Burmester preamps , general questions.
 

Hi, as I have always admired Burmester Reference Series products.
I wish I could own one. Here are some questions that I have in mind
and the replies from factory not even remotely closed to what I want to know.

as a general.
1. a very very common question I guess, based on sound quality only.
which one a better buy, 808 MK5 or 077+ ext PS?
077 seems to have a more modern circuits. Factory replied to me that
the sound is equal or same for both !
2. Are both 077+PS and 808-5 still competitive when compare to a newer top
preamp from other companies, like Soulution , CH Precision ? I didn't ask this to factory.
3. As they are designed to work with their own power amps which have very high gain, about 35-36dB. What if we use them with power amp from other company where gain is about 26-31 dB ? Do we have insufficient gain problem on preamp side ?
4. I noticed 808-5 to have a lot lower output impedance than 077. But 077 has the same of that number to 088.

questions specific to 808-5

1. I believe 808-5 has two power supply options, Reference Line and Top Line,
1.1 do they sound the same with only cosmetic difference ?
1.2 with Reference Line PS option, Does it look exactly like one for 077 ? If that's the case, it will not be cosmetically matched to 808 designs. Or there is
some thin metal plate to decorate it to make it match with 808 's front panel?
1.3 Can we opt for two outputs controlled by one volume control ? I want to
connect second output to active subs for example.


I plan to use it with my Gryphon Mephisto power amp. Well I tried the
matching Pandora long time ago. didn't click with it. Now using ARC Ref Anniversary. Looking for new solid state preamp and Burmester came to mind.

Toga

OK, now they gave me a clearer answer. by sending the actual pictures of 808 Ref PS and 077 ext PS. They look exactly the same. So in my opinion I think Ref PS doesn't have the appearance to match with 808-5. But are the circuit inside the same or not I don't know.

Toga

Did you end up buying a Burmester preamp?

From the internal pictures I have seen, reference and topline PS are different. More components in the reference line PS. You shouldn't have problems driving other amps with either pre-amp.

From my dealer, they say 077 is more of modern sound. A little more resolving and faster while 808 is a limitless warmer and luscious.