Yep, you read it right! Gilles Milot has created the world’s first production loudspeaker that uses glass cones. I know, I know, I thought exactly the same as you and questioned whether this Gallic loudspeaker manufacturer had been on the Ricard…or perhaps something a little stronger. But no ladies and gentleman of the audio loving brother and sisterhood, he reckons that this is a logical step forward for his E2 loudspeakers. More »
Now here’s something you don’t see or hear everyday at a Hifi show. I mean, if you go out to see a band or a piece of music performed live then you expect the audience to, depending on how the evening’s show went, put their hands together in rapturous applause. But this is exactly what happened when the presentation in Avantgarde’s room finished at some point on Friday at the High-End. Given that Avantgarde are on relatively home turf it’s no surprise that there is going to be a certain amount of passion and encouragement from those who went along for the ride, but the level of emotional connection in that room, at that time was palpable and infectious. Regular readers will know that the reference loudspeaker at Hifi Pig Towers is this German company’s Duo XD, and so there may be a tad of exuberant outpouring of affection from these quarters, but to see grown men, and a handful of women, being so clearly moved by, what is little more, in actual fact, someone spinning some tunes on a music centre (albeit a very good one) was a sight to behold. More »
Mark Levinson today introduced the № 534 Dual-Monaural Amplifier, building upon the success of its recently introduced № 536 Monaural Amplifier. Featuring Mark Levinson’s proprietary Pure Path circuit design, the № 534 delivers a deep, expansive soundstage, accurate image placement, extended low bass response with exceptional pitch definition, and detailed high frequencies free from “etching.” This high-current, low-feedback two-channel amplifier delivers 250 watts per channel into 8 ohms, operating purely in class A for most listening conditions, doubling to 500W into 4 ohms, with stable operation into 2-ohm loads. More »
HARMAN’s Mark Levinson today introduced the № 523 Preamplifier, the definitive preamplifier for the analog music lover. With precision control including a discrete, balanced R-2R Ladder volume control, Class-A Phono stage, and Class-A Main Drive Headphone output, the № 523 preamplifier delivers an uncompromising performance regardless of analog source. Six line-level analog and phono inputs travel through the Mark Levinson proprietary Pure Path discrete, direct-coupled, fully balanced, dual-monaural signal path, entirely in class A, for breathtaking purity and performance. Housed in a cold-rolled steel and 6000-series aluminum chassis, like all Mark Levinson components, the № 523 is designed and handcrafted in the USA. More »
Bluesound, a leading manufacturer of wireless multi-room music systems, proudly announced today that its award-winning line of wireless speakers and digital music players have been designated as hi-resolution audio (HRA) products by the Japan Audio Society (JAS). Since its debut at CES 2012 as the world’s first wireless multi-room music system to fully support high-resolution audio, Bluesound has been responsible for many innovations in multi-room lossless streaming, and the company continues to stay committed to the development of hi-res audio. More »
NAD Electronics today announced two new additions to their prestigious Masters Series.
The M32 Direct Digital Amplifier (£3700 SRP) is a top-of-the-line, BluOS ready integrated amplifier with a host of features that offer maximum flexibility and excellent efficiency with reduced noise and distortion. M32 also includes a phono input and a dedicated headphone amplifier to accommodate music lovers of all kinds.
M50.2 Digital Music Player (£3700 SRP) will offer high resolution music listening, multi-room wireless streaming to other BluOS™ enabled speakers, 24/192 storage, and CD ripping all in one elegant component. M50.2 is a top-of-the-line, BluOSÔenabled player that is an extension to the company’s popular 40th anniversary M50/M51/M52 Digital Music Suite combining the functions of both the M50 and M52 into one sleek package. Offering only digital outputs, but including AES/EBU and HDMI, the only addition needed is a complementary DAC or Digital Preamp such as the companies own M12 and M17 models. More »
Cyrus ONE is a 100 watt per channel amp using the third generation of the company’s hybrid class D technology. It is packed full of features including a built-in phono stage, Bluetooth® streaming and a high quality headphone amplifier. More »
Prism Sound today launched its Callia DAC, a PCM and DSD capable DAC, pre-amplifier and headphone amp at Munich High-End. More »
A range of “MQA” music, the new hi-res format, will be launched on HIGHRESAUDIO at the HIGH END show in Munich. Customers will find an initial, hand-picked selection of high-quality releases from renowned labels including 2L, Acoustic Music Records, Bauer Studios / Neuklang, Eudora Records, Jazz Arts, Personality Records, Mons Records, Ozella Music and Triplet Records. Other labels and a broader range of recordings will be added in the coming weeks. More »
Keith Haddock got in touch with Hifi Pig to give us a round-up of what the brands he represents are bringing to High End Munich 2016 More »
TAGA Harmony invites visitors to this year’s High End Munich show to visit stand H02 in hall 3, where the brand will present its best and new products. More »
Trinnov will be at High End Munich 2016 showing a quad-amplified system including eight mono Mola-Mola Kaluga amplifiers and the five-driver, four way Vivid Audio Giya G2 loudspeakers. The Trinnov Altitude32-88 is the heart of this system, serving as preamp, DAC, and Network player for streaming audio. The Altitude32 will also provide the optimised four-way active crossovers and our Speaker/Room Optimiser in this high performance music system. More »
Franc Audio will be at this year’s High End Show in Munich where they will be exhibiting with Lawrence Audio and Ludwig Audio.
