When it’s about music listening today, two observations are of interest. On the one hand there are folks who content themselves already with meaninglessly burbling muzak. True, this kind of piped music has never come so easy like in our days: a smartphone, a streaming provider plus a small active loudspeaker and your self-contained mini sound system is ready to go. On the other hand, there are people who appreciate serious music listening. For this purpose they use systems which give them a near concert-like performance. Those epicures do not just invest into their current system, no – they also make the necessary space for it. Because a three-dimensional sound image requires two loudspeakers, the experience factor is directly linked to the chosen components. When they bear the name Burmester, it has for decades been a given promise of a highly emotional, involving musical and acoustic experience.

So our expectations in the new B38 are accordingly high when it announces to pay a visit at our listening studio. It features shapely proportions. A slim baffle board rising up 116.5 centimetres above the ground and the almost half a metre deep body give it a harmonious appearance. As to the finishes, black, white, walnut and medium grey are up for grabs. The fact that no screws are visible neither on the baffle board nor on the inner sides, is another element of the aesthetic concept. The speaker, which tips the scales at barely above a metric hundredweight, rests upon an aluminium base that’s part of a spring-mass damping system and makes the use of spikes or rubber dampers redundant. The low centre of gravity also ensures a high vertical stability – the Burmester B38 cannot be thrown out of balance easily.

The B38 is a three-way bassreflex design. The upper section of the baffle board houses two drivers in a meticulously crafted aluminium frame. The midrange driver is equipped with a 17 cm (6.5 in.) glass fibre cone. Burmester also uses this chassis in the smaller B18. Its ability to realise short attack and decay processes makes it especially suitable to be teamed with the Air Motion Transformer in the development of which the Burmester team played an active role. So the latest incarnation now has a stronger magnet drive. The foil diaphragm transmits frequencies above 2,400 hertz, and as with all other components Burmester takes utmost care in observing the closely defined tolerance ranges.

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