LATEST ADDITIONS

"What's in a number?" you may ask. In the case of InnuOS2.4, the latest update to music server company Innuos' own streaming software announced at Munich High End, a lot.

If you're looking for a simple-to-set-up, active floorstander, Vienna Acoustics brand new Mozart Infinity Active (€12,000/pair and available in a few weeks) might just fit the bill. On Jason Mraz's "I Won't Give Up," the Mozart Infinity Active stuck to its guns and delivered nice, colorful, large, and solid hi-fi sound.

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.

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).

Of the fraction of rooms and booths I was able to cover at Munich High End 2023—the "I wish I could have" list is at least as long as that of the exhibits I enjoyed—Rockport 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.

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.

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.