HiFi Pig MEET BURMESTER IN STUTTGART

On the road in Germany with Burmester at Studio 26, at the Sophienstraße, Stuttgart.

German high-end stalwarts Burmester started the fall of ´22 with a roadshow. Under the ´Meet Burmester´ banner, sixteen of their premier retail partners throughout Germany got a visit from the Burmester team. In their luggage were several new products: the B28 loudspeaker which slots in between the existing B18 and B38 models, and the new 216 and 218 power amps.

The idea for a tour of German dealerships came about at a time when it was doubtful whether the High-End show in Munich would take place, Uwe Alander (distribution manager from Germany and Austria) explains “We did have the new developments that we wanted to present to the public, but we also wanted to get up and close with our dealers again after the long period of lockdowns. Then the High-End Show happened after all and we introduced the B28, the aesthetically redesigned B18, and both new power amps there. However, the supply chain issues that have been plaguing the industry meant that we were unable to deliver the production versions for quite some time. Hence, we revived the idea of the roadshow in order to properly support the market introduction of the new items at our dealerships. We started on September 6th in Hamburg, and will end our tour on October 27th in Munich. Our dealers will receive the new products in the same order as our ´tour scheme´, so in all cases there will be about the same time span of about four weeks between the introduction event and availability of the new products.“

Today we find ourselves in Studio 26, at the Sophienstraße in the centre of Stuttgart – one of two locations in the Swabian capital where the roadshow is stopping by. The shop is large and furnished in a classy, traditional style; the number of customers and attendees on this mid-late afternoon however is best described as ´manageable´. Alander seems unphased about the apparent lack of punters: “It´s true that showroom traffic has diminished somewhat over the past months, however when we look at sales, they pretty much stay at the very high levels we´ve seen after the pandemic broke out. We´re not expecting to see any further growth for 2022, but a consolidation at the level we´ve seen over the past two years is very healthy indeed. The main problem is more being able to deliver; stocks of HiFi shops have pretty much gone during the height of the pandemic. And to be honest, the main objective of our tour is to connect with and support our dealers on a deeper level, to strengthen our network, anyway. The evening program nominally runs to 21.00h but we´ve had dates, where the last people left the building at 1:00 am, and also ones where it was all over and done with by 20.00h. However, in both cases, it has been worth the effort for getting up close and personal with the dealers involved alone.“

Studio 26 is well stocked with Burmester products from the ´lifestyle´ Phase 3 set up up to the Reference line level (the Signature Line with components and loudspeakers priced deep into six figures is only on show in three stores in Germany…)  – this generously sized corner is stacked with products from the Berlin manufacturer almost exclusively.

In the adjacent room, Anastasia Mentis  (left on the picture) from the Berlin manufacturer is in control of the Burmester set up on demonstration, consisting of the – also fairly recently introduced – turntable 217, the 088 preamp, the network player Music Center 151 Mk2, the big 218 power amplifier from the Reference Line and the B28 loudspeakers. A variety of music is being streamed from Tidal – from contemporary Nordic female singer/songwriter material through the ubiquitous ´Hotel California´ (“if you can´t take it anymore after having heard it a hundred times at HiFi demos, please say so!” warns Mentis beforehand. It does sound rather good though…), another perennial favourite in Elvis´´Fever´ to a rather more surprising bout of Billie Eilish and one or two requests from the audience (including yours truly who wanted to hear a snippet from Moby´s Reprise album), followed by some fairly generic jazz from vinyl. The sound in this fairly regular room with lots of glass on one side and only a little in the way of acoustic treatment was impressive: fairly direct, almost unprecedented levels of detail and dynamics but not cold or clinical. The worst that one could hold against the performance is that it might lack a tiny bit of ´air´ and ambiance.

As we talk some more with Alander and Mentis, singer/songwriter Duncan Townsend arrives. As with all Meet Burmester events, Townsend will perform live for the invited guests of the evening program. Drinks, snacks, and comfy sofas will, of course, also be part of the program…

Eric van Spelde For HiFi Pig

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