Munich 2019

When I entered the MSB room, a track from the JVC XRCD version of Sonny Rollins's Rollins Plays for Bird was transmitting all of the recording's smooth, warm, and sophisticated elegance. That last word isn't one I use often when describing high-end systems, but that's exactly what I experienced here.

As someone accustomed to thinking of Auralic components as little boxes, the size and casing of their new Sirius G2 upsampling processor ($6000) suggests to me that the company is exploring new territory. It sure sounds that way from this product's description. Due late summer or early fall, the Sirius G2 is intended for placement between a streamer and DAC—any company's DAC—and is claimed to upgrade both "the processing power and the original performance envelope" of the DAC. Auralic's press literature says that by handling a DAC's data processing burden, the Sirius G2 "dramatically reduces the amount of distortion and jitter" of a DAC in its sweet spot, regardless of the incoming resolution of the file.

Taking horns far beyond their Alpine context, Stein Music's Bob XL speakers and subwoofers ($290,000 total) were reproducing Shelby Lynne's "Just a Little Lovin'" with warmth, solidity, and gratifying musicality. Company founder/designer Holger Stein attributed part of the system's success to the new Stein Music Matrix cable series. These silver cables are assembled on the company's own braiding machine, which allows them to control all parameters. Stein told me that they use special metrics to change the vector of the cable's magnetic fields so that their sum is zero.

Just some tonearm sweetness from Thales. Photo taken through a window. Enjoy.

The South Korean company Silbatone manufactures exquisite pure tube and hybrid audio amplification that's specifically engineered to be un-conventional, un-compromised, and un-affordable. About that last characteristic: It's un-affordable because it's not for sale—and everyone knows you have to pay extra for stuff that's not for sale. Right?

From my first room at High End Munich: Some actual news: A new SACD player from Mark Levinson.

The show wasn't open yet. The booths weren't finished being built. I was walking alone, and there were no audio people anywhere. But as soon as I saw it, I froze and pulled out my camera. It's not hammertone gray. It's not a grease-bearing. But it was here in front of me.