Alma Music & Audio's Room 266 featured the Boenicke W8 SE speakers ($18,254/pair), from Switzerland—the smallest of the W lineup's three towers. Speakers in the W series—W is for wood—have cabinets made of that substance, American Walnut in this case. Each W8 SE rested on a patent-pending "SwingBase" suspension, which allows the speaker to move more freely within the horizontal plane, the company says.

The combined talents of Analog Manufaktur Germany (AMG), Dr. Michael Plessmann’s SoundSpace Systems, and Denmark’s Vitus Audio produced a distinctive and sophisticated sound at High End Munich.

The Compact Disc needed a big win—and fast. During its first few years in the marketplace, the format wasn't living up to lofty expectations. Part of the problem maybe was that most of the CDs released up to that time came from analog sources.

But then on May 17, 1985, the CD's savior arrived: Brothers in Arms, the fifth studio album release by British rock stalwarts Dire Straits. Trumpeted as one of the first "full digital recordings" in the pop/rock oeuvre, Brothers in Arms was an undeniable smash international hit from a band that had struck it big already. Exactly 40 years later, it remains a benchmark recording and a top seller.

Inés Adler's contagious passion for audio is built right into her components, and it makes every Voxativ visit a blast. At this year's High End Munich, Adler showed two new products: the Voxativ Streamer/DAC with FM-DAC technology ($16,000), and the Hagen2 Monitor Compact full-range loudspeaker with AF-2A AlNiCo driver ($6900/pair), the first iteration of which Herb Reichert recently reviewed for Stereophile.

No joke. Epaminondas Gaveras of Greece's hARt Lab and Joakim Juhl of Denmark's OePhi Audio joined forces to deliver a sound that wasn't just loud and forceful, but joyous—igniting both mind and body. These two lesser-known brands deserve your attention. They certainly demanded mine.

Having previously reviewed Simon Brown's The Wand 9.5"-tonearm for Analog Planet, I was eager to experience the Wand 14-4 Master turntable ($7500), equipped with the world-premiere Wand Dark Light Tonearm ($7550, or $13,675 for the package) and a My Sonic Lab Eminent EX MC cartridge ($3995).

Guess who's back from the brink of existence? It's Onkyo, the storied Japanese audio brand that filed for bankruptcy in 2022. Like Mark Twain's rumored demise, reports of its death were greatly exaggerated. In Munich, Akihisa "Alec" Watanabe, project leader at Onkyo Technology, and Dave Gans, VP of Marketing & eCommerce at Premium Audio Company (Onkyo's U.S. distributor, which also handles Klipsch) convinced doubters that the brand is alive and well.

Avantgarde Acoustic provided a close look at its latest offerings, including a new compact subwoofer, the Twin Sub (price not yet announced).

"Immerse yourself in extraordinary acoustics and thrilling inspirational insights," trumpeted the JBL "Summit of Sound" press release. Present at the event were Harman Luxury Audio top brass Dave Tovissi, Jim Garrett, and Paul Neville, with Harman's David Glaubke moderating.