The Hi-Fi Five Episode 31: High End Vienna 2026 Show Report

THE HIFI FIVE Episode 31:  High End Vienna 2026 Show Report

Learn what really happened at the show, best sounding exhibits, most exciting component debuts and industry discussions!

Guests:

Edgar Kramer -- Editor-in-Chief of SoundStage! Australia

Mikhail Kuzemchenko -- audiophile hobbyist

Carlo Lo Raso -- Editor-in-Chief of Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity

Greg Weaver -- The Audio Analyst on YouTube, Senior Editor at Positive Feedback

The first High End Vienna has come and gone, and opinions are already divided. Did Vienna actually improve on munich? On this episode of The HiFi Five, we ask:

Was moving the show from Munich a mistake -- or a major upgrade?

Why didn’t High End Society secure additional venue capacity instead of effectively encouraging satellite shows?

Favorite affordable and favorite cost no object systems.

Which mega-buck systems failed to impress?

Which affordable systems embarrassed components costing ten times as much?

What products created the most buzz?

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:03

Welcome to the 31st episode of the High Five Five. I'm Ron Resnick. Please like this video and subscribe to the channel. Tonight's guests, Edgar Kramer, is the editor-in-chief of Soundstage Australia. Mikhail Kuzemchenko is an audiophile hobbyist. Carlo Larasco is the editor-in-chief of Secrets of Home Theatre and High Fidelity. Greg Weaver is the audio analyst on YouTube and a senior editor at Positive Feedback. Welcome home, gentlemen.

SPEAKER_04 0:29

Thank you, Ron.

SPEAKER_01 0:30

Thank you, Ron. How's the jet like everybody? Welcome to the future. Let's get right to it. Item one. What did you all think of high-end Vienna by high-end society generally? How successful was the transition from music to Vienna? Greg, let's start with you.

SPEAKER_04 0:49

I gotta tell you, um, I think it was fabulous. Um you know, there were a lot of naysayers, there was a lot of negativity. Oh my god, it'll never make it, whatever. Um the ACV, the the Austria Center Vienna, is bigger than the MOC. The three floors in the tower are in some ways, they're wider, they're easier to go down, they're different sized rooms on one and two. Three has some smaller rooms. The the uh what do they call it? The X1, two, three, four, and five, none of the negative floors are very much like the first floors of each of the four buildings at the MOC. Um, I gotta tell you, I thought it was fabulous. I think it's a big step up from the MOC personally. Um, and I absolutely loved it.

SPEAKER_00 1:43

Edgar. I yeah, I to start off with, I hated it to be honest with you. I I thought the the venue was it was just a maze, but but my opinion changed, and um uh you know, my opinion changed within the first two days. Um and it was basically it's a contemporary uh vibe to the venue. Uh there's a grand entrance, it's just impressive. It's a far better venue, really, than uh the MOC, uh, and more befitting of high-end audio. Uh I mean that digital signage is uh a potential uh added revenue stream for the high-end society. Um yeah, it it just it's more spacious, the air conditioning works, which is uh you know. Uh so yeah, I I I think it's uh it's a great improvement. There's obviously uh some teething, small teething issues that need to be sorted out, and I think that'll be probably done by next year. Uh so yeah, overall I'm I'm quite positive about it. Although I started off not so much.

SPEAKER_03 2:57

Uh yeah, I think uh I think you know Edgar pretty much you know mirrors my sentiments. I mean, uh, you know, there there was a lot of um you know sort of uncertainty going going into it that you know from what I'd heard from people, 50% were excited about it, and then another 50% were like I don't know what to make of it. Uh so maybe wait and see. And so I kind of went in with you know not high expectations, um, but I came away with you know, after everything, you're very impressed. I mean, I think uh I think the venue is was is definitely really suited for uh for high uh for high-end audio. Um the floor structure, I think, was uh was better uh than sort of the kind of widespread kind of extended setup that the original MOC had. Um yeah, I mean I I think um yeah, there was some there are some teething stuff there in terms of like some of the signage for some of the uh how to get this like some of the X halls that were attached to the you know the bottom two floors. Uh a couple of them were kind of a little hard to navigate to, so I think there could be better signage there. And um yeah, I I think my biggest problem with the with the the place was um I felt that the elevators and the escalators their locations made no logical sense to me. So I mean I ended up more often than not coming up an escalator to one floor looking for the escalator to go up to the next floor and it not being there, and it was like I had to spend half my time navigating around to figure out how to get to get to stuff. But I think after the first couple of days when my brain adjusted, um it became a little easier. So um, yeah, I uh overall I thought it was uh it was a really good, a really good you know move and transition, and and I'm hoping that next year, now that it's the show's sort of proved itself, I guess in a sense, that uh it'll it'll do even better next year.

SPEAKER_05 5:01

Miguel. Uh yes, well, I agree with almost everything which was said. I really like from a perspective of a visitor, I think it's much better. You have uh, you know, first you know, access from restrooms to food everywhere you can get water and something, some bite to eat, where you don't have to stand in line for terrible tasting burgers like you do in Munich. And uh it's just uh overall it's bad. If if you wheelchair, for example, uh for wheelchair people, it's was way much easier to get through the show than in Munich. Um and uh so from a visitor perspective, I think it was just much better. From a vendor perspective, it was a mixed bag because uh price went up a little, which caused certain vendors uh even you know, move out to uh nearby hotel, kind of abandoning the show, and you just use the location for their sub-shows. Um also the ease of navigation compared with Munich, uh it is blessing, but it may not be a blessing. If somebody wants to find you, they can, but uh Munich was almost like a labyrinth where everybody was like rats in a labyrinth, just walking around everywhere. So you have a lot of people who don't really know about you, but they just hit you anyway, just as uh you know, by chance, where it was less uh likely in uh Vienna where you could easily navigate to place you want. It's it's a similar problem with uh like you know, shopping malls. Shopping malls, they want you to find the place, but they also don't really want you to do it easily, they want you to go around and you know hit some other stores. So that's uh issue too.

SPEAKER_01 7:10

How would you compare the shows of Vienna and MOC in terms of what you felt about the exit number of exhibitors, number of attendees, uh, and how did the exhibit room sound um comparatively? Carlo.

SPEAKER_03 7:25

Um in terms of the exhibited rooms and the sound of the rooms, I I kind of came away with a sense that the rooms in here at Vienna generally sounded to me uh a little more favorable for hi-fi show, a little a little better. Um, you didn't have as many rooms that were all glass, um, and there seemed to be a uh a larger percentage of bigger spaces, I think. So um overall sound wise, I kind of felt like equipment and and and demonstrations got a got a better got a better break here in uh in in Vienna over over uh Munich. Uh in terms of the crowd makeup, uh I I don't know. I mean I think the from a the first two industry days seemed like super busy, and every people I talked to all seemed very, for the most part, seemed very pleased and and and and happy with the turnout. Uh the visitor, I or I guess the uh consumer days, it's hard to tell just because those it's it's like other folks have been saying, the uh the walkways there are bigger and wider and easier to get through. So in a sense, it may felt like there were less people going through, but I it was it's hard, it's hard to really give a concrete impression, a concrete answer to that, if if if you get my meaning.

