Munich High End Show 2017

[The Computer Audiophile]

29 minutes ago, PeterSt said:

 

Yes, I have been pondering with the exact same idea. But at the time I thought of it back at the time and prior to a show, there wasn't enough time left to make such a feature.

And thinking of it ... while we "digitus'" would be able to even automate it, LP exhibitors would have a slightly large problem; especially in preparing (what's their library ?).

 

In practice it will bring a couple of more problems because in the end this is what I did with a show a few weeks back, but at inviting the auditioners. For example, you need to know your turn (say in 32 minutes) but meanwhile nothing can interfere much or you are waiting for another 30 minutes for your Pearl Jam, while Beethoven and Mozart play (never together though ). In the end this gets messy because if you have to wait too long you want to bail out (or just don't show up).

Anyway, this really needs an "application" and it won't be super simple.

 

Roon could do this easily. 

 

If I queue up Pearl Jam and it's going to be 30 minutes until it's played, I will easily see this by looking at the queue. I can stay or leave and come back in 30 minutes. 

 

I have no problem if people don't like the music. As it is now, nobody wants to hear Nils lofgren anymore! t least with the playlist, someone is guaranteed to enjoy the music. 

[#Yoda#]

Not directly at the HighEnd show, but on the simultaneous hifideluxe show in the Marriott Hotel Munich, the Kii THREE with the new Kii CONTROL from Kii Audio. Innovative active speakers with great sound.

 

[JoseL]

23 hours ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

There are no pictures, but Roon is coming out with two pieces of hardware that will run ROCK / RoonOS.

Hi Chris and thanks for reporting the show.

Could you please elaborate more on this? Did you get to see the actual units and/or talk to anybody from RoonLabs?

TIA

[The Computer Audiophile]

44 minutes ago, m5sime said:

Hi @The Computer Audiophile Chris, any chance of finding out more about the new Brooklyn Class D Amp from Mytek? Many of us here have the Brooklyn DAC. 

 

http://www.monoandstereo.com/2017/05/new-mytek-brooklyn-amplifier.html?m=1

 

I wonder who's class D tech inside? Eg ncore. 

 

Thank you!! 

 

Looking into it right now for you. 

[m5sime]

8 minutes ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

 

Looking into it right now for you. 

Thank you x 100 ☺

[The Computer Audiophile]

SOtM ultra series 

 

 

[Solstice380]

19 minutes ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

SOtM ultra series

 

Did you get a listen?

[Nikhil]

The Beast Switzerland 

One of the best rooms for me.  No DSP, no room treatments, nothing.   Absolare amps. Breathtaking sound. 

[The Computer Audiophile]

1 hour ago, JoseL said:

Hi Chris and thanks for reporting the show.

Could you please elaborate more on this? Did you get to see the actual units and/or talk to anybody from RoonLabs?

TIA

 

It has been in the works for awhile. I talked to the Room guys again here and they said they would announce it to the public yesterday. 

 

One i3 and one i7 version. Uses a NUC inside but very nice case. Will be sold at retailers. 

[The Computer Audiophile]

17 minutes ago, Solstice380 said:

 

Did you get a listen?

Only static display. Had a good chat with them though. 

[The Computer Audiophile]

1 hour ago, m5sime said:

Thank you x 100 ☺

The guy who was at the booth wouldn't divulge the info. Michal wasn't available. I'll investigate further. 

[Jud]

3 hours ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

More Constellation Audio Leo. I really like this product. The sound quality really is something the other products in the category haven't matched. I listened for quite a while this afternoon. 

 

Edit: Constellation is shooting for fall 2017 release and less than $5,000 MSRP. 

 

The silver color is wonderful. 

 

Did they get Frank Gehry to design that?

[miguelito]

 

3 hours ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

More Constellation Audio Leo. I really like this product. The sound quality really is something the other products in the category haven't matched. I listened for quite a while this afternoon. 

 

Edit: Constellation is shooting for fall 2017 release and less than $5,000 MSRP. 

 

The silver color is wonderful. 

That thing is gorgeous, though it would remind me more than other equipment how much I'm paying for the case!

[Jud]

8 minutes ago, miguelito said:

 

That thing is gorgeous, though it would remind me more than other equipment how much I'm paying for the case!

 

I wonder what if anything it shares in concept and execution with Demian Martin's Auraliti designs?

[firedog]

24 minutes ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

The guy who was at the booth wouldn't divulge the info. Michal wasn't available. I'll investigate further. 

Sort of funny. If they licensed technology, just say so. If it is proprietary, just say that. What's the big deal? Pretty much every company who makes Class D does it that way.

[Forehaven]

4 hours ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

More Constellation Audio Leo. I really like this product. The sound quality really is something the other products in the category haven't matched. I listened for quite a while this afternoon. 

 

Edit: Constellation is shooting for fall 2017 release and less than $5,000 MSRP. 

 

The silver color is wonderful. 

Am I the only one to find this look unattractive?

 

And Thanks for the updates Chris and All!

[Madra]

9 minutes ago, Forehaven said:

Am I the only one to find this look unattractive?

 

 

No you are not.... another case of adding complications where none is needed.

[The Computer Audiophile]

5 minutes ago, Madra said:

No you are not.... another case of adding complications where none is needed.

