The folks at Gryphon Audio Designs of Denmark sure are smart cookies. Rather than overloading the public, industry, and press with a ton of words about their new Diablo 333 integrated amplifier ($23,000), they posted an extremely detailed "TECHNICAL TALK" sheet in the front area of their deep glass-entranced showcase.
First introduced at a show in August 2019, not long before COVID-related supply shortages put a major damper on new product releases, Zellaton's 3-way Plural Evo loudspeaker (69,950/pair) is finally available. One main goal of the design, according to company president Michael Schwab, is to minimize the impact of the sound of the speaker's materials on the music.
MBL's Chief Engineer, Jürgen Reis, also records Cologne's famed period-instrument ensemble, Concerto Köln. It was thus only fitting that two musicians from the ensemble, bassist Jean-Michel Forêt and violoncellist Alexander Scherf (who is also music director of Concerto Köln), visited the MBL room at Munich High End to play some music, talk music history, and enable comparison of live vs. reproduced sound.
There were several reasons why I was extremely eager to hear this system. First and foremost, given the high price of Wadax digital gear, I wanted to get a sense of what the Wadax Atlantis Reference DAC ($166,420), Wadax Atlantis Reference Server ($68,800), Wadax Atlantis Reference Transport $115,000), and Wadax Atlantis Reference PSU ($52,700) might sound like in the context of the MOC's challenging acoustics. Second, while I don't have good sense of the ultimate potential of Magico M6 loudspeakers ($185,000/pair), which I haven't heard as many times as I hope I will, I certainly know the sound of the D'Agostino Momentum HD preamp ($42,500) and D'Agostino Momentum M400 MxV monoblocks ($79,950/pair), both of which grace my reference system. So, with a big thumbs up to Wadax for having the smarts to go head-to-head with dCS by using the same electronics they're often paired with, and for also now offering an optional higher-priced all-black finish which greatly alters their gear's appearance, I had to listen.
How Raidho manages to produce such an extreme, seeming full range sound from a floorstander as diminutive as the X2t (14,000/pair) I do not know. But perhaps its planar-magnetic tweeter, which is almost the same as in the much larger TD6, has something to do with it. The speaker, which replaces the X2, also has contains 5.25" bass drivers with an extremely stiff tantalum-coated membrane, Nordost internal cabling, Mundorf capacitors, special decoupling feet that include metal balls, and 2.5-way construction. Crossover components have been improved, and are hard-wired point-to-point, and the loudspeaker has been completely retuned.
Quite the well-conceived display, don't you think? I have to say the same about the sound, one of whose high points, on Gabriel Rios's "Swing Low," was a wonderfully large and captivating soundstage.
Grimm's new MU2 music streamer/DAC/analog preamplifier ($18,000), which will start shipping in October or November, is already back-ordered.
Despite the ton of equipment from Burmester and others shown in the photo, the YG Acoustics set-up I heard involved just two speakers and a single control module. That's because the company's Vantage 3 Live active loudspeaker system ($65,600/pair), which contains amplification by Bel Canto as well as optimized DSP, a digital preamplifier, and a phono stage, is pretty much all-in-one.
Estelon's new entry-level Aura loudspeaker ($19,900/pair) is as notable for its sound and unique design as for its departure from premium pricing. Every driver in the Aura, from the Scanspeak 1" soft-dome tweeter to its two 5" SB Acoustics mid-woofers and 10" Faital woofer, is new.
Of the fraction of rooms and booths I was able to cover at Munich High End 2023the "I wish I could have" list is at least as long as that of the exhibits I enjoyedRockport Technologies' triumphant meeting of its Orion loudspeaker ($133,000/pair$143,000/pair with the custom finish shown) with Absolare's Altius phonostage ($52,000), Eternum preamplifier ($85,000), and Hybrid Altius monoblocks ($120,000/pair) was an unqualified triumph. There was, of course, far more in the system than those four components, but what's most important is the effect of the music on visitors. As Absolare's Kerem Küçükaslan cued up "You Look Good to Me" on a classic Oscar Peterson LP, everyone sat at rap attention. Ella and Satchmo's "Isn't it a Lovely Day" sounded about as warm, luscious, liquid, musical, and dreamy (as in "If this is a dream, please don't wake me up") as it gets.
For years, David Chesky has kept me abreast of developments and updates to Princeton Professor Edgar Y. Choueiri's BACCH-SP Adio System. Happily, the word is out. When I entered the room, none other than Stereophile's Alex Halberstadt was sitting in the prime seat, receiving all the benefits of the fully-loaded BACCH-SP system ($37,780).