SPEAKER_01 8:52

Greg, what did you think in terms of um attendance and uh exhibitors and uh general sound quality versus moc?

SPEAKER_04 8:59

Yeah, I well I tend to agree with the sense of the trade days were fabulous. I mean, everybody I spoke with, all the manufacturers I know were like, this has been fabulous. Um, the rooms, look, everybody, one of the big uh complaints we heard as never having been there was, oh, there aren't that many rooms. There's like eight good rooms in the whole place. Well, I got news for you.

unknown 9:24

The three floors in the tower, they're triangular shaped, sort of. They're in three spaces.

SPEAKER_04 9:30

And there were more big rooms there than there were in Munich. There were better rooms than there were in Munich without a doubt. Yes, on floor three of the tower, there were smaller rooms available uh that worked okay, but the sound like it's a show, okay? Munich was not known for sound quality. Um Vienna is, I do think for the most part, can be a little better. Um, and again, it's it's up to these guys to set up and take the time to set their rooms up and do it right.

unknown 10:01

It's always a challenge.

SPEAKER_04 10:02

Um, but the the experiences during the vendor days, the the B2B two days, were fabulous. The crowds were excellent, the experience was excellent. Um, and I agree, you know, we we talked about this. I haven't seen the numbers from them yet. I don't know if they've posted them. Um I haven't seen them yet. But the the the uh consumer days were busy. It's just because the hallways were wider and easier to get through, it didn't seem quite as joked as it does at the MLC.

SPEAKER_01 10:31

I remember the staircases in MLC being crowded, bottlenecks, and annoying.

SPEAKER_04 10:36

The staircases were insane. You couldn't get, and they would check your tendons, and you couldn't, I mean, it was frightening. This this is uh the Git's not both that it was at the MLC. The the people in in uh stream were much more open to having people be there and enjoy their time being around there, getting through the place. They were helpful. I heard people, and they had guys in every, you know, you were talking about the escalators.

unknown 11:01

I used the elevators because they were all in basically the same areas.

SPEAKER_04 11:04

And and um there was someone outside of every escalator with maps, directions. I mean, I heard people going, where do I go? And they were so helpful.

SPEAKER_03 11:15

That's a good point. There, there definitely was a number of of information kiosks like strategically placed all over, which was great. They were super helpful. I I used them a bunch, so yeah, you're right. You're right about that.

SPEAKER_04 11:26

And you know, I I know that everybody hates change. So I think the the the attitude that, oh my god, it was so hard to find your way around. Within three hours, I was fine. I was like, oh my god, this is so great. So I I really love the place, and I think I think it is the best move the show could have made. I I don't know any other venues like this in Europe, so I'll shut up. But this venue is definitely upscale and a good step forward for them, in my opinion.

SPEAKER_00 11:54

Edgar. Yeah, I from my perspective, as far as uh covering as much ground as possible within the smallest amount of time possible, I found uh Munich easier only because you you more or less knew there was the H room, and either side of that there were rooms and there were corridors, and you're going left, right, left, right, left, right. Uh once you and and from floor to floor. Once that's done, you go to the next H room section, and then you start again with the uh corridor rooms. So I found I still find uh Munich easier to navigate in terms of sheer step numbers. Um, but I agree the uh the positioning of uh info desks and help desks uh strategically at on every level made it a lot easier. Uh the people, as you said, were super helpful. Uh in fact, I had someone walk with me to a certain spot that I couldn't find, and they literally said, No, I I I want to know where it is myself, and they walked me all the way to the room I was looking for. Uh so yeah, they uh they were helpful, they were certainly motivated to help. Um as far as numbers, I think uh uh Greg was right. Uh the uh the business of the industry uh days on uh Thursday and Friday were just as busy, busy, if not more so, than uh than Munich. I think that maybe on the Saturday and Sunday, because by nature uh the audiophile or the audio enthusiast community in uh Vienna may be quite a lot smaller than uh than Munich, and this being the first year with maybe lots of enthusiasts saying, Well, you know, we'll wait for next year to see what happens. I think the numbers were down. Um, like you say, it's a little hard to s to to to tell because of the wider spaces and so on. Uh, but it felt to me like the numbers were down there, and they and and the fact that uh the audio enthusiast community in in Vienna might be smaller, a lot smaller than Munich, would have something to do with that.

SPEAKER_04 14:02

And there were three renegade shows going on at the same time.

SPEAKER_00 14:05

Correct. That's the other thing I found it was fragmented in terms of um uh Hi-Fi Deluxe just down the road, and then the the uh in the Archotel Hotel, there was um uh I think it was Vienna, Vienna Audiofest.

SPEAKER_02 14:20

Vienna Soundfest.

SPEAKER_00 14:22

Soundfest, yeah, Soundfest at TechGate. Um and uh there was an off-site uh thing that I really um felt bad about missing, but uh Harcrow, which is an Australian company, um had a show or an exhibition, an event um at a dealer which was about 20 minutes, 25 minutes away from site, and I just could not get to that. But so yeah, in other words, there were fragmentations. And the other interesting thing is that from what I heard, uh there were quite a few uh long-time exhibitors that could not get the type of rooms they wanted to or felt appropriate for their exhibits that uh uh didn't show this year. And I'm just wondering what the future for those companies holds because they'll have the same problems trying to get those rooms next year and the year after that, and so on. So I wonder whether that's gonna get fragment the show to a two maybe maybe the uh Vienna Soundfest will grow uh if they can cater to uh the people that couldn't show this year at um at the ACV.

SPEAKER_01 15:32

We're gonna get to that in a second. Uh Mikhail, what did you think about attendance?

SPEAKER_05 15:35

Uh I agree with pretty much everything which was said. I just would like to add that not there was a circuit also circumstances that because of Eurovision, they had to move the show two weeks in June. And what happened this week, uh, Thursday, was a uh national holiday in Austria. A lot of people use it to have a long weekend and move out of the city because weather was reasonably uh good. So a lot of people have families and whatever, not families, they moved out of the city first time in summer, the weather is great, and that probably reduced attendance from locals quite significantly.

SPEAKER_01 16:25

Okay, so by a show of hands, who preferred overall the MOC venue and who preferred the Vienna venue? Mikhail.

SPEAKER_05 16:35

Well, uh Vienna all the way.

SPEAKER_01 16:37

Carlo?

SPEAKER_03 16:38

I'd have to go with Vienna, Edgar.

SPEAKER_00 16:42

Vienna by uh by a hey and Greg.

SPEAKER_04 16:47

Vienna by a huge margin, personally. I thought it was explicit. You know, I mean, it's I I get what you're saying. We're all familiar with Munich. Um, but going down a hall, turning and coming back a hall, um, it's the same thing. You just go around uh a wing and go down to the next one, go around it, and there's shows rooms on the left and right. I don't know. I don't see it as that significantly different. It's just laid out a little differently.