France Audio will have a brand new power distributor being used, something they are calling Power On-e. More »
Pure Audio Project have been in touch with Hifi Pig to tell us that the recently announced Trio15 A5000 open baffle loudspeaker system will be launched and playing at Munich High End Show next week !
The Trio15 A5000 features:
WVL A5000 Full Range Field Coil Driver
Trio15 Modular Open Baffle Chassis (Aluminium Frame and Baffles)
OB-A15NEO Woofers
Leonidas Crossover (with components for Trio15 A5000)
Power Supply has to be purchased Separately and the company recommend an industry standard.
Upgrade to Trio15 A5000 includes:
A5000 drivers (with Power Supply)
Mid baffles
Leonidas Crossovers (or their right components)
The Trio15 A5000 can be seen at Atrium Booth: A4.2 F231 at High End Munich where it will be playing with Thomas Mayer tube amps and PrimaryControl Kinea Reference Turntable (by Bernd Hemmen). 
Speakers Price: 7,395.-EUR/pair | 8,490.-US$
Upgrade, A5000 Driver + Leonidas Crossover Price: 4,690.-EUR/pair | 5,390.-USD
All prices are excl. VAT and shipping.
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Merging Technologies have said they are proud to announce that the result of a new partnership with Roon Labs will be on display on stand 3-L10/M07 and in the Special Sound Demonstration in Konferenzraum K1B at the HIGH END show in Munich. The concept of Roon’s player program being offered in integrated solutions is not new; there being many existing partners with products available, but this will be the first time that the focus will shift to a complete turnkey and networked solution offering multichannel capability up to DSD256 and DXD.
The Merging NADAC was launched at the 2015 HIGH END. A variety of player solutions including Merging’s own Emotion player can be used with an external computer but this concept is not the first choice for all users. The ‘single box’ solution with the software and the server combined with a DAC removes the need to have a computer in the living room. The system can then be controlled by tablet or smart phone. Integration details such as direct control of the NADAC volume and mute from the Roon user interface also adds to the overall ergonomics by simplifying the control of the entire system from one single page on one single tablet.
Merging also announced that this solution can be retrofitted to all Merging NADAC units already in the field and to any units shipping from now on, meaning early adopters can take advantage of the upgrade if they wish. Pricing and options for this solution, as well as cost for the upgrade of existing units and delivery date will be announced at Rocky Mountain.
Roon’s CEO, Enno Vandermeer commented; “We have admired the innovation and devotion to excellence that Merging has demonstrated with their entry into the audiophile market. This dovetails with our objective to be at the top of the performance table as well as having the best user experience.” On Merging’s behalf, Head of Software Engineering and NADAC Product Manager, Dominique Brulhart stated; “We have carefully evaluated the trends and needs of today’s audiophile and it is clear that a Roon enabled DAC is a very elegant solution. We are delighted to be working with our friends there to maximize all the advantages that we can both offer. Customers can still choose other player solutions with our technology, as well as other DACs with Roon, but we think this combination will be hard to beat.”
Analogue Works, whose turntable we use on a daily basis, are showing all of their turntables in Atrium 4, Level 2, Room F217 along with Rogue Audio amplification and EgglestonWorks loudspeakers at this year’s High End Show.
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Grimm Audio adds three new products to its catalogue, expanding their range of integrated music playback systems. The most prominent novelty is the LS1be. This loudspeaker features a new Berylium tweeter with a CNC milled aluminium waveguide, jointly developed by Grimm Audio and Seas. To match the performance of this tweeter, the amplifier and converter electronics of the LS1be received careful tweaking say the company.
