Munich HighEnd 2024

[morricab]

Total Dac .
Sounds nice no harshness in which i suppose is a pure solid state set up

Amps are hybrid.

 

[andromedaaudio]

Peak consult .
The gryphon.

 

[Argonaut]

A most interesting interview with Stavros Danos where he talks about the all new Aries Cerat turntable and linear tracking tonearm , the first five mins are a little difficult due to the ambient noise and music levels where they were standing until approximately 6.00 mins into the video when they move into the main demo room and continue the conversation ( which becomes much easier to discern ) in front of and utilizing the main demonstration turntable and tonearms .

In the latter part of the interview the conversation moved on to the Contendo II horns , and from the vista in the video one may appreciate the challenges faced by Aries Cerat in setting up within such a huge open space and demonstrating the system within , which by accounts took a good couple of days to work around and begin to show a gleam of what the system is capable of.

 

[andromedaaudio]

Octave jubilee.
Audionec has a ringradiator too

 

[D.Duttilleux]

Hifi Deluxe, ROOM 136 displays a loudspeaker which is one of a kind: Ilumnia.
the cone has NO spider, and NO suspension.
It has been awarded by a Diapason d'Or in the French classical music magazine, Diapason.

Worth to be checked, imho, if at least they are lucky with the setup...
(I heard them several times in Brussels)


DETAILS

---

99,7% linearity

Ilumnia LEMS* 8" midbass driver with electromagnetic suspension (no spider, no surround)
* LEMS or linear excursion motor system
One of the world’s best electrodynamic driver in terms of :

Linearity : > 99% linear at full excursion (8mm)
Resonance : no mechanical coupling of cone to basket, no surround, no spider
Distortion (no spider, no surround, minimum of moving parts and mechanical connections)


Key elements :

Not physically restrained by the mechanical suspension of spider and surround
Very low moving mass (only 15 grammes)
Low kinetic energy of moving mass
Less inertia problems

An 8" woofer with a cone that weighs only 15 grams: no spider, no surround. You would expect an exceptionally high (system) sensitivity of at least 92dB/1m. It turns out to be a low 87dB 1 watt / 1 meter.

Has anyone visited the Audio Note room at the Marriott?

 

[Zero000]

MBL.

The first time in 24 years that i heard a good MBL presentation .
Very nice filigrane sound with bass extension overal very coherent presentation

Sounds much like every year to me. Always in the same room, so unsurprising.

Personally I don't like the looks of them, but they do sound good, albeit with a slight metallic tinge from the mid Omni drivers. Always hear the metallic thing with them, but it does give a clearly etched sound, no question.

The black/gold finish of the electronics is pretty vile to my eyes.

 

[orfeo_monteverdi]

Peak consult .
The gryphon.

Andro, did you like the Peak Consult room? (especially the speakers)
An acquaintance reported me that, after the first two days, that room was his favourite one.
Thanks

 

[wil]

Lesson how to make it in high end audio.

Made in switserland.
Have a swiss watch manufacturer do the product design
Put some alp mountains in the website background.
Add some CNC machines .on the website and some 3 D modelling graphs


.... relax you have made it already basically

I would be cynical too if I spent 3 days of my life walking into all these rooms. I’m sure a sense of humor helps! (No disrespect to the hard-working exhibitors)

 

[orfeo_monteverdi]

An 8" woofer with a cone that weighs only 15 grams: no spider, no surround. You would expect an exceptionally high (system) sensitivity of at least 92dB/1m. It turns out to be a low 87dB 1 watt / 1 meter.

Regarding Ilumnia Magister, I forgot to add that it is actually a field coil cone speaker. I assume this makes a difference.
The power is delivered by a separate box (see pictures of the original post), which allows for some tuning, amongst other the fine-tuning of the Q-factor.
They're genuinely amazing, especially on fine acoustic music (and not only girl-with-guitar)

 

[andromedaaudio]

Some time in one of my fav rooms .

 

[Rexp]

This is the best capture I heard so far:

 

[Al M.]

Bass was indeed not controlled optimal imv..

After listening to the.big stemheims i dont get the stenheim thing to be honest

Doesn't surprise me about the bass. Again, I simply cannot take the sensitivity numbers by Stenheim seriously. Everyone seems to go gaga over them, but you have to read the fine print (and not ignore potential impedance dips and phase angle issues).

 

[wil]

I have escaped .

Acoustical systems lyravox .

Big is better.
Some real deutsches design here.

Some of these turntable alters to extravagance are entering new frontiers of the absurd. No doubt there’s a market for them amongst the Diversity in Audio crowd.

 

[KeithR]

Elsewhere on their website, I think, Stenheim concede that their sensitivity numbers are measured in average listening rooms, which are loudness enhancers due to reflections. This is different from the usual measurements in anechoic or semi-anechoic rooms.

Ked is perfectly right to be skeptical.

I take Stenheim's sensitivity numbers with a boatload of salt.

I wouldnt say they are an offender on sensitivity - here are the Stereophile measurements on the Alumine 3:

Stenheim Alumine Three loudspeaker Measurements

Sidebar 3: Measurements

www.stereophile.com

JA also notes they present a "relatively easy load." They aren't horn like efficiency but aren't designed to be.

