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Many thanks for sharing this write up with us. Unfortunately, I had missed to visit the CH room, where the Wilson Audio Alexx V Speakers had been set up so carefully. Also I did miss to listen to WADAX digital playback systems. Both CH and WADAX will go on my ToVisit list for next years show. Also many of the things described I found to match my own impressions. Before going to the show, I had been quite happy to see so many rooms in which Wilson Audio speakers had been used. However, when visiting those rooms, most of them did not impress me. In contrast, at shows before the C19 pandemic, it had been pairs of Sasha DAWs and Alexia IIs that had left most memorable moments. Most surprising was probably the presentation of the big Wilson Chronosonic in the big room shared with other Wilson Audio systems set up. There we had even witnessed moments in which they could not even figure out how to get the CD playback started for several minutes ... in German the expression for your feelings in such moments is "Fremdschämen" ... At least the Alexx V in the Constellation Audio room, I had found to be very enjoyable on Saturday as already mentioned above. Probably, Wilson Audio has already passed the threshold where it is felt to be necessary to impress at shows as there appearantly is a big community fully aware of their potential capabilities.

Yet another room where speakers came with diamond tweeters had been the one of innuous. In fact, at earlier high end shows I had always been highly impressed by these or similar Estelon speakers. Not this time however despite the Innuous Statement being at work. Somehow, the room was not only cool by temperature but also lacking sonic energy in the room. Interestingly, they had at least three white PSI Audio AVAA C20 active bass traps placed in their room (see white box in the corner behind the left speaker). Was this maybe the source of the lack of sonic energy??? Would be very interesting to hear impressions from others visiting that room. On paper, these active bass traps seem to be a great and quite unique possibility to solve bass problems in ones listening room. This had been the first time I had experienced them at work. Also it would be great to hear maybe from users of them about their impressions.

Another room with Marten speakers at an even higher level has been the one of MSB. In that room I could have stayed for a long time. Everything sounded so pure and crystal clear. Probably the Pink Faun server and the big PS Audio Power Plant helped quite a bit to achieve this highly detailed presentation in such a relaxed way and with such ease. Also in the room the other listeners seemed to be captured by the music so that the noise level had been very low ... amost a meditative experience ;-) ... There clearly cannot have been any weak links in this chain.

While excellent with Jazz music or classical guitars, even systems at the highest end seem to struggle with a credible playback of symphonic music. I had experienced this in the Marten room. The diamond tweeters and beryllium midrange drivers made, e.g., guitar strings sparkle exposing every last bit of detail possible. Nevertheless, when switching to symphonic music (Rachmaninoffs symphonic dances, Minnesota Orchestra/Eiji Oue), the orchstra came across like a toy-version only. Quite a contrast between the different styles of music presented to quite an unexpected extend in that price range.

Same here 🙂

Oh, yes, visiting the TAD room was really great. This had been my first visit on Sunday and by accident exactly at the time when Jim Anderson had been there in person to present Patricia Barbers album Clique! which he himself had co-produced, mixed and recorded. So cool!!! Also I had not been aware of this wonderful audiophile album before. Listened to it last night and in the morning today. Highly recommended. Indeed, this is available on vinyl and as a CD and SACD even with a multi-channel version onboard. A best-practise recording example in my view. Systemwise I was surpised how much difference it made to sit right in the middle or on the seat next to the one in the middle ... even with these coaxial driver equipped speakers. Also I though that the very last bit of timing accuracy had been missing ... but I may have been biased since I had seen the measurements of the step response of an earlier version of that speaker which shows some imperfections. Anyhow, Patricia Barbers album came across with a wonderful groove and ease and ambience.

Here two pictures of the speaker systems mentioned above:

In my view the hifi deluxe and the high end are really great shows. They allow me to get many different impressions in a very short period of time. My journey this year started with a visit at the hifi deluxe on Fr, where the high end access was not possible for non-business people. Already at the hifi deluxe, I got many memorable impressions. First, I had a first encouter with the RAAL SR1a headphones, which was a great experience. Lightning fast headphones but a bit shy in the bass. Next, I stumbled across the Linkwitz LX521 speaker system (https://linkwitz.store/de/) which appeared to me to have excellent timing. This seems to be a clever concept. Each speaker comes with five drivers and a box containing 5 Ncore amps, one for each driver. Within the box time correction among the drivers must take place. Maybe there could have been a bit more body around the voices but still quite cool. Unfortunately, a pair is above 20kEUR already and they are maybe not the most appealing design objects for a living room ... to say it in a diplomatic way. After a few more room visits, I then encountered another highlight presentation, i.e., the one of the Acapella Hyperion horn speakers (https://www.acapella.de/780er-horn/?lang=en#hyperion) which had been really impressive to listen to. Very lifelike, delicate, dynamic with the right tonality and indeed excellent with many different kinds of music. The presenter/creator of these speakers had a great taste for music in my view. In a very calm and relaxed way, he switched between the many great different LPs/tracks showing great passion and respect for the music he had been presenting ... In addition to all the encounteres with many different types of systems, I consider these events as a great source for inspiration towards getting to know new great music/albums/artists.

