I really enjoy the sonic beauty offered once again by the Ascendo and Behold team. I thought the new Model F loudspeakers were very organic, smooth and easy on the ears thanks in a large part to Behold's new Gentile HDD-player.

Esoteric was another of my favorite rooms. Besides the clean and impressive looking setup, I was surprised by what came through considering the negative experience I had last year listening to Avantgarde's largest horns. Not only was their reference setup gorgeous this time around but the smaller Avantgarde Duo Mezzos proved sonically spectacular driven by an army of Esoteric electronics. Who would have guessed?

After seeing and reading about Crystal Cable’s Arabesque glass loudspeakers, it was a pleasant surprise and opportunity to actually get the chance to hear them in the flesh. Needless to say, these loudspeakers were simply a beautiful thing to behold. Even more surprising was the natural ebb and flow of sound this room produced on every visit (there were quite a few). I kind of anticipated the Arabesque might lean toward aesthetic appeal more than sonic rightness, but I found myself pleasantly pleased with the entire Arabesque sound thanks in a large sum to VTL and dCS and Crystal Cables.

 
CP mentioned in his very thorough report on the perplexed look he, Ingo and I gave to each other during our unbeknownst introduction to a full-battery powered setup. This, of course, happened when we stepped into the Audio Consulting of Switzerland listening room. The "Wow" factor was in this room alive and breathing!

The three of us sat there listening to these battery powered electronics and were simply astonished and bewildered by the sheer naturalness of the sound. I literally could have stayed in this room for the entire three days. I’ve been to a couple of high end shows and understand how difficult it is to achieve good sound, forget this level of sonic excellence. But damn it if the Audio Consulting team didn’t accomplish just that. There, of course, were other listeners in the room as well who were also stuck to their seats. Because the sound was so eerily translucent and possessed an incredible sense of ease and musical nuance rarely heard anywhere outside of CP's huge horn setup. We kept going from song to song. We listened to almost everything from classical to jazz, contemporary to country and were equally mesmerized regardless. Clearly this was the best sound at this year's show. Could battery-powered components be the new wave of the future regardless of how complex and costly it may be? We’ll have to wait and see.

One thing for sure, there is never a boring moment at Munich’s High End Show. It’s a privilege to have been a part of such a prestigious high-profile event. I look forward to living and learning more and of course, to make the cross-Atlantic journey once again. Until then...