products are built to extremely high standards with attention to build quality and finish that is often described as exceptional, even decades after initial purchase and offering long-term serviceability.
Select products
B18
- Positioning: The entry-level loudspeaker in Burmester's B-Series.
- Description: Designed for dynamic and musical performance in a compact form, featuring a 2½-way bass reflex design. It includes a unique ring radiator tweeter for high transparency, making it ideal for smaller rooms or those seeking a balance between performance and size, unlike the larger BC350 which offers more expansive sound.
BX100
- Positioning: The mid-range loudspeaker offering in Burmester's lineup.
- Description: Combines a modern design with advanced sound technology, featuring a 4-way system for precise sound distribution. Its Air-Motion-Transformer tweeter provides a wide soundstage, unlike the B18 which is more compact and less complex.
BC350
- Positioning: The top-tier loudspeaker in Burmester's Signature Line.
- Description: Offers exceptional sound quality with its dual-mode tuning options, Pure and Live, for different listening experiences. Its massive size and advanced technology make it suitable for large spaces, far exceeding the capabilities of the BX100 and B18 in terms of scale and detail.
Our take on the brand
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Used
Burmester
What if you spend more?
Our summary
Product Strengths
- A phonostage without compromise in every parameter of sound reproduction
- Easy access via three large front knobs for IMPEDANCE, CAPACITANCE, and GAIN
- Each phono input has its own discrete gain section, as it is a triple dual mono design
- The front panel has a large volume control and a display friendly to read from across the room
- Three pairs of RCA inputs in the back and one pair of RCA and XLR outputs
Product Considerations
- The Pass Labs XS Phono comes in two large chassis
- Pass Labs products are not known for being space saving
- The lack of balanced inputs or an EQ button for early Decca and Columbia pressings might be annoying
- Blue LEDs are built into each change segment of the three large knobs as well as above the push-buttons, though the minimal brightness suggests close proximity operation is expected
Takeaway: The Pass XS Phono exceeds what the reviewer has heard regarding analog playback, with incredible versatility that makes music sound effortless and is worth the investment. If you have multiple turntables, it has musicality at your disposal.
Video review
Our take on the brand
Our summary
Product Strengths
- Highly optimized to provide a pure musical outcome in the absence of mechanical sonic traits
- Full tube, pure class A, zero feedback circuit design
- Fully balanced operation achieved with ultra-high-quality transformers on both inputs and outputs with mu-metal core and mu-metal shielding
- Massive, machined aluminum enclosure was designed from the very beginning to deal with unwanted micro-vibrations and resonances
Product Considerations
- May require careful system matching due to its harmonically rich inner kernel
Comparisons (according to reviewers)
- Vs Robert Koda Takumi K-10 preamplifier: Both similarly addressed inner clockings
Takeaway: The Riviera Audio Labs APL-01SE is a remarkable preamplifier with a unique approach to music reproduction and a design focused on sonic purity. Its vibrant sound and exceptional build quality make it a standout choice in the hifi market.
Video review
Our take on the brand
Product Strengths
- Utterly posh and elegant behavior with a romantic sound profile built upon a somewhat elevated tonal temperature, round edges, remarkable smoothness, sensible heft, and spatial humidity
- Equally gifted on romance and tone as it was on crack, snap, and vigor, making it fabulously balanced
- Staged even deeper than the Trilogy 915R, and enveloped key sound sources by more air to make them even more distinctive
- Weightier upper registers that lingered in air for longer, and heftier bass that dug deeper was still held in as tight of a grasp
- Hand-polished mirror-like chassis built upon 2mm 316L stainless steel sheets that are non-corrosive, non-magnetic, and better in damping micro-vibrations via mass
Product Considerations
- The shiny chassis is a potent fingerprint attractor, and gets very hot near tubes
- The menu can't be accessed via the remote control, and doesn't cover naming inputs and dimming display
- No DC trigger ports are available to conveniently power on the entire set with other Audio Phonique products via just one button press
Comparisons (according to reviewers)
- Vs Trilogy 915R: The PRE DHT artfully combined tone, muscularity, roundness, and euphony to imaging size, illumination, top extension, quickness, and control downstairs—emerging as the more sorted wholesome product
Takeaway: The Audio Phonique PRE DHT is a luxuriously executed and brilliantly voiced preamplifier that offers both romantic sound qualities and high-performance capabilities. It is an ambitious product that can elevate the listening experience.
