Jason Victor Serinus

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).

Ready, set go. It may not look crowded at 9am on the first morning of High End 2015 in Munich, but we who were dashing in an hour early for the Devialet press conference soon found Atrium 4.1 (shown) filled with people. Attendees included, in addition to consumers, dealers from multiple continents, some of whom are now skipping January's CES in Las Vegas because they find the trip to Munich more productive and far more enjoyable. Also present were manufacturers and reps who prefer to make the rounds rather than display. All in all, it's fair to say that, for many in the industry, High 2015 is as much a trade show as it is a consumer showcase.

As soon as one arrives in the Munich airport, days before the start of High End 2015, posters announcing the event are visible. This is no marginal show, with expectations of appealing only to a fringe group of dying, gray-haired audiophile fanatics. Rather, it is a major event, with an appeal that extends far beyond a set age group, as well as national and geographic boundaries. Extending for four days—the first day of the show, on Thursday, May 14, is open only to the trade, which means dealers and press from all seven continents of the world are here...

After happily discovering that there were only three rooms to blog on floor 2, first up was the huge exhibit from one of the most dedicated dealers in the business, Doug White of The Voice That Is. Doug showcased a not-too-shabby system that included several premieres...

As I was leaving the room shared by Daedalus Audio, ModWright Instruments, and WyWires, a couple sat down and said to Lou Hinkley, Dan Wright, and Alex Sventitsky, "This is one of the rooms we had to come back to hear again."

I can understand why...

What, Jason, you're still on the 5th floor? How are you ever going to get all the way down to sub-Lobby Level, let alone be able to make some "Best of Show" calls, when you're only doing 18 rooms per day? Get a move on, Serinus! Such thoughts crossed my mind as Day One was drawing to a close, and I still had a few rooms left on the second of AXPONA's seven, not six, floors. But what is there to do but simply go with the flow, even if there's little flow left to go with at day's end?

People were going gaga over the Gibson Les Paul Reference Monitors, which debuted in the Gibson tent at CES before debuting at NAM and Frankfurt. In their US Consumer audio show premier, which celebrates the Les Paul Centenary, the GSLP 4" ($1198/pair), GSLP 6" ($1598/pair), and equally poetically-titled GSLP 8" ($1998/pair) displayed their pedigree as reference monitors suited for both home and studio. I found the balance a bit bright and sharp for my taste, but there was much to admire in the sound...