Grimm Audio selected Hi-Macs for the new cabinets, a modern and very rigid material.
Counterweighting the treble performance, a new LS1s-dmf subwoofer was added for the low end. Mechatronics expert Rob Munnig Schmidt developed a Digital Motional Feedback system that, by means of feedback from an accelerometer on the cone, “reduces distortion by a 30 times”.
To offer the LS1 quality to a broader audience, Grimm Audio introduces the LS1a. This is a more cost effective sibling of the LS1, where the company focussed on maintaining all important aspects that make up the LS1, and compromising only in areas where this was passable.
Visit their room E118 at Munich High End 2016
Entotem say they are pleased to announce an addition to their Plato product range – The Class A amplifier Plato. This new power amplifier enhances Plato’s multi award winning sound while still providing all the features of the Plato Control App – all within the one unit.
Entotem have made a number of software and hardware enhancements to their existing Class B design to achieve this unique approach:
Even with the above changes Entotem say that heat is still a challenge and so they have significantly improved the power efficiency of their approach to output transistor biasing. By sampling the input signal in the digital domain Entotem are able to continuously modify and scale the output transistor biasing so that it can provide full instantaneous Class A operation.
Entotem have already launched Plato Lite early in 2016 and this is intended for all those people who already have HiFi Equipment, but want to take advantage of Plato’s vinyl recording and music streaming capabilities
Entotem released an iOS App in February 2016 to support the remote operation and playing of Plato by both iPADs and IPhones. The iOS app will have a different user interface to the Android version and will be familiar to Apple users. This first release will provide the majority of the functions that can be accessed by Android devices, with a further release due in 2016 to enable full matching of the functionality.
Another introduction to Plato’s functionality is the integration of a high-resolution music download service from High Res Audio. This was launched in February 2016 and the service will now show as an additional main menu option within the Plato control App. Once a High Res Audio user account has been opened, the user will be able to search for Hi-Res Albums and tracks and when the download has been purchased store it directly into the media library within Plato, to be then selected for local play or streaming throughout the home.
Plato users will be able to copy any music or video stored on Plato to any other device that can be located on the home network that also has a Plato App i.e. tablet or phone. This will be for Android devices now and for iOS devices later in 2016. This allows greater flexibility for Plato users to enjoy their media and to make it portable with them if they leave the house. Entotem have also made enhancements to the video search and overall video experience after feedback from customers and these new enhancements are now available.
When Entotem launched Plato in 2015 the company committed that the Plato App would develop over time and customers would be able to leverage their investment in Plato by accessing new developments, and these announcements are evidence of that commitment.
The Plato system along with the new Plato app developments can be seen throughout the first half of 2016 at shows and exhibitions in UK and Europe.
Dave Belcher, Entotem’s Development Director says “ The iOS app has been a major project for Entotem that we started in the autumn last year and we expect to complete the full range of what Plato can do to be released for our iOS customers early in 2016 as the major part of the project has now been delivered.”
Plato can now be found at selected Hifi Stores in the UK as well as in Germany, where a distributor has been appointed to sell Plato. Other countries are being investigated and in particular the USA and Canada.
During the High End Show in May Entotem will be providing a variety of demonstrations featuring the full Plato range and visitors will get the chance to meet the technical team that built such an innovative product. Entotem will also be able to update visitors to the show on our further plans around streaming services and the other exciting new product developments we are working on to be launched later in 2016.
Estelon are unveiling of the Y-Series débutante loudspeakers, the Model YB, to be conducted at High End Show in Munich (May 5-8) at the MOC; Atrium 4; Room F216.
“Hand-crafted in the atelier of Alfred Vassilkov, Model YB seamlessly combines exceptionally rich, natural life-like sound and the exquisite Estelon aesthetic design” says the company who never fail to impress at High End.
Chord Electronics is showing two new proprietary-tech amplifiers at High End 2016, including the highly anticipated complementary power amp for the Hugo TT DAC (Room C122, Atrium 3)
The TToby is a new desktop stereo power amplifier designed to complement the Hugo TT DAC (pictured) and take advantage of its digital preamp functionality. The TToby has been created using the same form factor as the Hugo TT and its introduction enables desktop audio lovers to create a Chord system where space is tight.
The new TToby (around £2,995 and available August/late summer) will offer Chord’s proprietary amplifier technology and deliver 130 watts into a four-ohm load. The Hugo TT and TToby combination, allows music lovers to enjoy the benefits of Chord’s DAC technology via headphones and loudspeakers, giving complete flexibility within busy households. TToby offers both balanced and unbalanced inputs to complement the Hugo TT’s outputs, and benefits from Chord’s famous switch-mode power supplies.
