Spin Doctor

Last month, I talked a bit about some of the new gear being exhibited at AXPONA, America's big hi-fi show, held near Chicago. Well, every year, as soon as that show is over, it's time to get ready for the Big Kahuna of audio shows, High End Munich.

Admittedly, I have never attended the big shows in Shanghai, Hong Kong, or Warsaw, but it would be hard to imagine either one outdoing Munich. The Warsaw show calls itself the second biggest show in Europe, deferring, presumably, to the Munich show. Munich is so big that it even has a sideshow, HiFi Deluxe, just down the road. HiFi Deluxe caters to exhibitors who got shut out of the big show, which despite its hugeness is oversubscribed. It can all become a bit overwhelming.

The main Stereophile crew covering the Munich show—Ken Micallef and Jason Victor Serinus—did all the heavy-duty legwork, posting highlights here. I toured the halls to see what was new, collecting the best, most Spin Doctor–ish things for this report. Here's a smattering.

European Audio Team (E.A.T.) showed a custom version of their Forte turntable (above), which looked like it had been dunked in a vat of yellow paint. Remember: Don't E.A.T. the yellow turntables.

The Canzona II turntable (€11,990) is one of several interesting-looking models from Levar, an innovative German company.

About 20 years ago, The UK's Musical Fidelity briefly made a turntable called the M1 that people still ask me about. Once Pro-Ject's parent company Audio Tuning bought the Musical Fidelity brand, it seemed just a matter of time before the M1 made a comeback. Pictured above is the M8xTT ($9999), which strongly resembles the M1 from decades past.

For decades, Ortofon's Concorde plug'n'play integrated cartridges have been a favorite of club deejays, but most models were designed for ruggedness and durability, not hi-fi delicacy. Now Ortofon has made a series tuned for home audio use, which takes a cue from the 2M series, with the same Red, Blue, Bronze, Black, and Black 250 LVB models. Prices are slightly higher than their 2M equivalents, but you'll save the cost of a separate headshell.

Vinyl Audio Laboratory is a small, Tokyo-based maker of bespoke cartridges, many of which have beautiful, hand-painted Corian bodies. In addition to standard half-inch mount models, they make versions mounted in both A- and G-type integrated headshells (think SPU) for tonearms with an H-4 bayonet cartridge mount. There was a bit of a language barrier trying to communicate with the VAL people, but these cartridges are worthy of further exploration.

Dietrich Brakemeier from Acoustical Systems was demonstrating his new "baby" Astellar turntable ($95,000), which only fits that description compared to the truly massive Apolyt that turned heads a few years ago. At more than 200lb, the Astellar is one heavy baby.

British startup Supatrac made a lot of buzz (maybe not the best word choice for a turntable) last year with their innovative Blackbird tonearm. Now they are introducing an upgraded model called the Nighthawk, which designer Richard Braine describes as improved in every way, since he was no longer trying to meet cost and compatibility goals. The price is to be determined, but probably somewhere around $9000.

Estonia-based record-cleaning machine manufacturer Degritter announced a larger, more powerful floorstanding cleaner called the Fonoteek, which will be available later this year. It uses more powerful ultrasound transducers, bigger water filters, and expanded fan capability for faster drying. The final price is yet to be determined but is expected to be around $8000.