Finally experienced the Burmester car sound system

[agiletiger]

I am on the road quite a bit for work and been renting a car every week. I finally got a Mercedes that had a Burmester audio system in it. I must say that it is the best car sound system I’ve ever heard! My only complaint is that the base doesn’t go as low (and clear) as the one in my BMW Harmon Kardon but just destroys the HK in every other area. Orchestral music really shines on it. I normally listen to podcasts while driving but this car made me listen to a bunch of my favorite tracks throughout the week. I found the CLA 250 an annoying car to drive but I wouldn’t turn down a chance of getting that car again.

A few observations. When turned up, only the bass distorts slightly. Everything else holds steady. I liked how it sounded outright but when I dug into the settings, the equalizer was all jacked up. To me, it sounded best with everything flat. Also, I set the balance at the front row of seats. For the fade, like a lot of luxury cars, you set it visually based on the seats. Normally when I see this, I set it somewhere over where my right ear would be. This time however, smack dab in the middle sounded best. Putting it where I normally put it made the driver side speakers much more prominent.

Allow me to be a total subjectivist by saying that the sound was a perfect balance between clarity, warmth and breadth. I have an Audi this week with the upgraded Bang and Olaufson this week. It’s definitely better than my Harmon Kardon but nowhere near as good as the Burmester. I’d love it if they could be offered in Porsches again. I guess the only one I haven’t heard yet is the Mark Levinson. Normally, I wouldn’t be interested in the McIntosh but didn’t it get good reviews here?

 

[thewas]

It should be said though that such systems are mainly just names/licenses and the components come from the typical automotive OEM and not small high end manufacturers Burmester etc. On which Mercedes model did you enjoy it? A girlfriend of mine has a V class with the "Burmester" audio system and I find it badly tuned (quite V-shaped), significantly worse than my ex HK BMW F10 one so it depends also on the model and settings (hers were all at "0" which is usually a good start).

 

[GD Fan]

My Porsche came with the Bose system and oh man was it terrible right out of the box. Took a while to get it right because the default settings made the bass so absurdly exaggerated.

 

[agiletiger]

It should be said though that such systems are mainly just names/licenses and the components come from the typical automotive OEM and not small high end manufacturers Burmester etc. On which Mercedes model did you enjoy it? A girlfriend of mine has a V class with the "Burmester" audio system and I find it badly tuned (quite V-shaped), significantly worse than my ex HK BMW F10 one so it depends also on the model and settings (hers were all at "0" which is usually a good start).

CLA 250

The more I had the Audi Q5 with the B&O, the more I disliked it. I like my own G30 HK system much more. The Burmester was otherworldly. I’ve never encountered a Burmester in home audio.

 

[Waxx]

A big part of the Burmeister sound in that mercedes is probally that those cars are very insulated, so little noise is disturbing the sound. But Burmeister is very good in car systems and certainly in Mercedes cars, they are very well tuned to the car.

I've driven in various hi end Mercedes cars (mostly for work, never owned one) and there cars are very silent. Even my BMW with exellent Harman Kardon speakers does not do that, because it's relative noisy when driving fast, especially on bad road (that we don't lack down here). But when standing still, there is not that much difference in sound quality in my memory. Both are exellent. It's while driving that the noisy makes a big difference.

 

[AudioJester]

The B&W system in the Volvo xc90 is the best i have heard, better than the Burmister.
Apparently it uses an early version of Dirac ART

 

[agiletiger]

The B&W system in the Volvo xc90 is the best i have heard, better than the Burmister.
Apparently it uses an early version of Dirac ART

When I got my BMW, they didn’t have one with the B&W with all the other options I was looking for. I’ll check it out next time.

 

[agiletiger]

A big part of the Burmeister sound in that mercedes is probally that those cars are very insulated, so little noise is disturbing the sound. But Burmeister is very good in car systems and certainly in Mercedes cars, they are very well tuned to the car.

I've driven in various hi end Mercedes cars (mostly for work, never owned one) and there cars are very silent. Even my BMW with exellent Harman Kardon speakers does not do that, because it's relative noisy when driving fast, especially on bad road (that we don't lack down here). But when standing still, there is not that much difference in sound quality in my memory. Both are exellent. It's while driving that the noisy makes a big difference.

My 5 series is pretty damn quiet. Fairly similar. Both have not-the-quietest four bangers.

 

[GandalfTheAudiofool]

A big part of the Burmeister sound in that mercedes is probally that those cars are very insulated, so little noise is disturbing the sound. But Burmeister is very good in car systems and certainly in Mercedes cars, they are very well tuned to the car.

Yes. I daily drive a Porsche Panamera since more than five years... They're incredibly well insulated cars. And Panamera with the Burmester option automatically received, in addition to the amazing insulation, double-glazed windows.