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.
Ron Sutherland didn’t invent transimpedance, it’s not new but his implementation is. I’m about to find out how good it is - the Little Loco Mk 2 arrives Wednesday. I can’t swing the Dos Loco at the moment.
Your Aphelion might not be a perfect match though, You could call Ron, he is very approachable and will give you good advice. |
For me the Highlight of the notifications received from the show, was a private mail on a friends return who engaged in a very positive conversation with a Ortofon Technician who has been a very busy person with undertaking R&D for Ortofon and who is a senior member of the teams creating Ortofon's latest released Cartridges. My friend made info known that really got my interest, especially with my being an Ortofon Fanboy of Cart's produced from the Millennium, through to the early 20's. These latest offerings from the Mid 20's do seem to have a whole rethink to the fundamental tech being designed and selected for their role in an assembly. It does seem Ortofon has gone above and beyond to produce a Cartridge that as a result of the design now used and quality control support for the assembly. Now offers a Cartridge that is moved forwards as being improved in consistency for being linear as a function. I really am pleased my friend made that acquaintance and was able to generate such a level of conversation. Door's Close - Door's Open and in this matter, I have confidence a Door is Opened. |
My fun while working Vienna was torturing the locals. Well recognized by their own countrymen (and women), as the least approachable Austrians. Would make small talk, in fluent German, about the weather or something benign only to watch them move away as if I was mental. They've personal space issues much like Zurich. My long time friend Martin in Innsbruck for decades ran a nice audio shop and always hated working in Voralberg and Vienna because of that shared arrogance. Balance of the country is much friendlier. Although, Salzburg teeters on the edge. Perhaps next time you'll go for F1 in Spielberg outside Graz. Be sure to visit the Styrian Armory in Graz. Ya!!! |
Graz is a beautiful area; the Styria region is jaw-droppingly beautiful. Austrian Cuisine is to die for. Another very nice location would be Passau on the Danube, where local to the area is the Bad District (Bad Fussing) offers great accommodation where wellness and health are the design for living. This area could be stayed in a few days before the show allows Public attendance, and Passau could be moved onto the eve before the Public access day. If the venue in the Link was of a usable size, who knows what could occur. https://www.bayerischer-wald.de/attraktion/dreilaenderhalle-passau-6d61bdb752 |
You could try https://messe-muenchen.de/en/events/high-end-munich-2025.html next year. Friend who owned a shop in Portland, OR visited perhaps 7 years ago and loved it. München is a very approachable city. The most visited German city by German vacationers in the country. That says something. The best public transportation, U-Bahn. Really good zoo across the bridge. BMW museum is wow! An English easy city with a Teddy Bear museum. Oft took the ICE train from Salzburg for the day to wander. I would need take my own toilet paper if per chance I got stuck on the old Orient Express as the East Europeans had stripped the train of all paper products as it rolled through. I don’t blame them. It was the 80s and they had little. |