SPEAKER_01 17:12

So Okay, now we get to the harder question. The real question is why did high-end society choose a city which does not have a venue large enough with enough audio appropriate exhibit rooms to accommodate all of the exhibitors they know they had at MOC? And let's stipulate the answer is because they wanted a beautiful, classy city like Vienna. Okay, so let's take that in. But then their answer really becomes why didn't high-end society itself secure enough off-premise satellite locations to increase their own capacity under the high-end society umbrella instead of effectively encouraging other people to start independent satellite shows like exclusive and soundfest to increase the needed capacity. Edgar, let's start with you on that.

SPEAKER_00 18:02

Well, I mean, first of all, city of City of Music. So um that's that's the obvious thing. I I'm just not too sure that there are uh venues of that capacity in Europe, um, anywhere else. I mean, there may be in say Frankfurt, Germany. Um, I'm not sure I'm not sure why that wasn't investigated, or maybe it was, uh, and uh a deal or a contract couldn't be locked in, or yeah, I to be honest, I I actually don't know the the the the answer to that. I think they still chose an incredible venue. I mean, um we all decided that Vienna was was superior. So great venue, great city. Uh but uh I again I don't know the uh the politics or the uh um logistics of having um Vienna Soundfest, whether that was connected to the high-end society organization or not. Um and someone else might know, but uh yeah, I I think that in future, especially in light of what I said earlier, where some uh exhibits could not be um fitted in, uh that needs to be sorted because uh there are several that I know of that uh that didn't show and and and the same situation applies in future unless something changes.

SPEAKER_01 19:24

Well, Carlo, yes, I we all agree Vienna is a beautiful venue. People love going to the the music halls there, so that all makes sense. But given that, why do you suppose high-end society didn't say, look, we don't really have enough good exhibit rooms in the main venue to accommodate even the people we had at MOC. So we know we need more capacity. What is your hypothesis as to why high-end society didn't choose themselves to generate that additional capacity by securing additional venues under the high-end society umbrella?

SPEAKER_03 20:03

You know, I uh your guess is as good as mine. I mean, uh at this point, it's it's it's it's strictly speculation. And I mean, without having any sort of insight into the decision making in this, the only thing I could maybe throw a guess at is that since this is the first show from you know an established run in Munich, um maybe they were playing it safe. Maybe they just said, you know, we don't know 100% how this is gonna go. So maybe, you know, if this doesn't go great, maybe we, you know, sort of limit it and and you know, and if and and it sort of reduces any potential losses or whatever. Uh you know, I that's that's the only thing I could I could I could see. I mean, it the show had to prove itself, basically, with everyone talking the way they were, and with the you know, the scuttle bud going around. I mean, the show had to demonstrate that it was you know, had to prove itself that it was this was a viable, uh, smart and you know, a change that could, you know, continue a run like Munich had. And I think it did, you know, but it had to it had to convince people. Um, so that's that's the only thing I can I could even speculate on. Otherwise, you know, it's just pure guesswork at my end.

SPEAKER_01 21:22

Greg, did you go to um the Hi-Fi Delex venue, the exclusive venue, Stavros's project, and Soundfest?

SPEAKER_04 21:29

I did not make it to Soundfest. Um but I Ron, if you if you'll permit me, I tend to think that your hypothesis is not necessarily correct. I don't know that there were not enough rooms for these guys. The manufacturers I spoke to who chose to go off site. I'm not gonna name names because these guys are friends. But many of them said, Oh, I didn't get the root the room I wanted. Not that there were not 12 more just like it, but. But they were like, so I'm gonna go, I'm you know, I'm gonna take my toys and go have my own thing. And quite honestly, the uh the exclusive show that they did at the uh Aries Tower was picturesque, it was beautiful. 22nd floor view over the denube of all the other beautiful view. I mean, I I'll have a video of this weekend showing you what it looked like from up there, but I I I don't know that it was a choice that they made that precluded people. I think people chose to be, I don't want to change, I don't like this, I can't get what I want. So I could be wrong, but I talked to probably seven or seven or so manufacturers who just said, I don't want, I couldn't get the room I wanted, so screw it. Um the rooms are big, there are plenty of rooms, and it is possible that they didn't get the room they wanted and somebody else stepped in and there were no backups. I I can't speak to that completely. But I don't know that it was, you know, I don't know that it was a bad choice by the high-end society because this room, this place had plenty of room, and it's the end of the city of music. I mean, it was it was there's so much going for it, I think they were willing to try it. And why there were these three satellite shows, I know Hi-Fi Deluxe has always been that renegade show. Uh whatever. Um, the thing at the Aries Tower came up because a certain uh group of manufacturers decided to uh no, no, it wasn't just room size and location. There, there are a lot more big rooms there than people thought. Um once we walked around, it was pretty surprising. So anyway, that's what I said.

SPEAKER_05 23:46

Uh no, I I didn't have time, I'm sorry. So I can comment on that.

SPEAKER_00 23:53

I've I've got a I've got I was going to say, uh I've got a feeling that uh in coming years, if not even next year, um, I think I am gonna take that on board. And uh see th there were lots of empty spaces. Uh and I don't mean rooms, but uh I just I'm talking about short spaces where people just there were tables there, most of the time they were they weren't being used. I think they were meant to be obviously just networking spaces, uh lunch spaces, coffee break spaces, and so on. I think that some of the some of those areas could be used for prefab listening rooms along the lines of what uh Munich Hyen had uh on the bottom level. Uh yeah, so there could be they could be soundproofed, they could be air conditioned, like there were in in Munich, and some some of that could be could be done in some of those spaces. Uh if not that, then uh something along uh Vienna Soundfest, but under the banner of the high-end society, could be organized for future shows. It's the first year. Things are going to be tweaked uh and improved, and I think that overall uh the the location, the venue, even though I just said by a hair, uh it is superior. So I think it there's there's a future there.

SPEAKER_01 25:15

Okay, on to the fun stuff, the idea stuff. Greg, what were your favorite, most interesting component debuts?

SPEAKER_04 25:21

Wow. So there were a couple that really caught my attention. The two big ones that got me were on the third floor, the third uh floor of the tower. Um so you know, Valcora bought audio research two years, roughly two years ago now. They've introduced, I'm gonna say, one show, they introduced seven new products. They introduced two new, two more here. Um plus he introduced a new a new speaker. And the speaker was the, hold on, let me only check my notes to get it right. The speaker was the SRC 5.2. There was a ceramic tweeter version and a diamond tweeter version, um, around 80,000 and 95,000 each. But they were driven by audio um or acoustic research stuff. They had an updated reference 21 stage, it's like 48k. And this new reference 80x stereo lamp, it's $23,000. The room, I there were there were three of the snubbiest, there's like no, you know, there were three of the snubbiest people I know who hate everything that agreed that it was among the best systems they heard there. And I don't disagree.

unknown 26:35

Um and I was surprised also has come out with these tiny products.

SPEAKER_04 26:43

They're like 12 by 12 by 3.5 inches long. Um like Jeff doesn't make it like that. He doesn't do that. Um and it it had, you know, they're they're the um what do you call them, the uh sliding game class A, you know, amplifiers, uh DAC preamp. Uh and it was like it was bolder sound, and it was a fifth of the size, a fourth, a third of the size, a fifth of the size, and all the power and sound. It was just remarkable. It was big fun.

