Burmester 218 Power Amplifier

The Burmester 218 is the Reference Line's compact stereo power amplifier — the full design argument of the 259 delivered in a chassis whose proportions fit real rooms and real racks. It exists because Reference Line performance should not be gated on architectural square footage.

Nothing essential is diluted. The topology is the same X-Amp, fully balanced from input to output, with no conversion stage anywhere in the signal path. The same high-bias Class AB operation keeps the amplifier warm at idle so the first watts run in Class A — the region where nearly all real listening lives. Frequency response runs from 1 Hz to 200 kHz, and output is 240 watts per channel into 4 ohms. What changes against the 259 is the power rating and the physical scale; what carries over unchanged is the character — the effortlessness through the first watts and the grip that Burmester amplification is known by.

The practical question between the two is honest: does the loudspeaker and the room require the 259's 360 watts and its 71-kilogram presence, or is the 218 the correctly sized instrument? For a great many Reference Line systems — particularly those built around loudspeakers of moderate sensitivity in rooms of normal proportion — the 218 is not the compromise. It is the right answer.

Partnered with the 249 preamplifier and a 111 Musiccenter or 069 source, the 218 anchors a complete Reference Line system on a single rack shelf's worth of amplifier. The 259 is on demonstration on the Scottsdale floor — hearing the larger amplifier in person is the fastest way to settle the sizing question in either direction. Walk in during business hours or book ahead.