Munich High End 2022 

As an Audio component manufacturer, it’s important my son carries on my business if he so wishes to when I am no longer able. However, he is deaf. Despite this he is able to hear very well thanks to ortofon Baha hearing aids he has, I can’t thank them enough for their amazing technology and how it’s changed my sons life.

Munich seems to have become a showcase for all that is wrong about the industry. Loads of bling kit, much of which probably sounds little better to any reasonably priced equivalent at a fraction of the price. It’s ludicrous just how expensive some of this stuff has become and for me, a humble audio engineer, it brings our passion into disrepute without offering anything new or groundbreaking . For all that, it is still interesting to see this, so thank you Mr Fermer, your efforts are appreciated.

I heard the unofficial slogan of the show was "A fool and his money are soon parted."

Thanks for posting Michael, really neat to see what is going on at the Munich show from an analogue perspective.

Great video. Good to see these shows back. That Oma TT looks like a toaster.

32:00 Once again, no costs are cut to get the absolute best play back of all the Dire Straights, Diana Krall and Pink Floyd-records in the world.

Wow thanks for posting Micheal. Even though these things are out of reach for many of us it's still really great to see what's happening in the world of audio.

the thorens gear was fab

I’m only 4 mins in and loving it already Michael

Great meeting you (albeit briefly) at Munich High End Michael. Great coverage as always 🙏🏼

Meeting you and taking a selfie with you (a few steps away from a wonderfully singing pair of XVX) was the nicest moment of my visit at this long awaited show, enthusiastically covered in this video of yours, as usual. Thank you so much!

Dynamics and buttery details, that is what a good vinyl rig playing a good pressing sounds like ❤️ In the last 10 years I have recorded 100s of fantastic LPs digitally.. The magic some of the magic does get captured in my opinion👍

Thanks for the tour, Michael. That turntable and linear tracking pivoted arm by Mr. Theile looked pretty interesting. I enjoyed your quote: - “The brass plugs are not “bling!” 🤣 MoFi’s new deck looked really nice, especially with those adjustments on the headshell and the build quality looked fantastic. Technics certainly has designed an amp which I’m sure many people will want the phono pre as a separate. Thanks again, Michael.

56:37 look at that genius touching the object with the NO TOUCHING sign and red rope around it.

It is very interesting to see direct drive making a comeback in that price range. Would love to have a listen to see or hear what that is about. As much as many may cringe at the thought, any thoughts on a modern high quality fully automatic turntable? I bet that there is a market for that. Would love to know what others might have to say on that.

It's true. So many turntable designers are concentrating on the platter, the motor timing, and isolation, that they forget how important anti skating and tracking are.

I have been looking forward to this all week, thank you

That's the perfect combo...an eccentric hifi reviewer and an eccentricity stabilizer :D

Mike, ive been following you a while and appreciate your opinion. But please, i beg you, LEAVE THE CAMERA ZOOMED OUT! No need to zoom in with HD video. Scale is difficult to calculate zoomed in and the shake gives us vertigo. DO NOT PAN WHILE ZOOMED IN! Please watch your videos on a 50" + TV and you will see what im saying. Keep up the good work sir

Remote control VTA 🤯 Glad to see the new Thorens. Removable SME headshell. 😃🤩

27-28 min…Damn! If you keep the camera still for a second or two, you’d see the prices right next to the turntables along with the model and description 🤔

Those Thorens turntables filled me with much greed and lust.

Nice to see things back to normal.

25 minutes of the Wilson Benesh guy talking? I'm sure they appreciate the free publicity, but man a little editing would be a good thing.

Michael Fremer's TrackingAngle RU-vid channel is up with its first video!

Love Audio Research But White always turns Yellow as the years past no matter how clean you keep it. Lots of luck @ Munich

Once you heard the all new Mcintosh MCD-12000 Tube CD Player with DAC your never want to go back to Vinyl again at any price ! 😇Audio Heaven..as close to Analog as it gets 😉

Hi Mike, great to see this show some interesting & engaging turntables..

