There was good music and a good atmosphere at the HIGH END 2024. The trade fair was even more crowded and diverse than last year. No clear trend was discernible. Of course, there was again heavy high-end with ever more unusual combinations of equipment, whose purpose was not always clear and whose price tag was sometimes in the seven-figure range.
As a review site for smart hi-fi, headphones and Bluetooth, we can largely ignore this. There was also a lot of news to report in these areas. The larger and more diverse “World of Headphones” in Hall 1 was a particular attraction, for which two days of visitors would not have been enough. When it came to headphones, we not only found many exciting new models, but also a growing variety of playback and comparison options.
We also got our money’s worth in terms of technology in Munich this year: active loudspeakers are becoming ever more sophisticated and compact at the same time. The manufacturers of digital sources shot off a firework display of innovations: The variety of sources, sound quality and ease of use with which you can listen to digital music today never ceases to amaze us.
The retro design wave that began last year did not subside in 2024. It is pleasing to note that more and more manufacturers are focusing on compact formats for their devices and are pushing the boundaries of living room-friendly form and quality to a level that we have only seen in real high-end components to date.
Retro hi-fi and designer hi-fi – but modern!
Ruark Audio with “Back to the future”!
A retro compact system straight out of a picture book was on display at TAD: Ruark offers the triple combination of streaming receiver and two compacts in a stylish 1960s housing. The screen with an astonishing number of modern functions integrates seamlessly. The steering wheel at the top is tailored to modern lowboards or shelves.
Sound with brains: Morality
Studio monitor, mobile Bluetooth speaker, portable radio, design object – the new series from Morel is somehow everything at once. In the color-blocking style of the 1990s, the Israeli manufacturer displayed the entire, with the exception of signal red, rather pastel color palette on golden mannequins. We will remember the name, as the company already has a good reputation for self-build chassis and built-in speakers.
Retro & Ultra High End: The classic Wilson Watt/Puppy!
A high-end loudspeaker manufacturer that can celebrate its 50th anniversary can count itself lucky. At Wilson Audio from the USA, the faces were all the happier because the company is still in family hands after the death of the founder. To celebrate, there is a completely redeveloped version of the classic Watt/Puppy. Mansour Mamaghani from German distributor Audio Reference showed old and new side by side – a timeless classic!
Rusty look outside, perfect technology inside: AVM
In the tuner scene for cars, there is the term “rat look” – bodies without a protective layer of paint, where the rust becomes the unmistakable look. This idea of the unique “Mad Max design” also came to the supplier Schmid Frontplatten with a device from the German electronics brand AVM. The high-end manufacture of the company, which is based in Sinzheim near Baden-Baden, thus demonstrated its skills with a wink.
Conductor with retro speakers: Audio Vector
The retro idea also involves transferring not only design visions but also technical concepts into the modern age. Nowhere was this more credible than with Audio Vector. The Danish manufacturer is celebrating its 45th anniversary this year. Company founder and chief developer Ole Kliffoth presented a completely new version of his “Trapeze” loudspeaker. With a slanted baffle for time alignment, it was ahead of its time in 1979. And even today, it is leading a trend within the retro wave with its experience-oriented tuning.
High-end cigar and active sculptures – Meridian
Modern times are now even gripping traditional British forges. John Buchenan, Chief Executive Officer of Meridian Audio, personally presented the Huntingdon-based brand’s first powerful all-in-one streaming speaker. The Meridian Ellipse combines the technological, engineering and manufacturing advances of the Meridian DSP8000 XE and DSP9 in a compact yet powerful design. It has an exceptionally rigid and perfectly sealed enclosure that houses powerful drivers and DSP technologies for signal enhancement. New control options, including Image Elevation technology and the innovative Bass and Space function, allow listeners to tailor the sound to their preferences, background noise, room size and speaker placement.
Affordable tube sound: Feliks Audio with A&K
We had not yet identified headphone amplifiers with a retro look as an explicit trend. The new amplifier series from Feliks Audio is a real eye-catcher thanks to the solid wood elements with black aluminum. For the ear too, because the cult 300B tubes are used here. The name Envy Performance definitely fits!
Active, smart, with full range driver: Audium
We weren’t expecting the friendly team from Audium/Visonik in the hall, but under the roof. Frank Urban presented the completed Audium Comp Air series. The fully active loudspeaker columns with built-in amplifiers and streamers have a special technical feature that is actually known from the vintage hi-fi and tube scene: full range drivers. With bass support in the base, they play particularly homogeneously, spatially and accurately.
Streaming, active speakers and heavyweights
Backes&Müller with line source speakers in the compact speakers
Modern living rooms are normally acoustically taboo for compact speakers, B&M explained to us. If only because such rooms reverberate far too much. The new Backes&Müller Jubilé IO with special line source promises a compact speaker that effortlessly fills such spaces with direct sound. We were so impressed by the rich but dry low bass and the dynamic response that we wanted to hear the larger models again. The huge BMLine 60 (in the background outside) was the fulfillment of all active loudspeaker dreams: powerful like a PA, clean like a studio monitor, a rich, crisp bass and a speed we had never heard before. We didn’t dare ask the price, but this impression will remain unforgettable.
Kii Audio Seven – the mini active speaker with the baffle trick
Another active loudspeaker that does a lot of things differently in terms of dispersion behavior and obviously does everything right: thanks to state-of-the-art technology with side basses, the new Kii Seven has a cardioid dispersion in the upper bass and fundamental tone and thus tricks the room acoustics. During the presentation in the large loft of Motorworld opposite the MOC, the surprisingly compact monitor asserted itself in an astonishingly confident, dynamic and clean manner. We are already waiting for a test sample.
