Not the master of disaster but the wiz of room tuning in the digital domain, Leif Schmücker of Lyngdorf Audio A/S showed what can be done with cutting-edge signal processing.

M stands for More M.A. That would be Todd Garfinkle, Sting's American in Tokyo. Todd-style recordings are minimalist location affairs in naturally reverberant environs like monasteries and he has a real knack for finding brilliant musicians that make non-mainstream music. This year's finds include La Chimera 2 | Todos y Tonadas; Rubato Appasionato | 18th century music from Italy and France; and Ensemble Mare Nostrum's Orgelbüchlein by J.S. Bach.

And since we're cheating, the overlay includes one non-M.A. album we heard in the Analysis Audio exhibit - Quadro Nuevo's Moccaflor on the GLM label which, according to their catalog and the mighty fine evidence of Moccaflor, has some classy offerings in the Todd spirit of things you should know about.


Marantz too went topless to have us appreciate how a mainstream brand's best offering can be squarely in the high-end spirit of skinning the cat - copper lining, discrete components, quality parts.


The big news for MartinLogan was a new full-range stat called the CLX inside a by-ticket-only exhibit. However, the lady guarding the entrance made exceptions for the press. Our kind hustling the hallways trying to see it all can't possibly be hamstrung having to be at certain places at certain times. Munich gets it. I already said that? Never mind, it bears repeating. This was -- is -- the best-organized show I've ever attended. Period and pretty please, have other organizers learn from it.


Back to the CLX. While incapable of the kind of air pressurization or reach we're used to from dynamic bass systems, true dipole electrostatic bass has other special attributes which, depending on your allegiances, might weigh heavier than ultimate crunch and slam. Response is given as 56 - 23,000Hz, with a 145cm "Dualforce" double membrane with triple stator handling bass below 360Hz. To cheat (hey, it's the running subtext of this report), there's a +/- 10dB bass boost at 35Hz. Who in their right mind would go negative and minus on that? In a small room perhaps? For their 25th anniversary, MartinLogan has thus reissued a full-range stat to throw down the gauntlet for Soundlab, the other American purveyor of this breed. There's plenty of life and innovation left at MartinLogan.

A different kind of surprise awaited at the mbl Akustikgeräte GmBH exhibit. Whoever has manned US displays for this company at RMAF and CES in the past has garnered infamy for ridiculous sound pressures, having those of us with remaining sanity shun these rooms like the plague. With the Germans in control of their own throttle, here was an opportunity to encounter mbl in a civilized circumstance. Guess what? This is serious world-class stuff. Sometimes less is more - and definitely when it comes to SPLs. Munich gets it.

A whole wall of McIntosh is a sight to behold.

The Octave audio room showed a Meitner player.

Italians have class. The boyz from Mel Audio had their own bar and this very nice man with the fetching smile made me a tasty, fruity non-alcoholic cocktail that promptly revived flagging blood sugar levels. Mel Audio gets it! Of course I got so distracted by slurping that I failed to nail the equipment. Thankfully, Marja & Henk had me covered.

Melody's father 'n' son team posed for a quick photo op before whisking us outside and into the lobby to share upcoming Melody excitement.

But first, a few shots of their exhibit and the new CD-M10II and CD-M20 players.

In a flurry of exchanges, with Alex translating for his dad, we then learned of a rather ambitious hornspeaker project the Melody team is developing under the leadership of a crackerjack Aussie speaker designer. On his laptop, Alex also showed us a mock up of an integrated EL84 amplifier with iDock and desktop speakers.

As Warwick Freemantle's factory tour of Melody already documented, Allen S. H. Wang is a very ambitious man with a vision. That's why, when asked to suggest a name for the upcoming Melody speakers, I offered that the sub line had to be "Manufactured with Pride in China". Forget the days when Sino origins had to be hidden. "And why not tap into Chinese history for inspiration for the name? If the Europeans can call their speakers Mozart and Beethoven, there must be famous Chinese composers too? Chinese movies like The Red Lantern, House of Flying Daggers and such have successfully tapped into Chinese history to become cutting-edge examples of the art in the global market." I could see the artist in Mr. Wang responding enthusiastically. I could also see the business man exerting control and caution.

It's always easier for an outsider to have grandiose notions. The one who has to live with the consequences of such decisions; who is responsible for many many families of employees; he has the real task to balance the need to break down barriers against prevailing market realities and human preconceptions. For now, we can hint at exciting things brewing at Melody. And, we're promised the story when it breaks. Good things. Very good things!