Mikey, good analog coverage as we have come to expect. Your position allows you to elicit information and "scoops" from the principals of the companies you talked to. I watched til the very end and was particularly interested in your conversation with the Technics representative. Your question about a standalone Phono DSP was of interest to me since I have been using such a product for the past few years. You may not remember me, but I spoke to you at CAF 2021 last November and specifically asked if you would review the Parks Audio Puffin - a DSP based phono preamp that does many of the things the Technics product does for a mere $500. I continue to hope you will give the Puffin a fair hearing and bring it to the attention of your readers. I believe the Puffin to be the most significant phono product to be produced in the last several years regardless of price.

Thanks for the excellent coverage. I can’t wait for your review of the Technics SU-R1000. Personally, I find the concept of digitizing my records both revolting and intriguing at the same time. I own the Technics SL-1200GR and I will upgrade to the 1200G at some point. I’ve fiddled with other turntables for many years before settling on Technics as my forever turntable. It really is the every man’s turntable!

Hooray for diminishing returns.

2nd mic seems to reduce the background noise, so much better

As a special added safety feature designed to make sure the right people are using the D'Agostino Epic Power Amp, it comes with a patented Initiation circuit. In order to power up the Epic you must first light a 100 dollar bill and hold it to the Initiator Bling Sensor and voila, the unit comes to glorious life! The Initiator is specially calibrated to sense the unique chemical composition and burn temperature of the 100 dollar bill. No other bill will suffice! Now listen to your music safe in the knowledge that you are protected!

Holy Cow!! Nice stuff. I"m Sticking with my TD 125, 3009, and DL110. Sounds fine to my old ringing Rock and Roll ears through LS7s. Cheers

Suspension aside, that Wilson Benesch chap was talking pure engineering snake oil.

Wonderful show, thank you. I’m with you 100% on the Ortofon hearing aids. My loved ones tell me I need them, and while I’m reluctant I’d absolutely buy theirs. I’ve been a fan and customer of theirs for 40 years.

Excited for Thorens and looking forward for the new stuff hitting the market. :) And I hope Thorens TPP has option to configure and price reflect on the config. and is reasonably priced. :)

Boy the Pro-ject and E.A.T. really do share a design aesthetic....

It must be a pain in the arse to come up with a new product every year like many of these companies do. My advice is look at the companies that still sell the same products 10,15,20 years after they were launched.

Diminishing returns fully maxxed out here! Once you get into this game they have you over a barrel and will say and do ANYTHING to get you to buy their product! 99.99999% of us can't tell the difference no matter how much a record player and stand weighs, no matter how consistent they claim their drive system is, no matter what the tone arm is made from, or whether the cables are £50 each or £500 each!

Hopefully that linear tracking, pivoted arm has all the strengths of both instead of all the weaknesses. I've found that using fiber record cleaners by moving the brushes toward the label means that the dust will ultimately migrate back to the record. It's better to move the brush off the record. Microphone two.

Been waiting a week for this great show. Thanks a lot.

In reference to something i heard at 7 & a half'ish minutes into the video & elsewhere from sellers & manufacturers about a "need" for fully ballanced tonearm leads to fully ballanced phono stages to ballanced pre'amps to ballanced poweramps to cancel hum. (btw, I have a pseudo ballanced pre'amp that sounds awful into my fully ballanced poweramp but far better via it's unballanced alternative RCA phono out, i never use it as i bought a far superior non ballanced valve pre') Am i abnormal? Because i just dont get any hum at all, ever, never, at least none i can hear on either one of my 3 non-balanced tonearm leads into either of 2 non-ballanced phono stage into non-ballanced valved pre'amp to fully ballanced poweramp (the only 'real' ballanced item i do have, so i must use RCA phono plug to XLR plug'd leads from pre to fully ballanced Jungson 99C poweramp when playing any of my 3 low output (0.15mv, 0.3mv & a 0.4mv) M.C. cartridges without getting any hum (1 is a AT33 mono M.C.) One of my phono-stages is a solid state Dynavector P75 mk3 & the other is a fully valved inc' power supply 2 box "Icon Audio" phone-stage with switchable 10:1 ratio step-up transformers for M.C. i have 2 t/tables set up & one is a luxman PD444 that holds 2 switchable output tonearms, (a 10" inch 'arm & one 12" inch 'arm) so with 3 arms permanently wired up, i use both phono stages for no-fiddling mono or stereo cartridge play & cart' change according to mood from 3 'arms on the 2 decks & never a hint of hum. My point is, considering all the convoluted lead routing, i've never once ever been plagued by hum except when a tonearm earth lead becomes unattached or when a phono to pre'amp lead needed replacing to get rid of an intermittent earth break hum with sealed phono plugs i couldn't re-solder. I don't see any point in a ballanced tonearm lead & ballanced phono'stage or ballanced pre'amp. is it all marketing hype to fix a non-existant problem? I see it useful only for very very long t/table to phono stage to pre'amp to poweramp runs or any combo of (which makes science-backed sense) but for living room stereo with equipment on one or two adjacent shelves, is their a need for ballanced gear? I cannot hear that need, nor ever have done with all my previous equipment ive ever had, that never needed more than 1.5 metre interconects. (bar speaker leads) I understand common channel noise rejection but never had common hum except when an earth wire gets unattached or when an earth loop occurs & both can be easily fixed & hence silence any hum. I don't get the need for ballanced gear. Call me dumb but i refuse to fix non existant problems of common mode hum that i've not heard or that i've fixed sometimes by removing an earth & sometimes by adding an extra earth to a chassis or even a tonearm base once. Msrketing hype?

