Ken Micallef

The electronics of Borg.Audio’s Christian Gunther look like they're straight off the bridge of the Starship Enterprise. With their retro-futuristic visual style, you’re bound to either love or hate them. Though I didn’t hear them at Gunther’s static display, I’m already in the first camp.

Big components need a big room and a big man to explain it. Nick Döhmann talked turkey and then some regarding his new Döhmann Helix One Mk3 turntable ($70,000) with a new 10.5” Supatrac Nighthawk tonearm (£12,500), and Air Tight Opus 1 cartridge.

“Dear Ken,” wrote Thuono Audio’s Eleonora Bonollo, “you are welcome to come to our stand in Halle 2 n. G05, where I can show you our turntables and tonearms.”

Air Tight Managing Director Yutaka "Jack" Miura was in Munich to introduce the new Air Tight Stereo Power Amplifier ATM-1 (price TBD).

Tannoy consultant/designer Danny Cooklin gave me a proper introduction to the company’s forthcoming 70th Anniversary Autograph 12 loudspeaker, which was in the prototype stage at High Munich.

Voxativ owner and designer Inès Adler and head of marketing Christopher Owens debuted Andagio, “their newest horn-loaded model meticulously optimized for their exclusive range of field coil drivers,” the press release stated.

With the daring, midcentury modern–influenced designs of their amplifiers, Sweden’s Engstrom paired with Marten’s new Coltrane Quintet loudspeaker for a big, bold, yet surprisingly intimate sound.