Munich High-End 2022: The Highlights Part Two

Raidho

Danish speaker experts Raidho went big and small at the show, introducing both the €210,000 TD6 Statement loudspeaker (sporting two midrange and six bass drivers per side) and the diminutive but surprisingly room-filling X1t Super Mini Monitor. At €5,800 per pair, these sophisticated two-way ported stand-mounts with tantalum-coated ceramic drivers were deeply enjoyable and had surprising levels of bass response. Whether big or small, Raidho’s sonic output was impressive.

T+A

T+A Elektroakustik’s new headphone is the Solitaire T, a wired or Bluetooth wireless noise-cancelling dynamic headphone system, designed to work with digital assistants, but also designed for the ‘one-and-done’ listener who isn’t prepared to have different headphones for home and travel use, but who also isn’t willing to sacrifice quality for either. Provided with conventional headphone and USB-C connections for wired use, the €1,300 Solitaire T system might just tick a lot of boxes in one convenient travel case.

Trafomatic Audio

The Rhapsody PSE 300B integrated amplifier from the Serbian Trafomatic Audio uses two parallel single-ended 300B and a single 6SN7 valve to deliver 20W per channel, has three single-ended and one pseudo-balanced XLR inputs, a handy pair of VU meters on the front panel, weighs in at a healthy 32kg and costs €18,000. Used with a pair of large TuneAudio Epitome horns, a top Rockna Wavedream transport and DAC, wired with Signal Projects cable, this system sounded both fun and cohesive.

Triangle

Triangle is celebrating its 40^th year with two models in its Magellan range; the Quatuor floorstander and Cello stand-mount. Changes include a move to magnesium alloy in the tweeter horn, change to the cone shape and dust-cap and new French-made SCR capacitors in the fourth order crossover. Both are a limited edition of 500 pairs worldwide, prices to be confirmed.

Vertere Audio

Back in 2011, Vertere Audio shocked the audio world with the performance (and price) of the company’s Reference Tonearm. At Munich, the company showed off its new Gen III version of this statement piece, with improvements to its flexibility, ease of use and ability to fine-tune its set-up, resulting in improved performance. The arm retains its unique split geometry (where the arm is effectively longer in the vertical plane than it is in the horizontal), use of Kevlar fibres to create noiseless vertical and horizontal bearings and articulated counterweight, but all aspects of the arm benefit from 11 years of development. The price of the Gen III arm is a cool £43,900!

 Western Electric

One of the most interesting loudspeaker designs at the show was built around the still work-in-progress 777 midrange driver. This is the world’s first curved Air Motion Transformer driver and first AMT with the size and firepower to act as a legitimate midrange unit. Driven by Western Electric’s $15,000 91E integrated amplifier (also new to the show), it’s still unclear whether the ‘777’ loudspeaker will ever be more than just a proof of concept, but if it does ever come to market, don’t be surprised if it comes with a $100,000 price tag.

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