HIGH END MUNICH 2022 SHOW REPORT BIRD’S EYE VIEW PART 2

Linette continues around the rooms of 4.1 at the MOC with Ortofon and Techdas, Mofi, Hana, DS Audio and Exposure, Monitor Audio and Roksan, Audio Physic and Primare, Totaldac, Verity Audio, Alare and Audia Flight, Marten and Jorma, CH Precision, Cessaro, Alieno and TW Acustic, Magico and Cambridge Audio.

Continuing around the rooms of 4.1 on Saturday afternoon it was really apparent just how popular the show was, the queues of the morning at not dissipated and the place was rammed. Luckily it was a little cooler than it had been on Friday, but some rooms were impossible to actually get a proper listen in. However, I am not one to let crowds get in the way of coverage for our readers and hopefully you will enjoy the coverage of the next lot of rooms here, there’s some really lovely gear to come…

Ortofon had a nice little system running with the MC Diamond cartridge on a TechDas Airforce V turntable with Audiovector speakers.

Hana cartridges, DS Audio, Exposure and Mofi were all represented in the High Fidelity room next door.

Monitor Audio are currently celebrating their 50th Anniversary and released the little Silver 100 Limited Edition Loudspeakers just before the show, but of course, everyone really wanted to see and hear the Monitor Concept 50 speakers. We had embargoed info sent on these and, to be honest, I thought they looked like giant clothes pegs. In the flesh they were much smaller than I thought they would be and they looked incredible, a real ‘think outside the box’ design. Great finish on them and a fresh, detailed sound…pretty impressive!

The Monitor Concept 50 feature a tightly grouped tweeter and mid-range cluster called ‘The Array’, plus a compact inward-facing pair of force cancelled bass assemblies., all packed into the futuristic ‘clothes peg’. Part of the tweeter/mid array is the ‘definitive version’ of the Micro Pleated Diaphragm (MPD) high-frequency transducer.

The enclosed bass cabinet is made of mineral and acrylic stone which has been thermoformed and precision machined. Meanwhile, the mid and high-frequency drivers are mounted within a precision-machined solid aluminium baffle combined with a custom-designed and 3D printed enclosure tuned to the mid-range drivers’ requirements. The speakers weigh 96kg each and the price is yet to be announced.

Also on display was a Roksan Xerxes 20 Plus turntable and Roksan Caspian Vinyl System Control 2 along with a Blox Stax stand.

Audio Physic and Primare were together in the next room sounding very nice with the Audio Physic Avantera speakers and Primare electronics. there were signs around in the hall outside mentioning the new flagship Audio Physic Medeos, but they didn’t have them in the system when I was in the room.

Totaldac were next. The French brand had got a last-minute room at the MOC, so as well as having a system in their regular spot at the HiFi Deluxe show, read about that here, they brought a second van and a second system…Vincent and the team do not do things by halves! The full Totaldac system featured The full Totaldac system featured the new d1-switch Totaldac ethernet switch, d1-player, d1-streamer-mk2, Totaldac ethernet cable/filters, reclocker d1-digital-mk2, new d1-twelve-mk3 DAC with UP12 AES-EBU cables, -live-power power supply, d1-driver monoblocs, the stereo version of the Totaldac Amp-1 amplifier and the new d100%wood speakers. The larger room was perfect for this system, the real synergy in a ‘nose to tail’ system all designed and made by one brand was apparent… I think the world is ready to realise that Totaldac do so much more than just DACs!

Verity Audio were introducing their new Arindal loudspeakers and the new integrated amplifier Verity INT-100. They were also using a Melco Digital Music library, I think the Melco N10 two-box model.

Alare and Audia Flight were up next. Audia Flight are an Italian high end electronics brand and Alare Labs are their new sister company producing loudspeakers. The Audia Flight Strumento N°8 Mono-block Power Amplifiers paired wonderfully with Alare Reminga 2 loudspeakers. Visually they were a treat with the red stripey wood finish on the Remingas really catching my eye, they were stunning. The Alare Reminga 2 are a transmission line speaker with an internal steel bar cage in the cabinet. Sound wise this has to be said it was also stunning, everything worked and, hilariously, they were playing Keith Don’t Go by Nils Lofgren. Usually, this tune gets played to death at HiFi Shows…I think I heard it twice at this show, but to be honest, I have missed hearing ‘Keith’ over the last couple of years. This room really showed what a great tune it actually is, it sounded alive and dynamic and I just sat down and enjoyed it. Well done guys, bravo!

The finish on the Alare Reminga 2 speakers was stunning

Quadraspire amp stands and Signal cables were also used

Marten And Jorma shared a room with the world premiere of Jorma Power Filter Reference and Mingus Quintet 2, which was another world premiere. MSB Select DAC and MSB Monoblock M500 amplifiers with Jorma Statement cables completed the system with room acoustics SMT.

CH Precision was litereally a quick sweep to take some pictures as rhere was a very, I am sure, interesting talk being given at the time.

Cessaro had their eye catching horns in the next room along with a TW Acustic turntable and stunning valve amplification from Alieno (power and pre amp, which you can see on the rack). Really lovely, kind of a futuristic reimagining of Art Deco style. ‘Keith’ was back in this room and while there wasn’t really the space in the room to get the full ‘live’ experience as there was in Audia Flight/Alare, it still sounded pretty good.

Magico are not a brand that particularly floats my boat but I know they have plenty of fans out there. It might be hearing them in show situations that is the issue and I can’t say they sound bad, just a bit ‘meh’ to my ears. Electronics were Pilium from Greece and I’m pretty sure the MSB Select DAC in the 3 box configuration in black.

Cambridge Audio caught my ear because they were playing great music, Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots Part 1 by The Flaming Lips, so they deserve a mention!

That’s it for this part…much more still to come!

Linette Smith

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