Burmester 911 mk3

[Elberoth]

Don't be too hasty, young padawan

Borrow the Soulution and Momentum as well - you have nothing to loose.

You can always buy the 458.

 

[panjan]

Ok, my master Yoda
I'll be more prudent.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

I have to limit my choice for 3-4 amps. I did a little research and I'll get to listen MP-M201, 911mk3, Gryphon Colosseum or Mephisto. The NHB-458 will be tough, but I wonder about ordering without listening session... Big cojones? Maybe But I don't think that I'll be disappointed. If Dartzeel will be not good, I'll sell this amp with a little loss in value... I hope

i don't believe you would be disappointed with the NHB-458's. a wonderful amplifier.

just one man's opinion.

 

[LL21]

Hi Elberoth,
It's nice to see you here

As you know, on "our" pl forum it's hard to get reliable information and sometimes it doesn't brag about what you listened to, where, and what is your opinion about it.

I have to limit my choice for 3-4 amps. I did a little research and I'll get to listen MP-M201, 911mk3, Gryphon Colosseum or Mephisto. The NHB-458 will be tough, but I wonder about ordering without listening session... Big cojones? Maybe But I don't think that I'll be disappointed. If Dartzeel will be not good, I'll sell this amp with a little loss in value... I hope
I order my Q7s soon (next week probably). I start to built my listening room at the moment.

Back to Burmester - still one of the best one-comapany full system I've heard. IMO better than more expensive Soulution, which I thought as the best recently.

Hi. Any updates? I saw someplace you were reading Jeff Fritz on Q7...did you see his favorite amp with your Q7s? Gryphon Mephisto.

 

[johndoe21ro]

I see this thread is dead for some time... Maybe it's time I resurrect it.
I'm very interested in some Burmester amplification and I would need some objective and detailed answers (stereo - no monos).
How is the 911Mk2 compared to the 911Mk3? How is the 956Mk2? How is the 956Mk2 compared to the 911Mk2? Unfortunately my budget stretches to the 956Mk2 and the 911Mk2 as they have almost the same price on the agon/audiomarkt... How much does a 911Mk2 to Mk3 upgrade cost? Thanks in advance.

 

[LL21]

Yes. Everything balanced I've tried sounds better using the Interocitor to go from single-ended to balanced than just using the shorting plugs. You have to try various switch settings on the Interocitor - because depending on the different grounding on the preamp and the power amp, ground should be floated or shorted.

Going the other way, balanced preamp to single-ended power amp is much more variable. Sometimes it sounds better, sometimes it sounds worse.

I even tried balanced to balanced and single-ended to single-ended using the Interocitor, and suffice to say, it is now permanently in my "bag of tricks".

Hi Gary,

Can you describe how the sound improves going from SE preamp to XLR amp via the Interocitor (now Flex Connect)? I am specifically thinking about my CJ GAT (26db), Gryphon Colosseum (31db) and Wilson X1/Grand Slamms (95db). I have 0 complaints and it is dead silent when music is not playing unless i bring my ear to the tweeter (3 inches)...at least while the tubes are relatively new. But nevertheless, its always good to learn. Thanks!

 

[cypher]

Good morning to all..
I'm about to purchase 911 Mk1 and during tests I have noticed that my unit has noisy transformer, is not loud but is not dead quiet either. There is no noise from speakers at all only little transformer hum. Is it normal in this amp ?

Regards,
Artur

 

[Elberoth]

Those amps are sensitive to DC component on AC mains supply. You can try a DC blocker to get rid of the transformer hum (noise).

 

[Sablon Audio]

Perhaps you have some dc offset on your mains supply which is causing this noise?

 

[cypher]

THX for hint, I was trying to avoid DC Blockers since in my opinion they influence negatively on sound, but perhaps in this case is necessary to use one?

 

[microstrip]

Mechanical hum of transformers happens more frequently than should and, independently of the reason, is a design/manufacture fault/problem. It affects even some very high performance well known brands.

It results from mechanical noise due to vibration of transformers and can be really a nuisance. Although it is not the case (Burmester is made in Germany), sometimes electronics coming from the US that are tested locally only at 60 Hz, become noisy when operated at 50 Hz, as flux is higher and harmonics have different frequencies, exciting resonances that did not exist at 60 Hz.

In some cases mounting the transformer on silent blocks reduces the perceptible noise to inaudible.

