I do want to hear the X-treme speakers at some point, not using my 102E's much these days though !@ Lagonda MBL sounded really good this year .
I do want to hear the X-treme speakers at some point, not using my 102E's much these days though !@ Lagonda MBL sounded really good this year .
You’re room had a nice variety of music at Axpona, Elliot. Made me stay a half hourAs someone that has a room at multiple shows and plays and picks the music the task as you guys are describing is impossible. We try to play a variety of music without taking specific requests as that is a rabbit hole that can not be gone down. If you are at a room at a show and ask for a certain type of music many rooms will try to accomodate you. I may not play exactly what you ask for but I try to play something similar. Shows are impossible to please everyone and remember what you may not like someone else loves. Jazz, no jazz, rock, no rock, chamber , no chamber , Orchestral, no orchestral. female vocals, no female vocals etc.
I can say that in my observations most people , well over 90 percent of the room visitors leave in under 30 seconds anyway. THose who stay stay for a cut or two and then a small percentage actually sit and listen for a while and most of them return multiple times.
As the "DJ" I try to read the room and play what I think people will enjoy without playing ever the same old six cuts,
Do I please everyone? LOL no but hopefully I please most of the visitors some of the time. Maybe a new Yogy ism LMAO ( only some will get this one)
Sven really is innovative, glad it sounded good. Who was WestminsterLab exhibiting with?Those are great photos of the Destination/Lampizator room, Andromeda!
For me, the Destination Audio Lampizator room was the best of HE2024. I arrived at HiFi Deluxe around 6:30 pm Saturday after a long day at the MOC. To say Sam and Lukaz's room was an oasis of music is putting it mildly. While I have experienced Destination's big Vista horns at length in the US, I had never heard the Nika's before. These manageably sized three-way horn wonders based on classic JBL drivers were near perfect. Powered by Destination Audio's in-house GM-70 integrated amplifier and fronted by a Mac Mini plugged into the incomparable Posidean DAC, I and a few other lucky folks bathed in Sam's selection of great tracks. This system totaled approximately $150,000 and was hands down better than most mega-systems displayed at the main event. Darrin of Audio Limits in Nevada is the US importer for DA. I hope they will bring the same system to The Show - Orange County early next month so more people can experience what I did.
Other favorite rooms:
VAC/Von Schweikert exhibited the new VAC 220 mono amplifiers with the value-leading VSA ESE Reference speakers in a stunning new Maserati Bianco white finish. They were good on Friday, but once the Esoteric CD player/DAC relaxed on Sunday, the sound took on a new dimension that was belied by the speaker's modest cost.
Zellaton exhibited its new Reference series speakers and used the superb and pricey YS electronics and Scherzinger cabling.
Boenicke Audio was playing his limited-production W22 loudspeakers. Sven used his cables, amplifiers, and new DAC to create some of the show's most emotionally engaging sounds. The man is undoubtedly one of the business's most creative and innovative designers.
In the Clarisys room early on Sunday morning, Florian was a great host to Angus and me. He played some kicking electronica powered by the big CAT monoblocks and made fantastic sounds despite the cozy room's tough dimensions.
Overall, it was a fantastic show with more examples of good sound than last year's event.
Shocked? What's wrong with Chamber Music? Why should the relative cost of a system preclude the genre upon which it is played/performed/reproduced? This pre-supposes that there is a genre of "audiophile music" and that some secretive authority has deemed it HiFi Show acceptable for demonstration and exhibition.So music at Munich still sucks. Color me shocked. Million $ systems to play chamber music at the biggest show in the world.
Ditto on the Destination/Lampizator room. Also, Sven Boenicke's room and Clarisys.This was my 15th time traveling to the Munich show, and this year my lovely wife joined me (her 3rd time).
For many years I was entering almost every room and tried to listen to everything I could.
at the MOC and the HFD. That was when I was "just" an end customer.
But in the last few years post covid mainely, I have been traveling mostly for vacation with friends and to meet some ppl around the world that I'm friends with on the basis of our hobbies. and mainly to meet our joint manufacturer that we work with.
to take things lightly first of all - i'm a Business affiliation to High end audio located in Israel so, take it as you will. I will disclose the brands I keep (brand list*) to maintain your comments to minimum
First, those attending shows, not just Munich, know that. and shows are just that.
As others commented earlier, I would not slice and dice my end decision upon listening to a system, speakers, or other equipment during shows. There are so many variables and time restrictions (not to mention noise and interference) that it's just not possible to get the right choice. You can hear potential, you can listen to ppl talking, you can ask questions and see stuff that a lot of us see only in magazines and take it to your bed at night.
