Munich High-End 2025: Systems and everything else!

AIM

We really like AIM’s Ethernet cables from Japan, but they face a naming problem. The NA9 is the company’s flagship cable. Now the company has a new and better cable called NAX (X meaning and pronounced as ’10’). Rather than rebranding NA9, the new NAX is the company’s ‘Flagship Premier’ design. The silver-plated, high-purity copper conductors are insulated in a new foam called ‘air 2’ and its asymmetrical construction is designed to reduce external vibration susceptibility. The price is still to be determined.

Airt Audio

I really did save the best until last! I wandered into this room just 10 minutes before the show ended on Sunday. UK distributor Airt Audio put together a room that shouldn’t work, but sounded great. Avalon’s large Saga loudspeakers are a rare find at any show. However, these large behemoth loudspeakers need a far bigger room.

But, thanks to a careful installation and clever choice of equipment (Kuzma, TriPlanar, My Sonic Lab turntable, Studer A10 tape, SOtM and Kalista digital, Doshi amplification, Purist Audio Design cables, Acoustica Applicata acoustic treatment and Stillpoints support system), this system just sang sweet.

Alsyvox and Omega

Filed under ‘WTF!’ Alsyvox is a Spanish company making planar magnetic panel loudspeakers. It was showing the made-to-order €475,000 Michaelangelo, which is claimed to be flat from 18Hz-40kHz. Those who fondly remember the Magnepan Tympani IV from the 1990s but weren’t too impressed with its room-divider looks were misty-eyed over this loudspeaker. However, the high price was a big ask.

The ‘WTF’ part included one of the rare showings of the Omega Audio Concepts three-ball Stream CD player, in a complete Omega Audio Concepts electronics and cabling system.

Audio Reference

Whatever you think of the system in absolute terms, there’s no denying that German high-end distributor Audio Reference knocked it out of the park with this one! Building essentially a cathedral of sound within a busy show is no mean feat. This €4 million system was a feat of logistics, design, and application.

The system featured the dCS Vivaldi APEX digital system, VPI Avenger Statement turntable, D’Agostino Momentum Phono Stage, Relentless preamplifier, two sets of Relentless Epic 1600 Monoblocks amps, Wilson Audio WAMM Master Chronosonic, with two Subsonic subwoofers, Nordost Odin 2 cables and Qbase Reference distribution units, and lots and lots of top Bassocontinuo equipment supports. These were timed and ticketed demonstrations. Listeners were played just three tracks: one orchestral piece, one acoustic and one contemporary track. Just 15 minutes in front of some of this system. Because there were always dozens of people waiting for their glimpse of the audio divine!

AVM, Siltech, YG

In Motorworld, a triumvirate of quality resulted in a system that cost well over €1.5 million. The new YG Acoustics Gemini loudspeaker is available fully active, fully passive and part active/passive. The eight-driver floorstander with external crossover is the first loudspeaker in YG’s Ultimate range, resulting from a three-year proof-of-concept science project. A staggering amount of top-end Siltech Royal Single Crown and Master Crown cable and AVM Audio electronics, including four MA 8.3 monoblocks per channel, completes the system. The result was one of those loudspeakers that can deliver ground-shaking bass when needed, but can scale up to a full orchestra or down to a singer-songwriter perfectly.

Burmester

In a normal year, Burmester releases one product at the Munich show. Maybe it was because Munich High-End 2025 was the last, but this year, the Berlin-based company showed a wholly new Reference Line. The 257 turntable, 249 preamplifier and 259 stereo power amplifier are completely new designs, sharing nothing with existing models in the range. The 257 turntable is a two-box design, with an inverted magnetic bearing and two opto-controlled high-torque motors.

The fully balanced 249 preamp is a modular design with options for streaming and phono inputs, and the 259 stereo power amp delivers 500W, or 1500W when used as a mono block. The 249 has the stunning haptic controller system developed for the 232 integrated amplifier in the Classic Line. These products also benefit from Burmester’s Bespoke service, as they were shown in a range of elegant colours. In timed demonstrations, playing through the excellent BX100 loudspeakers, this system was a refined yet powerful combination. The price of the products is still to be confirmed when they are launched later this year, but the anticipated price for the new trio of components is around €300,ooo.

Canvas

No really, it’s a soundbar. But this is no ordinary soundbar. The €2,999 Canvas caught the attention of Danish design guru and now Canvas CTO Benno Baun Meldgaard. The equalisation and Organic Master Tuning has transformed the already excellent Canvas into something musically and cinematically sensational.

Danish Audio Excellence

There was a collaborative room under the banner Danish Audio Excellence. It’s a bold claim. But with SV-Audio loudspeakers, Vitus Audio electronics and ZenSati cables, it stood a chance of living up to the title. In fact, with the SV-Audio (also known as Storgard & Vestskov) prototype twin tower (one active, one passive) Menja loudspeakers, with their effortless bass, space and detail all combined to make a surprisingly lively and lovely sounding system.

Given SV-Audio is still only eight years old and is already the choice of Danish big hitters like Vitus and Zen Sati, we’re excited to see what happens next with these brands.

