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Friday + Holiday = Packed

An hour after High End 2015 opened in Munich on Friday May 15, the stairways to the second floor were packed. Multiply this mob scene by 7, and you have an idea of how many consumers and dealers were eager to fill the corridors, halls, and rooms at the show.

When I initially encountered Rosso Fiorentino loudspeakers at the first AXPONA in Jacksonville, I was so blown away by how well they handled full-range symphonic material that I encouraged Darren Censullo of Avatar Acoustics to import them into the US. Four years later, designer Francesco Rubenni, whose sporty outfit leaves…

MQA in Munich

An entire page of the High End magazin was devoted to an introduction to Meridian's MQA (Master Quality Authenticated) technology. Bob Stuart, who with Peter Craven, invented MQA, spent a generous amount of time with me discussing both the latest developments with the process, and some of the scientific research behind it.

Already, Arcam, Onkyo Music, 2L, Roon, and Tidal have signed on as MQA supporters, and over 100 potential business partners have been identified. Nonetheless, MQA's launch has been delayed 1–2 months because there's "something" Meridian is adding to increase its…

Trade DayLet's Go on with the Show!

One of the major entertainment attractions at High End 2015 was US jazz vocalist (jazz-sängerin) Lyn Stanley. Performing twice daily in the room of her sponsors, Purist Audio Design, Stanley sang live into a microphone to recorded accompaniment, and then invited people to compare the amplified results to the playback of the same track on her LP (using Purist cabling, of course).

Stanley's deliciously deep voice sounded fantastic on Day 1, but technical snafus got in the way. Reverb on her mike was of outer space proportions—I'm told it got much better on subsequent days—rendering any…

Bruce Lundvall

The jazz world, not to mention the record business as a whole, lost one of its true gentlemen and most positive role models when Bruce Lundvall died on Tuesday, May 19 at the age of 79 from complications associated with Parkinson’s disease. Famed as the man who “discovered” Norah Jones, Lundvall revived and ran Blue Note Records as its President for 26 years. Prior to that he’d been President of Columbia Records and its parent, CBS Records. In the early 1980s he also spent two years at Elektra Records, launching the now defunct Elektra Musician label.

A native New Yorker (born in Jersey…

Day 3: High End 2015 Hits Its Stride

Many European audiophiles must have decided to take advantage of the three-day holiday weekend and avoid Saturday's crowds, because Saturday's show attendance, while still huge, was actually lower than Friday's. Then again, the decision to avoid Saturday may have been because so much of Munich saves Saturday for indulging in Bavaria's favorite gut-expanding passion, drinking beer. From audiophile nirvana to drunken oblivion in the span of 24 hours, to the tune of Ella and Satchmo singing, "Isn't it a Lovely Day."

While Saturday was packed by American show standards, getting an early…

Munich Day 4 Brings More to Explore

Okay. I'm not a poet, and I know it. So let's quickly move on to the towering presence of Duelund's Frederik Carøe. Every time I look above the crowd and see Frederik's countenance, I know that Duelund has a new capacitor on the market.

This time, it's two. One is the Duelund Precision Audio Capacitor (approx. $80-$90), a new bypass capacitor for speakers and electronics. Made from pure silver foil, paper, oil, and wax, it costs ¼ to 1/5 the price of its predecessor, thanks to a devastating fire which forced Duelund to build a new, far more efficient factory.

Also newly available…

Into the Home Stretch at High End Munich

Just two weeks before PS Audio premieres the BHK Signature 300 mono amps at Newport Beach, the company showcased its BHK Signature 250 stereo amplifier ($7499) in Munich. This was my first opportunity to hear this Bascom H. King specialty in the context of an all-PS Audio system, and despite the sub-optimal room acoustics, it did not disappoint. In the context of PS Audio's DirectStream DAC ($6000), PerfectWave transport, P10 Power Plant, and power cables, the BHK Signature 250 joined Magneplanar 20.7 loudspeakers, a REL subwoofer, and Analysis Plus interconnects and speaker cable to project…

High End 2015: That's A Wrap!

In addition to jazz chanteuse Lyn Stanley, who was sponsored by Purist Audio Design, the High End Society presented three quasi pop-up ensembles that, unless you followed the schedule, appeared without notice in hallways and at the top of stairways. Thus, while moving between Aurender and AudioQuest, did I encounter the Karinettensextett Karlischnättra. The six or eight bars of blessedly unamplified music I heard at the very end of their presentation sounded lovely.

According to "Press-Release No.11, High End 2015–Final Report," "the world's largest trade fair for the audio industry" saw…

DEQX PreMate D/A processor/digital equalizer Manufacturer's Comment

Editor: DEQX Speaker calibration requires anechoic (no reflection) measurements often made in listening rooms for convenience. But room effects must be removed to allow the speaker's own phase and frequency response to be calculated and adjusted.

The DEQX speaker and measurement microphone is positioned to maximize the time before the microphone picks up the first reflected sound occurring after the speaker's direct sound. DEQX-Cal software then removes the reflected sounds at the operator's discretion.

Since every installation is unique, the process is usually performed by our…

Multichannel Music in Santa Monica

This coming Tuesday, May 26, The Audio Salon will host a special Multichannel Music Event.

Peter McGrath of Wilson Audio Specialties will play a selection of his multichannel recordings on a system that features both the Alexia and Duette Series 2 loudspeakers. He will discuss the philosophy behind this style of recording and demonstrate why he believes it is an evolutionary step in the recreation of live events.

Dominique Brulhart, visiting from Switzerland, will discuss the development of the Merging Technologies stereo and multichannel NADAC, its range of features and…