Mission displayed their new loudspeaker series, the LX. This is an entry-level series and presently includes two models, the LX-2 stand-mount (with the iconic upside-down tweeter placement, a well-known Mission feature) and the LX-3 floorstander. Both loudspeakers feature Mission's new soft dome tweeter and the 130mm mid/woofer driver with a composite fiber diaphragm.
After many turntable companies strongly supported the production of vinyl records, the time has come for the reverse to happen. The well-known record company Mobile Fidelity, displayed the MoFi Studiodeck turntable shown here. There is a full series of products for vinyl playback which includes on more turntable, two cartridges, and two phono preamplifiers.
We saw them again in last year's show, but they are sufficiently impressive and quite promising: The Makua preamplifier, (which could be upgraded with a DAC board) and the Kaluga monoblock power amp, both from the Dutch company, Mola Mola.
New amplifier from MSB. The M204 replaces the M203 and offers a lower noise figure, and better sound. It is a monoblock design, without local and global feedback capable of 200W/8Ohm.
Musical Fidelity's M6 Encore 225 of is more than just an integrated amplifier. The device includes a 1TB internal hard drive for storing files, a ripping capable CD transport, a streaming DAC (up to 32/384), a full set of standard analog and digital inputs and a power amplifier stage based on MFs highly acclaimed M6si.
NAD's Masters series now includes two new members: The M32 integrated amplifier, featuring a headphone amp and phono preamp, a built-in DAC 24/192 and delivers 2x150W based on a class D output stage…
…and the M50.2 media player with an internal hard disk drive (a 2x2TB RAID) to store files, a ripping-capable CD transport and (only) digital outputs including one HDMI. The device offers a complete set of digital inputs, wireless streaming via Bluetooth and MQA compatibility.
After the presentation of their AMP Classic power amplifier, a year ago, Nagra made the next step this year presenting the Classic INT, an integrated amplifier with an AMP-based power stage and a completely newly designed preamplifier. It offers four inputs (one balanced), a preamp output and a remote control. It delivers 100W/8 Ohm per channel.
The first of the 500 series, the NAP-500 DR power amplifier is becoming one of the classic Naim Audio products. It is a two-chassis design, with the external power supply PS 500, and delivers 140W per channel. It features both the NA009, Naim's specially developed semiconductor (originally used in their top Statement range) and the DR (Discrete Regulator) voltage regulation circuit.
Iota-Alpha from Neat is the floorstanding version of their acclaimed Iota loudspeaker, featuring the same drivers for the high and mid part of the spectrum (a ribbon tweeter and a 100mm polypropylene cone midrange driver) but also a downwards-radiating woofer. Quite unusually, the tweeter is placed next to the mid, not above or below it.
Neodio presented their new integrated amplifier, the Origine A2. Based on an output stage designed by Stephane Even (featuring video op-amps for the voltage amplification stage, 16 power transistors per channel for the power stage and a switch-mode power supply), delivers 150W/8 Ohm without a global negative feedback network.
Panasonic appears to be the only big company attempting to show some products in Munich High-End show. This is the DMP-UB900, one of the two available Ultra HD Blu-ray players in the market these days.
Penaudio's Cenya Signature is the special edition (signed by the founder Sami Penttila) of their top compact loudspeaker (Cenya). Besides the signature, differences include a somewhat bigger size, a better-braced plywood cabinet, aluminum bass reflex port and WBT platinum coated binding posts.
First, modern-era, appearance in Munich for an iconic audio company: Perpetuum Ebner exhibited their current turntable models (showing in the photo, is the PE 2525) and announced a new entry-level model, the PE 1000.
If you are looking for a portable headphone amplifier that stands out, Phatlab's PHAntasy surely fits the description: This is a single ended design based on the mil-spec, direct heated triode JAN6286. The rechargeable battery is sufficient for about 8 hours.
PMC presented their new series of loudspeakers, the twenty5. All models (two stand-mount and three floorstanding) rely on the latest evolution of PMC's transmission line (ATL) which is optimized for aerodynamics and called Laminair as well as on new drivers.
A well-known company (among audio professionals), Prism Sound demonstrated their first device that can be used in home systems, the USB DAC/preamp Callia. It features the company's jitter attenuation circuitry CleverClox and can support streams up to 32/384 (PCM) and DSD128 (DSD/DoP).
Pro-Ject's new turntable to celebrate the 25 years of the company, is called the Classic, its design strongly referring to acclaimed products of the 70's and 80 (from Thorens, Linn, etc) but implements a variant of the chassis/sub-chassis suspension principle, where the elasticity is provided by thermoplastic/elastomer materials (TPE) and not springs.
New top loudspeaker from Q Acoustics. Concept 500 is based on the successful Concept 40 but uses new drivers (a 28mm dome tweeter and two 165mm mid/woofer drivers) in an MTM configuration. Based on our information, the price is expected to be rather high (close to €3.000) and it should be expected after the summer.
A PA-One twin? Quad's VA-One uses similar design principles (but it is adapted to drive loudspeaker loads, yielding 2x15W from 2 EL84 tubes per channel), has the same design and similar features, including a DAC and a wireless streaming via Bluetooth.
Quad also demonstrated the Altera system, along with the new series Z loudspeaker Series. Altera includes a CD player/DAC/ preamp (the Control) and a power amplifier (the Stereo) while the Z series is Quad's top range of ribbon tweeter-based loudspeakers with four models (two stand-mount and two floorstanding models).
People at Quadral are rather obsessed with the development of their current top-of-the-range models instead of replacing them. Therefore, the "R9VOLUTION", the event where the new Titan and Vulkan (in their ninth generation) occurred had a special significance. The visitors had the opportunity to listen to the Titan 9, with Quadral's Aurum M10 power amplifier.
Evolution of Czech RD Acoustic is a loudspeaker featuring a full range driver (from Fostex) loaded through an exponential horn made by CNC processing, which ensures a high dimensional accuracy. The company can deliver the loudspeaker with different drivers (from Voxativ or Lowther)
Cronus Magnum II from Rogue Audio is the improved version of a classic integrated, featuring the power stage of the Atlas Magnum, four KT120, and a triode-based preamplifier circuit. It delivers 100W per channel and offers four inputs (including a phono preamp).
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