Michael Fremer has left AnalogPlanet and can now be found on TrackingAngle RU-vid channel

Turntable design is impressive as art. How can CD players compete? Simple, when one has 2,500 SACD/DSD/CDs of mainly classical music the investment has already been made and a competing system is not in the cards. LPs cannot compete with the huge variety of SACD/DSD/CD releases within classical music. Michael Fremer is the king of the earthly Analog Planet - keep up the good work of promoting LPs! Bless you sir!

Can't wait to read the reviews for the Wilson B turntable. It looks incredible.

What was your opinion of the kronos discovery turntable you only showed it briefly

Heres something for you to try to remove static, try taking a 2cm strip of tinfoil, make some tears to wrap around the tonearm 2cm above the cartridge, and shape the remaining tinfoil just high enough that it doesnt touch the record, so it looks like a small comb behind the cartridge(Perpendicular to the tonearm) the idea here is to discharge static before it gets chance to discharge at the needle-grounded through the tonearm.

with the interview without the sound it looks like it's an adjustment to alter the spindle to pivot point for different lengths of arms

Second microphone substantially better. Please always use it. The first hurt my ears.

These modern devices may even have excellent sound quality, but aesthetically they are ridiculous! I much prefer the old vintage ones

The new Allen Perkins arm on the Masterdeck looks cool but low mass.. I hope I’m wrong and it could be used with heavy low compliance MC’s..

Both of your speakers are performing well because of that Danish amp. I haven’t listened to Atlante 5 or 4 but my gut feeling tells me 5 are better, specially for vinyl playback. Too many transducers are unsuitable for vinyl playback IMO.

As far as that interview with Technics guys, I honestly don't mind digitizing amps and turntable signal,,,,as long as it is bringing us closer to the original music. But I also respect and like the good old pure analog sound and electronics. Not all analog is great just like not all digital is $#!t. Technics has brought back some great products yet somehow, they are missing something. I understand the new direction for the company, love how they kept the recognizable products and hallmarks that made them legendary ( big VU meters ) yet somehow i haven't yet bought into any of latest stuff ( I have like 20 vintage Technics components ). Would love to see not only a separate phono preamp but for instance better designed reference speakers, nice big mono-block power amps, reference CD player and network player. That is what will put them in the game with big boys, big name brands ( McIntosh comes to mind, Classé, Audio Research, Mark Levinson, .... that is what premium is! Also, Technics was great on accessories, get us some stands, cables, furniture...thet is what aficionados will buy into. That is what brand followers need.

Thanks for the landscape 😂 Also, tubes take the lede. 🎉

Great video!

That Wilson Benesch tonearm sure does have some balls.

The DS Audio record centering device is really interesting and could be a very big gamechanger, but if it requires reaming out the holes of my records I don’t know that I would be interested. I’d more like to see a turntable made to work with this with a removable spindle, or maybe even a magnetic spindle that can “slide” with the vinyl from the true center of the platter

very nice work Michael - listen to Lief on suspension rubber !!!!!

