Jason Victor Serinus

“MBL always sounds great at shows” is an axiom so often repeated that it could serve as an audiophile mantra, but it accurately describes the experience of hearing a full-range, air-filled presentation that, in Munich, was open, alive, and just plain fabulous.

Bad me. For the past two or three years, knowing that it would run too late, I’ve begged off the evening Göbel press dinner / factory visit. From what I understand, it was my loss. According to Adam Mokrzycki, the mastermind of the Warsaw Audio Show, Oliver Göbel’s factory set-up is among the most impressive he’s ever heard. I stand chastised, Oliver and Adam.

Less than a week after visiting the Innuos factory in Portugal—report and video forthcoming—I had the opportunity to audition their products again in Munich. This time, the speakers were more full-range and superior in quality, and the associated electronics all top-level.

When Jason Victor Serinus arrived at High End Munich 2024, he found that scale and scope of the show to be truly impressive, as you'd expect from the world's largest two-channel audio expo.

Room reports are now posting so check our homepage for more coverage.

Mansour Mamaghani’s Audio Reference, one of Munich’s top high-end showrooms, again filled a massive exhibit space in the MOC with multiple display areas dedicated to major brands.

What a nice little system. The LP version of Paul Simon’s “Something So Right” sounded exactly that on TSO’s system, with an exceptionally smooth midrange and lovely bloom to the sound.

What a perfect way to say goodbye AXPONA 2024. In a simple system consisting of Zellaton Emotion Evo speakers ($44,750/pair), LTA Ultralinear amplification ($7000), and a Grimm Audio MU2 ($17,500) serving as preamp and streaming DAC with a Roon core and analog volume control, we began with a 16/44.1 mastering of Janis Ian’s “Guess You Had to Be There.” Given my age, I expect I was.