You had me at Java n cake
thx for show report
buddy here in the states getting excellent sound from same TT you have on HRS rack > Lyra Etna >’top line Sutherland >’Vandersteen Kento
just perhaps a band to consider
Vienna show report
Just been to the HighEnd Vienna show. Here are some impressions.
TLDNR: Fun 3 hours to spend, ok as I was there for other things as well, otherwise underwhelming.
Long Version:
The show was advertised as lasting four days, Th-Sun, so I booked flights and hotels to catch the beginning Th-Sat, as Sunday folks will be exhausted anyway. Turns out, Th-Fr is reserved for dealers/industry, and only Sat-Sun is open to public. Really irritating poor communication on part of show organizers.
There is an app for the show. Nice touch. However, loading was glacially slow. Additionally, the functionality was at best limited. Try to find all the vinyl vendors? You get a list, but then have to check every single vendor (remember glacially slow loading) to see where they are. There is no overview where all the vinyl vendors are. etc.
The venue was easy to find, 10AM line was taking about 5-10 minutes to get in. OK. Venue was spacious, lots of seating in the hallways, and plenty of refreshment stalls.
As seems to be the norm, rooms in general were WAY TOOOOO LOUD! Muddy low mid and bass did not help those "presentations" either. Got a good chuckle out of the mega amps such as Gryphon, D'Agostino and Pathos. All those rooms sounded dreadful. The rooms sounding good were by Focal and Audiovector (never heard of). All the rest were at best mid to bad, including big names. Interesting to hear omnidirectional speakers. Sound was indeed coming from everywhere. However, it killed any stereo imaging, essentially a mono-presentation. Earopening experience.
My main reason for going was getting some inspiration about phono stages for my Rega Naia rig. Had some nice chats with Thales/EMT and Lehmann, but otherwise not much to see. Rega was not there at all, strange for a European manufacturer at a European show. Three attempts to chat with someone from E.A.T. were fruitless as nobody could be found. Maybe that is a sign. Previously they did not respond to email either.
Vinyl records (and CDs) were rather thin. There was one multivendor booth, but it was so crammed, and such a bland selection, I just flipped through about 4 crates before leaving. The one isle was so narrow that one person could barely walk. What were they thinking? At T.H.E. show, there was WAY more and interesting vinyl, nicely spaced, and made a bunch of cool finds.
There were some podium discussions. Noticed one of the speakers, the only one in suit and tie, LOL!, recognized him as Mr. 1-arc-second-is-audilble-Fremer, so moved on. No need to listen to him pontificate nonsense.
Had great breakfasts at our usual hotel Sans-Souci in Vienna, enjoyed Walter König bookstore in MQ as always, bought some tea from one of my favorite tea-shops, visited the natural history museum for once as a tourist (not behind the scenes as we have done a few times before), had various coffee/tea/matcha cake in various cafes, some nice dinners at our favorite joints, and had 3 hours of fun at the convention center.
If you are in Vienna anyway, or have some other reason to go to Europe, enjoy the show. However, it is not worth a dedicated trip. my 2c.
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I've been receiving reports from a few members of my local audio group who are in Vienna and at the show. I've received Photo's of their first evening visit to the Musikverein where they experienced an Orchestra playing Haydn, Mozart Program, including the Four Seasons, all arranged in the Golden Hall. The Photos of the decor are showing a stunning place to be entertained. The report states " The sound was fantastic and the orchestra, Die SchlossCapelle, were excellent. The lead violinist, Fritz Kircher was playing as if his life depended upon it. Night Two, in Vienna, was Schnitzel's all-round washed down by a 'Obstler Schnapps or three. Show reports so far are of Speaker Drive Units made of Glass and being extremely impressive, as well as not being bright or hard sounding. There are also a fair few million-euro systems encountered that are stated, " to not be overly impressive as an end sound". Two members of this group have been attending yearly since things returned to normal after COVID eased, and public gatherings were allowed. They are enthusiasts with no income made from audio. They really seem to enjoy their annual jolly. |
@tomic601 Sutherland is on the list for consideration. Also Zesto, and Rega Aura. I had hoped to see a bunch of lesser known phono stages, maybe some I was not even aware of. But alas, not much luck. So pretty much back to square one with PS quest. @pindac There were some horn contraptions that had decent sound. However, nothing that was a revelation. Visually stunning for sure, but not practical in most rooms because of enormous footprint. One horn played some Laurie Anderson; at least interesting music, and true to recording ear-curling crisp sound. |
The latest update from the Group whilst at their dining table. Maybe the Horns referenced are the same as @oberoniaomnia has referred to, but the place is vast, so only a possibility. The supplied image shows a White Horn Flare mounted within a Larger Horn Flare. "Having said that we wouldn't have come across our favourite system today if we were picking rooms. The system was a crazy concentric active horn system, picture attached. It was being played by an even crazier guy. The speakers looked a lot bigger in the flesh. We're not sure if we have ever heard more dynamic speakers, we were almost laughing at how much more realistic they were than your typical loudspeakers. The chap mainly played percussive music but we will go back tomorrow and see if we can get him to play something with female vocals ".
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