Among the products that gripped my senses that weekend, the Brutalist allure of the BennyAudio Odyssey Turntable ($45,000) spoke to me loudest. This was a brand I'd never heard of, and it was making…
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International audio shows are a white-knuckle thrill ride for those who report on turntables, amplifiers, and loudspeakers. The moment I first entered one of the four colossal, cathedral-like "Halles" of High End Munich 2024, my brain short-circuited. The floor plan was useless. Coffee and choco-filled pastries were powerless. There was nothing to do but hurl myself headlong into the chaos.
One of my favorite things about this pastime is the modesty of its aims. Despite the sometimes-astronomical sums spent on gear, and the small handful of drama queens who populate various corners of this hobby, all we're doing is trying to enjoy recorded music at home. No one here is reversing planetary warming or solving the Riemann hypothesis. The sole purpose of the pursuit we write about in these pages is to please, enlighten, and entertain. I like that about it.
This means that aesthetics matter. During a recent trip to Japan, I found myself marveling at the many vintage audio…
Here's what real influencers do: If you're Carl Perkins, every song on your first LP was covered by Beatles, either together or as solo artists. If you're Muddy Waters, the Rolling Stones named their band after one of your songs and covered the first song on your first LP on their first album. If you're Chuck Berry, you influenced anyone who has ever considered themselves rock'n'rollers. And if you're Johnny Cash, you were the original Outlaw Country artist, and you invented the country-rock nexus. Oh, and your first LP was also your label's first long-player.
Key early albums from these…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Mass-loaded, belt-driven turntable, 14" unipivot carbon fiber tonearm, European BLDC motor, external power supply. Speeds: 33 1/3, 45rpm. Plinth and isolation platform: aluminum and POM. Drive belt: 3mm diameter VMQ. Main bearing: Inverted hydrodynamic journal (aluminum alloy, PEEK sleeve). Shaft type: 15mm hardened stainless steel. Ball type: YG8 10mm sintered carbide. Motor: single BLDC 3-phase, 8-pole 20W, mounted in an external steel case. Speed guidance system: Continuous open-loop feedback speed control using input from Hall sensor. Correction…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog sources: J.Sikora Standard Max Supreme turntable and KV9 Max Zirconium tonearm; Benz Micro Gullwing and Aidas Tru-stone Gold Web phono cartridges.
Preamplification: Manley Chinook, Tavish Audio Design Adagio, Allnic H5500 (phono); Ampsandsound Yosemite.
Power amplifier: Rogue Audio Stereo 100.
Loudspeakers: DeVore Fidelity Super Nine, Volti Audio Lucera.
Cables: Interconnects: AudioQuest Pegasus and Black Beauty, Triode Wire Labs Spirit II (RCA), Spirit 75 S/PDIF (RCA/BNC). Speaker: AudioQuest William Tell Zero (10').
Accessories…
Ola Björling speaks with Hindrek Reiman of Degritter at High End Vienna 2026 about the Fonoteek, the company's new record cleaning station that blends brush and ultrasonic cleaning together in one device, in a video interview that's now posted on our official YouTube channel.
For more with Degritter, see Alex Halberstadt's Brilliant Corners #14.
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Ola Björling speaks with Tiago Novo of Orpheus Lab at High End Vienna 2026 about the company's forthcoming A Four N200 integrated streaming amplifier and their new, gargantuan H Three M1400 monoblock amplifier that weighs 330lb (!), in a video interview that's now posted on our official YouTube channel.
For more with Orpheus Lab, see Rogier van Bakel's listening report from AXPONA 2026.
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Ola Björling speaks with George Ligerakis of Ideon Audio at High End Vienna 2026 about the company's new Nous streamer/DAC that features an optional analog preamplifier section, in a video interview that's now posted on our official YouTube channel.
For more with Ideon Audio, see Herb Reichert's Ideon Audio eos D/A processor review.
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Ola Björling speaks with Martijn Mensink of Dutch & Dutch at High End Vienna 2026 about the company's new 6c loudspeakers, their RoomMatching technology, and their new app for speaker calibration, in a video interview that's now posted on our official YouTube channel.
For more with Dutch & Dutch, see John Atkinson's in-depth interview with Martijn Mensink.
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Not long ago, the return of vinyl records was still being labeled a fad—a momentary fascination that given the convenience of the digital world would soon fade. Then around 2022, when vinyl outsold CDs for the first time since 1987, minds began to change. What's still a mystery, however, is how vinyl long players, left for dead in the 1990s, suddenly became relevant and even cool again.
"When everything went very digital you couldn't say to people, 'Come over to my house and look at my cool record collection!'" said Dennis Wolfe, VP of A&R at Universal Music Enterprises and the force…