SPEAKER_01 27:19

Edgar, what were your favorite debuts that you saw?

SPEAKER_00 27:23

I actually I actually quite liked the uh the demonstration of the uh the new 801 Diamond D5. Um I just found uh you know it looks exactly the same as previous generations, but uh the small changes they made, I think uh uh the speakers handed superbly dynamic. Bass was more controlled than D4, uh, it was quite smooth. So I I I enjoy that um a lot. Mike uh Mike Levinson electronics from memory. Um so that as a debut of a very, very important product, love it or hate it, it's a very important product in the industry. So that I thought that was uh uh very interesting. Um the one that kind of blew me away towards the end of the show, and I and I uh almost bumped into it by accident was the uh the new AMR stuff. Um I actually owned an AMR CD player which was over-engineered to the max. Um it was a 45 or 50 kilo CD player. Uh and then they left and went the other way into sort of entry-level products which are very good, but but obviously not high-end. But I don't know if you guys saw this AMR stuff. It's uh quite incredible. It's um beautifully designed inside and out. Uh it'll be very, very expensive. So they've gone all the way, all the way out. Um, and I was gonna say uh along the lines of Greg, uh the reference seven from uh from audio research, um, and the reference five, I think uh reference twenty pre-amplifiers. Oh, yeah, yeah, reference twenty. They they they were interesting as well, and and uh brand that is new to me, um from I think from Poland, yeah, Larragon, which is kind of like a slightly larger than a quad uh electrostatic speaker, um, and that was uh uh mated with uh Vitis Audio, uh Zensati cables, another brand that I wasn't too familiar with, Everest Audio Labs. Uh and that sounded phenomenal. Uh up on level three, I think it was. One thing about level three, I noticed that some of the rooms, including the one where audio research was, it were just smaller than a hotel room. So I don't know how much how much of a purpose us those rooms serve, really, in terms of sound quality. But as Greg, you said that you that system was sounding pretty hot. So yeah, that room was actually 15 feet deep.

SPEAKER_04 30:05

They cut it in half to do what they wanted to do with it. That room was 15 by 15.

SPEAKER_00 30:09

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_04 30:10

Not a good idea that it's square, but sure.

SPEAKER_00 30:13

Yeah, that's right.

SPEAKER_04 30:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 30:17

What were your favorite debuts, Carlo?

SPEAKER_03 30:19

Uh see, I had a I had a handful of them, so I'll try to go through them kind of quickly. Um uh the the 80th anniversary clipshorns uh that were there, I thought sounded uh particularly good. They had um kind of redone them as sort of the original two-way uh design from back in the day, and uh just you know uh X updated component quality, beautiful tiger wood enclosures with brass inlays for the folded horn. Um and uh it just it they just sounded they didn't sound like horns. I mean, I typically don't like horn speakers because they sound like horns. Um these just sounded so smooth, like uh uncannily smooth for compared to other clip speakers I'd I've heard in the past. And it, you know, the room I'm sure had a lot to do with it, but um, I just sound they just sounded so smooth and so nice, and they they looked like the B's and knees, which was fantastic. Um the uh I'm a big fan of of JBL, uh some JBL speakers like the the Pro speakers like the M2 and the the and the consumer version, the 4367. The the big Everest and K2 speakers that they launched there um were just really impressive as part of their uh high-end summit series. Um not the best room to demo them in, I'm sure, because I mean they they just didn't have a chance to really show their stuff there, but the the technology that's in them, I mean the they had a they they had this display of this of the uh the compression driver setup, which is like three compression drivers that all fired into this thing that looked like a an old style carburetor out of a out of like a some souped up hot rod, and it was unreal. I mean it's just just really really cool stuff. So um I'm excited about it. I hope to hear them in a better environment sometime, but just they're just really cool.

SPEAKER_01 32:17

Let me start and ask you about that one.

SPEAKER_03 32:18

Uh, a couple of people in what's that's the one with the two mid-base woofers and the big uh woofers and yeah, the dual the dual 15s, the dual tens, and then the three compression drivers that fire into this weird tri thing throat or whatever. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 32:34

It looked like a cool design, a lot of woofage, which I like. A couple of people in What's best suggested it's send a touch aggressive. Did you find that at all, or no?

SPEAKER_03 32:41

It was not, it was not, yes. I mean, it wasn't the best. It wasn't set up for critical listening, let's just say that. It was just set up to like wow people and yeah, it it did its job. Um, but yeah, it needed to be in a in a better room to really to really sound proper. Um, but I mean as a as a statement piece, it's like, oh yeah, yeah, it it it it it fit the bill big time. Um being sort of that we cover home theater stuff, um, I was really surprised that uh Magnetar, who makes some really nice universal players and Blu-ray players, they had this two chassis universal transport called the Ultima, which is basically a universal, you know, the Blu-rays, SACD, DVD audio, all the stuff, but as a digital transport only. And the bottom part of it, the bottom chassis is the power supply, but it's also has its batteries, it has electric batteries from you know Chinese car maker Pete BYD. And so it's a you know, it it's battery-powered, universal transport, and it's like done up to the nines, made out of uh CNC'd uh aluminum uh enclosures and stuff. Just beautiful, beautiful work. And I I think they're looking at maybe the price they were talking about 12k for for this thing when it eventually gets released. So but it reminded me of the old days when you'd have those really high-end you know, CD transports from like Theta or enlightened audio designs, or or the a lot of those names from back in the day. So it was it was an interesting angle for that for those guys that was completely unexpected, um, which was really cool. Um the other two things I'll quickly say the audio vector R5s, a modest-sized um speaker that just sounded way bigger and way more spacious than it had any right to sound. Uh, just you know, just if you're familiar with their R10s, just basically the halfway point, but it just sounded so nice. Um and yeah, the one of the last rooms I visited was uh MoFi. I just sort of stumbled in there just because I just kind of happened to cross them. And they had uh we're all familiar with the Andrew Jones design the uh source point eight speaker. Well, they they had two new different versions of that. One was a completely square one with the same driver that was made purposely to go into uh the shelves of an IKEA Calyx shelf. So I know if you're familiar, if you're familiar with those, like everybody and their brother probably has one. There you go, right there. Yeah, yep. There you go. You gotta you can fit like a dozen of them in there and just have a giant wall of sound right there behind you, you know. But yeah, it was it's it's genius. I mean, you know, those things are perfect for uh record collection, and then you know, two of those in a shelf, and you know, that's that's awesome. An awesome, you know, uh space saving and potentially great sounding uh system. And then they also had another version which was an on-wall version that would be great for uh you know uh on-wall surrounds and stuff, which I I have been bugging Andrew Jones for for years to do a on-wall coax, and he said, No, no, I don't know, we can do that. And it's like, okay, fine, whatever. And then all of a sudden I walk in, and there it is. So it's like, thank you, thank you. So um, some of us with basement home theaters want something like that. So that that was dynamite. So yeah, I was really thrilled about that. So yeah, I've talked enough. So sorry.