What a lot of record players.

Thanks for taking the trip particularly after your recent covid experience. Perhaps there is a filter to reduce the background noise? Great work again as usual!

The Mic at 25:00 is way better.

Good to see you again Michael good video a lot of nice stuff I wish you would have kept your mescon but that's okay it's your life but anyway Michael very good video my friend take care and God bless🙏 oh and by the way I heard you very clear through your mask but take care👍👍👍👍🎵🎶🎻📯🎸🎷🎺

came here to look at some fancy decks went away with a science lesson

Second mic!

I use Wilson Benesch Turntable & will never buy another- Tried to buy a belt & they tried to rip me off asking $79.00 & said it was there last one. Bought two a week later $35.00 from a supplier,

That DS Audio tool is going to be a game changer. Yes, it's pricy, but as stated no matter how good your table it's at the mercy at the eccentricity of the pressing.

I like the second microphone you used!

Micheal please just get a Rode Video mic pro and all your audio filming troubles will be over. Please please.....

Need a system in every room

Every talk about things costing more than few Ks is making me hear this over and over in my head: this one is way-way much better than the cheap one, it has this and that, and is only for 100k more. 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Wow someone played Pierre Henry, my go-to for testing. Which part? Cant watch all 2 hrs..

Love this. Love the style of the video. Love the conversations. Thank you!

I would never buy an amp that digitised my analog sources. Hell no.

I got it! At 1:39:44 he's going to fit the "Dust Bug".

Wilson Benesch , bla bla bla I went to sleep , yeah but how does it sound????

So, what is the price of this turntable???

All these are marketing ploys to draw money from rich fools.

Made in Malaysia with wobble in the platter,the wobble is free. That's great Technics,thank you.😂

Apart from the Thorens machines, there are some seriously fugly turntables on show.

yes

Would like to know your impression of the Kronos Discovery with the new RS tonearm.

hicieron bien seguir con el bulbo

I wanted to know more about the oma K5

Hopefully Technics can come out with a new sp - 15/25 model to fall between the sl 1000R and 1200G

Madness

A nice high tech system Wilson Benesch turntable. Would we be able to hear the difference, and the amount of money spent on this turntable to play a $60 vinyl record. As in any high tech / automated system will always have problematic problems. Is it really worth the money. In time the company will go bust just like a resent turntable company.

Why do Thorens tonearms look so much like EMT tonearms?

So many times where I've been at a show and wanted to touch the gear, but I have always refrained for fear of upsetting the vendor. Just wondering if anyone can shed some light on this... is it an unspoken rule that part of show etiquette is keeping your hands to yourself?

Does anyone know the price. It is very nice

How much of that turntable cost goes to Lars?😁

the Dan D'Agostino amps look like something out of an HRGiger painting. So scifi.

What are the specs Wow and Flutter/ Rumble?

hicieron bien seguir el xlr

Sony steadycam you should really consider

Yet the kit sounds no better than it did 30 years ago

1:08:18 Just in case... The steam machine vinyl player is here...

Might as well just source an old record cutting lathe and have done with it. Lathes cut a positive - the same as a pressing and they often have a playback tone arm. I'm sure that kind of machine would excite any machinery nut. Sadly, lathes are too noisy to have in the listening room so it would need it's own outhouse!

What happened to smart exterior design? Many of the amps / preamps / TT are just outright ugly, no matter what they sound like or how they are constructed or designed internally. Who are these exterior designs targeted to.....do they think you have to be different to stand out.....am I out of line? The exterior look should be just as important as the interior component configuration. I must say the Mo-Fi preamp is probably the most attractive new "black box". It looks traditional, it adheres to "form following function", and its technical features contribute to what a phono preamp should do. As for some of these esoteric tonearms and turntables.......................FYI Mr. I. from Technics is a business genius...tighted lipped on a mid level turntable to bridge the gap that you know they are in the works of developing and bringing to market, but tight lipped about the status of it. The analog/digital/ analog phono preamp module would be a nice unit as a stand alone vs it being in the Technics Intergrated amplifier. This A/D/A conversion sounds very interesting!

I thought I’d seen it all, but £43K for just a tonearm, really?