Incredible Sound Systems At HIGH END 2024 In Munich
Another fantastic high-end audio show at the MOC HIGH END 2024.
Show Report By Jason Kennedy

  High End was the first place we Europeans had a chance to see and hear the mighty Vivid Moya M1 ($465,000). These don't look quite as big as expected but they ain't small, the eight 225mm bass drivers per channel and the considerable depth of the four-piece cabinets ensure the drivers can produce the lowest frequencies that can match the impressive 120dB capability of the mids and highs.

This resulted in the deepest most controlled bass encountered at the show alongside the cleanest high SPL demonstration I got to hear. Most systems at shows audibly distort when played at high levels, this one just got better and better, and I'm not a volume enthusiast. Engineer Laurence Dickie says that the entire system is based on the damped tapered tube technology that was originally seen in the B&W Nautilus that he designed, in Moya M1 this has reached its ultimate incarnation.

Server specialist Innuos introduced two new server / streamers dubbed next generation or NG. The Zen NG starts at £9,000 and the Zenith NG £15000, both can be supplied with S/PDIF, USB, or no audio output at all and used purely as a server. They come with 2, 4, and 8 TB factory-fit SSD storage options or again none at all so that they can be used purely as a streamer. Possibly the most radical thing about them is that power supplies employ GaN (Gallium Nitride) output devices which are faster to warm-up and very fast in operation, it's the first time that anyone's used this technology in anything other than an amplifier.

Both NG units are based on a new main board which Innuos has had custom-made to its exact specifications, this gives them far more control over the processing and has resulted in lower noise and thus higher resolution. The ZenithNG offers a better power supply and eight rather than four-core processor. Both will benefit from the brand's forthcoming Sense 3 control software.

One of the better-sounding digital systems at high-end was in Estelon's room where they had the new X Diamond Signature loudspeakers (€98,000). These have new crossovers, new cables, and new connectors and delivered superb results with the help of an Aurender N30SA streamer, dCS Vivaldi Apex DAC, Pilium Alexander preamplifier, and MSB M500 monoblocks connected up with Crystal Cable.

It has to be said that not many digital systems at the event matched the naturalness and effortless scale of this elegant system.

EAR / Yoshino Germany brought along one of the most charming and entertaining yet relatively affordable systems I heard at HIGH END 2024 at the MOC in Munich.

With the EAR turntable and current tube amplification via totally rebuilt ELS57 electrostatics by Quad Weidergabe (€7,000) on wooden stands, this system had a lightness of touch and transparency that was very engaging.

Vitus Audio introduced a replacement for its SM-011 mono power amps in the form of the SM-025. These are High Class, and Class A or A/B switchable with 25 Watts expected of the class A section thanks to a massive, very high current power supply. The SM-011 will be the entry-level monoblock in the Vitus Signature line but as yet the price is not been set because the amplifier is not fully finished.

It includes technology taken from the SIA-025 MkII integrated amp and has more ventilation than its predecessor with the PCBs built into the heatsinks. Vitus has also used modular construction to make the SM-025 easy to service or upgrade in the future.

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