SPEAKER_05 36:12

Well, uh, there are some of them already, you know. Uh I won't talk about JBL, but uh there are there are a couple interesting one of the uh constellation statement amplifiers, which probably the biggest amplifiers I saw in my life in terms of sheer power. Apparently, in certain configurations, they can go like produce 10 kilowatts of output, and uh they said basically it's limited of electricity in your house. I suspect it's also limited by your local electric power station, and you connect it to nuclear power plant or I don't know. I mean, that was a enormous, and I usually not a big fan of those incredibly large kind of crazy amplifiers, and they've been powered, they powered uh, I think it was Wilson Alex uh speakers, which looked like toys in comparison. And uh when they played digital was kind of okay, but then they start to play uh records, uh, and they have a new YAT turntable, which they uh furnish with uh Grachham Elite uh Tone Arm and their new Joe Ten uh cartridge. Um and the sound was spectacular. I never heard Wilson's basically sound that fast. Those amplifiers just they had no no limit whatsoever. I mean, they just they they probably can't.

SPEAKER_04 37:51

I I don't you know just and they were super transparent, Mikhail. I they were fabulous amps, they really were.

SPEAKER_05 37:58

They're really incredible, you know, they cost 300 grams and they're not very cheap. And he if you you don't want to put it in Florida, okay? Because then you know you just need like three other power lines to your house to air conditioning your uh house from all the heat those amplifiers produce.

SPEAKER_04 38:17

Well, they weigh as much as a car, good guy, yes.

SPEAKER_05 38:21

But again, it was fun. Um, there are a couple of products which I found interesting, and I spoke with have some talk with CEO of DS Audio. Uh yeah, there's and they're like controversial as usual. Uh one is a brush which is vibrate, and uh they apparently did some serious research and measurements and find the brush, the combination of brushes and different types of fibers to reduce static and remove most of the dirt. And I just spoke and said, why? And uh he had an answer. I mean, if you wash your records in a good like uh machine like degreeter, for example, then you probably don't need it, but people are lazy, and that's basically kind of a cleaner for a lazy people, lazy but rich, because this is a $1,200 brush. Uh and another one which I found interesting because uh project usually kind of always trying to create the version of some product but on an inexpensive level, and they have now fully automated, kind of similar to Fury Tech Record Flattener, but instead of 2000, it's about $750.

SPEAKER_01 39:50

Next topic five favorite affordable systems. Carlo, what did you like in the affordable category?

SPEAKER_03 39:58

Okay, um, affordable-wise systems, uh probably the thing that I probably have an easier time mentioning individual components versus systems, but um system-wise, I think the thing that knocked my socks off the most was um the Linkwitz LX Mini kit that they had. It's their um if you're familiar with the the the Linkwitz open baffle speaker designs, like the the LX 521 and originally the Orion from previous years, but they have a kit called the LX Mini, which you know you could put together. They're basically look like slim PVC tubes with you know speaker drivers mounted on top of them and everything, and you could use a mini DSP, uh two in, four out, or four into out, whatever they call it, uh processor and some and amps, you know, any sorts of amps to go with it. So you're in it for about uh probably about three grand for a setup like that. They don't look like much, but my god did they sound amazing. Absolutely blew my mind. They played, they had the big LX521s there, which are the big open baffles, and they sounded glorious, and then moved those out of the way, brought these in, and I was like, you gotta be kidding me. This is like 80, 85 percent of these things in this small room. I can't believe it. And it was just it was dynamite, and you know, you could buy them pre-made or you can put them together yourself as a kid. Um, so that really that really knocked my socks off. Um, I think the other sort of interesting uh affordable thing or affordable-ish thing that I saw was um in Ever Solos room, they had like about eight new product launches, and they had an integrated streamer amp that looked like a combined in one box that combined some of the best stuff of some of their streaming uh transports and stuff, uh, and you know, some of the stuff from their separate amps into one thing. And you know, with this the UI that they're well known for and the ease of use and everything all integrated, and it just looked like it could be a really cool one-box solution for a heck of a lot of people. So um, yeah, that those are the things that sort of stand out from my mind from a value standpoint.

SPEAKER_01 42:15

Mikhail, what did you see in the more affordable category?

SPEAKER_05 42:18

Well, I probably would pass because I don't know what affordable is anymore.

SPEAKER_01 42:24

Something less than with everything with six figures in front of it.

SPEAKER_05 42:31

So 90,000 is affordable.

SPEAKER_01 42:33

Well, I don't know. Tell me, I mean, maybe uh there's no way to define something as subjective as the adjective affordable, but uh you know, uh components in the five, ten thousand range systems in the fifty thousand range versus the real expensive stuff.

SPEAKER_05 42:48

Well, for me, the basically the only like revelation uh where uh Wolf won uh launch uh speakers with uh uh field coil drivers. We were in the Fizzimation room, which I maybe talk later about. Uh they're I think around 20,000 euros or so. I don't know if it's affordable or not, but they sound uh like nothing else. It's really for me was the best sound on the show.

SPEAKER_01 43:19

Really? Yes. Though you're you're gonna put that in your favorite sound category. Yes. Okay. Okay. Greg, what did you see in the uh non-crazy expensive department?

SPEAKER_04 43:33

I can't think of a thing. I um I apologize. I don't play at that end of the pool very often, so fair enough.

SPEAKER_01 43:41

Sorry to say Edgar, anything that you saw that uh definitely don't have I don't have five, but I've got two.

SPEAKER_00 43:49

And uh yeah, I don't I also don't play at that end of the of the pool. But um uh there's a room with cinnamon audio and JC Cora turntable. Uh Angstrom entry point integrated amplifier and a small two-way floor standard from Chroma. And I found that very, very good sound. It was engaging. I think that was uh great sound for not crazy, crazy money. Um the other thing that impressed me, because I'm not a huge I'm I I'm a fan of certain models, but not a huge fan of uh the entire series of Harbith speakers. Uh I find some of them, and you know, I'll get crucified for this, I find some of them um uh colored um and not not so dynamic, but the uh they showed a new uh powered uh speaker called I think it's the NLE3, um, which comes with its own DSP box and uh um uh amplification box that connects to the speaker. Uh and that uh was very, very good. It had that neutrality that I think some of the Harvard speakers like I and I emphasize some of the Harvest speakers lack. Uh it had dynamics, it had lots of detail, and uh yeah, I think it it's uh can't tell you the price of that speaker, but it's not excessively expensive. Um and those two going from my notes, that's probably about it, actually. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 45:33

Let's get to your forte. Favorite cost no object systems.

SPEAKER_04 45:38

Oh god. Um well, all right. So I I would put the the new Accora SRCs, the new audio research stuff as probably among the very finest stuff I heard there, my favorite stuff there. But what was surprising, I'm you know, I'm I'm a big uh electrostatic fan. I was in the acoustic camp for decades, sold the brand, had several pairs, modified them out the wazoo. I've never heard the Martin Logan Neolith sound exception. And they paired, they were with Ed Leitner gear. It was all the MM Lab stuff, and I could not believe the transparency, the resolution, the speed all the way to now they did have a pair of subs in the back that most people didn't notice. But it was the most resolute, but I don't mean extra in your face. I mean resolving musical detail uh that I've ever heard them. And it was it was surprising. Um there was probably one of the most expensive systems there. It was a Korean horn system that was black horns, and there was like it took up about a half a football field, and it was about as underwhelming as they played, they played the wall. We had to listen to like a 20-minute dissertation on how it was gonna, and then they played, believe it or not, the wall from Big Floyd. And it was like this was how many million dollars?

unknown 47:16

Yeah, it was it was kind of a hit, it was kind of weird.

