High End 2018

I’ll say it again “the sheer magnitude and overall quality of High End 2018 would make PT Barnum and Ringling Bros blush!” That’s right, High End 2018, held in Munich each spring, simply has to be the greatest audio show on earth (and the one you ought to place on your Bucket List!). Minus a three-ring circus, there were some sonic acrobatics happening in many of the rooms I was lucky enough to pass through. I’ve attended and covered the High End show since 2003 (except for 2006, when I attended a family wedding in Bermuda). I’ve been fortunate enough to witness High End’s emergence, meteoric growth and world-wide acceptance as the one place every manufacturer should attend. Everyone I speak with qualifies Munich’s High End as the most important two-channel, high end audio show in the world.
 

The show is held at the Munich Order Center (MOC) building located in Munich’s busy business district. The show takes place over a four day period (Thurs thru Sun) every May, and the first day is reserved for the press only. Not sure if it was the great weather on Thursday, May 10, which was also Ascension Day (a Bavarian national holiday), but this year represented the first noticeable decline in attendence since moving to Munich from Frankfurt back in 2004. I noticed it immediately just driving through the city as the roads were very relatively light. All told, as compared to 2017, 530 exhibitors from 41 countries (- 2%), representiing 19,889 visitors in total (- 7%). Of these, 7,557 trade were in attendence from over 78 countries (- 6%).

My High End travel partner Key Kim also was not present at this year’s event due to new business opportunities here in New York City. I had to cover as much grown as humanly possible in only 3 days (Sunday late morning I was heading back to the airport). All told, this show is too much for any one person to grasp in 10 days much less three or four. There’s too much to discover, listen to and enjoy, not to mention all the friends I only get to see here once a year. It’s nice hearing of their individual perspectives about the our hobby while it’s also interesting exchanging ideas and thoughts on what’s new and exciting from different parts of the world. In the end, I always return home exhausted but better informed.  

Renate Paxa (above center), is the person responsible for press info and badges ever since the show moved to Munich back in 2004. Paxa runs a great show in that regard as there are literally hundreds of who bombard her on opening day. A big thanks from everyone here at The Stereo Times for making it into the show each year a breeze.

 

Sights and Such

There’s Jon Valin getting his act together before heading out into the show. 

Hmm, the crowd of showgoers lined up ready to see what’s on offer. Guess that’s why there was hardly any traffic? 

One of the first things I always seem to notice is the amazing amount of SIGNAGE! Once again, they were literally EVERYWHERE you looked and even on steps leading to the Atrium and upper suites.  

 

Where do you start? This area of the MOC is called the Atrium. And just to illustrate the size of the High End, there were THREE Atrium’s in use at this year’s show. It’s just one of a many places where you’d find some very interesting products.  

The photos above were shot in the HALLE of the MOC. This is a huge open architecture area that is so large that there’s actually four HALLE areas (numbered 1 thru 4). Since they look identical, it can be difficult trying to find a specific manufacturer. The good news is, most of the returning manufacturers and distributors maintain the very same location. In addition, a show-guide handbook is given out to help one navigate. I usually start my trek in the Halle since its open space environment offers a happy festival-like feel to it. Alongside the walls of the HALLE are rooms that, surprisingly were much bigger this year than previously. This made the overall quality of these temporary rooms much better than any time previous.