High End 2018 - Our Highlights
At the latest since the topic of hi-fi has played virtually no role at CES in Las Vegas, the position of the annual High End in Munich is clear: without a doubt, it is the most important hi-fi trade show in the world. Accordingly, the rush is huge—both beforehand with exhibition spaces selling out long in advance, and during the actual event. Hundreds of exhibitors and thousands of trade and regular visitors from all over the world met again this year at the MOC in Munich to exchange ideas about the latest developments in high-quality audio and video playback.
By now, High End has reached a scale that makes truly comprehensive coverage absolutely impossible. That's why the following overview should be understood as a very personal and subjective selection. We simply photographed and described what we particularly liked.
Numerous Activities and Events
The organizers don't rest on the success of their show, but instead try every year to offer visitors something special with special exhibitions, concerts, or prominent guests. This year, in addition to the already established special presentation of young hi-fi startups and the lectures by High End Kolleg, the headphone listening bar in the entrance area and the visit from the well-known Norwegian composer and musician Kari Bremnes stood out. The singer visited numerous exhibitors, was available for an extensive autograph session, and discussed with other experts the importance of good sound for music playback from the artist's perspective.
Spirit of Departure at Audio Physic
The speaker specialist from Brilon, Audio Physic, presented itself in Munich not only with a new distributor for Germany, but above all with exciting new speaker models. The successful Classic series will be expanded with several new products over the course of the year, but the absolute highlight was the powerful new flagship called Structure in an elegant carbon finish.
New Scientist at Audionet
The Berlin inventors around company head Thomas Gessler are rounding off their Scientist series at the entry level and are essentially combining the STERN preamplifier with the HEISENBERG power amplifiers in a single chassis. Audionet named the resulting integrated amplifier HUMBOLDT, and the powerful unit aims to set nothing less than new standards in the absolute high-end class.
Goosebumps with Avantgarde Acoustic
As usual, the demonstration at Avantgarde Acoustic is among the best—and most spectacular—of the entire High End show. This year, too, they lived up to their reputation and especially demonstrated the superiority and resolution of the elegant horn speakers, particularly with quieter pieces. For those who enjoy unbridled dynamics, a powerful DJ set was presented once a day. Of course, there were also new product highlights to see, such as a special edition of the DUO MEZZO in real piano lacquer, as well as a new matte surface coating that is now available for all Avantgarde horns.
Premieres at Chord Electronics
At a well-attended press event, British manufacturer Chord Electronics announced two new products that are expected to be available during the year. The new power amplifier Étude from the compact Choral series is based on a completely newly developed amplifier concept, which is planned to be incorporated into all corresponding devices from the British company over the coming years. The HUGO TT 2, on the other hand, is the further development of the successful desktop D/A converter HUGO TT and is expected to sonically approach the reference converter DAVE, which costs almost twice as much.
40 Years of Clearaudio
Unimpressed by hip hypes and short-lived trends, Clearaudio has been building some of the best turntables in the world in Franconia for exactly 40 years—we warmly congratulate them on this anniversary. But those who know Clearaudio know that the people from Erlangen hardly need help when it comes to celebrating. For the big birthday, they treated themselves to a freshly restored VW bus from the fifties, in which—not entirely seriously, of course—a car turntable derived from the Statement was atmospherically staged. It became an absolute crowd-puller in Munich!
But there were also serious premieres to admire, with a whole series of anniversary products, including "Jubilee" versions of the well-known MM and MC cartridges, as well as the Reference Jubilee turntable, whose construction principle seemed somehow familiar to our Herbert Lindemann ...
Naim Fully Connected
Traditional manufacturer Naim continues to focus on streaming and showcased in Munich the recently introduced network players ND 555, NDX 2, and ND 5 XS 2. All three models combine the latest digital technology with an authentically sounding analog section, thus ingeniously uniting modern media use and top-quality sound.