SPEAKER_04 47:20

Um I I I also I was kind of impressed also with uh Cyril's uh solution hookup. They he had the uh Daniel Cohen's uh Ulsa Box. I think they were the Bonticellies. Um that was surprisingly uh it was in a good sized room. And I I lean into panels sometimes, and the Ulsa Box with the solution power worked pretty well. It was not a cheap system.

SPEAKER_01 47:49

Uh talking about Elsa Box, did you happen to hear the competing Clarice's system?

SPEAKER_04 47:54

Oh yeah. Well, it wasn't on site, but yes. I thought we were, I mean, if you want to talk about the uh the Aries room uh or the Aries tower, that they that's where the big Elsa box, that's where uh Florida, that's where Florian was.

SPEAKER_01 48:09

That's where um I don't know, I don't know that we want to promote the off-site shows, but I mean I'm I'm agnostic, so I'm just talking about wherever they happen to be, those are those are two systems people often like to hear reports about Elsa Box versus Lemerson.

SPEAKER_04 48:25

Um the room was a challenge, as is always expected in a show. Um visually, it was stunning. Um musically, it was good. Um and it was, I mean, it was the room, it was all four sides of the room were glass. They tamed the living hell out of it, but virtually nothing below 45 hertz. Um, I mean, it was a challenge. It's I and I I've heard um and Florian will tell you, I've said that the big atrium system when set up right is probably the most dynamic system, sends the most like full-scale orchestral music I've ever heard from a single speaker system. But it was it was good, it just was not like, oh my god, this year.

SPEAKER_01 49:06

I didn't mean to derail you. Please go on.

SPEAKER_04 49:09

No, no, not at all. I that was pretty much it. I just uh those Korean horns that were half a mile wide, that was insane. Did anybody else go to hear those at all? Oh my god, they were bad.

SPEAKER_03 49:24

I heard a few people say that. Oh my god, they were bad.

SPEAKER_05 49:27

I think they're Chinese.

SPEAKER_04 49:28

Are they? I thought they were maybe you're right. Yeah, you might be right. I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_05 49:32

Yeah, the company is Chinese, and it's basically sponsored by some Chinese oligarchs, so they don't really care about costs or anything. It's just fun for them.

SPEAKER_04 49:45

That was a six-way, all it was insane.

SPEAKER_01 49:49

I have personally always loved that Neolith. I had Martin Logans of various kinds for 18 years, and I used to beg Peter Soderberg to convert the Neolith into a uh evolution E3 statement kind of thing, and they never broke that into a uh a four-tower system, but I always have been a fan of the Neolith. Carlo, what were your what were your favorite systems?

SPEAKER_03 50:14

Um I'd have to concur with uh Greg on the Neolith system. That thing was just uh uh absurdly good. I mean, yeah, and and and and to his point, I've heard I've heard Neoliths in a couple of uh couple of places before that they they weren't the best. Um I heard them in Montreal recently, and I thought they were they were very good there. This was a whole other level. They just sounded absolutely dynamite in that room. I thought they were you know everything someone could ask for. And yeah, they yeah, they had two of the big, you know, depth 215 subs in there, but so what? I mean, it was just like it was it was uh top to bottom awesome. Um the other standout room to me was actually not a stereo room, but uh it was the PMC um immersive uh sound system that it was like a um an 11.2.6 Atmos system that they had set up with their new um uh huge uh uh PMC12 XBD uh studio monitors for the front three channels and then all these other AMC uh speakers around. They were playing um just amazing uh versions of Atmos music, uh particularly some some some stuff from the some surround stuff from the Beatles, and it was just like wow. I mean it was just really, really, really good. Super clean, um, but just one of the better immersive surround setups that I I'd ever heard. And yeah, that was that was a big dollar room for sure. Um the purlisted room too that was uh that had uh the Trinoff system with the uh the DCS 32 channel DAC and the um they had uh I was in there when they had uh um uh composer-producer Justin Gray in there. They were playing some of his uh immersive uh Atmos music uh tracks from from his Grammy winning album. And yeah, that sounded dynamite as well in there. So I mean, just just great, great sounding uh surround uh surround rooms. Um those were the things that stick the most in my mind.

SPEAKER_01 52:20

Edgar, what were your favorite Cosmo object systems movie?

SPEAKER_00 52:24

Um okay, so uh I found the I don't know I don't know who actually owns this room, but uh in terms of what was there uh equipment-wise, uh Zelton speakers with wire sound electronics, uh a read, uh turntable and tonearm, and I'm use digital. Um I think it's the new multi-box system from INUS. Um that was it had amazingly present vocals, it just sounded natural. The tweeter, there was a there was a classical piece I played, uh, and there was a like a striking of a triangle at one point, and that sounded so real, uh, so metallic, just like the triangle sounds. Uh so that was one of the highlights. Uh, there was a a section of violin which sounded incredible. So that impressed me. Uh of course the um the flagship audio reference system, uh, where Wilson Audio uh with XVX, Dagostino with his new amplifiers, relating to amplifiers, uh DCS Varez, uh top of the line SME turntable, Nordos cables, uh, and Strum Tank. That was a very well put together system, of course, and and uh it just did all the things that you'd expect at that price point. Um I I had a uh lucky enough to be the only person at the in the room who was slightly after ours in the Goebbel room, uh where he showed the new Divine um Divine Monarch. That's it, Divine Monarch. Our speakers with all Vitas uh Master uh Masterpiece Electronics. Uh I think again he may have been in yours uh digital. Uh and that sounded for for a speaker of that size with the with those many drivers, it actually sounded really coherent, uh powerful, and you know, very well controlled base. Um so that was another highlight. And again, I was lucky enough to be in another room, um, you know, just five minutes after after hours, and the uh the VTL room where they show the new Longren uh amplifier, monoblock amplifiers, uh with Alex V, I think Alex V speakers. Uh and B always plays incredible music. Uh she's a great DJ, and she chose some tracks for me, and they all just sounded sounded terrific. So, yeah, those were the highlights for me.

SPEAKER_01 55:05

I really enjoyed those Lonegrin amplifiers at Exponent. I think though I like them better than my Siegfried too, frankly. Michael, what were your favorite systems?

