⌈ The MUNICH HIGH END SHOW, held in May, is the largest event of its kind in Europe and the largest high-end exhibition in the world. During four days, it is visited by over 20,000 visitors, including half a thousand industry representatives, press, distributors and sellers from all over the world, and in the rooms and halls you can see over 800 brands - from the largest to one-man businesses. This year the show celebrated its 40th anniversary. ⌋

HERE IS SOMETHING ABOUT DATES WITH A ZERO at the end: millennium (1000), century (100) and the next tens, which makes them seem particularly important to us and worthy of celebration. This is magical thinking, because our measure of time is conventional, and time itself is questionable in its existence, but magic is needed by people. So when my mother called me on Tuesday, May 23rd. at 7.45 am, her wishes were longer than usual, as if she felt that her son's 50th birthday was more important than his birthday one and two years before. I know it because it's one of her long-standing habits - I was born at 7:45 am (Wednesday, but still).

The High End Show 2023, which took place from 18 to 21st. May this year, was also special. Because we celebrated its 40th anniversary. Interestingly, the Siltech brand also celebrated its 40th birthday. For years, Munich, like Frankfurt before, has been the place of the most important premieres of the year, business meetings of people from all over the world, almost the center of the world - and of course - high-end. The largest in Europe, and one of the most important in the world, the event attracts the most important players among audiophiles, manufacturers, distributors and the press representatives.

This year's, the jubilee edition of the Show, as its organizer writes in the summary, exceeded "all imaginations". One of the sub-chapters of the document was entitled: "The best High End ever". And next:

With halls filled to the last centimeter, atriums and conference rooms packed, with the new Press Center in Atrium 2 flooded with natural light, 40th. HIGH END did everything to ensure a successful show. The world's largest audio fair was visited by 22,137 visitors from around 100 different countries willing to learn about new products and innovations from 550 exhibitors from 54 countries. This was the highest number of visitors ever recorded at HIGH END.

STEFAN DREISCHÄRF, the man responsible for this year's show, also spoke in a similar tone, claiming that it was the best and most outstanding program they have ever run: “The response to this year's show is really overwhelming. Every person I spoke to was impressed by the fantastic atmosphere at MOC. We hoped to repeat the great success of the last HIGH END, but we didn't expect it to be even better."

And I agree. Whoever I spoke to, they all kept saying that the number of visitors was staggering and it was a very successful show. Since I didn't meet any exhibitors from Russia, I can say there was progress compared to the previous year also in this respect. Although there were also no exhibitors from Ukraine - men from this country are absolutely forbidden to leave the country - it was an understandable change. I also had a lot of fun and it was a good time for me. The show was symbolically opened by a meeting with the guitarist AL DI MEOLA and ABEY FONN, the owner of the Impex record label, in the room of the Nagra company. TOMEK FOLTA will talk about it.

ALTHOUGH I usually complain about the sound during audio shows, this time I was pleasantly surprised many times. Because many exhibitors managed to compose systems in such a way that their class could be heard. It didn’t mean that every component presented its best possible performance, but together they sounded much better than I expected. I spent a pleasant time in some of the rooms, and the result of these listening sessions are my suggestions for the BEST SOUND of HIGH END 2023 Award.

In one of these rooms, played the Minissimo Forte speakers from CRYSTAL CABLES, based on earlier models of the company, including Minissimo and Minissimo Diamond. What they share with their predecessors is the shape of the cabinet and, to some extent, the drivers. As Edwin, the head of Siltech, told me, the latest version managed to almost completely eliminate vibrations. The Forte model is an unusual design, because although it has a passive crossover, the power supply is connected to its base, which is part of the loudspeaker. There is a buffering amplifier with a gain equal to 1, developed for the top Siltech loudspeakers. Costing around 20,000 euros, the Minissimo Forte delivered big, beautiful sound that stayed in my memory for a long time.

⸜ Lyravox Karrlson with the company's file transport, placed in as many as four (!) boxes

Speaking of monitors, I cannot fail to mention the second surprise, namely the Lyravox Karrlson loudspeakers. It was a surprise for me that they sounded so mature, so full, that for a moment I thought they played from the huge, standing next to them Karls. Karlsson are active loudspeakers, unlike the Minissimo Forte, with two class D amplifiers, an active crossover and Acuton ceramic drivers. The cabinet is made of a monolithic cast material that company calls "K". Price - from 16,000 euros per pair. An interesting fact - the model that played at the show was brought from the house of the head of the company, Goetz Martin von Laffert. The second curiosity - the Bergmann turntable for this show was prepared in white.

