April / May / June 2018
Intersection
Editorial By Andrija Curkovic

  In his New York column, which you can find and read in this issue of our magazine, our colleague Danko Šuvar has detailed the current state of the New York audiophile scene, as well as the worrying state of affairs in the cult Hi-Fi stores in the city. The situation has become worrying in the last couple of years and, taking in regard a weaker visit to a once cult global high end audio show - CES in Las Vegas. Today it is all but a desirable high end event. There are many reasons for such a sequence of events, but one of the key is that the manufacturers themselves have gone to the limit and decided to produce high-end elite products only for those who can afford it without a lot of thinking about the price. However, what is the meaning of this? How do they plan on attracting a new, younger generation of buyers, because, let's be realistic, the old audiophiles are going away slowly. It is not clear to me, but something needs to be changed, I am absolutely sure about it.

However, to brighten up the statistics, the capacity of this year's High End Show in Munich has again been sold out, for which we are particularly pleased because we are present there every year. The range of the exhibitor's offerings, the gravitation of a large number of countries and their closeness to the destination has made it very easy for this event to reach such a high organizational level and number of visitors, but the organizer's efforts and their encouragement for smaller manufacturers to exhibit at affordable prices products should also not be forgotten. It seems that this diversity and availability is the key to creating a new generation of younger audiophiles.

And what would true audiophiles be if they didn't listen to various types of music that we are following daily in the editorial office, which is best seen in the music section of this release. From a jazz interview with Chic Freeman to David Byrne's music career and his recent concert in Zagreb at the INmusic Festival and reminders of the American EMO scene, up to the British post-punk institution of Mark E. Smith and ultimately a new country music talent in the form of Kacey Musgraves. It looks like everything's about difference.

Of course, in the new release we have tested very interesting Hi-Fi devices – the affordable ones as well as the less affordable, but certainly different. Find out what's in the content on the next page, and I'm going to relax a bit with one of my favorite CD by group QOTSA. Namely, they are also performing at the INmusic festival in June.

I wish you a pleasant reading,

--- Andrija Curkovic
Editor-in-Chief

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