SPEAKER_05 55:13

Well, before that, I actually just want to uh preface it a little. Um, the more I go to those shows, the more I feel that a lot of audiophiles and vendors are like they don't really like music. They uh they like sounds, they like uh how you know the bass or something else, or something else, but they don't really like or enjoy the music as it is, or for that matter, know about recordings, about performances. So you you just mentioned those uh uh uh huge uh monarch uh speakers by uh they're wonderful speakers, and they've been powered by another half a million dollars worth of Badox electronics, top of the line, everything else, and we this it's just an incredible system, capable of amazing sound. And when I came to the room, they played some ukulele kind of a trio, uh, and it was just why and then I asked the guy who just played the play. Oh, yeah, he said, now you guys for a tweet, we will play some Beethoven, which was recorded here in Vienna. So he put on CD and start playing the CD through this immense system, and it sounded horrible, just bad. And I was really shocked. Then I looked at CD, and it's basically was 1981. Sony made uh early digital recordings from Deutsche Grammophon, uh, made for Deutsche Grammophon in some terrible room, and it's known being one of the worst classical recorder records ever made. And why you have one million dollar system and then you play in 50 cents CD if you can get for you know it's not worth 50 cents. Why would you do that? What's and it's not and trust me, it's not uh you know, something is uh something uh outrageous, and everybody else was bad.

SPEAKER_01 57:47

No, a lot of people complain about music. Tell me more about your favorite systems.

SPEAKER_05 57:51

My my favorite system again, number one was a Fasimation role on level three. They have Yuri uh turntable, Japanese uh turntable, really strangely looking. Um uh Fasimation Electronic and Wolf Nang um uh loudspeakers. And they supposed to present the new Fazimation PT 2200 cartridge, but they played uh most of the time um uh new Onyx Kayazzo cartridge. And whatever they played, jazz, classical, everything, ever was absolutely incredible. I was in this, I came to this room three times. So I was walking around, I came and back, and the the third time I came just to just to give my ears kind of a rest, just enjoy the music instead of you know hearing all this bomb sounds, uh whatever. Uh the second room which I really like was uh TAD room when they played vinyl, they used new trans rotor, uh sense a TMD turntable with a top-of-the-line tone arm and the cartridge I'm not familiar with, and they played really nice records. Some of them, for example, the the guy played uh original German pressing off uh Reed Transformer. I mean, how rare event is that? Usually people play in the represses, which is all this digital stuff. No, there was original, and it sounded absolutely marvelous on that system. And um again, I already told about cancellation uh amplifiers with Wilson and uh uh some new stuff from and for digital, completely digital system for me, and it was the the the biggest surprise as well was T Place.

SPEAKER_01 59:59

Which one?

SPEAKER_05 1:00:00

T Placé. It sounded great, and absolutely which that's I didn't expect and they played really nice music. They played some new contemporary German composers, they played some classic jazz, whatever, but good one, the big orchestra, so you can show it and everything else. And uh they didn't play Sound of Silence, which I gave them another point for that, for not playing it. Okay, so that you know, if if I will have a dollar for every time I heard this uh base kind of test you could retire on the show, I probably could afford some of those multi-million dollar systems.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:42

Okay. Uh can I just go ahead. Sorry, could I just touch on something that Mikhail mentioned, which I think is quite important, and I'll keep it really brief. Um I think that we make some judgment calls at shows. Uh and uh there's a typical typical example. I walked into the audio note room, and I uh uh to be honest, I can't remember whether it's at the um the Vienna Center or at uh Soundfest, but uh I was flawed, absolutely flawed, by an electronica track, and you never associate audio note with electronica. Anyway, it sounded phenomenal. I think you m almost universally people would say that it was quite an impressive thing. And literally the track that played after that, I I I just ran out of the room and I think my ears would have been bleeding and my teeth were gnawing. You know, I I just wanted to get out. So what that means is that you really have to stay for at least two or three tracks, at least maybe even four or five, and spend time, which is almost impossible at a show like this, but spend time with something before with a system before you actually judge it. Had I walked into that audio note room five minutes after that incredible electronic electronica track, I would have thought, geez, that's pretty poor, and turned right around and gone. Uh so yeah, it it also depends on when you walk in, what they're playing at the time, how many people you got in front of you, where in where you are in relation to sweet spots and all that sort of stuff.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:15

That's go ahead.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:17

Uh, I just wanted to uh ask, I just saw in the uh in the comment section, someone asked about the Trenov room and if they were using waveforming technology. And I just wanted to answer, yes, they were. They were using uh eight subs in total, four in the front and four in the back, and they had the whole waveforming thing going on, and it was working really nicely as far as I could tell. So just answer that question.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:37

Let me run a couple of rooms by you. Uh, these are rooms that we talk a lot about and what's best. Uh, who had a chance to see uh here Stavros's new loudspeaker with the side firing woofers? Tell us, Greg.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:49

There's there's something about Aries Surratt stuff that you either like it or you don't. And I find it to be extremely immersive when it's done right. And the room was huge. Uh, he played some very well recorded gym. I wasn't there alone because it was a hectic show. Uh, but Stovros always has me in, puts me in the right seat. Um, and it was immersive and it was just like there was a density to tonality that was hard to describe, and he almost always gets that effect when he does his rooms. Um, and I know a lot of people that think that's superficial, that's not real, whatever. I I don't know. But I I find what he does when it's done right to be absolutely numbing sometimes. You sit there and you're like, oh my God, you know, it can be fabulous.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:42

And what did you think about the speaker he debuted at Vienna versus that giant version that he debuted at Munich?

SPEAKER_04 1:03:49

Munich last year.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:03:51

Um they were they were they both had their merit.

unknown 1:03:55

This this system was for Star, this system was small.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:02

Yeah. Um he didn't have 15 amplifiers and three turntables and five decks. Um, but it was it was very similar in terms of what he was trying to accomplish with the layering and the staging and the density of tonality. Um, but it was more scaled back. And it was uh I the the best word for me to use for it is totally immersive. I mean, it was uh not like surround sound, but immersive like when you're at a jazz club or a blues club and there's 10 people left and the guys are just playing from their heart. It was fun, it was really fun.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:37

I was in that room as well, and it uh I it was pretty cool, uh, I gotta say. I don't I I I I saw the Moby Dick speakers in Munich last year and everything. And uh you know, I I've heard a few Aries serat rooms and and they're visually cool and just blow your mind, but I've never really been into the sound, I guess, for just for my taste, but I this he he made me eat my shorts on this one. It sounded really good uh in this room. Yeah, it was it was quite nice.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:06

Did Living Voice have their usual big uh system with uh voxalympia palladium? What did you think of that system?

SPEAKER_04 1:05:14

I I was in there with a couple people, and um, you know, I I really like legacy gear. I think it's I think it's fun, you know, but the the the the noise and the distortion and it was not it was okay. I mean I you know it's it's fun to go back and experience what that was like, but it was it was not spectacular, in my opinion.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:41

And was there a big um Silhitone Western Electric room as there typically is?

SPEAKER_04 1:05:45

Yeah, they did this, they uh they always do that. And it's it's again, it's that legacy thing. It's fun to go in and go, oh, that's what it used to be like. Um and again, it was there were just Distortions and noises and siblings and things. It was not uh just my opinion. It's I love legacy gear, it's fun to play with, but it's anybody that says all the amps from then were better than the amps today are on crack. Sorry.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:16

Next issue. Any particular interesting conversations with designers you can summarize for us?