⸜ Estelon Aura with dCS player and Simaudio by Moon amplifiers

Still in the zone of good, for high-end that is, prices, I found myself listening to the new Estelon Aura loudspeakers. This is the smallest model of this Estonian manufacturer, with characteristic shapes, which captivated me with its unusual sonic culture and the fact that it filled such a large room with sound - without stress, effortlessly. For 17,500 euros, we get a high-end loudspeaker with a 26 mm Illuminator tweeter and a 130 mm Satori low-midrange driver. The bass, in turn, is reproduced by the 250 mm Faital driver, which is placed in a housing that is a natural low-pass filter, which allowed to eliminate large coils from the signal’s path. Once again: there was a huge space with well arranged, full-blooded sound sources.

⸜ AudioSolutions Figaro in a new version with the Benny Audio turntable, the Audia Flight phono preamplifier and the TAEC CD-R/RW recorder working as a transport with the Vitus Audio DAC and amplification from the same company

I spent a long time in the room of the Lithuanian company AudioSolutions. Its designer, Mr. Gediminas Gaidelis, briefly told me how he managed to abandon the structurally complex cabinets of the most expensive series and, based on the higher Virtuoso models, transfer the idea of "cabinet within a cabinet" to an even lower series. In the new version of the Figaro loudspeakers, everything was improved, even a short waveguide in front of the tweeter. The speakers look great and the finish quality is great. Together with the Vitus Audio electronics, I heard deep bass that was exceptionally well controlled, even though the rooms in the main hall are terrible in this respect.

⸜ FinkTeam Borg 2 speakers with SoulNote electronics, including the new A-3 integrated amplifier

Another company that presented a new version of the loudspeakers, similar to the previous one, but completely different inside, was FinkTeam with the Borg 2 model. As Karl-Heinz Fink, the boss and designer, told me, the cabinet remained almost the same, but the lower part of the front gained a new shape to slightly tilt the speaker backwards. The woofer is the same, and the tweeter got only a slight modification for better decoupling from the cabinet. As he said, the most important changes, however, took place in the crossover. Instead of using resistors to adjust the level of the tweeter, he used a coil on a transformer carcase here. In turn, the most important capacitor of the whole speaker - the one in the tweeter section - is a special Silver Hybrid Duelund PP plus a second Mundorf capacitor, connected in parallel. The speaker terminal panel with new settings is also new.

I remember well how great the first model of these loudspeakers sounded in my system and that Karl-Heinz liked this sound too (more → HERE) . I think the new version is not a little but much better. It so happens that I know the SoulNote electronics the loudspeakers played with well, so I could appreciate their velvety and fullness. The sound came from the black "silence" behind them and was not grotesquely alienated from the acoustic environment. The price has increased, although not so much - now we will pay 29,500 euros for a pair.

⸜ Mårten Design Mingus Septet speakers with MSB amplifier and DAC, TechDAS turntable, DS Audio optical cartridge, Antipodes OLADRA music server.

It was a great presentation. The loudspeakers from the Swedish company Mårten have been positioned in the upper regions of the high-end for years, but this time everything "clicked" and the system worked perfectly together. Driven by MSB monoblocs, the loudspeakers feature a 4-way, 7-driver design with a custom-made 25mm diamond driver for the treble and two midrange drivers - a 75mm beryllium and a 180mm ceramic driver that also handles some of the bass range. In addition, there is a pair of 200 mm bass drivers and two 250 mm passive radiators.

Most loudspeakers using ceramic drivers sound a bit stiff, so to speak, they lack saturation. They are extremely transparent and fast, but ultimately not that resolving. In the hands of Leif Mårten Olofsson, however, they gain fullness and resolution. The speakers are internally wired with a product of another Swedish company, Jorma, with cables that can be replaced with the Jorma Statement version for an additional fee. We will pay 108,000 euros for the basic version of the speakers. The system also featured the TechDAS turntable with the DS Audio optical cartridge, the Antipodes OLADRA server, and the MSB DAC.

⸜ Magico S3 2023 (Mk3) speakers with S-SUB MkII subwoofer, Pilium Audio Divine Olympus and Divine Zeus Power and Wadax Atlantis files player.

I won't be original if I say that it was one of the best sounds of the show, if not simply the best. I think this is due to both the devices and the acoustic treatment. Magico's people hired experts in interior acoustics, who measured the room before the show and, based on the measurements, built second "walls" inside - these are the orange boards.

The sound had incredible authority, and was not intrusive at the same time. I know Pilium electronics and I think that it also significantly contributed to this sound. Anyway, the split file player - it's a transport, DAC and power supply, as well as the power supply from Telos - Earth Grounding Monster and Monster Power Station, as well as Nordost's LAN switch and VYDA cables also did their job. The bass was beautifully supported by the new subwoofers, which have little in common with the previous ones, because they have both new drivers and amplifiers. Normally, at audio shows sound of this class doesn't happen.

⸜ Innuos file players - PULSEmini, PULSE, PULSAR and Statement, dCS Rossini APEX DAC, Pilium Ares + Achilles preamplifier + power amplifier, Estelon X Diamond Mk II loudspeakers, Isotek EVO3 Super Titan and Super Nova power conditioners, Kubala-Sosna cables, Artesania Audio Exoteryc ER33 and Aire racks and platforms.

