2024 Munich High-end Show - My impression
Time flies quickly as it was exactly a year ago since I last reported on my visit to M. O. C. after a very long absence. As time waits for no man, I decided to return to 2024 exhibition. I arrived on Thur and today (Sat) is my last day here in Munich.
The shuttle bus from Munich Airport to M. O. C. stops here.
The first room I auditioned on Thur was of course, the Cessaro room! They'd move for the better to a larger room on the ground floor of Hall 4 and the area was bigger, a very welcoming sign as Ralph showcased his lastest flagship horns for domestic listening, the model is called , if I'm not mistaken, Zeta.
The Zeta is a "mega" system, so don't let the pic deceive you.
Although I have listened to quite a number of systems (mostly large/full range), this time, I'm going to report on the systems/rooms I have listened to more than once or at least over 30 mins in optimum seating position.
As usual, weather in last few days was perfect, so we can enjoy mild temperature, good company, good food and last but not least, sound from different systems, large and small.
This time, I slightly conditioned my mindset to listening for enjoyment instead of critical listening to systems at the show, surprisingly, I was a lot more tolerant to some of the below average sound in some of the rooms. Lesson learnt is one should be less critical in life and more embracing if you want to lead a happier life!
The shuttle bus from Munich Airport to M. O. C. stops here.
The first room I auditioned on Thur was of course, the Cessaro room! They'd move for the better to a larger room on the ground floor of Hall 4 and the area was bigger, a very welcoming sign as Ralph showcased his lastest flagship horns for domestic listening, the model is called , if I'm not mistaken, Zeta.
The Zeta is a "mega" system, so don't let the pic deceive you.
Although I have listened to quite a number of systems (mostly large/full range), this time, I'm going to report on the systems/rooms I have listened to more than once or at least over 30 mins in optimum seating position.
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I'd rather describe in greater details on the systems which sounded best to my ears and refrain from trashing those that are really aweful, I may elaborate later on this.
First up on Fri, I went to listen to another huge system (each speaker is over 8 ft tall weighing 300kg) in a room (Hall 1) very similar in dimension to Cessaro. The overall sound acoustic is quieter as the only treatment is the curtain at the back, however, the result of this is a less livelier sound.
There is feeling of intimacy in the overall sound especially on vocals and simple music due to lack of hardness, it has the most relaxing sound among a very small number of my preferred systems but can sound dynamic when music calls for it. The ion tweeter has the best treble sound I've ever heard with smooth mid-range. However, due to the partnering amplication from the same company (the designer's son informed me it's a hybrid design), bass is warm, lacking ultimately in control and life-like speed and pitch. Also, there is a warm tonality/coloration caused most probably by the amps, resulting in a slight loss of transparency and micro dynamics . If the designer builds a dedicated transistor amp to drive the 4 on-each-horn enclosure, 15 inch bass units, I'm confident the performance can be improved substantially.
I stayed in this room for 45+ mins on two consecutive days and the nagging issue I had was the turntable was on silent display.
After leaving the big horns, I listened to several more before re-visiting another pair of horns which I thought sounded one of the best last year. Although physically much smaller than the previous two mego horn systems, these exquisitely finished box enclosures sounded very musical, engaging, smooth, a tad lacking in the highs and bass not as deep but full enough due to the much smaller room size, actually bass was a wee bit boomy, lack of acoustic treatment may be the culprit.
This time, classical music was better than rock to my ears but both types of music should satisfy 90% of the audiophiles in the room, however, ultimately, I noticed a slight lack of transparency and distinct tonality in the overall sound.
I spent over 30 mins in this room two days in a row before heading to find other interesting systems to listen to.
To my excitement, I bumped into a very special system (which it's striking color and shape) which intrigued me the most last year. The manufacturer (German) has I think a new design on show in 2024, it is big, very big, but should I describe it correctly, you'll need a very wide room, probably well over 50 ft. The gynormous twin sub-bass cabinets need a lot of breathing area.
Man, this is easily the most dynamic system I have ever encountered (see the very crude sound pressure reading I recorded on my mobile app). It makes almost all conventional box speakers lacking in dynamics......
I spent over one hour listening to this amazing system two days in a row. It's like listening to a live performance. Although sounding amazing especially on jazz and rock, it can't fool me with its reproduction of classical music, which I'm very familiar with, that I'm listening to a live event. Also, perhaps because of the way the speaker system is positioned, imaging and sound stage is below average but most listeners would be mesmorised by its lively and dynamic sound.
The Spanish design is number 4, number 3 goes to the tall white horns and until yesterday, both Cessaro and the colorful horn system run neck and neck.
Today, I listened to Pink Floyd's Another brick in the wall, first on the Spanish horns, the sound of the helicopter descending from the right channel and subsequent rock band music should impress all audiophiles.
However, when the same LP was played through the Cessaro system, the image of helicopter was bigger and much more life like, the subsequent sound of vocal, guitar and floor-moving bass and drums SHOCKED me as Cessaro never impressed me with its bass in Munich (bass in my home comes in distant second I hasten to add after 4 years of continued acoustic tweaking).
The Cessaro Zeta, with its latest design in deploying 2 bass units in its rectangular bass horn really transforms the system. Even violin sounds like violin. They played the notorious Michael Rabin Paganini violin concerto no.1 with flying colours (it was not like this on day one).
I have spent over one hour listening to the Cessaro for 3 consecutive days and at the end of today (Sat), I declare this is the best sounding room I have ever heard in any public hi-fi event - cross my heart and hope to die!
So that's all folks for now as I'm flying off to the British Isles early in the morning. I may post some more pics later if time and mood permit.
In closing, I'm very pleased I visited M. O. C. again. I was in Paris with my acoustic mentor and listened to live music for a few days before going to Munich, subconsciously, the bar is set very high when listening to the systems at M. O. C. and even more so after listening to Cessaro forst, that's why it is unfair to judge other lesser systems too critically unless there is something really wrong with the sound which I'll make a brief mentioning later.
Gute Nacht
Actually, I would urge those serious audiophiles to visit the 2025 show if you have never been there as it offers excellent opportunity to hear the speakers or systems of your dream. The main reason for this is you can listen to whatever fancies you for as long as you like without any pressure and then make direct or most likely, indirect comparison by listening against other comparable equipments, I'm certain you will encounter both excitements as well as disappointments.
More pics to share...... The two systems below have overpowering bass leading to loss of clarity, coherence and musicality.
There were also some unusual looking and exciting products on silent display.....
I was led to believe this is a sun lamp for audiophiles to keep warm while listening.
The above is for serious female audiophiles who owned lots of LVMH goods and want something more unusual!
These very bulky speakers sound anything but impressive, perhaps unengaging is the appropriate description.
Don't they look exciting, very very large triode and big and heavy chassis. I asked about the price and was told between $80k-100k a pair.
This is the biggest system in the show costing 1.2 million euros, not sure whether the person introducing these horns is a laddie or lassie, no further comments.