Video review
Our take on the brand
Our summary
Product Strengths
- Phenomenal reproduction of instruments and vocalists in the bass, midbass, and lower mids, delivering power-range octaves with speed, definition, and impact
- Exceedingly neutral timbral balance, neither top-down nor bottom-up
- Astonishingly transparent to sources, revealing both how the music was recorded and performed
- Creates a continuous soundfield, weaving details together into near-palpable wholes within a seamless soundscape
- Limited I/O, with only two sets of RCA inputs—one mm and one mc—and a single pair of RCA outputs; there are no balanced connections
Product Considerations
- Occasional tendency to shoutiness in the upper midrange, particularly on very hard transients at very high volumes—source-dependent
- Lacks modern features like a rumble filter, alternative EQ curves, and a digital readout of loading values
- Granularity of potentiometers for resistive and capacitive loading has broad gaps between values
Comparisons (according to reviewers)
- Vs Soulution 755, the PH3.8 NEXTGEN is better in timbral neutrality, as the Soulution is a bit dark-sounding
Takeaway: The Goldmund PH3.8 NEXTGEN delivers realistic, revealing, and deeply enjoyable sound, excelling in bass reproduction and timbral neutrality. For vinyl enthusiasts, this product is a reference-grade phonostage that merits auditioning.
Video review
Our take on the brand
What competes at this price?
The newly developed fully balanced LCR EQ circuit produces a detailed and solid soundstage. The hearing experience is comparable to listening to a master tape and makes one forget that the source is a vinyl disc. This unique circuit also brings intensity of music to the listener and transports him/her to the concert hall. It enables the listener to experience live performance on stage, rather than the traditional feeling of listening to the performance at a great distance in the audience seat of the concert hall. When played back by the correct equalization curve and phase with this circuit, stereo LPs will present us with a wonderful and amazing world of music never experienced before.
Our Summary
Product Strengths
- The Zanden 1200 Signature has a fully balanced circuit throughout, which results in more stable and better-quality performance
- Music is delivered from a deep black background of silence, resulting in a very quiet performance
- Profoundly dynamic with a scale and sense of realism, it puts the listener right in the middle of the music
- The sound is musically inviting without warming it up, insightful without sounding unnecessarily exuberant, detailed without sounding etched or bland, and dynamic without sounding unhinged
- A wide soundstage with uncommon depth and layering, as well as strong and stable images, are presented
Product Considerations
- There is no fine tuning of impedance, gain or capacitance to match different phono cartridges, only two main MC options are available
- The alternate EQ curves have relatively higher output than RIAA EQ
Comparisons (according to reviewers)
- Vs Pass Labs XP-25: The Zanden created more air and space within a deeper soundstage, was more robust with consistently finer-grained vocal and instrumental presentations, better dynamic shadings, and tighter bass
- Vs Zanden 120: The 1200S exhibited a softer hand and lighter touch with the music, providing more nuanced presentations sensitive to the dynamic and tonal shadings of instrumental and vocal performances, and it had an easier time with soundstage depth, layering, and fortissimo passages
Takeaway: The Zanden 1200 Signature is a meticulously crafted phono preamplifier that offers engaging sound, flexibility, and a refined musical experience with excellent dynamics and detail. It delivers a natural presentation of instruments and vocals creating an immersive soundstage.
