Jason Victor Serinus

I cannot recall a single instance where I was less than thoroughly satisfied—thrilled, usually—by the sound Marten loudspeakers made at shows. Given how tricky show set-up often is, Marten’s track record of stellar sound is no mean achievement.

Six years after Hans-Ole Vitus, the founder of Danish company Vitus Audio, visited the United States to premier his first three products at CES 2004, Michael Fremer went gaga over the company's top-line MP-P201 Masterpiece Series phono preamplifier. Thirteen years later, at AXPONA 2023, it was my turn to be blown away, this time by the sound of a $385,000 Vitus Audio top-of-the-line Masterpiece series front-end and amplifiers that sang through price-commensurate Estelon Extreme Mk II loudspeakers.

In between—and not for want of trying—Vitus's presence in these pages has been limited to show reports. It's time to change that.

Steinway Lyngdorf, the only speaker company that’s allowed to use the Steinway name, compared the sound of its two “new” speakers. The Model S Soundbar is designed for rooms that cannot contain floorstanders. Sold as a complete, full-range on-wall system and usually chosen for custom installs, the Model S contains three AMT tweeters, three midrange drivers, and two woofers. Total amplification power is 1600W, and the specified frequency response is 40Hz–20kHZ –3dB. With machined, solid-aluminum front and back panels, it has MDF frame that contains five acoustically separate chambers. Available in matte black, high gloss black with gold details, or custom finishes, it weighs a substantial 106lb.

In a large Atrium showroom, Sonus Faber introduced their five new Second Generation (G2) Sonetto loudspeakers. Though I didn’t have an opportunity to audition any of the new models which comprise the company’s most affordable and popular series—speakers that are priced far, far lower than Sonus Faber’s Suprema flagship ($750,000/pair—I was privileged to end up face-to-face with Florian Marmisse, the acoustic engineer who designed the line’s drivers and crossovers.

In the room opposite its smaller system, Playback Distribution presented Amphion Krypton3x White floorstanding speakers ($24,000/pair) driven by Esoteric’s F-12 class-A integrated amplifier ($18,000) and N-01XD-SE network streamer ($22,000).

One of my first stops at Munich High End 2024 was at the Stromtank power regenerator display in Halle 3. Accustomed to seeing the visually imposing Stromtank “A Mighty Fortress is our God” computer-monitored battery power supply units in either silver or black, it was a surprise to encounter the Stromtank S-25000 Quantum MK-II ($30,000)—the unit I currently use—in white.

Nordost’s entry-level "Leif" line of cabling has just taken a major step forward with the introduction of Leif Series 3 ("Leif 3"). Gauge and terminations on the entire Leif series—White Lightning 3, Purple Flare 3, Blue Heaven 3, Red Dawn 3—have been upgraded.