94%
Burmester 216
Power amplifier
For Top Line
The 216 can drive speakers with the lowest impedance values and complex loads easily, to achieve a transparent and spacious sound with superior dynamics – as Stereo or Mono version.
Power Amplifier
The 216 seamlessly joins the family of Burmester power amplifiers that have won many international awards. It combines powerful performance with great dynamics and excellent timing and shines sonically with an impressive spatial stage and musical warmth. The 216 helps speakers with the lowest impedance values and complex loads achieve a spacious sound image, performing even better when configured as a dedicated mono power amplifier.
With attention to detail.
Recognisable as a typical Burmester even from the very first glance, the 216 power amplifier makes use of characteristic design elements of the Top Line.
Design
As with 218, the 216’s design is derived from Burmester’s flagship 159 Mono Power Amplifier. The 159 passes on its clear lines and the pleasing aesthetics appearance to the more compact models. Especially the screwless processing of the lid and the renunciation of additional decorative elements underline this look.
Handmade
In the development and manufacturing process, only the best quality components are selected to meet our exacting tolerances. In addition, several days of test runs as well as further intensive quality controls culminating in detailed final listening tests under real conditions are added. Every single assembly receives a 100% inspection according to Burmester quality standards before installation. This elaborate manufacturing process ensures that in the end the customer receives a product that is exceptional in every respect.
Features
- Proven circuit principles with the latest high-end components and an innovative cooling concept
- Fully symmetrical design for maximum signal purity
- Input stages with Burmester X-Amp technology
- Completely DC-coupled signal path without sonically distorting capacitors
- Powerful power supply with high current reserve
- High damping factor for authoritative speaker control
- Can be used as a dedicated mono amplifier
- Optimised protection circuits outside the signal path
- Massive screw terminals for speaker cables
- Optional IR remote control for convenient power-on
WATT RECOMMENDS
Save your favorites. Compare them anytime.
Create a free HiFi Hub account to save products to your Wishlist and compare your favorites side by side.
Professional Reviews 94/100
Deliciously Crispy
Sound Quality
96/100
Build Quality
95/100
Value for Money
88/100
Burmester’s 216 pairs explosive dynamics with remarkably deep, controlled bass, delivering the force, speed and tonal refinement to make demanding speakers feel effortless. hi-fi+ highlights its liquid coherence and rhythmic authority, while Fidelity Magazine praises its neutral, immersive three-dimensional presentation. A meticulously built balanced powerhouse with genuine musical pull.
What Reviewers Are Saying
Pros
Exceptional dynamic speed and impact, combining powerful scale with crisp attack and decay.
Deep, highly defined bass with impressive control across demanding material.
Neutral yet involving presentation, with airy three-dimensional imaging and natural vocal presence.
Exemplary 35kg construction, including precisely executed chassis work and exceptionally secure speaker terminals.
&
Cons
Premium pricing makes it a proposition for well-funded high-end systems.
Balanced-only inputs may require an adaptor for unbalanced sources.
SOUND QUALITY PERFORMANCE 96/100
Reviews describe an unusually transparent, cohesive and musically involving amplifier that combines neutral signal handling with a liquid, natural presentation. Its control, transient speed and three-dimensional imaging are repeatedly singled out, while the available power is said to feel considerably more substantial than its rating suggests.
Transparency Resolution
96/100
Fidelity calls the 216 highly neutral and exceptionally faithful to the incoming signal, exposing both strengths and flaws in recordings. Hi-fi+ similarly describes it as a “straight wire with gain,” with an open midrange, even treble and an ability to unpack complex music without trivialising it.
Tonal Balance Musicality
95/100
The presentation is praised as neutral yet caring, with natural and immediate voices rather than a sterile analytical edge. Hi-fi+ found it more liquid, rhythmically assured and cohesive than its predecessor, while Fidelity describes the resulting musical experience as spectacular.
Dynamics
97/100
Dynamic authority is a major strength. Hi-fi+ heard orchestral bursts delivered with markedly greater speed, intensity, snap and decay definition, and said the amplifier’s forcefulness makes it seem more powerful than its 100W-per-channel rating; Audiophilepure likewise praised its loudspeaker control as near-perfect.
Soundstage Imaging
95/100
Fidelity reports airy, fully three-dimensional imaging, with voices and impulses placed naturally across and beyond the speakers. The review's description of the whole surrounding space becoming music, together with hi-fi+'s praise for openness in complex material, points to an expansive and stable presentation.
Assessments of Build Quality, Usability, and Overall Propositions.
Build Quality
95/100
Reviewers find the 35kg chassis and its execution exemplary, citing screwless construction, precisely finished panel gaps and exceptionally secure, substantial speaker terminals. The fully symmetrical, DC-coupled design, balanced-only input arrangement, BurLink control provision and mono/bi-amp capability reinforce the sense of a thoroughly engineered amplifier.
Value for Money
88/100
At roughly £23,800/€24,000 and up to $35,000 depending on market, the 216 is plainly a costly proposition. Even so, Fidelity suggests its performance creates its own appeal for buyers able to consider it, while hi-fi+ regards it as bringing much of Burmester's 159-level performance to a more attainable level.
Reviews
Online Reviews & Mentions
Forum Mentions
No forum mentions found yet
Verified Dealers
Online Dealers
All Dealers
Zoom out the map to see more dealers
Authorized dealers for Burmester 216
- Absoulute Audio plus Video — in-store — Aiken, South Carolina, United States (website)
- Alpha High End — online and in-store — Brasschaat, Vlaams Gewest, Belgium (website)
- Audio & Video Expressions — in-store — Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States (website)
- Audio Advisors — in-store — West Palm Beach, Florida, United States (website)
- AUDIO EXCLUSIVE — in-store — Wels, Oberösterreich, Austria (website)
- Audio Venue — online and in-store — London, England, United Kingdom (website)
- AudioART — in-store — Sudbury, Massachusetts (website)
- Auditorium — in-store — Hamburg-Mitte, Hamburg, Germany (website)
- Aug & Ohr — in-store — Zürich, Zürich, Germany (website)
- AV Luxury Group — in-store — Las Vegas, Nevada, United States (website)
and 29 more verified dealers