Munich High End 2011

An Acoustic Signature Ascona with SME Series 5 tonearm and low-out moving-coil Ortofon Rohmann cartridge made beautiful music leading a system comprising VTL MB-450 Series III monoblock power amplifiers, TL-7.5 Series III preamplifier, and TP-6.5 phono preamplifier. Speakers were the distinctive and dynamic Vivid G2 Giya.

To start off our listening, I picked one of my sister’s favorite albums, Adele’s 21. I noted a great sense of forward momentum and stunning dynamic range, all of Adele’s strong soulfulness communicated fully. I turned to Rosemarie, and I searched for some sign of recognition of the beauty which radiated before us...

Vinyl, vinyl, vinyl.

There was a lot of it at the Munich High End Show, and the vinyl booths were always well-attended. Here, we see the Da Capo stand, where I spotted a great selection of indie rock titles.

I managed to control myself, unfortunately.

Acoustic Signature turntables are solid, non-suspended designs with heavy platters and electronically controlled drive motors. Their maintenance-free bearings are meant to last a lifetime, while their exchangeable tonearm plates allow for easy swapping of tonearms.

All but the most affordable Barzetti, or "Black Beauty" (€1800), which has an integrated electronic motor and sports a 10-layer piano finish, are made in Germany. The Barzetti is made in Poland.

Many enticing colors: A lovely line-up of high-quality, affordable Pro-Ject turntables.

Hegel’s Anders Ertzeid stands proud with an Apple iPad and Hegel’s HD20 DAC ($2000). Ertzeid was using the iPad and AirPlay to wirelessly stream full-resolution files into the HD20.

“It’s a very stable connection,” Ertzeid said. “Even with all the competing networks here, the music hasn’t skipped at all.”

The ground floor halls of the M.O.C. contained booths with both static and live demos to resemble something like CES’s Las Vegas Convention Center, but were only infinitely more pleasant, more manageable, better coordinated, and more attractive.

Octave Audio’s pretty RE 290 power amplifier (€6900) offers 90 or 130Wpc, depending on which power tubes are selected. A rear-panel switch makes the choice simple, and invites tube-swapping.