T.H.E. New York International Audio Show 2025

Norm Steinke, Burmester sales manager for the US, presented two complete Burmester Audio systems at T.H.E. Show in New Jersey. Both systems were composed of components drawn from Burmester’s tiered product lines: Signature Line, Reference Line, Top Line, Classic Line. The two displayed setups featured an assortment of components divided among these categories.

System one consisted of a Reference 111 music server/streamer ($60,000), Reference 175 turntable ($65,000), Top Line 088 preamp ($37,000), Reference 218 amplifier ($60,000), and in a debut, a pair of BX100 loudspeakers ($110,000/pair). A 948 power conditioner ($12,000) and various AudioQuest cables completed the setup. System two featured the Burmester 232 integrated with streamer and phono ($35,000) options and the B28 loudspeaker ($27,000/pair).

The BX100 is a four-way, bass-reflex loudspeaker. "BX100 distributes the audio signal across four specialized chassis, each precisely tuned to its frequency range," a press release stated.

Two side-mounted 10" woofers handle bass, complemented by a front-mounted 6.5" woofer and a 6.5" midrange driver—both with diaphragms made from a mix of polypropylene and randomly distributed carbon fiber. The material combination is said to optimizes rigidity while keeping weight low and damping high-frequency resonances. The high-frequency range is handled by an Air Motion Transformer (AMT). The AMT is freestanding, without a baffle. "This open architecture enables exceptionally wide horizontal dispersion and significantly enlarges the sweet spot," a press release said. Sensitivity is 89dB/2.83V/m; nominal impedance is 3 ohms.

Steinke played a wide variety of music on system two, including Eric Bibb and Habib Koite’s "We Don't Care," Sophie Zelmani’s "How It Feels," Dominique Fils-Aimé’s Free Dom, and perennial show favorite "Fever, by Malia and Boris Blank. Photos by Norman Steinke.