SPEAKER_03 1:06:22

Wow. Um I could I could jump in. I actually had um I had some time set aside with with the PMC guys with uh uh Peter Thomas, uh Ollie Thomas, and um uh Tom Loader. Uh we were just gonna originally I think they were thinking I was gonna do an interview because they had set up interview times all throughout the day. Um, so I showed up and started talking to them, and then at one point it said, Oh, wait, hey, aren't we gonna record this? And I said, Guys, honestly, I I'm just enjoying talking. We don't, I don't really want to record it. And they're like, Oh my god, thank you. Okay, and just we just sat down and talked for like we rapped for like 45 minutes about the company, the philosophy, them, you know, what their favorite speakers were that they worked on over the years. And I hadn't had a chance to really talk to Peter. I I've talked to Tom and Ollie extensively previously, but I didn't have a chance to talk to Peter, one of the founders, and just a really, really nice, down-to-earth guy, very funny. And uh just how he described how PMC started and it evolved and and the beginnings and what they do and how they do it, um, was just really, really cool. I I really, I really enjoyed that conversation. So yeah, that that was that was a lot of fun.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:37

Anyone else have any interesting conversations with designers?

SPEAKER_04 1:07:40

I had a couple, but MDAs apply, so I'm gonna have to wait for the products to come out and say that was what I was talking about.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:49

Okay, and finally, uh go ahead. Sorry, same same here. I've got a couple that I can't talk about, but uh I I we're not gonna tell anybody, nobody's gonna we're not gonna blab. Come on. Uh no, okay. So I I had I I did some very short uh sort of essence of a product type uh videos, which will go on YouTube. And I spoke to uh you know Darrell Wilson, who ran me through some of the technologies on the autobiography. Um I spoke to um uh Luke Manley, who uh told me about uh these new transformers he's using in the in the new Longren um monoblocks, uh, and you ran me through some of that as well. Um Oliver Goebb about trickling down technology from his top-of-the-line divine nobless uh down to a one-box uh solution rather than multi-box and and uh and some of the constrained layer um uh cabinet construction details. Uh Mark Johansson from Zensati and plans that he has for um even crazier uh cables and and uh and more entry-level cables, so both opposites of ends of the spectrum. Uh Vinnie Rossi, who ran me through uh some new uh the new um Brahma um components and Gabby Ranville. Uh so uh yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:17

And finally, any interesting industry intel, gossip, cool stories you got to talk to anybody about so much.

SPEAKER_03 1:09:30

Oh, Greg, do you got something?

SPEAKER_04 1:09:32

No, I'm I'm sitting here trying to think of anything I could share, and I'm coming up blank. Sorry.

SPEAKER_03 1:09:36

You know what, not so much cool story, but this sort of dovetails a little bit with the previous designer question, but it was interesting. Is um in the uh the Harman room where they had the 801 D5 uh uh unveiling and stuff, Denon had a section where they were showing um a couple of their uh design team were there and they were showing some of the uh some conceptual exploratory ideas of what they were thinking about in terms of you know Denon's design language going forward and things they were exploring about how to um uh as they were saying it, you know, break out of the um black box uh sort of look that a lot of denon products have, uh, you know, based on the popularity of the AVRs and stuff like that. And just some of the stuff they showed was really interesting. I mean, it was different, and it may not be everyone's cup of tea, but I I really enjoyed. They had a particular um integrated amp that they had done a design exploration on, and it just looked really, really cool, you know, part retro, part um minimalist, but definitely had uh Japanese, you know, DNA to it. I mean it it it it it read as a as a as a Japanese aesthetic design and um just really really cool um design stuff and and it was neat to see that. And I mean it I think to their credit, I think you don't usually see companies come out and like you know show their cards like that to uh to a live audience, you know, to to to get their opinions and stuff. And so it I think uh credits to them that it took a little bit of stones to do something like that. Um, so I'm really curious to see if they go anywhere with it. If they do, it's like it would really, you know, have a it would really you know have a language and a and a design to Denon that would set them apart from anything else. So I I just thought that was really, really cool.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:40

Okay. Anyone have music recommendations for us tonight?

SPEAKER_00 1:11:46

I've been getting into um uh I suppose it's it's becoming popular in uh in general, but uh Flea's um Honora album, um, which is kind of like a jazzy funky sort of uh take. Um and uh Flea, of course, is a bass player.

SPEAKER_04 1:12:07

Flea Flea from Red Hot Journal.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:11

Oh, Red Hot Join. Okay, I thought yeah, and he's a trumpet player and uh and a uh bass guitarist, of course, and uh so there's some pretty cool stuff there. And um this is an old one actually, uh Lonely List and Smith, uh uh an album called Expansions, and that's uh going back to I think it's 70s or 80s actually. Very cool uh funk again, uh soul type music. Um and uh that's something I would recommend for anyone to get into. Anybody else?

SPEAKER_04 1:12:47

I was pleasantly surprised with the latest Tory Amos record uh in Times of Dragons. Um her piano, the way it's recorded, the piano is phenomenally liked. Um and you either like her or you don't, but this is very, very Tory centric work. And the the sonics, there's three or four tracks where I would just play them even without the vocals, the music is fabulous, her piano work is fabulous. Um other than that, I haven't done too much now.

SPEAKER_03 1:13:22

Okay. Um I've been listening to a little bit of um Pino Paladino, who's a bassist, and uh he's done a collaboration with uh Blake Mills. They've done two albums together. Um the first one was um Notes with Attachments, and the new the latest one is That Wasn't a Dream, and it's basically all just sort of acoustic, atmospheric sort of stuff, but just it's very interesting, and I and I I just dig the sound of it. It's it's it's stuff I like to listen to, and it just sort of you kind of get lost in it, and I I I really enjoy it. So that's it.

SPEAKER_05 1:14:01

Anybody else? Um there are some uh on the show. Unfortunately, I kind of it's somewhere in my notes. I have to again dig it. Uh there's new audiophile records from uh German company, and they claim it's all directly recorded uh through the uh you know, basically a direct cut on the records. And there are some other vendors like MasterCard Company, which is also now cut directly records, no pressing, so it's not even one step. I would say call it zero step. They cut it directly uh uh on a human machine, each individual record individually. Don't know the cost, but one record was there, which was EP from upcoming new D Purple uh records plat. And they had a wonderful signing session where I, you know, I got this again directly cut EP. Um, and I spoke with Mr. Roger Glover and uh Simon McDowell and uh you know the sign it and wherever we came you know, Roger Glover. I I knew him from about you know 25 years ago when he lived in Greenwich, Connecticut. But uh that was my recommendation because those those singles sounds very good, actually.

SPEAKER_01 1:15:26

I have one uh recommendation that Tinka turned me on to it. Uh German singer, young girl Loy L-O-I, who is doing a great cover of blinding lights. Apparently, the song was originally done by some guy that calls himself Weekend. I don't want to, I don't like his version, but this Loy Girl L-O-I blinding lights, beautiful. Check it out. Okay, gentlemen, this has been great. Thank you for joining me. Our next episode of Hi Five Five is June 24, second Wednesday and fourth Wednesday of every month. Welcome back home. Thanks for letting us know how you enjoyed the show.

SPEAKER_04 1:16:02

Thanks for having us, Ron. Thank you, Ron, so much. Thank you for having me. See you guys. Bye. Good night, everybody.

SPEAKER_01 1:16:09

Take care.

unknown 1:16:10

Bye.