After visiting Hifi Deluxe 2023 on Fr and High End 2023 on Sa/Su, my head is still processing the various experiences made. Still I keep getting back on remembering the vinyl playback of Stevie Ray Vaughans Live perfomance of Tin Pan Alley experienced in the Constellation Audio room via the Wilson Audio Alexx speakers. It was like having entered a time machine to travel back to this outstanding moment in music history ... These are the moments where even "normal people" can get transformed into an audiophile within minutes. Everything was perfect! ... In fact, I could have simply and easily stayed in the Constellation Audio room for the full day. Also the responsible ones presenting in this room did it in a very professional way. Talking was kept to a minimum and to important information about the recordings and the system. When visitors had questions, they would go with them towards the back of the room to talk in order not to disturb the many listeners. Unfortunately, I felt that this had been quite an exception at this years high end events. So much noise and talking in many of the rooms even by the ones responsible for the presentations. Kudos to everyone at Constellation Audio who had been in charge of their exemplary appearance in Munich.

For those of you who did not make it to visit one of these great concerts in Munich. Here is a link to a very recent video recording of the same performance: https://www.arte.tv/de/videos/113621-000-A/gustav-mahler-sinfonie-nr-7/ I had attended the concert in Munich on Saturday after my high end visit. With a seat in row #21 basically in the center, it has been not so bad. Nevertheless, at times I wished to have been seated in closer vicinity to the orchestra ... no remote control available where I could have increased the volume ;-) ... Nevertheless, the interpretation of Mahlers 7th symphony has been wonderful as you will be able to witness by watching the movie accessible via the link above. Now let me comment on the Isarphilharmonie as a concert hall. In fact, it is only an interims concert hall while the Gasteig is supposed to get renovated. For an interims concert hall, I think that the acoustics is ok. Nevertheless, the distance of your seat from the orchestra still seems to matter a lot. At my one time concert experience in Tokyos Suntory Hall years ago, this had been quite different. In fact, I think it was Mahlers symphony #7 as well ... nevertheless by a different orchestra that had been exposed by Suntory Hall very clearly and miraculously even at a seat far in the back. As in high end audio, the room matters a lot but even more so the performance of the musicians. The acoustics of the Philharmonie hall in the Gasteig had been quite suboptimal so far. In fact, Leonhard Bernstein had recommended to "Burn it" (https://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/14/arts/14iht-loomis.html) ... When sitting in row #7 or so in the middle, I found it still quite ok. Sitting further behind or on the sides, it had become very problematic very quickly. Let's hope the renovation will fix it. Currently, the Herkulessaal in Munichs Residence is quite ok as is the Nationaltheater (i.e. the opera house) with my favorite hall still being the Prinzregententheater which is a copy of Wagners Festspielhaus in Bayreuth. For the future, there are still hopes that the BRSO will get its dedicated concert hall with a 1st class acoustics matching the 1st class abilities of this wonderful orchestra.

Indeed Gavin1977 ... and it has been my impression that high end ... now means to aim for the moon and beyond pricewise. A bit more than a decade ago at the high end 2011, when the KEF Blade was introduced at about 25kEUR/kUSD or so, this was considered by many to be a bit expensive already ... This year such a speaker in this price range would have appreared to be the bargain of the show. Of course, many new speakers are built with quite some effort ... like Rockport with their stunning inert housing. Nevertheless, the frequency with which speaker pices showed up to exceed 100kEUR/kUSD at this years high end, I find quite shocking and detached from the reality of very many even highly dedicated high-end freaks!?!?!? PS: Sorry for the typo in my post above ... "your request" should have read "your recommendation"

Many thanks for pointing me to the Ibex Audio room, Chris! Visually the big speakers with the wide baffles did not attract me to enter on Saturday. Only after reading your recommendation in the other High End 2023 thread, I entered this room on Sunday ... and I have to agree that it was clearly one of my best experiences at this years high end show. Also the Audioquest room I have visited only after reading your request ... and again this was one of the highlights for me. Fantastic Rockport speakers indeed! The Constellation Audio room was one of my favorites on Saturday ... at least as long as they used the turntable. When they switched to digital, I thought that there had been a drop in SQ despite the dCS DAC. In fact, on Saturday I had experienced a superiority of analog vs. digital in several of the rooms I had visited. Thus, with me using digital only, it was kind of a relief to experience the Ibex Audio room SQ ... along with the possible explanation being the upconverting of all source files to DSD512. Then on Sunday, I had experienced great digital playback also at other places such as the MSB/Marten room or the AlsyVox/Lampizator/Taiko room. My favorite high end 2023 playback track experience goes to Peter Gabriels Growing Up played on the MBL's Radialstrahler system while sitting right in the sweetspot on the middle seat in the front row ... this alone was worth the entry fee for me. AMAZING!!!

Welcome to Munich! ... and in case anyone of you would like to compare your fresh high end experiences to the real thing, do not miss to visit one of the concerts of the Symphony Orchestra of the Bavarian Radio Station (BRSO) in which Daniel Harding will conduct Mahlers 7th symphony. The orchestra is absolutely amazing, clearly one of the best worldwide, ... and particularly great when Daniel Harding is conducting ... a true sonic magician. Here is the link: https://www.brso.de/en/concerts/daniel-harding/

Would it maybe be possible to describe the improvements a bit? Timing? 3D? Density? Tonality? While the DAC8DSD excels with DSD512, what about the DAC200? Do you find a significant improvement with DSD1024 over DSD512 with the DAC200?

Was it possble to hear the new T+A M200 monos at the HighEnd2022? https://www.ta-hifi.de/en/high-end-2022/ If so, it will be great to hear about your impressions and/or to see some pictures. Wanted to check them out myself but had unfortunate time conflicts this weekend ... grrr ... Hope very much that next years high end will be open on the Friday to normal visitors as well (as in previous years).