A year without an MBL fix is a year incomplete. Hence, off to the spacious MBL suite I went, to experience a complete MBL Reference Line system ($750,000; price approximate, converted from Euros).

The big news in Nordost land was twofold. First, the company has upgraded its entire entry-level Leif line to the new Leif 3 series. The latest offerings, presented by PR representative Meredith Gabor, include Blue Heaven 3 digital interconnects, Ethernet and USB 2.0 cables, and (soon) a White Lightning 3 tonearm cable.

Moonriver brought a prototype of its forthcoming 606 integrated amplifier to Munich. Due in the fourth quarter, with a projected, tariff-dependent price of approximately $12,000, the unit will offer optional modules for phono, DAC, and streaming.

Edward Mott Robinson (above), a Quaker tycoon from whaling-era Massachusetts, would turn down fine cigars. He preferred the cheap kind. "I smoke four-cent cigars, and I like them," he declared (footnote 1). "If I were to smoke better ones, I might lose my taste for the cheap ones that I now find quite satisfactory."

Robinson wasn't so much guarding his palate as preserving his contentment. A simple pleasure had settled into place, untroubled by ambition, and he knew to leave it alone.

I think about Robinson's four-cent stogie sometimes, usually when someone asks whether a $10,000 integrated amplifier really sounds five times better than a $2000 one. (Answer: No, it doesn't.) Or whether hearing a $12,000 DAC will ruin you for the $1000 unit you used to love. (My take: Very possibly.)

Audio Reference of Hamburg, in collaboration with many of its distributed brands, set up a mind-blowing system at Munich High End, valued at well over $3 million.

Drawn by the lyre emblem on the faceplate and the promise of Swiss engineering, I took note in early April when longtime distributor Jay Rein of Bluebird Music was named exclusive North American distributor for Orpheus Lab. My interest deepened when I learned about Orpheus Lab’s five Absolute components ($12,900–$22,900/each) and the brand’s newer Heritage Opus II lineup.

Soulnote, a Japanese brand established in 2004 by former Marantz Japan director Norinaga Nakazawa, made a strong showing at its third Munich High End. Present in Soulnote’s exhibition space were the handsome P-3 preamplifier ($22,990), M-3 monoblocks ($21,990 each), and a turntable outfitted with a DS Audio DS E3 optical cartridge ($2750). A pair of M-3 monoblocks are headed my way for review, so I’ll soon have a handle on what these babies can deliver in my system.

At recent shows, Switzerland-based CH Precision has most often presented its electronics with Wilson speakers. At High End Munich 2025, the company was planning to demo with a pair of Rockports; that plan was foiled when [edited] the M10s went full power and took out three of four woofers, according to Kevin Wolff, the head of international sales for CH Precision and Wattson Audio.

Over the course of Rush's five-decade career, the Canadian prog-rock trio never released much music from the vaults. When vaunted studio albums such as 1980's Permanent Waves and 1981's Moving Pictures were reissued in expanded form, in multidisc anniversary box sets, the bonus material has consisted of previously unreleased live recordings from the era—never any of their oft-whispered-about studio outtakes.

That changes with the new, career-spanning box set, Rush 50 (Ume/Mercury/Anthem), the first time the band has pulled back the curtain to share previously unreleased and highly sought-after tracks, alternate takes, and live rarities alongside other notable studio and live classics that traverse the band's fertile 1973–2015 lifespan.

Serbian manufacturer NAT Audio produces a range of eclectic tube amplifiers, including the single-ended, class-A Transmitter EVO monoblock. At the amp’s core is the massive Siemens RS687 QB5/1750 power tetrode tube, which delivers between 40W and 80W of output.