For those of you that don’t know Munich High End is the hifi show to attend if you are a manufacturer wanting to get your products noticed in Europe. It’s very well attended and takes place at Munich’s MOC over 4 days every year. Hifi Pig were there and we have lots of photographs, comments, interviews and much more that we’re sure you’ll enjoy.  The show is so big that it would be impossible to see every room and every exhibitor but we really did try – if we missed you out then we are sorry and we’ll make sure we come along next year and see you. This is part one but we have many many more parts to add and will drip feed them over the coming week so keep checking back for all the latest from the Munich High end 2013!

JoSound and Voxativ

Jo Sound is a loudspeaker manufacturer based in Jersey and produces a handful of loudspeakers which interesting are constructed using bamboo. The top models in the company’s range come with the very well respected Voxativ full-range drivers installed. We’d heard mention that the company were going to be launching a new model of loudspeaker which had been built in close conjunction with very talented Inès from Voxativ and so were quite keen to have a bit of a snoofle.

The new loudspeaker is called the Ra, deriving its name from its distinctive shape – a disc over a triangle which is indeed reminiscent of the sun (Ra) rising over a pyramid.

It’s a downward firing horn design and Inès calls the horn design Acoustic Stealth Technology (AST) which she says is derived from a desire to combine the stealth fighter with the human voice – more of this later when we interview Joe and Inès.

It’s not a huge loudspeaker by any stretch of the imagination and we were fully expecting a somewhat bass-light performance as the horn is just so short. We were wrong. First of all the imaging is absolutely great, but then you’d be expecting that as the Ra uses a Voxativ full-range field-coil driver. The second thing that hits you is the amount of bass that this loudspeaker throws out into the room – it is deep and well controlled and really energizes the room.

We loved the sound the new Ra makes and it’s as equally comfortable playing the usual plinkity plonk piano and female voice (the usual fodder of the Hifi show) as it is bass heavy house music – this is important to us!

Price for the Ra is €35 000

We didn’t have the opportunity to listen to the Voxativ range of electronics and loudspeakers as we were so pushed for time but the range on offer looks very impressive indeed and we did manage to snoofle out a few photographs for you.

MSB Amplifiers and Eventus Loudspeakers

In this room the MSB M203 amplifiers were feeding Eventus Nebula loudspeakers.

The MSB M203 is a fully balanced (inputs and outputs) 200Watt monobloc amplifier which retails at $27500 a pair and is made in California.

Eventus Audio is an Italian company which makes a handful of loudspeakers with Domenico Fiorentino being the designer and face of the company. Their Nebula loudspeaker on show here is a three way design with a frequency response of 22Hz to 45kHz, 8 Ohm and 91db sensitivity. Both the woofer and the midrange are made of carbon fibre.

Looking at my notes from the room I’ve written “I could have stayed in here all day”. The combination of this amplifier and this loudspeaker is massively impressive on both a sonic and visual scale producing a hugely wide soundstage and beautiful tone on female vocals. The sound is very deep and controlled in the bass and guitar was produced with stunning accuracy. A great room and a system I could happily live with!

 Avid and Eggleston Works

Avid are a UK based manufacturer of primarily turntables and phonostages. They make all their products in Huntigdon. Eggleston Works on the other hand make their loudspeakers in Memphis USA.

On show in this room and playing at the time we visited was the Savoy Signature from Eggleston Works which is a fabulous looking loudspeaker with a 1” dome tweeter, two 6” carbon fibre cones for the midrange, two 6” carbon fibre cones in an isobaric configuration for the mid bass and stacked 12” cones with isobaric loading.

The turntable playing at the time was the Acutus SP, a twin belt drive turntable with a massive 10 Kg platter. Here it was fitted with an SME series V tonearm.

For my taste the sound in the room wasn’t loud enough (It’s a problem of the show environment) but this is not something that should put you off auditioning this combo. There was a deep soundstage portrayed with real accuracy and space around the instruments. I’d love to hear this pairing playing electronic dance music at high volume. Conrad from Avid did say they were able to crank up the volume later on in the show and I wish I’d have known to be able to pop back in.

Also in the room were the new turntable from Avid, the Ingenium and the Eggleston Works Nine Signature. Sadly we didn’t get a chance to listen to this. I’d seen pictures of the Ingenium, which is Avid’s entry level deck, but in the flesh it looks a lot more impressive than its modest price tag would suggest. I look forward to hearing this very soon.

Siltech and Crystal Cables

In this room Siltech electronics comprising the SAGA amplifier concept – the C1/V1 and P1 were matched with Crystal Cables Arabesque Glass Master loudspeakers. Cables were Crystal Absolute Dream and Dreamline Plus series.

The Arabesque Glass Masters are an interesting loudspeaker with a unique shape and, not surprisingly given their name, made of glass. They use modified Scan Speak Illuminator bass-mid drivers and a specially made RAAL ribbon driver. They’re 95dB at 2.83 V and have a frequency range from 27Hz to 100kHz (-3dB)

When playing saxophone we found the sound to be deep and sonourous and on Flamenco guitar incisive and accurate. A very decent sound in a stunningly beautiful package – this set up will find favour with those looking to combine modern aesthetics and great sound.

The Varios

Who says hifi can’t be fun? The people behind these funky little speakers come from fashion industry backgrounds and whilst they will not appeal to everyone’s taste they certainly put a smile on our faces and they looked incredibly well made. I think it takes some bottle to exhibit these loudspeakers at such a show as Munich High End! They didn’t sound at all bad either for what they are, though the small listening space was hardly ideal. Prices range from €499 to €2255. 

Part 2 of this report can be read here

High End Show Munich 2013 – A Bird’s Eye View. Pt 1

Avantgarde Acoustics at Munich High End – Temper Tantrums and Trios

Munich High End 2013 – Newcomers