Burmester 249 Preamplifier

The Burmester 249 is the Reference Line preamplifier — the control center Burmester builds for systems anchored by the 259, 218, or 909 MK5 power amplifiers. In a chain where every downstream component is fully balanced, the preamplifier is the stage that either preserves that architecture or quietly breaks it. The 249 exists to preserve it without exception.

The construction is fully balanced dual-mono with X-Amp topology from input to output. Dual-mono here is literal: separate power supplies per channel, independent signal paths, no common ground across which one channel can contaminate the other. Volume is handled by a precision relay-switched attenuator rather than a conventional potentiometer — channel matching holds exact at every level, and the volume stage adds nothing the source didn't send. The numbers reflect the discipline: signal-to-noise better than 116 dB balanced, frequency response from DC to 300 kHz. A preamplifier with three-hundred-kilohertz bandwidth isn't passing content anyone hears; it's guaranteeing that phase behavior through the audible band stays untouched.

Connectivity covers balanced XLR and unbalanced RCA sources alike, though the design's full argument is made when the whole chain stays balanced — a 111 Musiccenter or 069 in, a 259 or 909 MK5 out, with no conversion at any point from source to loudspeaker terminal.

Within the Reference Line, the choice of control stage comes down to the 249, the 808 MK5, and the compact 077. The 808 MK5 is the historic statement platform; the 077 trades footprint; the 249 is the modern control stage engineered around the current amplifier range. Hear them against each other in Scottsdale — walk in during business hours, or book ahead and we'll have the comparison staged.