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Korf Audio

Austrian analog manufacturer Korf Audio introduced their new flagship series of ceramic tonearms, the TA-AF series, at High End Munich, including the TA-AF9 “premium tonearm” (€3200) on static display at their booth. The TA-AF9 was also live on a TechDAS V turntable in the Engstrom room.

“Drawing inspiration from aerospace technology,” the Korf press release stated, “this new series features ceramic parts and aerospace-grade flexure bearings for a realistic vinyl record playback of incomparable smoothness and depth.

The Korf products showed exceptional…

Remton Audio, Fonolab

While the upper floors at High End Munich were densely populated with manufacturer’s full-system demo rooms, smaller but no less worthy players filled stand space in the ground-floor Halles, from Halle 1 to Halle 4. Two such manufacturers were Remton Audio and Fonolab, both from Praque. They brought an array of analog-centric devices that had me drooling.

Alexander Remmer’s Remton Audio had six products on static display, including the 383 tubed phono stage (€1400), 383 MK2 phono stage (€2300), LCR phono stage (€5300), LCR MK2 phono stage (€6300), LCR Balanced phono stage with…

Acoustic Signature

German analog powerhouse Acoustic Signature roared into High End Munich with a trio of new products: two feature-packed phono stages and a cutting-edge tonearm. Their booth was a showcase of gleaming AS equipment, from precision tonearms and turntables, including the behemoth Invictus Neo, to meticulously crafted, matte-finish phono stages.

AS’s Gunther Frohnhöfer proudly manned the booth showcasing the massive, military-bold Acoustic Signature Tango Apex NEO phono balanced preamp (€24,998) featuring one balanced (XLR) and two unbalanced (RCA) inputs, adjustable gain, switchable…

Zavfino, b.audio, Intrada

Out the hotel door and fully caffeinated, I was blown away by the looks, construction, and performance of Zavfino turntables and tonearms. As 1877Phono Zavfino, the company has for years supplied internal wire to major manufacturers; the brand also offers interconnects, speakers, and power cords to the public.

Check out the stunning lines and construction of Zavfino turntables and tonearms. That this brand is largely unknown to the US is an audio crime.

The Munich display included the sleek Copperhead-X Turntable with Aeshna Carbon Tonearm (€5600 to €6200 depending on…

Gramophone Dreams #85: Let the Right Brain In; the Hagerman Audio Labs Piccolo Zero head amp

In the months since I told my Lenco story in Gramophone Dreams #79, two of my friends have bought L75s, and now they're enjoying them more than their shiny movie-star decks. One told me he has put more than $2000 into a Lenco L75 he bought online for $350. When I asked how his hot-rodded Lenco compared to his fancy belt drive, he replied, "You can feel it. The Lenco's motor pulls like a team of Clydesdales. It makes my belt drive feel like a pony pulling a child's cart."

When I asked him what he thought his rebuilt Clydesdale deck, with its new bearing, Jelco tonearm, and Grado Prestige…

Gramophone Dreams #85: Let the Right Brain In; the Hagerman Audio Labs Piccolo Zero head amp Page 2

What I know is, listening to recorded music while trapped in my always-judging, buzz-killing left brain is discomfiting. Listening analytically feels like work because it limits my access to the fun parts of music, which is what really matters about music: feeling and attitude.

When I want to go deep into artists like Béla Bartók, Eno, or Ornette Coleman, I am lost without strong guidance from my right brain. Understanding difficult art requires large amounts of what my left brain derisively calls magical thinking. So does kissing and listening to Led Zeppelin. When my always-amazed right…

Gershman Acoustics, Kronos, MSB, Cardas, True Life, Antipodes Audio

Ofra Gershman premiered Gershman Acoustics’s 30th Anniversary Black Swan speakers ($95,000/pair) at Munich, and a fine sight they were. The two-in-one speaker construction come with a specified frequency range of 18Hz–24kHz, 88dB/W/m sensitivity, and 6 ohms nominal impedance and stand 52" high by 15" wide and weigh 145lb each. Who says good things don’t come in large packages?

The Black Swans “incorporate two entirely separate enclosures placed one above the other” states the Gershman website. “Each loudspeaker has a woofer enclosure placed on metal cones, and an A-shaped…

Riviera Audio Laboratories

Riviera Audio Labs’s founder Silvio Delfino and designer/engineer Luca Chiomenti introduced two world premiere components at their booth at High End Munich: the APL-1 Tube Line Preamplifier ($26,000) and the AFS-32 Hybrid Stereo Power Amplifier ($28,000).

The zero-feedback APL-1 Tube Line Preamp boasts an all-tube circuit, double Pi-filter, stabilized power supply, two balanced and three unbalanced inputs, tape loop, output transformers, one balanced and two unbalanced outputs.

The class-A AFS-32 Stereo Power Amplifier, which is capable of putting out 32Wpc into 8 ohms…

Ypsilon Electronics, TechDAS, Kaiser Acoustics Kawero!, Artesania, Vibex

Ypsilon Electronics’ James Michalopoulos seemingly brought the entire Greek-made line of electronics to Munich,almost a whole system—just add a fully decked-out turntable (from Japanese turntable manufacturer, TechDAS) and a pair of loudspeakers (from Kaiser Acoustics).

The TechDAS Air Force One Premium turntable ($145,000) with new TechDAS Air Force 10 air bearing pivoted tonearm ($45,000 for the 10" arm; $49,500 for the 12") and a TechDas cartridge fed an Ypsilon Electronics MC10L SE Silver SUT ($18,000), its output passing to a Ypsilon Electronics VPS100MK2 SE Phono Preamplifier ($50…

Dynaudio’s new loudspeakers

As it has done in previous years, Dynaudio opted for a huge ground floor foyer area that, in addition to a huge, divided space in which to exhibit new and forthcoming models, offered a large meeting room for distributors and press. Ably assisted by Michael “Mike” Manousselis and John Quick of Dynaudio North America, I spent a dizzying half hour or so receiving an overview of four forthcoming models.

First to draw our attention was the new Confidence 20A (20,000 euros), an active version of Dynaudio’s flagship standmount. T 20A offers a plethora of controls and adjustments, accessible on…