Munich 2023

I admit that I didn't get what the Fink Team of Essen, Germany was all about until I met the man himself, Karl-Heinz Fink, who is well known within the industry for designing many important loudspeakers marketed by other companies. Fink, who also owns the Epos loudspeaker brand, began his own engineering company 40 years ago. Then, about seven years ago, the late and revered Ken Ishiwata of Marantz asked him to build a big speaker for Marantz. Out of that came the Borg, a two-way system with an AMT tweeter that was launched five years ago. The Borg Episode 2 (€30,000/pair), which is marketed by the Fink Team, replaces the original model.

There was a lot to take in in the Nordost room at Munich High End. Building upon the upgraded QB8 Mark III AC Distribution Unit ($2300), which I described after it first appeared at AXPONA 2023 in Chicago, the company previewed the QBase Reference, aka the QB10 ($18,000), which is expected in the late summer or early fall. Equipped with 10 outlets and a 20-amp IEC, the QBase Reference includes heavy-grade wire and traces capable of supporting high-current amplifiers. Think of it as a fully maxed out, 32A-capable power distribution unit.

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.

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.

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.