Originally Posted by jbattan

The base Burmester system is crap, really awful. The Burmester 3D is quite good, but once you’ve experienced the Naim system in a Bentley, nothing compares.

Originally Posted by Streamliner

I drove a 2022 GLE350 loan car with the Burmester Surround system and was amazed at how crummy the audio sound was, even after spending reasonable time adjusting all the controls. Reading on the V167 GLE forums, it appears that MB has done a really bad job with the audio in these vehicles. So, I was wondering ifit is the same with the X167 GLS models. How do you like the audio in your GLS?

Originally Posted by c4004matic

Even the base version is one of the finest OEM systems in the world.

Originally Posted by jbattan

At least a couple years ago, the base Burmester system isn’t even a Burmester. If you open up the panels, you’ll find that there’s no Burmester brand on anything; it’s all the stock Mercedes speakers and amps. For two other data points, a 2014 reviewer said:Just wanted see if anyone else has listened to Burmester audio in Porsche cars. I recently bought a Porsche Panamera Turbo with Burmester audio. If your read car reviews, everyone talks about how the Burmester in Porsceh is one of the best audio systems available today. Really? I am an audiphile and know what is good and bad. the system is calibrated correctly for volume bass, etc, and has power, which I think should be given. But the midrange and mid-highs suck, very raspy an dull. >8-10K Hz things are better, but common... I am highly disappointed! The system that I built for my SUV, Harmon-Kardon head unit, Alpine amp and Focal speakers, is in a completely different league compared to the Burmester. What a waste of money and the name. An audio tuning company said: The W205 C300 is available with both a "premium" audio Burmester branded audio system and a basic 4 speaker setup. The basic setup with 4 speakers has no tweeters and no center speaker on the dashboard. We were very disappointed with the sound quality of this system as it's noticeably worse than previous generations of the Mercedes C-Class. The Burmester system offered on these cars are also considerably worse than the system offered on the E-Class. In fact, the door speakers are the same whether you get the Burmester option or not. These small 3.5" speakers offer poor performance across the board and are some of the worse we've found in any "luxury" branded vehicle.

Originally Posted by c4004matic

The Burmester crummy?🤣🤣🤣🤣Even the base version is one of the finest OEM systems in the world. It doesn't go to club levels of volume, but the fidelity is extraordinary for car audio. And no, it doesn't provide bass output that shakes the neighbor's house, but that's not music; it's noise.

Originally Posted by Streamliner

It absolutely differs from model to model. The Burmester 3D in my 2020 S560 is just wonderful. The systems in the V167 GLE’s are crummy. The systems in EVERY 2013 to 2020 SL are absolutely HORRIBLE! I would trade the HK system in my 2019 SL450 for a base system in ANY current, ASIAN car, in a heartbeat. As the old Packard ads used to say: “Ask the man who owns one.”

Originally Posted by z28lt1

The sub is in the rear under the floor, so you lose the spare tire.

you can see speaker locations and some marketing info here.

https://www.burmester.de/en/Automotive/GLS/

Originally Posted by Streamliner

I drove a 2022 GLE350 loan car with the Burmester Surround system and was amazed at how crummy the audio sound was, even after spending reasonable time adjusting all the controls. Reading on the V167 GLE forums, it appears that MB has done a really bad job with the audio in these vehicles. So, I was wondering if
it is the same with the X167 GLS models. How do you like the audio in your GLS?

Originally Posted by c4004matic

The Burmester stereo uses exactly the same drivers in the 3D as in the base burmester stereo, the 3D uses more of them and an additional sub. Since it has more speakers, it also has additional amps. The main audible difference is additional soundfield modes. If you play hi rez digital files in "pure mode" with no surround mode they sound exactly the same.

Originally Posted by ACC2

thanks!

now to see it this can be retrofitted.

Originally Posted by 5634MG

That's not true.

The base burmester systems use the same paper cones as the base, base system with the black plaster speaker grills. The tweeters in the base burmester system use silk dome tweeters which are the same as the ones used in later HK systems. In essence, the base burmester system is basically the base, base system with tweeters, an additional frontbass woofer, additional mid drivers, and more powerful amp with tuned dsp.

Older HK systems from vehicles used both Alupreme woofers, mids, and tweeters while later HK systems post 2010 in facelifted vehicles switched to silk dome tweeters; woofers and mids remained with Alupreme. Any newly designed platform from 2012 onwards with HK dropped Alupreme for paper cones in the woofers and mids while keeping silk dome tweeters (such as W166, X167, etc.). While on paper, it seemed to be an upgrade with more speakers and power increase, they sound quite poor with regards to any pre 2010 HK system in a premium model (E and up segment).

The high end Burmester system swap out the paper cones for composite woven drivers in the mids and woofers which are the same drivers offered in the past B&O system. Amps and tuning are different

All the systems are made by Becker, which is owned by Harman International

Originally Posted by c4004matic

Mmmm thats exactly what I said....... more speakers more subs and additional DSP....the additional speakers are for the additional DSP modes. I listen to music in stereo, how it was intended. More DSP does absolutely zero for me. Again listen to high rez files on both in normal mode. They sound virtually the same. The up system has a little more volume and thats pretty much it. Neither sound anything like the pevious HK system which was purely mediocre. I can compare them directly since I owned the previous GLS 580. I cant attest to the speaker material since Burmester doesnt spec anything. The highs sound as clean as those on my EQS which does have tweeters with a Burmester logo and is a 3D system. Again the system sounds as good as what you feed it. A real testament of how good a system is, it can clearly demonstrate bad material from good material. High def>>>CD(16/44)>>MP3>>satellite. Any system that can clearly differentiate the source is worth its salt. How loud it can play and how much base it has is inmaterial if its only loud and distorted. Particularly in car audio where distortion and lack of dynamic range is the norm. Finally 99% of music is recorded in 2 channel format and thus sounds the best as such. Adding surround sound to stereo digitally is heresy, the more you muck with it the worse it is. If the original track is surround encoded as most movie tracks are, sure go ahead and decode it as such, othewise, leave it alone!