Sound surprise: Perlisten speakers
Speakers with acoustic tricks for better adaptation to the room acoustics are common in the active speaker sector. Perlisten is now following suit with the passives and presented these beautiful columns. Thanks to three tweeters and several midrange drivers, the sound image is focused and should therefore arrive much cleaner at the listening position.
Beauty the Swiss and Korean way: PIEGA x Rose
At first glance, the traditional Swiss manufacturer Piega and the South Korean streaming and amplifier specialists from Hifi-Rose have little in common. Nevertheless, the two companies have announced a close cooperation; Piega will also distribute Hifi-Rose in Germany, among others. But anyone who has seen and heard the system in Piega’s somewhat hidden and therefore quiet room will find it hard to resist the fascination of the trio of aluminum speakers, streamer with large display and amplifier with retro elements. The new matt aluminum colors from Piega are a designer’s dream. You really want something like this in your living room!
Four Alpha towers at Canton
If one reference is not enough, the Hessians from Canton come up with two! The limited edition GS Reference was so successful last year that the enclosure design was immediately adopted for the new Reference Alpha and two models were launched on the market. Although the models presented were classic, passive speakers, we were impressed by the timing, dry bass and swing.
High-end dreams with a variety of colors: Burmester
At the HIGH END 2024, Burmester presented a pre-production model of the new BX100 loudspeaker at the MOC. The 4-way system, which will soon be available for just under 80,000 euros, is technically and visually out of the ordinary thanks to its free-standing Air Motion Transformer (AMT). This is intended to promote free sound development and also looks damn good. Burmester proved that the new approach also sounds damn good with an extremely impressive demonstration in a stylish listening room. Another topic of focus for the Berliners this time was the Bespoke option, which allows you to influence the color of your speakers in the same way as a bespoke tailor. Extreme examples were hand-painted “Art Speaker” artworks with colorful color patterns in the style of abstract paintings.
We have the biggest at Lyravox!
Active speakers are small and light and intended for the studio – yes, yes, yes, how wrong you can be. One of the ultimate XXL presentations took place at Lyravox. The man-high towers are called Carlemagne, after Charlemagne. The experience? Indescribable, and at the same time a true manifesto for active technology in terms of three-dimensionality and bass. A number of even larger horns had to take a back seat in terms of sound.
The Norwegian manufacturer Electrocompaniet not only presented the large electronics chain with the new AW 300 M mono power amplifiers on comparatively affordable speakers from Audio Physic. The Scandinavians also had their new, compact streaming amp Rena SA2, the 2nd generation of the EC Living line, which we have already reviewed, ready for demonstration with a pair of compact loudspeakers. They impressively underlined the fact that top sound does not have to be unaffordable.
Headphones and headphone amps at the HIGH END 2024
Tube sound for the head: Cayin
Tubes, tubes, tubes – we have identified this as a clear trend in high-quality stationary headphone amplifiers. With Cayin, it’s obvious: the new models impress with their subtle sound, retro-style VU meters and high-quality tubes. Here on the Meze Elite headphones.
Affordable tube sound: Feliks Audio with A&K
Again tubes, again Feliks Audio: The new version of the Echo tube head amp is set to remain surprisingly affordable at around 1000 euros. He played the Meze Audio 109 Pro at the Headphone Shop stand, which was also still priced in the triple digits – very convincing!
Cayin again: The rare KT-170 tubes
Every year, a new type of tube is hyped through the scene, either for the best sound or powerful performance. The Cayin headphone amplifier is, of course, about the former: the rare KT-170 tube ensures a good sound, regardless of whether it is wired symmetrically or asymmetrically.
High end for the head: Weiss Audio
It’s nice when the right high-end companies also think about headphone fans with limited space. The Weiss DAC 501 comes with all the usual hires formats and also masters a few tricks that are unique on the market. For example, a “vinyl sound” filter, various digital sound adjustments for different headphones and a crossfeed for less in-head localization. Roon Ready, DSD capability and discrete Class A amplifiers are an audiophile must.
Summit cross: Ertetich planar magnetostat
An octagonal headphone capsule? Yes, you can. At least with the planar magnetostat from Erzetich, which is marketed under the name Charybdis. From a distance, we thought the cross-shaped sound opening was an indication of Swiss provenance, but these are of course open headphones. It wears surprisingly well, although the weight is not bad due to the milled aluminum shells.
Comparing yourself makes you smarter: Audio-Technica
The Audio-Technica retro listening bar offered a journey back in time to the early days of music reproduction and travel. Up to four headphones can be compared from the mobile music chest with built-in record player. We liked to linger – because of the comfortable armchairs, but of course also because of the excellent headphones, which we definitely want to review at the next opportunity.
Makers and ideas at the HIGH END 2024
The virtualizers: The VSC player
Experiencing the sound of loudspeakers in the room at home – this is the idea behind the Virtual Sound Check, or VSC for short. A valued colleague from Lowbeats, Jürgen Schröder, is technically behind the project. The project was implemented by the start-up Plus-AI, and Managing Director Marco Albert was clearly in a good mood. Last spring, we had already integrated a sample of the VSC with a comparison of Masrhall Bluetooth speakers into the STEREO GUIDE website, which is very popular.
It couldn’t be more classic: Transrotor
The players: Konsolenfan with sound for gaming
Good sound when listening to music, good sound for movies – of course! But good sound is also a lot of fun when playing computer games. We would not have expected an extensive demo with several consoles and PCs at the HIGH END. The fun zone was provided by Michael Schulz, otherwise known as “Mr. Konsolenfan” tests sound equipment from a gamer’s perspective. Great idea!
