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Three years after finalizing the design of their HQS G 7001 monoblocks, brothers Arnaud and Laurent Fusilier of French company JMF Audio completed the design of the JMF Audio HQS G3 9001 amplifiers ($164,000/pair). Alongside other JMF Audio products, the 9001s debuted at the ancillary HiFi Deluxe show in the Munich Marriott, offering a similar sonic signature as their smaller cousins.

The new monoblocks use the same transformers and capacitors as the 7001s, but with different internal wiring, schematic layout, materials, and power supplies. Like their predecessors, they…

Cary Audio’s Billy Wright, with his characteristic Southern charm, introduced a pair of new offerings at High End Munich: the Cary Audio SLP-300 preamplifier and the Cary Audio DMS-300A streaming integrated. Prices are yet to be announced.

The SLP-300 is a fully balanced tube preamplifier with an onboard phono stage and headphone amp. It runs in class-A via four 12AX7 tubes, and includes two RCA single-ended inputs, two XLR balanced inputs, one XLR balanced output per channel, two RCA single-ended outputs per channel, a stepped volume control, and a remote and trigger control.

Robert Auer of Auer Acoustics isn’t just selling loudspeakers—he’s curating a lifestyle. A shrewd furniture designer, Auer showcased his holistic vision at the Munich show, integrating his Mr. Auer Chair ($110, prices approximate when converted from Euros) and Auer Acoustics Panzerholz Rack ($5700) into his sound system. His website [robertauer.com] further blurs the lines, offering everything from recipes to kitchen solutions and even a custom trolley for his signature chair. This approach transcends audio, offering an entire, well-appointed existence.

At the Munich show, Auer’s…

The TA-CF9 tonearm, mounted on a classic Micro Seiki RX-1500 turntable, is available in 9" and 10" versions. It features a full ceramic headshell, Kornienkov’s "zero friction, zero stiction" flexure-pivot horizontal bearing, low-friction advanced ceramic vertical bearings, Cardas…

Advance debuted its Nova line at this year’s High End Munich, consisting of six new components that should arrive in retail channels by the fall. Presented by CEO Dimitri Peucelle and product manager Cédric Léon, the static display featured the A-…

Lucca Chesky’s LC1 bookshelf speaker was a hit at AXPONA and Capital Audiofest, so it made sense to see Chesky’s stand positioned prominently outside one of High End Munich’s large halls.

The demo setup was straightforward yet effective: music files streamed from a laptop into a Cambridge Audio EXA integrated amplifier ($1299). To optimize sound quality, the computer sat atop four IsoAcoustics Orea Graphite Isolators ($45 each). The speakers rested on IsoAcoustics Aperta stands ($199/pair), and the amplifier sat on an IsoAcoustics ZaZen Isolation Platform ($199). AudioQuest…

Two well-known French high-end audio brands, Kora and Diptyque Audio, debuted new products together at High End Munich.

An Innuos Statement music server and streamer ($18,900), a Kora CD Player 140 ($6300, all prices approximate when converted from Euros), and a Kora DAC 140 ($8150) fed Kora's new CSA 2120 stereo amplifiers ($30,600 each), which offer 120Wpc into 8 ohms, and the new CSA 1200 monoblocks ($51,000/pair), rated at 200W into 8 ohms. O2A cables connected the works.

The electronics ably drove Diptyque's new Reference MKII ($53,000/pair), a 3-way ribbon…

By this stage of the Munich show, I was frazzled but still hungry for more. The Thrax/Ramar room delivered, with Thrax's Rumen Artarski and Ramar's Rangel Vasev presenting a compact, well-executed system and a set of ingenious vinyl accessories.

This compact rig included a Thrax Yatrus turntable ($17,000) with Frank Schröder CB tonearm ($6000) and MySonicLab Signature Diamond cartridge ($15,000), feeding the new Thrax Cotys phono stage ($9,300). An XACT S1 Evo server ($16,000), via an XACT N1 Network Switch ($6,000), fed a Thrax Maximinus Mk2S DAC ($34,000).

Amplification…

To oversimplify, her career can be divided in two periods. The first, which received most of the attention in obituaries, was in the 1960s, when she was a face of the British Invasion. In the mid-'60s, with her soft, folky voice and very…