We have already met Estelon loudspeakers among this year's awards. This is the second room from this pool that we liked very much, and also the second one with a phenomenal split amplifier, consisting of a preamplifier and a power amplifier Pilium Ares + Achilles. But that was not the reason for my visit to this room located in the 4.1 atrium, but the file transports. Innuos showed in Munich three new devices from the Pulsar series: PULSEmini, PULSE PULSAR, all with new software and InnuOS 2.4 control application. As the host of the presentation said, the latter is extremely important to achieve high-end sound. After the experience with the JPLAY application, I can only agree.

The presentation consisted of switching the USB output between successive transports, with the top, two-piece Statement model as a reference point. The differences were significant and one didn’t have to look for them to find them. Each change up, i.e. to a model with a larger power supply and a better chassis translated into a richer sound and improved its depth. Way to go!

We have already written about the new amplifier from Grandinote, the Solo model, costing 14 4000 euros in the news. As we said, with this device the company breaks with the existing design. On the front panel of this 60-watt class A device we find a large touchscreen with VU-meters, a spectrum analyzer and buttons input selection and volume control. The amplifier can also be equipped with phono preamplifier or file player modules.

During the exhibition it played with the file player module and was connected to the powerful Mach 8 XL loudspeakers of the same company. The sound was fast, devoid of coloration and beautifully saturated. This is what I expect from a high-end system and I got it here. And the room wasn’t too big. It is usually occupied by Einstein systems, which also sound good, but never with such large loudspeakers. So it seems Solo is a good new "opening" for the brand.

⸜ Orchestalls KMD 700R speakers, Vincent SV-237MKII amplifier, Yamaha BD-S681 BR Player

Finally, I would like to talk about speakers that played with budget electronics and that sounded like a high-end revelation. Costing 49,000 euros for a pair, the Orchestalls KMD 700R have an appearance similar to the design of the Swiss Goldmund: modular construction, each driver in its own cabinet, time alignment. This strategy seems to be working as it sounded compelling. And yet the Vincent SV-237MKII amplifier driving them costs only 3000 euros, and the source was a cheap Yamaha Blu-ray player. Despite this, the system delivered a very large scale sound, which was of great importance in orchestral recordings.

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MEETING FRIENDS, just like the people I've been corresponding with for years and I've come to like, let mel mention ROBERT KAHN, the head of Reliable, a company that produces excellent lamps for turntables, GUY CHEVALL, the head of Wattson Audio, and finally DANNY LABRECQUE, a nice designer from Luna Cables. By the way, Robert showed me "supersecret" photos and diagrams of the successor of the current lamp on his smartphone. The technical advancement and design of the new version made a great impression on me.

But one of the most important events for me was the Saturday evening meeting with people from Ayon Audio and dCS, during which we presented them with the STATEMENT In High Fidelity 2023 in the German Edition. Dirk Sommer, editor-in-chief of the hifistatement.net magazine, will tell you all about it.

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WHAT’S THRE LEFT TO ADD - it really was one of the best High End shows in its history, maybe even the best. Starting from the excellent patron and "face" of the event - Al di Meola - through the exceptionally large presence of the press, distributors and visitors, to many great presentations. People are of course the most important elements of the show and also in this respect I can count my trip to Munich as extremely successful.

Among the most important trends that I had an opportunity to notice, one stands out: care for the workmanship and design of products. A thing that in the ancient times, when KEF presented the futuristic-looking Muon loudspeakers, designed by the world-famous designer Ross Lovegrove, seemed of little importance to the high-end, finally (!) found understanding among the manufacturers. So I couldn't take my eyes off many products, be it Acoustic Signature and Thorens turntables (the new Reference model), or loudspeakers (the already mentioned Crystal Cable, Magico, Estelon and others), as well as electronics.

Among the manufacturers of the latter one can see huge efforts to enclose devices in the best designed and best made housings. Housings that also play an important role in reducing vibrations. Because understanding their impact on the sound, as well as products used to minimize noise, such as the fantastic QBASE Reference power supply system, which uses all devices from the QRT series in one housing, is now a new standard in audio. One can say - finally!

The last meeting I had in Munich was in the Siltech and Crystal Cable room. Wiktor de Leeuw, Gabi and Edwin's son, wrote it down in the calendar as "a beer meeting with Wojtek". And it really was. And it was during it that we realized that next year the Crystal Cable brand will celebrate its 20th anniversary and "High Fidelity" will celebrate its 20th anniversary. And because, as we said, we need the magic of round anniversaries, we agreed that we would do something together. Will it be a special version of the "Crystal Cable by HIGH FIDELITY" cable(s) or something else - we'll see.

I hope that next year we will finally meet people from Ukraine at the show, and that the Russian language, omnipresent among visitors this year, will be replaced by Ukrainian. Then it will be a complete show for me. Still, this year was excellent. See you there next year! ●