Everyone has his own secret or public passion and I don't to hide mine. It's high end audio and quality made audio components.Good art demands a talented painter and great audio equipment demands somebody who love and understand music close enough that he's capable and willing to put needed energy and emotions into well made dare I say audio instruments . There are certainly more than enough audio companies round the globe producing vast amount of audio equipment, but there are few of them that holds charisma and pedigree like this made in Germany company.
Burmester might be called a Buggati of audio industry. A class of it's own!
When you're buying products with these kind of recognition and pedigree, you are not paying only for a brand name, but a quality, craftsmanship, innovative audio engineering and non the last certain audio joy that such a product evoke. You might also want to add a proud ownership of remarkable and legendary german build quality which is rare, but still there.
Burmester 051 is not a giant integrated amp. No nonsense oversized box. But! I found myself continuously scratching my head, passing few hours of listening. Why? How in the heaven name can amp of this size provide such a stable and dynamic sound over the whole spectrum. My Sonus Faber Memento Guarneri speakers are very demanding to drive. They found worthy companion only when they're driven by few hundreds watts. Burmester 051 acted like it have a secret weapon under the hood. I guess high current and well thought patented topology helps a lot here. Sound is very dynamic, transparent and sound stage is on par with many bigger and astronomically priced amplifiers.
Burmester company started not from a trend like many contemporary audio manufacturers. In early 80'a Dieter build his first preamplifier prototype, which later become a legendary item. With his intuition and medical lab topology precision he success to start a route of musical and transparent sound that is imprinted (or de-pritned ;) ) in all Burmester amplifiers until today. Burmester also introduced balanced topology into high end. 051 offers 3 balanced inputs and one balanced preamp output, that let you use this integrated amp as IR and relay controled top quality preamplifier.
Burmester 051 let you set input gain in 30 steps increment or decrement helping you adjust the levele of your sources to the same level.
Having pleasure listening numerous integrated and power amplifiers I must admit that Burmester 051 is something different and in league of it's own. I couldn't be more positively surprised after some bad remarks that i heard from older audiophiles on the account of Burmester products. I believe that they never actually had a chance to listen to them orare simply deaf. There is increased trend of quasiphiles that judge product by watching the catalogues and dream about sound from spces. To taste a delicious honey by licking the jar from outside is wicked business. You'll have to bite!
Let it be the great Maceodnian folks songs or jazz classics, 051 simply float with greatness and performance. Burmester 051 addressed my passion for acoustical music and small ensembles even further. There is sense of musicality that radiate through speaker amplified by this amplifier that is not only rare, but worth running after.
This amplifier is for many an object of desire with a hefty price tag. See this as an investment. You don't buy such a product for transitional period. It' is a stander. My dear wife Natalija was not only more than pleased with esthetics and agreed that this is an unique and first class looking component, but she could hear the natural character of music amplified by 051. Double Godsend may I say on my behalf.
How good is it? Well I bought one! Inquire with my friends how often this happen :). If you are in a search for an integrated amplifier, do yourself a favor and search for your nearest Burmester dealer. All this might sound as a written commercial and in a way it is. Listen and conclude yourself.
Thanks again to Igor Kante from Ubiq for providing the test equipment as usually! He's a true Burmester fanatic and believer in their quality.
Matej Isak
Technical Specs
• 3 balanced inputs for CD, Tuner & AUX (one more than the 991) plus two unbalanced inputs with a tape loop
• Balanced surround loop for easy integration into Home Theater systems
• Completely DC-coupled signal path without distorting capacitors
• Burmester X-Amp amplification technology
• Volume adjustment in 60 steps through an ultra-precise volume control with optimal channel synchronism
• Tape monitor loop
• Preamplifier output
• Headphones jack on the back panel
• Tone controls with separate adjustments for bass and treble (bridgeable)
• Tone controls may be bridged without loss of musical quality
• Balance control left/right (40 steps each)
• Impedance adjustment for inputs (+/- 15 dB)
• Volume control and signal input selection by remote
• Power output 2x85W at 8W, 2x120W at 4W
• Intelligent circuit protection which indicates the type of error in the display
• Remote on/off switching capability
• High-performance power supply with beefy toroidal transformer (450VA) and high filter capacity (70.000µF)
• Active stabilization of the power supply for the power amp’s input stage
• Evenly high damping factor over the entire frequency range provides optimal speaker control
• New BurmesterLink™ with RS-232 and USB2.0 connection
Weight: app. 19 kg
Dimensions (W x H x D): 482 x 95 x 340 mm