Apple AirPods Pro 3: First Impressions

Hegel H150 Integrated Amplifier Officially Announced

Sonus faber Announces Amati Supreme Speaker

FiiO M27 Headphone DAC Amplifier Released

Audio Advice Acquires The Sound Room

LATEST ADDITIONS

Munich 2019

Nordost QPoint, QSource, and Valhalla 2 Tonearm Cable +

Jason Victor Serinus May 09, 2019

No less than four new Nordost products received their first showing at Munich High End. The Valhalla 2 Tonearm Cable + ($5000), due by early June, is a monofilament design that contains four silver-plated solid-core copper conductors, in a twisted-pair arrangement that creates a left and right channel, each individually wrapped in a silver braided shield to eliminate crosstalk. This cable comes with two detachable silver-plated ground whips designed to enhance grounding and eliminate hum.

Munich 2018

Accustic Arts Power 1 Integrated and Player 1 CD Player/Streaming DAC; Fischer & Fischer 370AMT Loudspeakers

Jim Austin May 09, 2019

I wandered in to the room shared by, among other companies, Accustic Arts and Fischer & Fischer. The news from this room is two new high-value products—by which I mean that they're cheaper than the company's main lines, so there's a good probability that they offer good value. High-end companies trickling down appears to be a Munich High End trend—note, for instance, the Mark Levinson No.5101 SACD player/streaming DAC I wrote about earlier today.

Munich 2019

MSB M500 Monoblocks, Magico M6 Speakers, and Analysis Plus Cables

Jason Victor Serinus May 09, 2019

When I entered the MSB room, a track from the JVC XRCD version of Sonny Rollins's Rollins Plays for Bird was transmitting all of the recording's smooth, warm, and sophisticated elegance. That last word isn't one I use often when describing high-end systems, but that's exactly what I experienced here.

Munich 2019

Auralic Sirius G2 Upsampling Processor

Jason Victor Serinus May 09, 2019

As someone accustomed to thinking of Auralic components as little boxes, the size and casing of their new Sirius G2 upsampling processor ($6000) suggests to me that the company is exploring new territory. It sure sounds that way from this product's description. Due late summer or early fall, the Sirius G2 is intended for placement between a streamer and DACany company's DACand is claimed to upgrade both "the processing power and the original performance envelope" of the DAC. Auralic's press literature says that by handling a DAC's data processing burden, the Sirius G2 "dramatically reduces the amount of distortion and jitter" of a DAC in its sweet spot, regardless of the incoming resolution of the file.

Munich 2019

Stein Music Bob XL Speakers, Tone Tool Trapezium Turntable

Jason Victor Serinus May 09, 2019

Taking horns far beyond their Alpine context, Stein Music's Bob XL speakers and subwoofers ($290,000 total) were reproducing Shelby Lynne's "Just a Little Lovin'" with warmth, solidity, and gratifying musicality. Company founder/designer Holger Stein attributed part of the system's success to the new Stein Music Matrix cable series. These silver cables are assembled on the company's own braiding machine, which allows them to control all parameters. Stein told me that they use special metrics to change the vector of the cable's magnetic fields so that their sum is zero.

Munich 2019

Horns for All at Munich High End

Jason Victor Serinus May 09, 2019

As Michael Fremer, Paul Messenger, and I were searching for the High End press room, one of several echt German pop-up entertainments surfaced in the lobby. Whether taken as local culture or kitsch depends upon one's point of view . . .

Munich 2019

Live from Munich, a Gratuitous Tonearm Post

Jim Austin May 09, 2019

Just some tonearm sweetness from Thales. Photo taken through a window. Enjoy.

Munich 2019

Silbatone Amplifiers, Western Electric Horns

Herb Reichert May 09, 2019

The South Korean company Silbatone manufactures exquisite pure tube and hybrid audio amplification that's specifically engineered to be un-conventional, un-compromised, and un-affordable. About that last characteristic: It's un-affordable because it's not for saleand everyone knows you have to pay extra for stuff that's not for sale. Right?

Munich 2019

Joseph Audio Speakers, Alluxity and Doshi Electronics, Purist Cables

Herb Reichert May 09, 2019

I'm sitting in the Alluxity room next to Joseph Audio's Jeff Joseph and wondering how his new graphene-cone Perspective2 loudspeakers ($14,999/pair) can sound so big and solid and transparent when they're so far apart. I'm looking for the hole in the middle, or at least a fuzzy-creamy center, but I can't find it. All I can "see" are the solid, accurately described voices of singers like Ella and Elvis.

Munich 2019

The No. 5101: A New SACD Player (!) from Mark Levinson

Jim Austin May 09, 2019

From my first room at High End Munich: Some actual news: A new SACD player from Mark Levinson.