We know how difficult it is to set up and end up with a stereo system that we like for a long time in our own houses, so every manufacturer with numerous difficulties and variables to set up a proper system that will sound ok and up is amazing on its own.
meetings and more
It was a real pleasure for us to meet Arthur and Dominika from Arya audio (brand list)
and see some of their future exploration in the audio realm, they are the most cute and smart ppl we met. absolutely joy. We sat for two hours and just talked about everything.
We also went to meet our good friend from J.sikora in their rooms, J.sikora is one of the best analog brands today and you could see their stuff in 4-5 rooms this year. congrats to them!
Avalon (a speaker's project from fono acustica cables) had a great room with Goldmund electronics. the nicest guys ever from spain. We love them very much. and we keep FA cables. The new speaker filled the room but was a bit harsh on the highs for our taste. I need to listen to it in a proper location to establish this beauty of s speaker.
ALSYVOX with PLINUM, Taiko and our brand list VYDA lab cables - was a very good room, lacking some bottom end to our taste but the clarity and crispness of music was enchanting! Those guys were Very nice indeed, all of them! great room to spend time in and talking to manufacturers.
Boenicke (brand list) one of the Best rooms ever, almost the same as last year but better
the W22 is an amazing speaker and Sven is absolutely one of the greatest designers in this industry in my opinion.
Zelaton and YS were very very good. not my cup of tea usually but i know some of their speakers very well and they succeeded to impress this year! very good company and i will take it over wilson every day of the week.
Stenhiam with Dartzeel in "anna Mighty" room with csport and this year with R2R tape from French and also Mr SABAG on the saxophone were incredible also.
real music, real ppl, real shows!
We spent hours in this room several times. drinks, talking, listening to a lot of music!
very very good presentation and a great VIBE room.
Aries Cerat - (brand list) - i have a full system of AC in my demo room excluding speakers. I LOVE stavros and everything he is making. I think he is the number one manufacturer today. that said. His room was not on par with what you can achieve with the same system in a proper room and set up. I visited Stavros in Cyprus a month ago and listened to the same system in his own demo room for 3 days and could not leave it for a second. this thing plays like nothing on this earth. enough said, we've been there already.
HFD
We spend all Saturday and half of our Sunday in HFD mainely because of two people that we dearly love.
Florian from Clarisys (brand list) that became our best friend in the world. and we wanted to spend time with him and his family. We also had the honor to meet for the first time ever, Ken Stevens from CAT. was a real pleasure.
The clarisys room was great especially when the little new Piccolo played. Their "living room" 6x6x3 was difficult to figure sound wise, but the Piccolo played wonder! CAT monoblocks were excellent and you could spend hours there to have fun with the greatest ppl. Clarisys Audio is our main speaker in our demo room and we get the Auditorium for the full experience. But, the Piccolo was surprisingly almost perfect!
The other man (and crew) we headed to meet there and spend time with is ALEX from
"RAAL 1995" (brand list) and his friends from Serbia. all of them manufacturers from Serbia who got to the HFD show and had a room that was the Best you can hear in headphones world. SAEQ, SOLAJA AUDIO , AURIS etc.
Diasis audio - was a VERY good room, with enormous sound and beautiful music playing. Also a great great guy.
audio nostrum - we heard the Saturn and it was a really good, clear crisp sound which filled the room effortlessly. We spoke a bit with the designer, and looked at his beautiful speaker and finish. 80'000eu is not cheap for a "no name" company but those were amazing looking beyond a lot of speakers that you can see in those shows.
hi five for them!
FM AUDIO - as usual a very big room, very esthetics and great product display but nothing engaging when we visit, i heard a lot better from them over the past years.
i saved the best for last -
my Best room in the show goes to "Destination audio" with Lampizator this year.
this brand from Poland that I just saw a glimpse of on the internet was shockingly good.
I never got the chance to hear or know them.
we entered the room and immediately fell in LOVE. those "Nika" speakers from D.A and their GM70 dual chassis integrated amp just floored us along with Lukasz dac. with absolutely wonderful tone and music capability. We were there in their room - in and out.
The room seems almost "sad" with almost no equipment like the others, but a true system. a source, amp and speakers! that just plays music. no sales guys, no interruptions! no banners no shit. (excuse my french)
That room was a real treat and we just Loved it the MOST.
there was a lot more good, bad and wonderful all around, but for us it is always about the People and music. electronics and speakers are just wood and metal.
peace and love from Israel.
