Munich 2025

This photo of the vast Munich venue, taken near closing time on the last day of the 2025 audio show, wraps up Stereophile's coverage.

Despite the impact of the Trump tariffs, Munich attendance figures were again impressive. With 323,000 square feet of exhibition space—that's seven and a half acres!—High End Munich '25 welcomed 10,562 trade visitors from 87 countries; 11,675 consumer attendees from 63 countries; and 581 media representatives from 43 countries. While the Munich event may not be audio's most popular—depending on how you count attendees, the Hong Kong, Warsaw, and AXPONA shows may attract more unique visitors—it is unquestionably the meeting place for consumers and distributors.

Designed by Chord Electronics’ founder and owner John Franks, Chord’s new flagship Ultima Phonostage expands the Ultima Reference range, joining the Ultima Pre preamplifier and Ultima Mono power amplifiers. The US price is TBA; the projected UK price is £18,000 (about $24,300).

"Our new Octave Jubilee class-A mono amplifier has a slightly different sound than the Jubilee Mono SEs you reviewed three years ago," said Andreas Hofmann. Hoffman is the founder and chief engineer of Germany’s Octave Audio, and he was talking about his forthcoming push-pull monoblock, noting that the amp outputs 160W in class-A lower-power mode and 280W in class-AB high-power mode. The Octave Jubilee’s projected price is $85,000/pair without potential tariff hikes.

Germany’s Brinkmann Audio Systems unveiled a full system of its own components in Munich, featuring new releases alongside upgraded legacy models.

Guess who's back from the brink of existence? It's Onkyo, the storied Japanese audio brand that filed for bankruptcy in 2022. Like Mark Twain's rumored demise, reports of its death were greatly exaggerated. In Munich, Akihisa "Alec" Watanabe, project leader at Onkyo Technology, and Dave Gans, VP of Marketing & eCommerce at Premium Audio Company (Onkyo's U.S. distributor, which also handles Klipsch) convinced doubters that the brand is alive and well.

Japan’s Phasemation has always occupied a special place in my audiophile fantasies. I’ve heard the company’s products in the rooms of American Sound’s Angie Lisi at AXPONA, but auditioning a complete Phasemation system? Never had the chance—until Munich.

Pro-Ject, the renowned Austrian audio manufacturer, made a striking impact with its static display at High End Munich 2025. Its new products, though silently presented, conveyed a powerful message. Jakob Dirnberger, representing Pro-Ject, showcased a vast array of turntables, a compact portable system, a record flattener, and legacy products—creating a compelling and sometimes humorous presentation.