Munich Hi-Fi Show 2017

[User211]

Dunno about the cones but if I had designed those speakers (I wouldn't I think it is flawed from the start) I'd be bloody upset I existed.

[Macca]

Lol you been at the Lowenbrau?

[User211]

Nein. Watching some John Cusack movie. Lotta people getting killed.

[montesquieu]

Hi Justin, I was Munich but I totally forgot you were there. (Petrat was in attendance as well).

Totally agree with you on some of the best sounds in show those Tune Audios were absolutely stunning, as was the Avantgarde Rig (pity about the relentless Pink Floyd though you'd think they could have been a bit more original). The Silbatone rig was similar, 8w driving a 1930s cinema setup, though with a more creative choice of music. Not real world though, as with the Avantgardes, it was more of a PA setup than a hifi (anything designed to entertain literally hundreds of people isn't really hifi in my view which at times should be as much about a couch and a large whisky as much as it is about music).

My favourites were a bit more prosaic ... the Thoress room was interesting, Reinhart Thoress's phono pre is stunning something I'd love to put up against the EAR 912. He also had a pretty cool set of cartridges made in Munich by a Singaporean guy, these sounded great but a bit pricey for something that isn't really a brand yet, and his own speakers.

The Hecos - the little single driver ones - provided the biggest surprise of the show, absolutely lovely. I'd love to hear the big ones too. And the Silberstatics could almost tempt me away from Tannoys if I had 25k Euros sitting spare - room-filling panels, better than any Quads I've ever heard. Driven by 140w single ended monsters, not at all what you'd expect to pair giant panels with.

All in all though I found much of this utterly giant show a bit samey - maybe 70-80% of the rooms were running heavy, expensively-veneered multi-driver, not terribly efficient floorstanders, with whapping great solid state monoblocks and zzzzz streaming front ends, in many cases it was clear the digital element was the weakest link. The best rooms in my view were all playing vinyl and most had valves as well. (EAR's reel to reel rig was pretty cool though).

A special mention in this regard went to the Wiener Lautsprecher company that had a very enjoyable hour-long lecture and demonstration of a reproduction 1819 Fortepiano from the lovely Viviana Sofronitsky - playing Schubert, Haydn and Mendelssohn - though unfortunately they then rather embarrassed themselves by playing recordings of same through their speakers. We concluded that the front end solid state electronics (streamer or the preamp) were the problem rather than the speakers, which seemd actually to be pretty good, but all in all it was a wonderful demonstration of the inadequacies of hifi compared to the real thing!

And the prices ... well they can only make some of us cheapskates feel a bit smug ....

Pics from me (sorry not up to your standards Justin)

Silbatone:



Thoress:



Silberstatic:



Hecos - the little one was an absolute star:

[Barry]

I just love the look of the Thoeress equipment - very late '50s, early 60's. What is that tangential-tracking tone arm Thoeress are using?

And yes, as a die-hard electrostatic lover, I would love to hear those Silberstatics.

[struth]

Thought one was an espresso machine lol

[montesquieu]

What is that tangential-tracking tone arm Thoeress are using?

Dereneville http://www.avdesignhaus.de/AnalogLau...ode_15728.html

TBH the Dynavector sounded just as good to my ears.

[anubisgrau]

Tune Audio / Trafomatic as per earlier in thread, this time with a video. Refer to earlier for SQ comments.

The video makes the pics redundant, really, so watch it plugged into yer hi-fi system. You'll pick more up about SQ than I can say. But obviously nowt like being there.

Seriously, and I mean quite seriously like that TT lookswise.

what driver in midrange horn, anyone?

[walpurgis]

If you mean the smaller horn in the mouth of the large one Shaun, at a guess, I'd say that's a tweeter, probably with their own horn flare mounted to a compression driver of some sort. I'd expect the big horn to cover a very wide band including midrange.

[User211]

what driver in midrange horn, anyone?

The mid range horn is the gold bit. Dunno what driver. The gold bit is connected to a black tower. That has an 18 inch woofer in it according to Jack from BD Audio.