Jeremy Clarkson once said every petrolhead should own an Alfa Romeo at least once. I would say every audiophile should visit Munich. But, just the once. More is unnecessary; after three days I had definitely had enough.
Best sound of the show
That would be Silbatone and Western Electric.
Clicky
Wow. The dynamics and sense of real weight to piano. Just amazing.
Downsides - smell of stale beer and cigarettes, and very bright, white, unsophisticated room.
Sounds I kept coming back to
That would be some Focal headphones - which were nothing special - plugged into a Naim SuperUniti running some rips from a Unitiserve in the Naim room. I played Abba, Seu Jorge, Shirley Bassey.... and stayed listening for ages, feet tapping furiously at the kitschness of Dancing Queen and Propellerheads remixes. Just great and reiterates the truism that it isn't about the equipment, it's about enjoying the music. I seriously want that system.
Another sound I revisited several times - the REL stand and a demo of Harbeth speakers with or without a middle of the range REL sub. I liked it, just on music; extra depth and richness to the acoustic, more dynamics, and some real promise. Not only that, the system (with Rega electronics) really boogied.
Disappointments
The Cessaro Liszts were absolutely brand new and sounded flat. I'm sorry to say that GT's amps couldn't wake them up - except once, playing Daft Punk's 'Get Lucky', when they really boogied. The room's bright lights and plain dressing didn't help the experience. A shame given the effort involved in setting up.
The Living Voice Vox Olympians probably sound great, but not at low volumes and with nothing but opera playing.
Devialet - with special speaker-matching software and B&W 802s, the sound had unparalleled bass transparency. I heard the shape of the heart beating in Dark Side of the Moon. Sadly, it was flat, hard and unmusical overall. Technically excellent, emotionally disengaging.
Chord - too bright for my taste. Too bling.
Naim statement - the Naim/Focal tie in unfortunately means they're using Focal speakers every time I hear Naim's top end amps. Focals just seem to sound polite and manufactured and don't have real warmth, timbre nor musicality. So the Statement was impressive and felt unencumbered and boundless, and I enjoyed it, but wasn't entirely blown away. Needs to be paired with something else.
Everyone's choice of music - at no point did I go into a room and heard something familiar that I enjoyed and that was being reproduced in a way that enticed me to stay and listen to the magic. From German Techno to strangely random classical pieces, exhibitors seemed intent on showing off their music inventory and avoiding anything familiar to which I might form a bond. Oscar Peterson? Who he? Abba? Get lost! That Daft Punk track in the Cessaro room was ripped from the TW Raven by another exhibitor and replaced by something electronic with sounds popping in and out from extreme right and left as if that is what matters with this shit.
Nooooo!!!! What matters is how you feel. And I don't feel like being shot with ping pong balls of sound. I do feel like dancing to 'get lucky'.
Theme of the show
If there could be a 2014 theme, it'd be 'bling'. Speakers that are curved, wobbly, wavy, covered in drivers, or sporting huge horns. Amplifier after amplifier with hefty metalwork, grab handles and blue LEDs. Innumerable spinning platters on top of a metre thick layer of perspex, aluminium, or a mix of the two.
Tellingly, in one of the downstairs trade halls, a Chinese manufacturer showing off the boxes they will build for you with hefty metalwork, perspex platters and blue LEDs. You just supply the label and the electronics and they give the casework and the style you want for your mayfly brand.
Closing thought
This just reiterated to me how many brands there are in the audiophile world, and the prices they dare to command. Room after room after room after room of boxes with lights, displays, metalwork and knobs, playing some sounds and commanding a price for various 'levels' of kit. Some 'levels' numbered, and some named with evocative names like 'Venom' and 'Cobra' and 'Tiger' and what have you. Hoping to entice the punter into a 'Kitten' model and get them to upgrade later to the 'Tomcat' and finally 'Tiger' - giving the warm sense of self-satisfaction that you know where you are in that brand's pecking order and therefore how good your system should sound....
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