DC blockers increase significantly the mains impedance and IMHO are a last resource. Burmester has power conditioning that eliminates DC from mains without inserting elements in series, but is very expensive.

 

[cypher]

Hi Microstrip, thank you for answer. So, what I should do ? Is it any way to test if DC component is present in the mains? Is it possible that amp is noisy due to age ?

 

[microstrip]

Hi Microstrip, thank you for answer. So, what I should do ? Is it any way to test if DC component is present in the mains? Is it possible that amp is noisy due to age ?

If you have easy access to a power regenerator, such as the PS Audio P10 or P5, I would try connecting it through them. I can not see how age can affect a power transformer.

You can also try it in another place, that is not served by the same power line.

 

[sujay]

I agree with microstrip. Age probably has nothing to do with that. My older 911mk3 is now 9 years old. The burms are amongst the quietest electronics but I think they are susceptible to interference from other equipment around them, especially TVs. My amps hum only when the TV is on. It is almost negligible now after I installed a Bryston BIT 16 power conditioner. So, microstrip's suggestion of a power regenerator is probably the right way to go. You could also install an isolation transformer like the Torus or the Bryston, which I have and successfully reduced the hum. To reiterate, though, it only hums a little now when the TV is on but I don't usually have the TV on when I am listening to music. So essentially they are dead quiet. You might want to first check if you have noisy equipment around and then turn them off and see if the hum persists. In any case, installing a regen or a trans should help immensely.

Cheers

 

[cypher]

I agree with microstrip. Age probably has nothing to do with that. My older 911mk3 is now 9 years old. The burms are amongst the quietest electronics but I think they are susceptible to interference from other equipment around them, especially TVs. My amps hum only when the TV is on. It is almost negligible now after I installed a Bryston BIT 16 power conditioner. So, microstrip's suggestion of a power regenerator is probably the right way to go. You could also install an isolation transformer like the Torus or the Bryston, which I have and successfully reduced the hum. To reiterate, though, it only hums a little now when the TV is on but I don't usually have the TV on when I am listening to music. So essentially they are dead quiet. You might want to first check if you have noisy equipment around and then turn them off and see if the hum persists. In any case, installing a regen or a trans should help immensely.

Cheers

Thank you, I will try to investigate source of interferences. Friend of main has large isolation transformer I will borrow it for test..

In the meantime, I have another question how hot 911mk1 should run after few hours of listening to music? My has only 28 Celsius on the left radiator and 30 Celsius on the right. Seems lite bit low. Perhaps the bias is set to low? I wonder if some one could share with me bias setting procedure ? (I'm relatively experiences in DIY and I have all gear from signal generator to oscilloscope)..
Regards

 

[sujay]

Thank you, I will try to investigate source of interferences. Friend of main has large isolation transformer I will borrow it for test..

In the meantime, I have another question how hot 911mk1 should run after few hours of listening to music? My has only 28 Celsius on the left radiator and 30 Celsius on the right. Seems lite bit low. Perhaps the bias is set to low? I wonder if some one could share with me bias setting procedure ? (I'm relatively experiences in DIY and I have all gear from signal generator to oscilloscope)..
Regards

I may not have the answer to the specific question as to the exact temp range but it really would depend upon and vary with the load and the SPL I would guess. My 911 monos run quite cool even when I run them hard and despite my speakers being a difficult load. But it's quite peculiar that one of the amps usually runs cooler than the other. I checked with Burmester and they say it's normal for that to happen. You will need to get the bias specs from Burmester. They will mail it to you. The bias pot is highly sensitive ime. I had taken the help of a techie who took almost 30 min to reset the bias on both amps back to spec. They do tend to go off a little bit with time.

Hope that helps

Cheers

 

[Elberoth]

I have no experience with mk 1, but my 911 mk3 did not run hot at all - it was barely warm to the touch.

 

[cypher]

Thank you ;-)

 

[cypher]

Hi Guys,
Using what amp input (XLR/RCA) you got a better sound, I'm planing to play around with preamps and I wonder if it's worth to look something with RCA connection ..

Regards,
Artur

 

[drabbish]

How do you know when the biase needs adjustment? by the temperature? When I got mine from a dealer, second hand, it was sent for servicing first to check for any problems before purchase and they adjusted the biase. That was three years ago.