High End Munich 2025

The most exciting products we saw at Europe's top show for premium kit

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High End Munich is the annual showcase of the biggest launches from the heaviest hitters in the hi-fi industry. And this year's show continued to deliver the goods with a raft of audio products to get mouths watering and wallets sweating nervously.

Living up to the show's name, many of the new hi-fi products we saw at 2025's event were appropriately 'high end' in price, with five- and six-figure price tags being the norm rather than the exception in the sprawling halls. There were, however, a handful of products available at real-world money that we are just as excited about as the big, shiny, flagship products with the wow factor.

The What Hi-Fi? team spent a whirlwind couple of days at High End Munich 2025, and what follows are the biggest launches and most exciting hi-fi products we encountered. From giant subwoofers and transparent turntables to elegant floorstanders and a surprise reveal from a more than 40-year-old brand...

Burmester Reference Line

We'll start off with one of the more wallet-busting new launches we saw at High End, and perhaps one of the most minimalist yet striking-looking designs.

Burmester unveiled a brand-new range of Reference Line products, comprising the 257 turntable, the 249 preamplifier and the 259 stereo power amplifier.

Which one do you fancy? If you need a turntable, the 257 boasts an inverted magnetic main bearing, two high-torque motors and an optical sensor system for outstanding rotational accuracy.

Or, you could splash out on the mighty 259 power amplifier: it has a claimed power output of 500W into a four-ohm load, which rises to 1500W when the amp is used as a monoblock. And the 249 preamplifier is modular, with the option to add streaming, phono and extra analogue inputs