Plinus vs. Burmester amps

Hi Trai,

Which speakers were they using with the Burmester amp? If they were showing with Burmester speakers that might explain the tendency towards brightness as Burmester speakers tend to sound clinical.

I forget the actual topology reason for the plinius to sound a bit like tubes. I remember there was a plinius interview somewhere that I had read.

In my experience, plinius sa amps run well with a certain tube preamp from Cary... The slp-05. It was a fantastic match. Tube pre up top and class a solid state down low.

I used a Plinius SB-301 stereo amp for a year. It was a powerhouse that produced very strong bass and very good dynamics. It sounded just slightly rolled off on top and was not the last word in transparency, so a little bit tilted toward the "musical" end of the musical/resolution axis. I did find it a much better match for my tastes with my Revel Salon 2s than Revel's Harman stablemate Mark Levinson 532H, which was a bit tame.

Although it is considered a Class A/B amp and Plinius does not state any ratings for Class A, the SB-301 is claimed to be highly biased into Class A. I can believe that, as it did run quite warm for me.

It took an insane deal on the Symphonic Line Kraft 250 monos I am using now to knock the Plinius out of my system, otherwise it would still be here. The Kraft 250s are certainly better, but given that they retail for 3X the list price of the SB-301, they should be.

@ Apdoc2004

I've heard Burmester for very long time with a lot of
speakers and the sound result was always excellent, but with
own Burmester speakers you achieve one of best natural
absolute sound quality with an higher sense of reality
difficult to achieve at any level.

I really appreciate the feedback guys, and look forward to more. I thought I would summarize comments made so far.

Burmester
Pro:
Best amp ever owned.
Best qualities of SS and tubes.
More dynamic slam than Pass.
Outstanding, very refined sound.
Easier on electricity
Bass quality and ability to control the woofers are specialties.
With Burmester speakers, best natural sound and a higher sense of reality.

Con:
A tendency to brightness.

Plinius
Pro:
No one hour warm up time for class A.
Non-fatiguing sound.
Effortless power.
Great bass control.
No "fizz" in treble.
Very strong bass and dynamics.

Con:
(SB-301) slightly rolled off on top and not the last word in transparency.