There’s always a certain excitement in the run up to Munich High End and this year was no different in that respect. For weeks (months actually) Mrs Hifi Pig (Lin) has had the train and plane tickets booked and has managed to wind herself into a fever of anticipation. We did the journey a little differently this year and instead of getting to Paris and taking the “cattle class” overnight train to Munich we got to Paris and flew the rest of the journey.

The omens were good that this year would be a fabulous extravaganza of music and hifi when on the train to Charles De Gaulle a group of Spanish (or perhaps Italian) buskers got on and treated us to some great tunes.

Now, Terminal 1 at Charles De Gaulle is not the most salubrious of places and so please take note Mr Boss Of The Airport, a skanky sandwich that looks like it’s been sat in the display cabinet for the last millennium does not the weary traveler satisfy… we were forced to sate our hunger (OK thirst) with the regulatory buckets of tepid wine.

Not that this experience was all bad…I witnessed what must qualify as the most proficient and expert chat up of a young woman that I’ve ever seen. I’ll set the scene…body guard and heavily tattooed American rapper (I’m presuming here, but he was wearing “rap clothes” and a gold chain that wouldn’t have looked out of place on the front end of an ocean liner with an anchor on the end) walk into the lounge, body guard walks up to the bar/”refreshment” area and orders drinks and snacks. Whilst all this is happening our rapper friend (OK, he could have been a classical musician on the way to perform in Stuttgart, but I really don’t think so) makes a beeline for a stunning looking lady, mutters something to her and awaits her response which comes quickly as “I can’t speak, I have to fly now”. Undeterred our hero follows her to the seat she’s escaped to uttering “There’s no need to be afraid of me baby doll” ….then within perhaps twenty seconds they are exchanging telephone numbers, the gate opens and they board their flight to Stuttgart…I’d have loved to have known how that ended out.

Long story short, we arrive in Munich, get to the hotel, have a meal and get a relatively early night for the marathon that is Munich High End.

If you’ve never attended the High End show in Munich then let me tell you, the first time is daunting…and like a lot of things in life that folk tell you you’ll never forget, it ends up all a bit of a blur and you not really knowing what you’ve done, who with, or even if you enjoyed it or not. We bumped into the guys that make the VAD DAC that we use in the main system on the Sunday (it was their first day) and they declared the show unorganized and confusing….”It’s your first time isn’t it” say I…and of course, it was. You get used to high End after a day or so and if you are ever prepared to make a significant journey just for a day I’d suggest to rethink, book the whole weekend off and give Munich High End the time and effort it deserves…I also suggest you get yourself organized, get a map of the event and cross off what you have seen…and when you run out of time on the Sunday go see the exhibitors that you REALLY wanted to see but somehow missed. Like the thing I alluded to before, Munich gets better the more you do it and you get more proficient…so, if you were a Munich High End virgin in 2015 and felt a bit overwhelmed with the whole hot, sweaty and sticky outcome, I suggest you get straight back on the horse and book the time off for next year’s event, safe in the knowledge that second time round you’ll be much better at the whole thing.

If you’ve never been to High End (or you put it off this year), then make your excuses with your boss, book your flights (avoiding Terminal One at CDG) and get yourself there…it truly is THE Hifi show to beat all Hifi shows…bar none!

Strap yourselves in folks for over the coming few days Hifi Pig is going to bring you loads of great pictures from High End Munich and lots of reports from the show, as well as what we thought. We’ll also be announcing what we deemed to be our favourite room at the whole of High End.

Read all our High End 2015 coverage in one place

Stu