The new SPM1050MkII is a 200-watt stereo power amp which introduces a raft of internal upgrades, plus a number of aesthetic improvements over its predecessor. The new MkII version, which will be priced at £4,995 and is available now, benefits from reduced output distortion and improvements to capacitance for a bigger, cleaner power delivery, says the companys recent press release.
The new SPM1050MkII uses the latest low-distortion amplifier circuitry and features four proprietary lateral-structure dual-die MOSFETs, enabling the amp to drive a wide range of difficult loudspeaker loads. The MkII version also includes greater isolation on the mains transformer, to reduce interference.
Aesthetic improvements include a new vented aluminium lid, akin to the DSX1000 streamer, plus a new piano-black side panel option over the Integra legs, giving the power amp a fresh, contemporary look. The amp will be performing at High End alongside the flagship DAVE DAC/preamp, using Bowers and Wilkins 803 D3s — it should be quite a performance!
Lector Strumenti Audio will be presenting their new “R-series” at this year’s High-End Munich and you will have the opportunity to enjoy their products in their demo room, in a relaxing environment, “with a bit of Italian taste”. The demo room will be booth R01 demo room P03, Halle 4, at the High End Exhibition.
Lector Strumenti Audio has been pioneering hybrid technology since 1982, designing and introducing in the market the very first tube-based, Audio CD player and DAC back in 1989. Ever since, their product portfolio has been growing.
The High-End show in Munich is always a big event for T+A and 2016 is no exception, with this year’s show seeing the launch of the all new E-Series 1000 audio electronics and a totally new range of loudspeakers – Pulsar.
The All New 1000 R Series consists of three products – R 1000 E music receiver, PA 1000 E integrated amplifier and MP 1000 E DAC / network client. Featuring the latest music streaming technology (including integrated streaming apps such as TIDAL, DEEZER and qobuz) and digital audio technology, the all-new E-Series 1000 showcases T+A’s long heritage of combining the latest digital audio technology with trusted analogue audio techniques.
T+A has a long heritage of creating exceptional loudspeakers and this year’s High End see’s the launch of the all new Pulsar 20 range. Featuring a floorstanding model (ST 20) and stand mount model (R 20), each model is finished in black or white high gloss lacquer.
You’ll find them in Atrium 3 – Room D 102 and D 105
French firm Trinnov that designs and manufactures preamplifiers and processors featuring loudspeaker/room optimization and 3D sound technologies will be at the High End Munich show next week in Atrium 4.0 / F203. 
The company say they are looking forward to the event and will be demoing the following kit. The Altitude32, their flagship AV Preamplifier will be used as network streamer preamplifier, 4-way active crossover, loudspeaker/room Optimizer and DAC. It will feed 8x Mola-Mola Kaluga mono blocks which will power a pair of Vivid Audio Giya G2 loudspeakers.
Finnish loudspeaker manufacturer, Amphion Loudspeakers, officially launched its passive studio monitors line at the NAMM show in January 2015. Argon3S keeps many aspects of Amphion’s bookshelf speaker Argon3, while incorporating the passive radiator and crossover technology from the studio monitors. Amphion say that one of the distinguishing features of Argon3S, as well as all the other Argon and Helium models, is “that you can fully enjoy optimal sound quality even when you are not sitting in the sweet spot”. Multiple Grammy Award winning mixing engineer Dave Reitzas (Madonna, Celine Dion, Seal, Michael Buble, Fifty Shades of Grey) says that with the Argon3S: “The whole room is a sweet spot.”
Visitors at the High End show in Munich will be able to experience Amphion’s loudspeakers and learn more about their specifics from Amphion’s owner and Managing Director, Anssi Hyvönen, in Atrium 3.1, room D109.
Argon3S is priced at €1075 (walnut veneer €1175) per piece, incl. VAT.
Concrete Audio will present its exceptionally different concept of loudspeakers made of concrete from 5th – 8th May in Munich at High-End.
The company will premiere of their new subwoofer S1, showcase the audiophile floorstander N1 and the ultra flat on-wall speaker F1.
Nils Lofgren had the following to say about the the N1 loudspeaker “Concrete Audio is not only referring to the material the speakers are made of but also to the sound, being just that, concrete. I have never in my life heard Chet Baker sound so good! If you are looking for concrete sound, check out Concrete Audio.”, so they should make for an interesting listen.
Concrete Audio will be in Hall 3, Booth N04, MOC Munich.
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