HIGH END 2023 Munich Show Coverage
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HIGH END 2023 Show Report By Andrija Ćurković

  From the north of Europe comes another manufacturer, Swedish Marten, which had the world premiere of its new speaker Mingus Septet (€108,000). This four-track speaker with seven speaker units is also the first Mingus model to use beryllium and diamond in membrane making. The listener is immediately brought to the forefront by a large mid-range speaker with a beryllium dome giving a dominant character to this speaker. Mingus Septet is in the midrange detailed and forward in relation to the plane of the sound image, but not too hard and sharp. The sound is voluminous, with deep and pleasant bass and no trace of restraint or effort when playing. The electronics from consisted of MSB Technology front end and MSB amplifier, TechDAS turntable with DS Audio optical cartridge, and Antipodes Oladra server.

French companies Diptyque Audio and B.audio have joined forces to introduce the new Diptyque DP 140 MkII (€14,000) planar speaker and the new B.audio Alpha One (€15,990) integrated amplifier. This is also their first integrated amplifier, dual mono configuration, with streamer and DAC module. The aesthetically very attractive combination of audio devices reflects excellent workmanship in used materials as well as sonic results. The sound was clean, fast, airy, and articulated, with not-so-deep but solid bass. In addition to this model, Diptyque also announced a larger model DP 160 MkII coming to the market in September 2023.

Peak Consult Dragon Legend, a new version of the iconic speaker on offer, also had its premiere at theshow. Dragon Legend is a real monster at 382 kg (each), costs €185,000 / pair and is produced only on order for a known customer. This three-way speaker has five speaker units built into an extremely massive speaker box made of four layers of wood, three damping layers, and even has a special sand-filled space for the crossover to maximally eliminate undesirable vibrations. Scanspeak and Audio Technology speaker units were used, and Karl-Heinz Fink, a top German constructor who has numerous collaborations with other manufacturers, was invited for the final voicing.

In recent years he has been known to the wider audio community for his Fink Team speakers. With the use of Audionet and Heisenberg electronics, as well as In-Akustik audio cables, Dragon Legend played deep and powerful bass, producing open sound with great dynamics while maintaining refinement in the middle and upper registers. Powerful and impressive sound, but given its price, surely most interested in this manufacturer will think about their "smaller" floorstanding models.

Meridian DSP9 is the second product derived from Meridian's groundbreaking Extreme Engineering Programme, after the 2021 DSP8000 XE, and premiered in Munich. With exceptionally composed and rounded lines, with the ability to choose any color of finish, the DSP9 is visually one of the most beautiful speakers displayed at this year's show. I believe it could be placed in any interior, even one where your wives have the final say in decision-making. In addition to contributing to the final visual impression, the curvature of the speaker enclosure also reduces the appearance of undesirable sound diffraction from the speaker drivers. The company states that this model used their best technology that they currently have at their disposal intending to make the speaker deliver the maximum level of performance. This active speaker with DSP functions to adapt it to all rooms will cost € 60,000 / pair in black finish or € 65,000 / pair in another color.

Gryphon Audio Designs this time did not overcrowd their showroom too much with their products, but concentrated on their more affordably priced devices. In addition to the production version of its last year's novelty - the EOS-2 speaker (€26,000 /pair), the new integrated Diablo 333 amplifier, which replaces the previous model 300, has also found its place. It is made in a dual-mono configuration, the output stage works in the AB class and gives 333 Watts at 8 Ohms or 666 Watts at 4 Ohms. The price of the amplifier itself is €21,800, with the possibility of installing an additional DAC-3 D/A module (€6,100) and a PS-3 MM/MC turntable module (€4,800). The DAC module is compatible with PCM up to 32/384 and DSD512 via USB port.

One of my last year's favorites by sound, the Spanish speaker Raffaello (€276,000), with ribbon planar technology from AlsyVox, was in a very similar configuration this year. The only thing different was using Pilium transistor amplifiers instead of Jadis tube electronics. The sound source was still Taiko server, LampizatOr DAC, and cables from Omega Audio Concept. Last year I wrote for the sound that it was "airy, large, natural with layering in outlining the depth of the sound stage", and now I would add to it that it had better control and articulation in the bass region and somewhat greater dynamics and presence. However, in the tweeter spectrum it was occasionally sparkling and dry in timbre, but still extremely spacious, airy, and seductive. If the best of sound could be combined from Jadis and Pilium electronics, AlsyVox Raffaello would be the highlight of the high-end system presentation at this year's show.

Chord Electronics announced the September (or October) market release of its latest Ultima Integrated amplifier (€8,500), the one it just displayed in Munich. After a longish pause, this is their first integrated amplifier, and includes some elements from their Ultima P3 preamplifier and Ultima 6 power amplifiers. Among other things, it uses Chord's latest dual feed-forward debugging topology, which monitors and immediately corrects signals before the output stage and, as stated by the company, reduces the noise level by at least 10 dB. In addition to the distinctive massive body, the amplifier features four line inputs (one balanced XLR and three unbalanced RCA), one XLR AV bypass input, and powers speakers with 125 Watt into 8 Ohms in Class AB.

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