Munich High End 2011

It combines the company’s Power Plant and Music Player to provide 160Wpc (“Full-grown amplification to drive even low impedances....”), while combining a CD player, 32-bit/384kHz Sigma Delta DAC, FM tuner, five digital inputs, three analog inputs, a powerful streaming client board for accessing all sorts of music files, and a bunch of other stuff I wasn’t quick enough to write down.

Badass. I would let this thing receive my music any day.

Time and time again during the Munich High End Show, I was impressed by the ways in which hi-fi was presented.

The issue of cost, which is so often prevalent at our shows, also seemed nonexistent in Munich. Even the issue of sound, our reason for existence, seemed easy to overlook in light of the pure fun, obvious physical excellence, and, yes, sexiness, of the displays in Munich.

The Munich Show was not only promoting and selling sound, but was promoting and selling a way of life. In Munich, and perhaps in all of Europe, the idea of enjoying a certain high-quality “lifestyle” was eagerly embraced; meanwhile, here in the States, such an idea is often derided.

Why?

If hi-fi were presented in the States as it was at the Munich show, we might not have such silly questions about attracting a younger audience, attracting women, or even whether the hobby will survive. We would be too busy enjoying ourselves—stopping for a Spaten in the sun before heading on to the next exhibit—to waste time and life with any of that foolishness.

In development for over two years, the MD 806 provides access to FM, DAB, and DAB+, as well as Internet radio stations via its onboard WiFi antenna or LAN, and locally connected music collections (MP3, AAC, FLAC, WMA, Real). Its 3.5” touchscreen displays metadata, genre, bit rate, codec, and sampling rate for the playing track, while personal audio collections (accessed through a local network or USB connection) are navigable by artist name, album name, or musical genre.

Optical and RCA digital outputs are also included for use with an external DAC.

“It’s just fucking amazing,” Roy Hall said simply.

Available this fall.

The company wanted to design something a bit sexier, a bit more modern, explained Harbeth’s Alan Shaw.

While he admitted that reasons for selecting one loudspeaker over another are not always rational, he believes a loudspeaker should be used in the application best suited to it. The Monitor 20s are optimized for nearfield monitoring in desktop sound- and video-editing.

Still: “‘Sexy’ is really important,” said Shaw.

"Take a picture of me stroking this gorgeous thing," I said to Rosemarie.

"Yes, boss," she sighed.