 

What do you mean by complications? Lamborghini must have many complications in its cars :~)

[Superdad]

I believe the Constellation Leo chassis is another Alex Rasmussen (Neal Feay Company) design.  Aside from Neal Feay being one of the few firms set up and capable of that sort or work (at modest quantity and not too astronomical cost), Alex's esthetic has become recognizable.  Dozens of USA hi-fi manufacturers use Neal Feay Co. for turnkey machining/finishing, and more than a handful go in and give Mr. Rasmussen semi-free rein to present them with his industrial design ideas.  

[Superdad]

15 minutes ago, Madra said:

No you are not.... another case of adding complications where none is needed.

 

At least no inconsiderate house guest will be able to set their drink on top of it! 

[m5sime]

1 hour ago, firedog said:

Sort of funny. If they licensed technology, just say so. If it is proprietary, just say that. What's the big deal? Pretty much every company who makes Class D does it that way.

Thinking about it 2x 300w into 8ohms according to the released information is alot in that small chassis..  I'd assume one of the ucd, ice power or ncore amps with integrated smps such as this.

 

I would expect tfrom the description that Mytek have used their own buffer stage 

 

https://www.hypex.nl/img/upload/doc/ncore_mp/nc502mp/Documentation/NC502MP_02xx_03xx.pdf

[Keith_W]

52 minutes ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

 

What do you mean by complications? Lamborghini must have many complications in its cars :~)

 

And I think that Lamborghini's are hideous as well. Give me purity of form any day. That god-awful box looks as if it fell off the back of a truck. 

[rando]

59 minutes ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

 

What do you mean by complications? Lamborghini must have many complications in its cars :~)

More of a watch reference than automobiles.  When affluence goes to pure cheese and you begin collecting ugly items for their ugliness instead of their higher design and unusually high level of function.  A watch built with 12 complication yet has a face that tells you nothing whilst being impossible not to stare at, being a prime example.

 

54 minutes ago, Superdad said:

 

At least no inconsiderate house guest will be able to set their drink on top of it! 

Given the current trend in wine glasses, impossible to sit down on a flat surface, that plan might backfire with those angles.

[manisandher]

I’m now on my way home from the show. I managed to sit down and take a good listen to many systems, including: Living Voice/Kondo, MSB, Einstein, dCS, Göbel, Wilson Benesch, Aries Cerat, Sound Galleries, Avantgarde Acoustic, Cessaro, Kawero/Kondo, Magico/Spectral, MBL, Thöress, Tune Audio, Silatone/WE, Elrog, soulution, hORNS, Tidal, Mark Levinson, Marten, Stein and TAD, among others.

 

All my photos came out horribly, so I’ll leave others to post their photos instead.

 

Ordinarily, I wouldn’t do this, but because they were amongst the most expensive systems at the show, here are my biggest disappointments of the last two days:

 

3. Living Voice. This is the first time I’ve listened to the Vox Palladians, but have heard the Vox Olympians a few times before. I wasn’t that impressed with the Olympians, and am even less impressed with the Palladians. Mind you, so I should be – as displayed, the Palladians only cost 2/3 of the Olympians’ $800,000 price tag!

 

2. Cessaro. This is the second time I’ve listened to the Gammas at the Munich show. I forced myself to sit through 30 minutes or so of ‘music’. In that time, most people came in, sat down for all of 30 seconds and walked back out. I was mightily tempted to do the same myself many times.

 

1. Magico/Spectral. The last time I heard Magicos was when they partnered with soulution a few years ago at Munich. I was underwhelmed back then, and unfortunately, partnering the S3s with Spectral hasn’t seemed to help one iota. A totally dead sound, as far as I’m concerned. How people can rant and rave about them is totally beyond me.

 

OK, on to the cool-sounding stuff. My top systems were:

 

3. Aries Cerat. Wow, what a dynamic and totally immersive sound. Slightly edgy off centre, but in the sweet spot were massively impressive. Finally, a system with a bit of life!

 

2. Silbatone/WE. So easy on the ear, and yet so detailed and intricate. I would have liked a bit more ‘kick’ from time to time though. But really can’t complain... for an 85 year-old pair of speakers!

 

1. Tune Audio/Trafomatic. OK, I’m probably a bit biased... This year, Tune Audio left the Animas at home and instead brought along the newer, larger and more expensive Avatons, mated with a gorgeous pair of Trafomatic Elysium SE tube amps. I heard the system on the Friday and wasn’t overly impressed. But I went back today and really, really enjoyed the sound. I stayed for an hour or so, and everything Manolis played sounded great. Only a handful of systems I’ve ever heard have matched this level of performance IMHO. My only criticism was that the sound was a tad too bright, but this could be easily solved.

 

Overall, I phenomenal two days. It’s a shame I didn’t bump into any other CAers though. Oh well, maybe next time.

 

Mani.

[Ralf11]

5 hours ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

I just thought of an idea I would love to see at shows. Manufacturers may not like it, but here it goes: a large touchscreen at the door where people can add songs to the queue and wait to hear their songs. I would listen to way more stuff for way longer if this was in place. 

 

seems like a good idea but the showers seem highly restrictive in their choices to begin with

 

better rooms might be the most critical thing to address...

 

BTW, is that  a new Levinson component?