Burmester 151 MK2 Music Center

The Burmester 151 MK2 Musiccenter is the Top Line’s streaming DAC preamplifier — the little brother of the Reference Line 111, engineered as a high-end music server that administers your library, connects to internet radio and streaming services, and plays music directly from a USB stick or network share with the fast data processing that defines the platform. Where the 111 sits in the Reference Line at the flagship digital tier, the 151 MK2 delivers substantially the same functionality in the Top Line chassis and at the Top Line price.

As part of Burmester’s Top Line, the 151 MK2 can be operated with a fixed output level into an existing system using a separate preamplifier, or alternatively with its variable output section connected directly into power amplifiers or active loudspeakers — bypassing a preamplifier entirely for the shortest possible digital-source-to-amplifier signal path. Chrome front panel with integrated display carries the timeless Burmester design language across the Top Line, and every 151 MK2 is hand-assembled in Berlin with the same quality-control process applied to Reference Line components.

The 151 MK2 partners naturally with a Burmester 216 or 909 MK5 power amplifier as a compact digital-source system, or slots into a system where a Reference-quality digital source is required alongside dedicated preamplification (feeding an 088 or 249, for example). It is the natural Top Line answer for a listener whose music library is entirely digital and who wants a Burmester-branded server rather than a computer-based playback solution.

At $30,000 in current Burmester pricing, the 151 MK2 is available for audition at the Scottsdale showroom. Walk in during business hours or book ahead for a prepared listening session configured with the amplification you are considering pairing it with.