Keep wondering what Zellaton would sound like with some good tube amps.Those are great photos of the Destination/Lampizator room, Andromeda!
For me, the Destination Audio Lampizator room was the best of HE2024. I arrived at HiFi Deluxe around 6:30 pm Saturday after a long day at the MOC. To say Sam and Lukaz's room was an oasis of music is putting it mildly. While I have experienced Destination's big Vista horns at length in the US, I had never heard the Nika's before. These manageably sized three-way horn wonders based on classic JBL drivers were near perfect. Powered by Destination Audio's in-house GM-70 integrated amplifier and fronted by a Mac Mini plugged into the incomparable Posidean DAC, I and a few other lucky folks bathed in Sam's selection of great tracks. This system totaled approximately $150,000 and was hands down better than most mega-systems displayed at the main event. Darrin of Audio Limits in Nevada is the US importer for DA. I hope they will bring the same system to The Show - Orange County early next month so more people can experience what I did.
Other favorite rooms:
VAC/Von Schweikert exhibited the new VAC 220 mono amplifiers with the value-leading VSA ESE Reference speakers in a stunning new Maserati Bianco white finish. They were good on Friday, but once the Esoteric CD player/DAC relaxed on Sunday, the sound took on a new dimension that was belied by the speaker's modest cost.
Zellaton exhibited its new Reference series speakers and used the superb and pricey YS electronics and Scherzinger cabling.
Boenicke Audio was playing his limited-production W22 loudspeakers. Sven used his cables, amplifiers, and new DAC to create some of the show's most emotionally engaging sounds. The man is undoubtedly one of the business's most creative and innovative designers.
In the Clarisys room early on Sunday morning, Florian was a great host to Angus and me. He played some kicking electronica powered by the big CAT monoblocks and made fantastic sounds despite the cozy room's tough dimensions.
Overall, it was a fantastic show with more examples of good sound than last year's event.
Shocked? What's wrong with Chamber Music? Why should the relative cost of a system preclude the genre upon which it is played/performed/reproduced? This pre-supposes that there is a genre of "audiophile music" and that some secretive authority has deemed it HiFi Show acceptable for demonstration and exhibition.
Trios, Quartets, Quintets, even Sextets, Septets and Octets (anything larger is just plain silly, even their composers admitted as much, their version of Mozart's Musical Joke. These compositions allow a knowledgeable and devoted listener to witness how a particular system, an assemblage of components qualitatively reproduces the individual instruments on their own and in concert with others in the group. Think of it as a solo vocalist joined by others during the chorus and bridges to create exquisite harmonies.
You're not the only one who appreciates Magico.The sound you hear from a speaker is the result of the room acoustics, electronics, and source—it's not just the speaker alone. If I move my speaker in the room, towing it in or out, the sound can become thinner or more organic, depending on the room interaction.
The Plural Evo are great speakers, but like any speakers, they have their strengths and weaknesses. If you find them interesting, I suggest you hear them in a proper setup. Although I'm a Magico guy (just ordered my S5 to replace the S3 2023), I find the Plural Evo to be one of my favorite dynamic speakers, along with other speakers from Zellaton's Reference line that I've heard.
You're not the only one who appreciates Magico.
'Organic' isn't exactly a term I'd associate with Magico, but perceptions may vary.
I have to agree with this comment on the Zellaton. Nothing extraordinary although that isn't necessarily bad!I stayed 2 - 3 songs
Sounded ok smooth , did nt do anyting wrong
Absolutey huge amplifier.
Don’t stress but at the old peoples home they’ll probably ask you about how you’re streaming… but they’ll be talking about incontinence though and not about how you listen to music… and they can’t make you listen to string quartets against your will unless you’re in the dementia recreation suite apparently.As long as i im not forced to listen to chamber pot music once i turn 60, all is good !![]()
I watch videos of super cars like thisAs an aside, did anyone notice how poor the panel alignment and geometry was on this? For those who don't know it was sat on the ground floor, inside, but outside of where the hi-fi was.
They need to get some experts in for this, because for the price asked, it's a joke. And if I can see that, what's the rest of it really like? Probably overrated is my guess. But hey, that is just a guess.
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One of the signatures of a great system for me is it can often make music that is traditionally harder to access generally easier to appreciate… so more challenging forms of music like some more free wheeling forms of jazz or more challenging 20th century classical seem to unfold easier and are just easier to tune into for more people with a really good system (and even easier in a great performance of that music). Whereas maybe with music that is easier to access the system isn’t as challenged to allow us to make that connection.Indeed, chamber music is very hard to reproduce properly.