ESD Audio

A must-see fixture on the international high-end scene, ESD Audio is a Chinese-based audio company that builds systems big, bold and more than a little bit bonkers. The ESD Super Phoenix System. This €800,000+ system includes disc player, DAC, preamplifier, crossover, power amplifiers, power supplies and more. Only 18 boxes across five equipment stands and twin horn towers. This fits the ‘it’s not home, but it’s much!’ line.

The company also showed the more affordable Kun Peng system, for €50,000 per pair.

iFi Audio

The new €99 UP Travel from iFi Audio is designed for in-flight entertainment. It’s a Bluetooth transmitter that can connect to the in-flight system via a mini-jack, supports hooking up to two pairs of headphones, and features higher-quality DACs than the competition. It can also operate in receiver mode, allowing you to send Bluetooth music from your phone to your in-car system. At the press launch, iFi Audio presented the UP Travel in the style of a pre-flight safety announcement.

IsoAcoustics

Munich High-End 2025 saw the launch of the new IsoAcoustics GAIA Neo and GAIA Titan Neo (black, or dark chrome) isolation feet. Each comes in three sizes to replace the feet or spikes on loudspeakers. In addition, IsoAcoustics announced partnerships with a vast range of loudspeaker brands, from Amphion to Zaor. After years of demonstrating the improvements to the public, there’s a sense of inflexion point happening with IsoAcoustics. The speaker spike should watch out!

MBL

The Berlin-based audio company MBL has repeatedly demonstrated its €683,000 Reference Line system at Munich High-End 2025, and this year was no exception. But with a twist. Although the company had the 1621 A CD player, 1611 F DAC and 6010 D preamplifier (amounting to some €96,500 worth of front-end electronics).

The company was playing the system using the €9,000 C41 Network Player from the Cadenza line. It worked extremely well, too!

Nirvana Audio

Er… yeah. The Chronos Optimiser by Nirvana Audio is a $2,500 USB stick from Taiwan that plugs into a 5V power and, er, does something to the fields in the room. It isn’t supposed to be connected to a system or a computer (as they will see the USB stick as unformatted, and formatting the disc will kill the Chronos effect, whatever that is). What that field or the Chronos effect is remains unclear (even the demonstrator didn’t know how or why it works, or what kind of field it influences. Instead, he deferred to a Taiwanese rocket scientist, who probably gets it).

The problem is that while it’s easy to be sarcastic about what it does and why, there was a change in system performance that was audible when the Chronos is in the room, and went away when the Chronos left the room. Whether this is groupthink and nonsense on stilts, or the next big thing in audio is unclear pending a decent explanation. After all, it’s not rocket science.

Revox

Revox has recently introduced the €15,950 B77 Mk III open-reel tape recorder. This year, it released a special limited edition Alice Cooper version, for €29,750. Each one of the 25 tape machines will be signed Alice Cooper personally and will be able to meet the star personally, and receive a copy of his ‘The Sound of A’ EP.  There is also a special version of the Revox T77 turntable that offers the same special edition options, but the price is to be confirmed.

Tidal

The ‘AP’ in Tidal’s new €185,000 AP1 loudspeakers stands for ‘Amplified Power’. This hybrid-powered loudspeaker is a direct offshoot of the Tidal’s Bugatti’s project. They eschew the Bugatti’s decoupled construction and servo subwoofers. That means the loudspeaker is taller and larger than the Bugatti loudspeakers, but deliver similar levels of performance.

The AP1 is fed by the Tidal Contros ‘Level Controlled Streamer DAC’ (a streaming DAC/preamp).

Telos Audio Design

Celebrating 20 years of power products, Telos Audio Design showed several new products at Munich High-End 2025. The new Foundation Core series draws inspiration from the company’s Monster Series Power and Grounding units, yet offers the systems at a lower price point for a broader range of music enthusiasts. The $15,000 Power Core has five power outlets (with the option of an extra power strip), while the $12,000 Ground Core includes six binding posts for grounding connections to audio components.

Later in the year, Telos will introduce its first server, the $40,000 EMP Monster Music Server, which features Roon Core, Roon Ready and DAC modules, and a vast amount of power reserves.

Unitra

Polish brand Unitra has been around for longer than most: before the fall of communism, the company was the jukebox maker to the other side of the Iron Curtain for many years. Today, however, it’s a nose-to-tail/soup-to-nuts company that makes direct drive turntables, digital audio components, amplifiers, loudspeakers, even cables and LP set-up and test discs. We’re especially fond of the €4,995  22kg WSH-805 integrated amplifier with its solid build and 1970s vibe. The remote-controlled switchgear is a bonus, but the CSH-801 CD player with E-Ink display (€2,500), GSH-630 Fryderyk turntable (€2,805), GSH-801 Edmund turntable (€4,675), ZGZ-8013-way floorstanding speakers (€6,000/pair), and ZGB-401 bookshelf speakers (€2,000/pair) are all worth seeking out.

Munich High-End 2025: Amplifiers

Munich High-End 2025: Analogue

Munich High-End 2025: Digital

Munich High-End 2025: Loudspeakers

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