089 ?

[lotus340r]

Guys, i've seen a used 089 for sale.

Now I use a Rega Isis valve which IMO is a wonderful CDP with a truly mesmerising and musical sound and it's beaten off many expensive digital sources that have passed my way over the years with a large stick, including many hard disk solutions.

The thing is I have always lusted after an 069 but given that the price will always been too much for me, an 089 seems to be a more viable option. I can change to the 089 for not much more money and I would anticipate from what i've read that the voicing will be very very similar to the Isis but perhaps with some improvements in a few areas as well.

My question is, are the 089s reliable and are there replacement lasers still available at the fatcory ? There isn't much in the way of Burmester support in the UK so i'd be pretty much out on my own.

I am also interested in using the DAC portion for WAV streaming background music with something like a squeezebox. Has anyone tried that and how successful are the results ?


cheers

Rich

[joeinid]

I've never heard one, but service should not be a problem for many, many, many years. Burmester prides themselves on the long lives of their products. If I remember correctly, belt life of the transports approaches 90,000 hours of use. The digital input should accept up to 24/96. I think you have nothing to worry about.

[TommyC]

If you can really change to the 089 for "not much more money," I would go ahead. The 089 retails for 30K while the Isis is 10K.