Munich High End was huge, but let me tell you: Vienna High End is absolutely MASSIVE! As I found firsthand, the main event alone takes two full days to cover. And then there are the 3 other shows in nearby buildings: Xclusive, HifiDeluxe, and Sound Fest. Sadly, I ran out of time before I could visit the last two shows.
Overall, the Vienna show is a major improvement over Munich. There’s more space, friendly, helpful personnel at main hallway junctions, and the rooms also sound a lot better! In Munich, many rooms had serious bass issues, but in Vienna, the large majority of rooms sounded well-balanced.
While the show had more space overall, most rooms remained quite small, often overcrowded with listeners, forcing one to stand to the side or at the back, resulting in incomplete listening experiences.
I encourage exhibitors to play more diverse music and limit selections to 1 minute rather than full songs. With so many rooms, listeners simply do not have time to spend 20 minutes in each room to form their opinion.
This is by no means full coverage. I’m keeping my coverage very simple, offering just a brief summary of some systems I found interesting.
The show was very tastefully laid out, with nice colorful banners and informative screens everywhere.
So far, the walk over was peaceful and calm on the beautifully sunny Saturday. In no way was there any forewarning of the massive crowd I was to embark on shortly…
As I neared the entrance, it did not seem too busy… But then, I spotted the massive crowd amassed outside before the entrance, much like the 30-minute waiting queue at a busy airport.
It’s not super-visible in this photo, but the end of the massive crowd can just be spotted in the back, where everyone is funneled into a couple of ports where personnel hand out access bracelets.
On Sunday, the crowd appeared nearly half as large and began only shortly before the entrance, yet many rooms remained overcrowded.
This was the first time I heard Peak Consult, and the smallest Sonora model (in white) made a terrific impression on me. Alas, I failed to take a photo, but the speakers sounded spritely, energetic, spacious, and toe-tappingly engaging, with a perfectly natural tonal balance.
The utter neutrality and super-expressive midrange of Stenheim speakers may not be for everyone, but I always like these speakers whenever I hear them. This time, the sound was superb, in combination with a Master Fidelity Nadac S Server, C Clock, and D DAC. Tight and precise, yet agile, supple, and fluid, the music was supremely clean, clear, and transparent, and certainly analytical, but not clinical.
