This is not to suggest that Göbel’s more modest set-up (by Göbel standards) at Munich High End, headlined by the world premiere of Göbel’s smallest floorstanders, the High End Divin Comtesse loudspeakers (€59,000/pair…
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Bad me. For the past two or three years, knowing that it would run too late, I’ve begged off the evening Göbel press dinner / factory visit. From what I understand, it was my loss. According to Adam Mokrzycki, the mastermind of the Warsaw Audio Show, Oliver Göbel’s factory set-up is among the most impressive he’s ever heard. I stand chastised, Oliver and Adam.
Less than a week after visiting the Innuos factory in Portugal—report and video forthcoming—I had the opportunity to audition their products again in Munich. This time, the speakers were more full-range and superior in quality, and the associated electronics all top-level.
To get the best it could out of its servers and streamers, Innuos’s Nuno Vitorino and Amelia Santos powered all front-end components with two Stromtank S-2500 Quantum MK-II power regenerators that supplied pure, computer-regulated battery power. Nor would I discount the effects of an Artesania Exoteryc Pro Rack and…
“MBL always sounds great at shows” is an axiom so often repeated that it could serve as an audiophile mantra, but it accurately describes the experience of hearing a full-range, air-filled presentation that, in Munich, was open, alive, and just plain fabulous. For this, no small thanks are due Jeremy Bryan of MBL-North America and Jürgen Reis, the MBL engineer praised by John Atkinson and a host of other industry people who know quality when they encounter it.
MBL’s systems at Munich and AXPONA both dared to mix the new Cadenza "entry-level," Roon Ready C41 Network Player with volume…
Nordost’s entry-level "Leif" line of cabling has just taken a major step forward with the introduction of Leif Series 3 ("Leif 3"). Gauge and terminations on the entire Leif series—White Lightning 3, Purple Flare 3, Blue Heaven 3, Red Dawn 3—have been upgraded. Even the lowest-price power cable has increased gauge plus the welcome addition of a ground wire. Gauge size and number of conductors has increased, allowing compatibility with a broader range of components. Power cable prices range from $259.99/1m for Purple Flair 3 to $559.99/1m for Red Dawn 3.
Interconnects, too, have…
One of my first stops at Munich High End 2024 was at the Stromtank power regenerator display in Halle 3. Accustomed to seeing the visually imposing Stromtank “A Mighty Fortress is our God” computer-monitored battery power supply units in either silver or black, it was a surprise to encounter the Stromtank S-2500 Quantum Mk2 ($30,000)—the unit I currently use—in white.
Even more surprising: the forthcoming mammoth S-6000 will be available in red and white. Literature was not yet available, but it is said to contain two converters—the S-1000 ($17,000) and S-2500 contain only one—…
Time and again at AXPONA and Munich, I’ve seemed to play tag with Robert Harley and Tom Martin of TAS. In the Tidal room, my appointment followed theirs; at the Ideon press conference and Peter McGrath's CH Precision / Wilson demos, Tom and I sat close to each other. Clearly, we’re drawn to the same quality gear.
Tidal was surely up there in the quality department. Making its second show appearance ever, the Tidal Bugatti active Royale System with MC-1 Digital Controller (base price $465,000 with starter cables) did itself proud by delving deep into Musica Nuda’s recording of “I Will…
On the final day of High End Munich, a couple of hours before closing time, I sent the visiting Stereophile crew a message about the new speakers in the YG Acoustics room: “Should you have time and you haven’t visited yet, go listen. Both the passive and active systems there sound phenomenal.”
It’s true: the YG space was electrifying, even in an environment where the world’s high-end audio brands strut their finest stuff (and where it’s easy to get jaded). I’d traveled to the Munich expo on my own dime, intending to wander where my ears and my curiosity took me … no writing, no deadlines…
[Due to technical difficulties—the photos we had taken were of insufficient quality—the following report from AXPONA was delayed ... until now.–Editor]
AXISS Audio saved one of the stars of its portfolio, Accuphase, for room 1129. Instead of showing the Accuphase A-300 monoblocks, which I will surely propose for one of our next Stereophile Product of the Year awards, Cliff Duffey premiered the Accuphase P-7500 power amplifier in bi-amp configuration ($25,975 each) and Accuphase DP-770 SACD player/DAC ($26,575).
Accuphase also supplied the DG-68 digital voicing equalizer ($…
Ow Ow Ow, Ow Ow Whaow, Ow Ow Ow...Wha-aa-ow. That simple G-minor melody, supposedly inspired by Beethoven's Fifth Symphony (or perhaps Brazilian composer Carlos Lyra) and played with the tone of a Fender Stratocaster doubled by a Hammond B3 organ, is unquestionably the most famous rock-guitar riff. The apotheosis of 1970s hard-rock, the ubiquitous "Smoke on the Water" is also the unlikely story of the song's creation and the high-water mark of long-running UK rock band Deep Purple.
In 1969, DP's original bassist, Nick Simper, and vocalist Rod Evans, who'd sung on their first hit, "Hush,"…
Photo by Michael Stephens
Last May, during a visit to High End Munich, I was ushered into an exhibitor's room with much ceremony. Other showgoers had been shooed out so that I, a reviewer at an important magazine, could listen to the hi-fi undisturbed. The room featured obelisk-shaped "statement" speakers, monoblocks with enough tubes to light a cafeteria, and a wedding cake–sized turntable, all connected with python-thick cables. The whole thing cost as much as a starter house in coastal Connecticut.
The room's proprietor asked me to choose from a small stack of LPs. I went for…