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Reporting on High End Munich is like navigating a blizzard. As I pushed from room to atrium to hall to lobby, products seemed to whiz by me, their presenters vying for attention in this international maelstrom of hi-fi. Amid my mad dash, a small speaker manufacturer from Sweden caught my attention: Guru.

Recalling Epos and early KEF, Guru—an offshoot of People Audio AB—produces visually distinctive speakers with matte and woodgrain finishes, slatted ports, silk-dome tweeters, and a range of mid/bass driver materials, including polypropylene, reinforced paper…

The TechDAS Air Force V Premium turntable ($17,000, all prices approximate when converted from Euros) and Korf TA-AF10 tonearm ($2800) were fitted with the Exquisite Vord Cartridge ($6600), which fed an Engström M-Phono phono stage ($29,000). A Wadax Studio player ($39,800) completed the front end.

Amplification came from an Engström Monica preamplifier ($60,000) connected to an Engström Eric…

The manual lineup includes the CS 418 belt-drive 3-speed turntable ($590, all prices approximate when converted from Euros); the CS 518 belt-drive 3-speed ’table with Classic Dual tonearm ($750–900); and the CS 618Q direct-drive 3-speed model with auto-lift and stop functions ($1300 and up).

"It all started with the CS 701 turntable in 1973," Mertens explained of the CS 718Q prototype. “That was…

The Nyquist ONE DAC ($21,990) debuted at the show. The company employed common superlatives to describe the product, calling it "a complete reimagining of our Nyquist series of digital-to-analogue processors," and promising that it offers "a vastly improved power supply and new circuit board layout."

The current Nyquist will be discontinued, but all future digital modules will be compatible with previous Nyquist models. Expected availability for the ONE is October 2025.

Brinkmann also introduced new color options and OLED displays as standard across all components.…

In audio reproduction, my values are similar. I can't enjoy music if the system is producing a clouded, muddy, overly warm, or otherwise unclear sound. I want the electromechanical representation of music to be richly detailed, sharply focused,…

Setup and rocking
These big, heavy speakers are packed in wooden crates. Two adults in good physical shape, with strong backs, are required to move them around. They're not on wheels and thus need to be "herc'd" into place. I set them up on rugs for easier shifting to their final places and toeing in.

From the start, the Krypton3Xs sounded familiar. They presented the same sharp-focused images and fast dynamics as my smaller studio monitors, and they did it on a room-filling scale. In fact, I ended up moving them farther back and apart after my initial, instinctive setup.…

Description: Three-way, reflex-loaded, floorstanding loudspeaker. Drive units: 1" (25.4mm) titanium-dome tweeter with "5th Generation" plastic waveguide, two 8" (203.2mm) papyrus-cone mid/bass units in vented internal enclosures for "cardioid" dispersion, and 10" (254mm) aluminum-cone side-firing woofer with rear ports. Crossover frequencies: 160Hz, 1.6kHz. Frequency response: 21Hz–55kHz, –3dB. Nominal impedance: 4 ohms. Sensitivity: 89dB. Recommended power: 100–300W.
Dimensions: 55.1" (1400mm) H × 13" (330mm) W × 18.9" (480mm) D. Weight: 154.3lb (70kg) each…

Turntable: Technics SL-1200MKV with KAB fluid damping and tonearm wiring, Hana SL MKII MC cartridge.
Digital sources: dCS Bartók streaming DAC, Cambridge Audio EXN-100 streaming DAC, Oppo UDP-203 universal disc player.
Phono preamplifier: Pro-Ject Phono Box RS2.
Preamplifier: Benchmark LA-4.
Power amplifier: Benchmark AHB2.
Loudspeakers: Amphion Two18.
Accessories: Butcherblock Acoustics equipment rack, SME turntable cable.—Tom Fine

I measured one of the Amphion Krypton3X loudspeakers, serial number 1035, in Tom Fine's listening room, driving it with his Benchmark AHB2 amplifier. I used DRA Labs' MLSSA system and a calibrated DPA 4006 microphone with an Earthworks microphone preamplifier to measure the Amphion Krypton3X's farfield frequency behavior and dispersion. I used an Earthworks QTC-40 mike, which has a small, ¼"-diameter capsule, for the nearfield responses. Although TF and his friend Mike Barney were able to lift the 154lb speaker onto a small dolly, the first reflection from the…

This system, largely composed of Viva Audio components—including three world premieres—was supported by a mix of modest and high-end source components.

A humble Oppo CD player was joined by a Viva Audio Numerico DAC ($26,000), a CVS Vintage Revival Rek-O-Kut J34 turntable, an Innuos Zenith Mk.3 music server ($6299), and a PhoenixNET network switch ($4800).

The signal chain fed a trio of debuts: the Viva Cantabile phono preamplifier ($85,000), Armonico line preamplifier ($90,000), and Forte monoblock amplifiers ($290,000/pair), which drove Viva Audio's recently introduced…