Munich Hi-End 2011 Hi-Fi Show

miljac said:

If you like tubes and DIY all issues of Sound Practices can be bought from him on ebay for cca 20 EUR (on a CD).
Worthy of reading.

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Yup I have heard of it and read a few issues. Here's a vid from said room. One more of the speakers to come but it is a big upload.

Here's just a few of the Transrotors... I'm sure you can get the details from their website. There must have been 15 odd TRs in one room - here's a few though I have pics of the lot - real media overkill!!!

A few more TRs...

Devialet D-Premier room and some Magicos - I was pretty underwhelmed by this when in there. There where some Magicos performing much better in another room coming up next.

This is the best I have ever heard a pair of Magicos sound - the M3s in this and the last case. In the former case, the system was just bubbling over almost as an afterthought, with a lot of Devialet kit just sitting on top of a table. Most people seemed to be looking at that - at least when I was in there.

Here, though, the M3s sounded fab playing Beat Hotel by Alan Taylor - as identified by Shazam - great track and worth tracking down if you haven't heard it. I even stuck around to here a few more tracks - a good sign Lots of expensive Soulution kit in here. Great system - but a mad price. Really, it needed to be quite a bit better to justify this kind of outlay. But it was very enjoyable nonetheless.

OK - more for tube fans out there - in the form of brand new made in Germany (like really - not subcontracted to China) 211s and 845s. These are not quite available yet and what you see here are prototypes. 400 Euros each, I am told. That is quite steep for 211s as NOS ones can be had for less. For 845s, NOS ones cannot be had for anything like 400 Euros - so possibly not so expensive after all. Unless you are content with Chinese ones. Which some will be considering the cost difference.

Plugged into the Cayin amp pictured, and playing through the Voxativ speakers, I felt I couldn't assess the tube's performance. Better speakers would be required for that - the Voxativ's, possibly using Lowther drivers looking at them, just didn't do it for me. To assess them properly, they'd really need to sit in my amps for a few hours

Big old PMCs - these Muthas can really shift some air, and do scale. They're really very good. Anti-WAF factor high. DOA - divorce on arrival. Powered by Bryston - but they actually sounded pretty good driven by them. I liked the sound a lot, just can't stand the looks of them!!!

Looks like purple haze time with Vivid Audio, Acoustic Signature TT and an American appearance from VTL. Maybe it was the VTL amps making the Vivids sound better than I remember them in Hong Kong. Maybe not. But definately not as good as a VTL/Focal combo I heard at Silverstone 2010. Better VTLs there, though.

There's not much in the way of precise model descriptions and costings in this report. If anything strikes your eye, I'm sure you can discover the facts for yourselves. I simply have too much media to take the time to describe it all in detail.

Uploaded at last. Neolithic internet speeds in this part of the UK don't help. Well worth a watch in HD if you like your horns - click on the YouTube bit in the box below then select the HD 720P resolution.

Some good horns from Musique-Concrete Musique-Concrete . I really liked these - more huge soundstaging - alive and vibrant, free and easy "not even trying" and delivering true musical enjoyment. Good speakers. Video came out quite well too - will add tomoz.

Camera battery ran out during the filming of this So it is short. Not the best source for exposing just how good they were, either. Not that the camera mic is anything to go by - far from it.

Anyway sounds like that track was live

Justin,

Are you faimiliar with the stateside term "horny"? Beause I get the feeling that's what you've become regarding horns.

BTW, huge appreciation for your taking the time to post pics, vids, and commentary - Thank you!

Cheers

tsv_1 said:

BTW, huge appreciation for your taking the time to post pics, vids, and commentary - Thank you!

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What Todd said! Great audio porn!

tsv_1 said:

Justin,

Are you faimiliar with the stateside term "horny"? Beause I get the feeling that's what you've become regarding horns.

BTW, huge appreciation for your taking the time to post pics, vids, and commentary - Thank you!

Cheers

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Todd - actually whilst I find horns interesting, there are very few I'd actually want to own. The best are usually huge, coloured quite a bit and simply won't cope well with the sort of music I like. In the case of the Musique-Concrete above, you need to be stood up to listen to them. Or have and very high chair. They are unquestionably coloured to my mind. But they still sounded great if that makes any sense.

The AG Trios + basshorns on the other hand didn't sound coloured. Just right. Best performing horns there.

Aside from that, when I got home, and fired up the Duettas, I just thought "awesome!" - always a good sign. I had a public PM a couple of days ago from a guy who bought some Duettas from San Francisco, is getting them shipped to Graz in Australia, then on to his home in Singapore. All apparently as a result of listening to my mutterings on this forum. Here's hoping I don't get hate mail soon

Getting the horn is NOT an Americanism. Don't forget English dudes were around before you lot, have been there before you, and are generally much wiser/hipper! Hell, we even look better

Anyway, there's shed loads more to come...

I've only heard horns a few times and have come away thinking "coloration"... maybe someday I'll have the opportunity to hear the AG Trios.

And I doubt very seriously you'll be getting any hatemail from that Singaporian. Quite the opposite I predict.

The balance of your commentary appears to have been corrupted during transmission since much of it does not map in any way to reality

Look fwd to your continued coverage!

tsv_1 said:

Hey... that's exactly what my wife says about me... "dry and sterile"

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Does this mean that we now have to call you "ED"?

User211 said:

The bass skins look like kevlar close up from the outside. But sort of like a cloth version of kevlar. I wanna know what/how the push/pulling is done.

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Justin, I was just thinking that drums are skins, so what better to reproduce them than skins. Of course, bass is more than just drums.

Todd,

I think the Brits use the term "randy" more than "horny".

And yes, thank you for the pics Justin.

Bernard said:

Does this mean that we now have to call you "ED"?

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She's referring to my sense of humor and vasectomy. I hope!

User211 said:

Some good horns from Musique-Concrete Musique-Concrete . I really liked these - more huge soundstaging - alive and vibrant, free and easy "not even trying" and delivering true musical enjoyment. Good speakers. Video came out quite well too - will add tomoz.

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Wow!!! Those are really awesome looking.