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Brilliant Corners #42: the First Viennese High End Show

The Klipsch-OJAS storage container outside the High End Vienna venue.

Whenever I spend time in Vienna, I never think I'm going to eat schnitzel every day, but somehow it happens anyway. The truth is that when done right, schnitzel is a scientifically perfect dish: unexpectedly light, texturally complete, and oddly comforting. The trick is something called the three-pan method, which refers not to frying but to the assembly, which goes as follows.

Tenderize a cutlet of veal or pork until it's about 1/8" to 1/4" thick and season it generously with salt and pepper. (Veal is…

eXamining a trio of systems at Xclusive High End Show Vienna 2026

As Jason Victor Serinus reported just ahead of High End Vienna 2026 earlier this month, some of the expectant exhibitors didn't get the rooms they wanted—or any rooms at all. To be fair, that's not unique to the main Vienna show, as there have often been satellite events adjacent to other big trade shows that endeavor to pick up spill-over exhibitors, and some of those satellite shows are also genuinely preferred by the brands that participate in them.

In Vienna, there were no fewer than three such auxiliary shows, the smallest of which—Xclusive High End Show Vienna 2026—is the…

High End 2026: Parsing the Big Picture

Now that the High End show has moved from Munich to Vienna, what will audiophiles encounter there this week? One thing they'll encounter is not one but a multiplicity of shows—the big, main show, and at least three much smaller shows. The first four-day High End Vienna, sponsored by the High End Society, opens at the Austria Center Vienna on June 4, and runs through June 7, 2026.

Like Munich before it, High End Vienna is the largest and most important audio show in the world. A representative of High End Vienna told Stereophile that this year's show will have "nearly" 500…

The Spin Doctor in Vienna

After a decade of holding the annual High End Society show in Munich, Germany, this year the society moved to a new city and country. The show decamped to Vienna, Austria. Most of the people I spoke with seemed happy with the show's new home, as it offers lots of room and a more open and spacious feel than the crowded hallways at the old Munich venue. I found that overall, the sound of the rooms was better, although most, while big enough for most systems, were too small for big systems and speakers.

There was no shortage of new phono-related debuts at the show. Here are some that caught…

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