Billing themselves the Fantastic Four to battle the four horsemen of the Bavarian Apocaypse aka the alphorns, Wattson Audio from Switzerland team up with France's Apertura Audio, South Korea's Enleum and Canada's Luna Cables. Alexandre Lavanchy, CEO of Wattson: "Since its release, our Madison has received an incredible welcome from the community and specialized press for its simplicity but obviously also its musicality often qualified as analog. We're very proud because that's exactly what we hoped to achieve. However, there was room for improvement in several areas such as the output stages, choice of components and the power supply." The Madison Lounge Edition [€4'890] retains the network, TosLink and coaxial inputs of the Classic as well as the RCA, XLR and headphone outputs. The main modifications are inside the unit and external power supply. This 2023 version is also distinguished by visual changes. The case is given a silky 'white sand' color matched to amber LEDs. Anti-vibration feet "ensure a more imposing presence of the device."
Weiss Engineering of Switzerland will show their Helios flagship DAC with web interface. A powerful DSP processor onboard can work as room, creative and parametric EQ, apply de-essing, vinyl emulation, crosstalk cancellation for 'dummy-head' speaker sound and more. They'll also be in the OEM supplier section of the show with their OP2-BP, "the best discrete audio op amp ever made" which is now available to other brands as is the DAC301 compact stereo-converter board.
During my years in the colonies, their big electronics chains all stocked either Denon, Onkyo or Yamaha as one of their bread 'n' butter brands primarily for the hulking AV receivers. Such representation tended to overlook the true depth of these Japanese catalogues. In now 2023, Yamaha have a new flagship DAC/headfi amp to go with their statement YH-5000SE planarmagnetic headphones. With a separate power supply with cowled transformers creating visual interest mirrored by two top-mounted wheel controllers on the head unit, the HA-LA7's DAC runs a single ESS 9038Pro while the power section outputs 1 watt into 32Ω. Socketry includes USB, coax, Toslink and analog RCA inputs while line-outs are on RCA and XLR.
YG Acoustics from the US will premiere their Reference 3 range, "marking the first major revision by the new engineering team benefitting from industry-leading measurement and modeling capabilities of cloud computing running simultaneous multi-domain simulations which look beyond just the loudspeaker to the entire audio system. High-resolution finite element, fluid dynamic and electrodynamic models are run in parallel to understand the elaborate interplay of amplifier, crossover, drive units, cabinet and listening space. These simulations run with reference music recordings rather than just test tones… a new lattice tweeter uses a novel airframe in an advanced precision-machined aerospace alloy to build on the original BilletDome and deliver exceptionally low distortion over a huge bandwidth with wide angular dispersion to support a large sweet spot. 3rd-gen ultra-coherent crossovers ensure exceptional phase alignment which optimizes impulse and transient response. Other new technologies include computationally optimized tweeter waveguides, custom YG metal foil capacitors and strategic constrained layer damping in cabinets."
If Zu Audio were to fly in from the US, you'd expect them to bring their new flagship, the Definition 6 [$25K/pr]. Still based on a ~13×13" footprint, it combines two 10.3" widebanders around a super tweeter with a 12" front-firing sealed active sub. Pioneered in this model are rear-firing Griewe 'ports' behind the widebanders to reportedly give them 35Hz useful response and limit the Eminence Lab-12 woofer to just low and sub bass. New low-mass Oukumé Ply construction first seen in the Soul 6 increases the cabinet's resonance-shedding behavior whilst simultaneously lowering its mass. As usual for Zu, finishes span the gamut from automotive lacquers to veneers to custom commissions. Because the low-bass system is active and the passive section of high sensitivity, even lower-power amplifiers are suitable. Or… Zu could bring their new DWX monitor with what for them is the first-ever front-ported design.
As to brands or writers not attending, there are numerous possible reasons including manufacturers remaining behind the scenes to conduct dealer/distributor meets without manning an active or passive exhibit. Or:
We're not going this year so I guess I have nothing to contribute to your Munich pre-show page. Louis Motek, LessLoss
Me neither. So we'll canvas the inevitable show reports elsewhere to learn if anything interesting happened. Srajan
What? Is this a sign of the times or what? You're not going is like a statement, but I'm not sure what it would mean. For us not to go is just logical. We're not looking for dealers so it doesn't make sense to go. Louis Motek
I've made the same statement before. 1/ listening to audio at a show is dubious at best. 2/ hunting review prospects can be done easier and more conveniently via email, phone or Zoom. 3/ socializing is the only reviewer reason left to attend but…
1/ talking to exhibitors in their room rightly pisses off those who want to listen. 2/ talking to exhibitors in the hallway takes them away from attending their exhibit. 3/ with only 3-4 evenings, there's very limited opportunity to socialize after hours. One can do it with one manufacturer per evening but then pisses off all the others whose invites one turns down.
Added up I get more done staying home. My contribution to the industry is this report. I started that format with the Polish fall show last year. But that's a mature reviewer's perspective. When you're a new reviewer or publication, you must go and introduce yourself. When you're a manufacturer looking for dealers or distributors, you must go. And so forth. It's far from a one-size-fits-all statement, just one that describes and suits my current situation. Srajan
Makes perfect sense. Louis Motek
For manufacturers there are other potential reasons. Exhibiting in Munich is mighty costly. Spaces rented the previous year tend to reassign and roll over to the same parties. Securing available space in a desirable location can be daunting. Who wants to be right next to the toilets? And what if one needs help manning an exhibit but hasn't as yet a single EU distributor; and perhaps doesn't speak English oneself or just haltingly? Even flying one's entire team over now wouldn't suit the bill yet quite possibly crash the invoice.
Take Seawave Acoustic from South Korea who under the baton of practicing Buddhist monk Bo San craft speakers mostly with at least one horn. Perusing their site suggests extremist attention to detail like their very own beryllium tweeter, resistors, Kapton inductors, capacitors and uni-cast cabinetry. With Ohm Audio their Benelux distributor, it seems they already sell in Europe. Yet checking the event's official exhibitor list, I didn't see either company listed. Why still mention them? Because they might be there under yet another name; or at the Marriott Hotel. Because promotional features like this are all about eyeballs. And finely honed instincts tell me that Seawave deserve more. Simple as that.
PS: As it turns out, Seawave were there; at the Marriott Hotel here spotted by HighEndbyOz. Being at the outlier show just means less traffic and fewer show report sightings when many press members stick to the MOC which already is overwhelmingly huge to cover. It makes catching other outliers like the Sonus faber Stradivari G2 reveal at the Kempinski Four Seasons still more unlikely…