Video review
Our take on the brand
Our Summary
Product Strengths
- The Gryphon Pandora is considered 'one hell of a line stage' and is highly recommended for any Gryphon amplifier
- It delivers a 'huge, huge sound' with a massive, wall-to-wall, ceiling-to-floor presentation
- It provides a lot of bottom end control, punch, and muscle, with clear string plucking and well-marked edges on a guitar
- Top notch construction
- The Pandora just sounds like music
Product Considerations
- The back feet on the Pandora are spikes, which can scratch the surface it's placed on, such as wood shelves
- The design with spikes on both chassis prevents stacking, requiring two shelves
- Requires two expensive power cords
- No polarity switching
Comparisons (according to reviewers)
- The Pandora has a larger soundstage, wrapping around the listener, while the Boulder focuses on the space between the speakers with detail and separation
- If in a position to upgrade from the Gryphon Essence line stage, the Pandora is recommended
- The Pandora clicks better with the Gryphon amplifier
Takeaway: The Gryphon Pandora is a great line stage to go with any Gryphon amplifier, delivering a huge and powerful sound. It is a worthwhile purchase for those seeking a high-quality audio experience, especially within the Gryphon ecosystem.
Video review
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Our Summary
Product Strengths
- Neutral as possible while retaining all the music's delicacy, refinement, and fluidity, being revealing without becoming clinical
- Wide and deep soundstage, timbrally spot-on and very natural, well-focused, richly textured, and well-endowed in terms of transient attack and dynamic impact
- Significantly more revealing, without introducing any negative by-products such as dryness or a lack of emotional involvement
- More discerning of differences in sources and source material, enlarging the contrast between them
- A blacker background—low-level details can be heard more clearly
Product Considerations
- Calibration is mandatory after the upgrade from C1 to C1.2, as the calibration of the C1.2 is different from the one in the C1, and failure to do so will lead to degraded performance
- Without calibration, the sound can be super-crisp, tight, direct, and highly rhythmic, but also quite square and technical, and with the flow and emotional involvement on a much lower level
- Files played directly from the C1.2 have a slightly contoured character—everything is accurate, powerful, energetic, but sometimes even too accurate
- The C1 sounded fuller than other CH Precision products, and the C1.2 upgrade brings it more in line with other products
Comparisons (according to reviewers)
- Vs dCS Vivaldi 2.0: Clear and precise sound, although the dCS has some softness making it seem a bit warmer
- Vs Weiss DA502 D/A converter: A similar vision of clear and precise sound
- Vs Ayon Audio CD-35 HF Edition: Better timbral dissimilarity of individual instruments and portrayed them on a better-organized soundstage with more dimensions
- Vs ESOTERIC K-01D: Well-placed space, similar to the ESOTERIC K-01D, despite their tonal differences
Takeaway: The C1.2 is a very resolving and revealing DAC that presents music with exceptional clarity and precision, able to enhance subtle details in music. It is a great way to appreciate the details of music.
Video review
Our take on the brand
Our Summary
Product Strengths
- Features an LDR (Light-dependent resistor) based Switchless Optical Input board, which is extremely quiet thanks to its switchless principle
- Has a separate power supply
- Features a new Aavik analogue crossover designed to either very precisely control a subwoofer or, with the integrated low pass and high pass filter—to control a 2.1 home theatre system
- Engineered enclosure offers an authentic sound that is warm, harmonious, and powerful, yet crisp and refined—highlighting every detail in the music
- Line stage features a unique inverted Virtual Ground amplifier topology that supplies maximum stability, maintaining the full signal with the lowest signal-to-noise ratio, making even the finest details of timbre and texture nuances audible on an extremely quiet soundstage
Product Considerations
- The Aavik C-580 is expensive
Takeaway: The Aavik C-580 is a versatile preamplifier for audiophiles and music lovers, with unique features that provide clarity, detail, and accuracy in music playback—creating a realistic and immersive audio experience. It offers high-end sound and aesthetics that will last for years.
Video review
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Our Summary
Product Strengths
- Massive and strong sound, with a low-set point of gravity
- Large and strong sound with deep bass
- Full-bodied headphone amplifier with adjustable gain
- Excellent functionality, design, and equipment
Product Considerations
- Treble is rather dark
- 3D imaging is a little worse compared to some other preamps
Comparisons (according to reviewers)
- Vs Accuphase C-3850: The C-3900 is unambiguously better with more depth, velvety sound, high resolution, and detail
Takeaway: The Accuphase C-3900 offers a well-balanced sound with density, warmth, and clarity, making it a top high-end choice for audiophiles. It also includes an excellent headphone amplifier, adding to its value and versatility.
Video review
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