Intermission during remodel. At Munich HighEnd, a maker of fine audio racks introduces himself with an offer to provide your next exhibit with free loaners, delivery, setup, breakdown and pick-up from your show location. You needn't do anything but agree. Having no better plans, you accept. So do 11 other exhibitors for the same venue. In reports and blog sightings after the show, said brand is everywhere. Their marketing manager also shoots professional video. It documents 'his' rooms with brief shots of chief personnel. There are even custom models for the likes of Kalista and TechDAS. Happy endorsements for his site and social media result. None are smaller obscure brands. All were chosen to rub against established notoriety. Do this for a few years. Land key reviews, even end up permanently in high-profile systems. Your rack brand will become what everyone seems to use. With sufficient follow-up work, it may even become reality. It's how Artesanía's industrious Cayetano Castellano and crew applied guerrilla marketing to penetrate mass awareness. Unless Hifistay and their new London liaison John Lim invest similarly and work as hard; unless international shows reopen again; I don't see how they'll replicate the Spaniards' marketing. Potential sonic superiority, more luxurious finishing and better functionality won't matter. Build it and they'll come is a fairy tale. Thankfully that wasn't my problem.

Hifistay at 2019 show in Seoul

So repeated the mental chorus while I relocated this show. I was also worried that given 30 minutes of powering down one rack and having the other's hardware back on song would disable real contrast. Unless the difference was sufficiently drastic like upstairs—how much performance could Artesanía really have left untapped?—I didn't see what insightful things I'd have to say. Do it to find out simply is no fairy tale. I'd know soon enough…

… between before…

… and after. To whittle the system down to four tiers, I had the Soundaware D300Ref SD card transport on top, the Vinnie Rossi L2 Signature linestage below, then the Denafrips Terminator-Plus and, on now the only shelf used, the LinnenberG Liszt monos on the first tier. Our usual iMac server was benched.

The right sidewall looked more like a construction site than listening den. Cosmetically, most owners with the Mythology rack in our middle would probably opt for a double-wide 2-tier layout to go wider than tall.