Audiophiles behaving badly

By my estimation, this year's High End hi-fi show—the last in Munich before the world's largest audio show moves to Vienna—was a major success, perhaps the first I've attended since the pandemic that managed to completely escape that shadow. Every day but Sunday it was very busy—sometimes too busy; on the busiest days, the hallways at the MOC convention center reminded me of NYC's Fifth Avenue on Black Friday, an experience I've had once and hope to never have again. Most important: I heard a lot of really good sound.

- JIM AUSTIN

What did I hear that was special? I heard far less than I wanted to—a small minority of everything—since I spent much of the show in meetings. But I do recall some highlights.

The multimillion-euro Wilson/D’Agostino/dCS/Stromtank system achieved its shock-and-awe aims.1 When the storied bass drum from the Telarc Stravinsky Firebird hit, I literally jumped out of my chair. But it wasn't all pyrotechnics; it was a lovely, full, rich presentation in a very large room. Audiovector's new R 10 loudspeakers were sounding very good in the Audiovector room, but to me the same speakers sounded even better in the CH Precision room, whether driven by CH Precision 10 Series electronics or, briefly, by a much smaller and cheaper Wattson Audio system.2 I also heard excellent sound from the new Lohengrin amplifiers and the other components in the VTL room, also with Wilson speakers. Wadax with their Music Player, Pilium amplification, and Magico sounded superb. See stereophile.com/category/munich-2025 for complete show coverage.

On the other hand, I witnessed (or in some cases heard about) some unfortunate incidents of questionable conduct by showgoers—unusual at a hi-fi show. In the aforementioned VTL room, a visitor decided to adjust the turntable's vertical tracking force, and when asked to stop, didn't. He was escorted from the room.