CES2008: Burmester, $50,000 Worth Of CD Player

Among many things showcased at the CES 2008, from the ridiculous ones to the professional-use gear, there is another category, the "you can't afford it" one. Of course, there are a lot of people who ear the really big bucks and they could actually buy the whole category itself, but we're talking about a way to measure the height of that "high-end" end, if you get my meaning.[admark=1]

From the simplest and dumbest MP3 players to the audiophile gear the road goes a long way; but an also long way goes from your common audiophile equipment to things like the newest Burmester CD player, codenamed 069. The Burmester 069 CD Player is nothing you meet everyday, unless you work in a Burmester showroom or own such a player. Cutting to the chase, look at the picture and say: "$50,000". Now look at yourself in the mirror and repeat "$50,000". Weird, isn't it?

Indeed, we're dealing with one of the most expensive CD players around, and the big problem with this kind of equipment is that it's fairly easy to say what makes the $49,000 difference from another great player, while at the same time it's almost impossible to pinpoint what makes the $20,000 difference from another eye-popping-priced unit. Since I guess we're not gonna solve this issue in this article, I'll limit myself to telling you some more specs of this new Burmester Audiosysteme piece of art (or was it technology?)

The most intriguing feature of the 069 is the belt-driven operation: exactly, there is no direct-drive motor, while this was considered highly unfit for such an expensive player. I guess you ask yourselves how does the belt undertake such high speeds for long times, too. Refer to the paragraph above regarding hard questions, please. The Burmester 069 CD Player also comes with completely new 96 and 192kHz oscillators with minimal "phase noise" and comes in a silver casing with chrome front panel.

As a final remark, the whole construction resides on its massive feet with custom carbon fiber spring pucks on an aluminium plate supplied with the CD player (whether you want it or not). And again, remember the price tag: $50,000!

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