In the online hi-fi world, I noticed a new and welcome trend. Instead of companies waiting until High End actually starts to announce new products that would be shown there, as most did in previous years, many companies announced them days or even weeks in advance to start getting word out. They either e-mailed the information out to group lists or posted it on social media (usually Facebook) as a story or a link to their website. Since I’m online almost all the time, these early releases helped me get my initial coverage up more quickly. Here’s the first batch of hi-fi electronics, with all prices in euros (€) or US dollars ($).
Munich’s High End is mostly about serious high-end audio, but this year’s edition also had a lot of fodder for my primary beat, “convenient, lifestyle-oriented hi-fi,” to quote the blurb for SoundStage! Simplifi on our network portal. On the first day, I came across more Simplifi’d audio products than I can cover in a single report, and there are many halls that I haven’t yet visited, so check back for further updates. All prices are in euros (€) or US dollars ($).
Munich’s High End still reigns supreme as the world’s largest and most important hi-fi show, which is why we love it. One problem its size poses, however, is that it’s next to impossible for our team to cover every product presented during the show’s four-day run. I doubt we’ll achieve 100% coverage of the show this year, either -- but that doesn’t mean we can’t do better than in the past.
I’m the Munich newbie in the SoundStage! crew. High End has been on my bucket list for over a decade, and it’s all I hoped it would be and more. In addition to my regular beat for SoundStage! -- Simplifi’d hi-fi -- I have another gig for Munich: headphones and portable electronics. It’s a big assignment, because there are scads of new products -- more than I can cover in my first report (so check back tomorrow). All prices here are in euros (€) or US dollars ($).
Expensive electronics abound in Munich at High End, and the first batch I came across was of the massive, solid-state variety. As well, most of it came housed in the machined-aluminum-encased enclosures that audiophiles know and love. All prices are in euros (€) or US dollars ($).
Last week, Bowers & Wilkins announced its new Formation line of wireless products, which I first read about on our SoundStage! Australia website. It really piqued my interest.
There wasn’t much advance notice, but it wouldn’t be a pop-up if there were. Recently, New Jersey-based Gingko Audio extended a last-minute invitation to a few audiophiles and fellow manufacturers to attend a pop-up audio demo on March 23. Word of the event was also spread to the New York and New Jersey audio societies.
Is the 2019 edition of Montréal Audio Fest the busiest audio show in Montreal ever? I can’t say, because I’ve attended the show for only a few years. But I had lunch with an industry veteran who said this is the busiest he’s seen the show (Montréal Audio Fest and its predecessor, Salon Son et Image) in a decade.
Finding speakers to cover at Montréal Audio Fest 2019 wasn’t hard -- they were in abundance, varying greatly in shape, size, price, and, most impressively, country of origin. In fact, it’s been years since I saw so many speakers from so many places at this show. Below is the second batch of speakers that caught my eye, with prices in Canadian dollars unless specified otherwise. You can read my first installment about new speakers at Montreal here.
There’s a huge infrastructure that supports the speakers, amps, and sources at audio shows. However, the cables and accessories often don’t share in the glamor that speakers, electronics, and turntables enjoy. And that’s a shame, really, because systems just can’t work without cables, and the accessories add some spice to an ecosystem that would otherwise be at least somewhat sterile. Below are the new cables and accessories I found in Montreal, with all prices in Canadian dollars unless specified otherwise.
Loudspeakers are the easiest for me to cover for three reasons: they’re typically the most obvious things when you enter a room, I keep abreast of the market and usually know right off the bat what’s new and what’s not, and I’m really into speaker design and always keen to learn what might be new. As a result, the moment I got to the Hotel Bonaventure, the home of Montréal Audio Fest 2019, I started looking at loudspeakers and little else. Below are the first speakers I found, with all prices in Canadian dollars unless otherwise noted.
The Montréal Audio Fest was jumping this year. Over the last two years I’ve felt a buzz ramping up at this show, but 2019 feels like it’s on another level. It’s like adding more mass to an already massive sun -- eventually it reaches a critical mass and begins to contract under its own weight. So goes it with the MAF. There were more exhibitors this year, and the Friday of the show, which is usually quite sedate, was just packed with showgoers. All good omens for the future of the show.
When I arrived at Hotel Bonaventure just before noon on day one of the Montréal Audio Fest 2019, there had to be at least 100 people in the registration lineup. So, not surprisingly, exhibit rooms were busy throughout the day.
First order of business at the Montréal Audio Fest 2019 is to scour as many of the used record bins as possible before the crowds dig up all the uncut diamonds.
It was purely a coincidence. Late in the day on March 21, I had little to do as I walked around the hallways of Hotel Bonaventure, in downtown Montreal, as companies were setting up for Montréal Audio Fest 2019, to be held March 22 to 24. The show was still a day away, so you can imagine that few were ready to showcase anything. I looked in room after room and saw little. Ready to give up and go get something to eat, I opened one last door -- to the room of Motet Distribution, distributor in Canada for at least a half-dozen brands, including the UK’s PMC. When I looked in the room, I saw a crowd of people and someone said, “Come in, you’re just in time.” Little did I know I had just walked into the North American launch of PMC’s Fenestria loudspeaker, a bold statement piece priced in Canada at $90,000 per pair ($65,000 per pair in the US).
For whatever reason, it’s been only recently that I developed a profound appreciation of Joni Mitchell’s music. I was therefore looking forward to the “Linn Lounge Presents -- Joni Mitchell” event, held on March 2 at Accent on Music, which is located in Mount Kisco, New York, about an hour north of New York City.
As I wrote before on Soundstage! Global, my past visits to New Jersey’s VPI Industries, a maker of turntables, phono stages, and record-cleaning machines, have been to the company’s showroom, VPI House. During this latest visit, I also toured the company’s factory, located less than five minutes from that location.
Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) is an annual event that is focused primarily on custom-installation (CI) audio/video systems (i.e., in-wall, on-wall, and in-ceiling speakers, as well as home-automation electronics and video displays, etc.), with this year’s show held from February 5 to 8 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. It was there on the second day of ISE 2019 that I met and interviewed Livio Cucuzza, who holds the title of chief design officer at Sonus Faber, the Italy-based manufacturer well known for creating speakers that look every bit as good as they sound. We talked about the launch of the new Palladio custom-installation speakers -- Sonus Faber’s first major foray into this market.
Located in Eastern Pennsylvania, Rogue Audio has designed and manufactured quality vacuum-tube-based electronics for 20 years. In January 2018, Rogue moved from its home of 17 years to a brand new facility it had constructed from the ground up. Shortly before Christmas, I visited the new premises, bringing along my brother, Sathyan Sundaram, who also writes for the SoundStage! Network. He also took the photos for this piece. Befitting the season, we stayed nearby in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, where there was, as it happened, room at the inn -- the Holiday Inn, that is.
I expected to pack all my coverage of the 2019 Florida Audio Expo into three articles, but I found enough to fill a fourth! For a brand new show, that’s impressive. What’s more, these final components proved to be some of the most interesting. Here’s the final batch, with all prices in US dollars.
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