Munich Hi-End 2011 Hi-Fi Show

Another good soung room: Ascendo speakers, big CAT amps, and more AudioAero La Source as imput. Didn't hear a bad room using this CDP as a source. It must be pretty good, I figure

I liked this system quite a lot. Cool looking amps that perform, very good speakers, nice CDP.

So so far we've had some truly great to middling horn systems. Enter the truly awful horn system: AudioTekne.

I'm prety sure that if you did a frequency response check of this system, it would be far, far away from flat. The top ended sounded non-existent, it was vague - ill-defined if you like, showed no signs of any transient abilitly and just sucked big time. Dead and flat sounding would be a nice complement to its total inability to perform. The thing is, I am sure it must be expensive. Very expensive.

Here's a few shots. I believe I put a shot of the speakers on the tasty gear thread a while ago. They are NOT tasty. I apologise. The food equivalent would be akin to some rotten maggots. Stay well clear.

Are the Amps and Pre also AudioTekne? It all literally looks like you entered into a temporal shift in time - offset, in my estimate, by about 50 years. Stuff you'd find on the set of Mystery Science Theater 3000 as they prepare for a skit that pokes fun at retro-future space adventures. If you don't know MST3K... look it up and watch a few episodes.

Also, I have to imagine those speakers have forced the WAF-scale administrator to recalibrate the scale accordingly.

All the amp type stuff is AudioTekne. The first mention of the brand is a link - though it can go missed as links aren't being underlined. Maybe this is a setting Tom needs to address with the new version of vBuglettin. Don't seem to be able to control the order of pictures with it. Additionally, weird things happen when trying to type posts - at least using IE9. The cursor becomes unmoveable. Mouse clicks won't move it either. All a bit frustrating. It is also very hit & miss whether a batch of photos will actually upload fully, and it takes an inordinate amount of clicking to select the photos you want and get them uploaded. Very poor UI design if you ask me. And it is basic, easy stuff, really - not a great programming problem. If I had written it, it'd be way, way better. Honest! And this report would have been far more complete by now. Nevermind, I'm sure the next version will fix all the minor annoyances D).

The English on the AudioTekne site is amusing to say the least.

Anyway, now that I have criticised the world, and hopefully haven't upset Tom who paid good money for the upgrade, I spotted this Fozzy Fosgate Signature phono stage, $2500. Had to post it as it is a nice looker. Fozgometer in there too.

Also very nice looking is the Pathos Inpol Remix 10 Watter that has been appearing in all the Hi-Fi mags over here recently. It is quite heavy and feels and looks like a quality item. I believe it costs around £3750.

I did actually hear it driving some Pathos loudspeakers at low volume - too low to assess, really. Included are some other Pathos pics.

BTW: I have found the edit control works better when you use the one presented after hitting "Go Advanced" if anyone is experiencing the same problems as me.

Inpol in black. I prefer the wooden effect.

Thanks so much for taking the time to post all these pics. They are great!!

Doug - out

Wisdom Audio

I really felt this room to be "up there". Huge scale, very high resolution, massive subwoofer, incredible stack of kit driving it all...

I suppose you could say the result was very hi-fi and quite a distance away from the horn systems - but not that far away from the AvantGarde Trios + basshorns. I'd argue the AG system was more musical - but if you value apparent resolution and perceived accuracy this sort of gear could be right down your street. It is definately very good stuff.:rocker:

I know the speakers don't look substantial enough to work well. But they do. The big black box in the right hand corner is the sub.

Justin,

Wisdom Audio, as I'm sure you know, has been making world class stuff for some years.

Gordon

I've never come across them in the flesh, I doubt I ever will again, though they do seem to have a dealer in the UK.

I think the website lets them down a bit visually - but they have an excellent FAQ section. I'd like to hear some of the smaller models. And also the LS3 & LS4 JonFo posted in the tasty gear thread some months back.

A good, solid American representation at the show from Wisdom. Good job as there wasn't that much US kit there!

Actually - here's a couple of Wilson shots from the show. I spent as long as it took to take them in the room. Why? Because Wilsons are easy to hear over here, and I was more interested in other stuff I haven't had much exposure to.

Here's a few random static display shots and other pics I plan no commentary for.

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.......................... someone copying Modwright aesthetics or vice versa?

.......................... love the Cary SLP-98 looks wise. I've had an EMM Labs CDP in my system and can confirm they are superb albeit expensive Oh - The Cabasse room seemed impenetrable after multiple passes and I wasn't prepared to wait. Having heard their large "monster's eyeball" and being thoroughly impressed by it, I didn't figure I was missing anything.

Like the Cary 300B a lot looks wise too. The amps are Octave.

There you go - good dose of porn today... start saving all

Justin, I'm amazed at the number of turntables there.

BTW I really like the styling of the Chord stuff - the second picture in your last post.

Bernard said:

Justin, I'm amazed at the number of turntables there.

BTW I really like the styling of the Chord stuff - the second picture in your last post.

Click to expand...

Oh Yea........the Chord stuff is KILLER!!!!!

Doug - out

I've got this theory imports always seem more exotic.

Unfortunately, Chord demos never seem to excel soundwise, and I have heard quite a few.

Just my opinion, of course, like all in this report (wink).

The Chord stuff looks fantastic in the flesh too...