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 This year's trip
to Munich's grand High End show held again
at the Munich Order Center (MOC) served as
my 5th (a wedding in the Bahamas prevented
me from going in 2006). Judging solely from
the looks of this splendid locale, and the
overall feel from the show attendees and
vendors, I would rate the Munich High End
show as my favorite (second favorite is
Rocky Mountain while CES has become my most
dreaded).
The overall
growth since moving from Frankfurt (where it
was held for more than 20 years) to Munich
in 2004 has been tremendous. Show attendance
for this year was reported at well
over 13,500 visitors and this does not
include press and exhibitors. Demo rooms
grew to more than 220! It appears the MOC's
huge space handled the large crowd quite
easily. Rooms were moderately crowded but
never felt uncomfortable. The hallways
looked busy but easy to navigate through
while easing in and out of rooms. If
attendance continues to grow this show could
potentially outgrow CES attendance with
regard to 2-channel only audio.
American
attendance continues to bulge as I spotted
Grant Samuleson of Shunyata Research and
Garth Leerer of Musical Surroundings walking
the show with strong considerations of
showing their wares in the not-too-distant
future.
In addition to
the professionalism shown here by those who
managed this event, the singleness of
purpose toward 2-channel is what I think
gives this event its special feel.
Seating and
dining was also more than adequate. Bavarian
food isn't my favorite but I've adapted
pretty quickly to those cheese and tomato
sandwiches. Also, the folks over at the
Leopold Holiday Inn restaurant knew how to
make great American cheeseburgers and French
fries. Needless to say, that's where I could
be found each evening after the show. BTW,
getting back to the hotel was also a delight
with a taxi wait that never was more than
five-minutes. There was also free bus
service as well for those who didn't mind
the many stops they made along the way.
Weather-wise, it
rained off and on during the first couple of
days. Saturday was both sunny and mild
weathered, giving Stereo Times' ad designer
Carlos Sanchez (photo below right) and I a
good excuse to see a few of Munich's
historic sites.
One of the first
things we did upon landing was hookup once
again with Munich resident and
super-audiophile friend Ingo Schultz (photo
left above). Ingo was kind enough to pick us
up at the airport (as he did the in '07
too). A serious music lover as well as
artist, Ingo walked the show on the first
day with Carlos and I. Just like the year
before, I was not surprised by how much we
had in common with regard to how much we
liked the same rooms.
As you might
have guessed, things got quite busy and
Carlos and I found ourselves busy snapping
photo and photo of all the eye-candy on
display. Ingo Schultz said "catch up to you
guys later..."
Like the rap
song states "It's Like a Jungle
Sometimes..." I too often wonder how "I Keep
From Going Under." With all there is to see,
listen and choose from, how does one stay on
the beaten path?
It was nice
to see long time American-made companies
like Krell and Audio Research showing their
hifi-wares at High End 2008
German
cabinet designer Copulare really showed
their stuff with elegantly sculptured
equipment racks and an iPod docking station
that retailed for nearly $4k (iPod not
included. Ouch!).
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