CES ’08, LAS VEGAS, Jan. 7, 2008 — Burmester Audiosysteme, Germany’s leading manufacturer of high-performance electronics and speakers, exhibits the 069 Reference Line CD Player, representing the state of the art in musicality and natural sound reproduction, at the 2008 International Consumer Electronics Show, beginning here today.

The 069 CD Player is an elegant, cutting-edge digital playback system created for connoisseurs of musical performance and sophisticated product design. As the successor of the legendary 969/970 CD Drive/DAC Combo, it achieves its superb performance partly by using a proprietary belt drive built completely in-house (instead of the off-the-shelf direct-drive other manufacturers commonly use), and by completely de-coupling the drive unit mechanically and electrically to insulate the reading process from all external interference. This also allows the 069 CD Player to better capture those small parts of the signal that the human ear translates as spatial image, focus and musical accuracy.

The belt drive is hand-made at the Burmester factory in Berlin. The drive unit rests in the massive double-chamber housing in a solid aluminum capsule block to further isolate it from mechanical and acoustic interference, such as footfalls and sound waves from nearby speakers. To isolate the drive still more, the 069 CD Player’s spiked feet may be set directly on the unit’s proprietary aluminum base (supplied as standard with the unit), using special carbon-fiber spring pucks to isolate them from footfalls.

The 069 CD Player also boasts newly developed and highly precise 96 and 192-kHz oscillators with minimal phase noise and high thermal stability. The oscillators also function as the system’s clock, and as a low-jitter clock for the Sample Rate Converter and DACs. These efforts result in perfect digital replication of the analog wave shape.

The 069 CD Player’s exceptional build quality includes a sophisticated belt-drive CD mechanism built entirely in-house by Burmester utilizing the best available micro optics. The belt-drive unit ensures the CD’s correct rotation at all points. A 4-mm thick spindle — rotating friction-free on a polished sapphire in a precision bearing with a tolerance less then one three-thousands of a millimeter — enables the 069 to read each CD perfectly. No reading errors need to be found, measured and corrected.

The unique external power supply houses oversized and separate 50-watt toroid transformers for both the digital and analog sections, and a central stabilized distribution system with a special DC filter for mutual de-coupling.

The 069 CD Player’s connection panel includes balanced outputs (switchable between fixed or variable), two unbalanced outputs, two unbalanced digital RCA outputs with 75-ohm impedance, and a Toslink optical digital output. AES-EBU and ST (AT&T) Digital outputs are planned to follow as an optional module in 2008. The digital inputs process all incoming signals with the selected sample rate conversion. A remote control is supplied as standard.

The 069 CD Player can be optionally equipped with the newest version of Burmester’s BurLinkTM interface, which features RS-232 and USB 2.0 ports. It’s ideal for integration with home automation systems, such as those from CrestronTM, AMXTM and other manufacturers.

Burmester’s 069 Reference Line CD Player is available now in a silver housing with a chrome front panel at a suggested price of $49,995. It is also available as an option with a black anodized chassis and in other finishes. It can be seen with the company’s other outstanding products in Suite 29-229, The Venetian Tower, during CES.

About Burmester
Burmester Audiosysteme GMBH is Germany’s leader in high-end audio and one of the most respected names among manufacturers of high-quality stereo and Home Theater systems worldwide. Burmester’s product line goes back 30 years and today includes the moderately priced Rondo Line, the ambitious Classic Line, the Top Line (suiting listeners’ highest needs), and the no-compromise Reference Line. The lines include pre-amplifiers and power amplifiers, multi-channel amplifiers, integrated amplifiers, CD and DVD players, surround sound processors, FM tuners, power conditioners, speakers, and accessories for both two-channel and multi-channel Home Theater systems. Burmester offerings vary in price but never in their dedication to quality and musical performance at the highest level. All Burmester components fulfill the most stringent demands with respect to sound quality, reliability and ease of use, and all are beautifully, elegantly finished. For further technical information, visit www.burmester.de.

Burmester is also the appointed, exclusive partner for Bugatti to supply the sound systems for the $1.4-million Veyron 16.4.

Burmester is distributed exclusively in the United States by Audiophile Systems, Ltd., a specialist in importing and distributing high-quality audio components. For further information about Audiophile Systems, visit www.aslgroup.com.