Burmester 100 Phono Preamp
£14,800
If you’re after the best phono stage money can buy this Burmester is a good place to start. The base version comes in at the price we quote. This can support a turntable (with either a moving-magnet or moving-coil module) and pass the amplified signal through single-ended or balanced XLR outputs.
If you’re lucky enough to run two turntables, the 100 can be equipped with
a second phono module – both MM and MC options are available.
The ability to deliver a variable output means that the 100 can be connected directly into a power amp and bypasses the need for a dedicated preamp in a purist vinyl-only set-up.
A revelation
After letting the Burmester settle over a few days we start with Nick Cave’s A
Boatman’s Call. We use this record a lot in our reviews, but here we hear fresh inflections in Cave’s coarse but emotionpacked vocals and layers of extra texture on the backing instrumentation.
There is so much space around the voice and instruments – a lack of clutter and the freedom to breathe that gives every sound free rein to ebb and flow.
We appreciate the low noise floor too. This is a really quiet phono stage that adds very little hiss to the sound, even on its higher gain settings.
Things are surefooted rhythmically, as a spin of Radiohead’s In Rainbows shows. There’s plenty of punch and attack here, but it’s wrapped in the warm embrace of Burmester’s trademark refinement. Tonally, the top-end is sweet and there’s a hint of excess richness through the midrange and bass. But it’s never taken so far as to annoy and simply results in the phono stage making aggressive recordings a little bit more palatable.
For those with deep enough wallets and a suitably talented partnering system, there are few downsides here. If you have lots of very old records the lack of choice in equalisation may be an issue, but for most people it won’t matter. This is a beautifully made and engineered product that sounds lovely. We want one.