 

[Audiohertz2]

I would be more concerned with the wrinkles and discontinuity in the impedance graph than the sensitivity numbers ..


Regards

 

[D.Duttilleux]

Andro, did you like the Peak Consult room? (especially the speakers)
An acquaintance reported me that, after the first two days, that room was his favourite one.
Thanks

Peak Consult Dragon Legacy: The outstanding loudspeaker for 185000 euros offers a remarkable mix of naturalness and dynamics.



Tbh, I kinda like the concept. They've clearly put some effort into optimizing directivity and reducing diffraction.

However...as for the (Audio Technology) cones:
"The beauty of polypropylene is that it has inherently good self-damping. Judicious additives and careful profiling of the cone can produce ..."

The major disadvantage of polypropylene is that once your ear/brain is trained to recognize the sound of plastic... you can no longer unhear it.
Last year I gave pp 'another chance' during the local premiere of the Goldmund Tethys (also with AT drivers).
It lasted 30 seconds.

 

[Antonio66]

That’s just loudness, don’t say how easy it is to push the woofer

If they're like the 3's, the woofer is an easy push.

 

[Audiohertz2]

So here you have an opinion and "for certain" that the 500 lb, Lorenzo LM 1 doesn't look like a $200K speaker while not having seen or heard the product. Of course it is their opinion and is respected.

Then you have someone that has seen and spent a half hour listening to the product and talking to the designer and this is again only their opinion.

Just an observation on how opinions vary:

From Marty-

Then came the big surprise of the day, which were the Lorenzo loudspeakers. I really don’t know what to say other than this is one very impressive sounding speaker. What stunned me is that it uses a midrange horn, and I am certainly no fan of horn loudspeakers. In fact, most the horns I heard today just sucked. When horns play strings or piano, for the most part, it just doesn't sound right to me. That's my bias and I'm stickin' to it. But I could have listened to strings and piano on the Lorenzo all day. On the other hand, the Ares Cerat was a horror show. What people see in that, I just don't get. More disappointing was what I heard a Thomas Mayer. I don’t know what they used but it was big, black and ugly. I would have guessed they would have done a better job based on their reputation for excellent tube gear. But let’s get back to the Lorenzo. This was driven by their own tube gear (and nagra DAC) and it just sounded wonderful, like music.

I had he good luck of being there for 30 min by myself and got to know the designer, Miguel Lorenzo Castro, his wife and son quite a bit, What I discovered is it is Miguel's wife that is the final sonic arbiter of the product's sound. Miguel and his son confirm this as they say she has an exceptional ear. Even better, she also sets up the room, which was clearly one of the better sounding rooms I heard today even though it was modest in size. I thought hmmm, maybe Mrs. Castro (Maria Jose, known informally as Pepa) is the EU version of Bea Lam, who has long been known for her excellent ear. Was it simply coincidence that the two best sounding systems I heard thus far were both driven by premier women audiophiles?

I simply could not believe the Lorenzo room was empty for over 30 minutes while I was given an ipad and told to play whatever. I wanted. More people really should hear this speaker. But more than just hear it you have to see the incredible woodwork to believe it. As I told Bob Visitainer, it’s genuinely cabinet art that sounds like music. One might even say its a bargain at 200K! Kudos.

Specifications

• 4-way-system with phase-optimized crossover.
• Drivers: Woofer 16 inches, Midrange 11 inches, Treble 1 inch compression drive unit, Superteeter
• Sensitivity: 96 dB.
• Nominal Impedance: 8 Ohm.
• Enclosure Type Woofer: Double rear vented.
• Enclosure Type Midrange: Sealed.
• Enclosure Type Tweeter: Sealed.
• Frequency response: 20 Hz to 35 kHz.
• Recommended amplifier: 20 to 500 Watts.
• Dimensions: Height 68 inches (172,5 cm), Width 21,85 inches (55,5 cm), Depth 24,61 inches (62,5 cm).
• Weight: 441 lbs (200 kg) each.

Reading any of Marty’s post on audio reminds me of how magazines reviewed Audio gear back in the 80’s , honest opinion, direct and to the point ..!

Refreshing ...!

 

[Audiohertz2]

Peak Consult Dragon Legacy: The outstanding loudspeaker for 185000 euros offers a remarkable mix of naturalness and dynamics.

View attachment 130922

Tbh, I kinda like the concept. They've clearly put some effort into optimizing directivity and reducing diffraction.

However...as for the (Audio Technology) cones:
"The beauty of polypropylene is that it has inherently good self-damping. Judicious additives and careful profiling of the cone can produce ..."

The major disadvantage of polypropylene is that once your ear/brain is trained to recognize the sound of plastic... you can no longer unhear it.
Last year I gave pp 'another chance' during the local premiere of the Goldmund Tethys (also with AT drivers).
It lasted 30 seconds.

Looks like a Modern Duntech ....

BTW all materials have a “sound “ a sonic signature so to speak , no free ride anywhere ..!


Regards

 

[morricab]

Doesn't surprise me about the bass. Again, I simply cannot take the sensitivity numbers by Stenheim seriously. Everyone seems to go gaga over them, but you have to read the fine print (and not ignore potential impedance dips and phase angle issues).

If the power meters on darTZeel are to be trusted, the big Stenheims don’t use a lot of power most of the time.