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Munich … in my ears
This time, for the first time, I want to report about the sound of the sounding rooms of a show. I have also promised to write about the best and worst rooms. My word is my bond so here am I ready to write about it.
At first I want to focus on some facts that are customary during these events but that are unpleasant and should be changed. The audience: rude and noisy people, cell phones that ring and people that answer with great ease in the room where other people are trying to listen. And what about the exhibitors that speak aloud with visitors and colleagues? There’s no way to listen to the system. Well, maybe in a situation like this it’s better to decide to leave the system turned off. Third issue: you enter a silent room. You sit down ready to listen but the exhibitor does not pay attention to you at all. He pretends he does not see you. Maybe he does not want to listen to music anymore and wants to prove the world that he does not like his job. Why the hell then did he decide to spend his money to rent a room at the Munich High End Show? Why did he put a system there if he did not want to play it? It’s an unsolved mystery. And then we have exhibitors that take breaks for whatever reason, lock the doors of the rooms so that you can’t go in to listen to a system that you are curious about. For meetings with customers, buyers, dealers wouldn’t it be better to go the pool hall while a coworker plays music in the room? Sunday morning we entered the room of a renowned brand and they told us to come back later because they were having a break. No way! And then they complain if reporters do not mention their products … Well, dear friends mind that if I stop by and I find the doors closed I’m not likely to call back again since I have to shoot hundreds of pictures and I might not have time to come back. Another pebble in my shoe: the music played! Awful. Years ago we used to have one voice and an instrument and so any 3W single-ended-amplified small cone could play it without distorsions. Nowadays this music is still alive but we have also the music that is ”noise for noise”. Electronic music that has the only aim to show that there is a low range, a midrange and high range. Wow! What a surprise! But music is something different and if I want to test a system I need something different. And what can I say about Diana Krall? A beautiful woman no doubt but she must be the creature of some hi-fi designer because her records have always a fine sound, no matter the system you use. Diana Krall, Sarah McLachlan with ”Angel” and Jennifer Warnes with “Famous Blue Raincoat” are three nice ladies but we really can’t take anymore, there’s a whole world of singers beside them! In Munich, just like in other shows, there’s a sort of war among rooms. You are listening to a cello and in the other room “Money” goes off at an impossible volume! Symphonic music is banned! It would be too much for the loudspeaker’s cones and for the sleeping mites in the moquette, they might be shocked! Some people dare to play rock, it’s so strange that you feel you want to hug them. Same thing for those that venture to play Ella Fitzgerald with or without Louis, and Willie Nelson with Johnny Cash. All these records are easy to play but at least are pleasant to listen to, you sit down, take a deep breath and make peace with mankind once again. For all the reasons above mentioned I have not listened to every system exhibited. Some systems I have listened to played an horrible music … Many times I have waited for the end of the song hoping to listen to something different next; if things remained the same I stood up and walked away. I had my test CD with me but no one ever asks you if you have your own music to play. I do not know why. The fact is that some people make the effort to change CD or vinyl but others just let the PC or iPad do the work. I wonder what’s the point in having a Hard Disk full of music when you play the same two or three songs … Masekela’s coal train when you are lucky! My observations, I want to underline it once again, are based on the global performances of the systems that are set up in an environment that is not ideal, whose sound depends on the power quality and also on the music played. Well trust me, I have tried to listen critically considering every option in order to find pros and cons in each and every system. On the internet we have already read all that was possible to write. Someone even wrote that Munich have decreed the CD’s death because only computer music has been played during the show. I wonder if these people really came to Munich … The turntable was present in every room and the CD player was a must. I have even noticed two CEC TL0X mechanics that are very expensive in a couple of rooms. Well, to make a long story short, it’s impossible to make a serious review in these conditions. And now the best rooms, in random order. I have picked out more that five, please bear with me: Verity Audio Parsifal Anniversary loudspeakers, Reimyo electronics: Great sound, good dynamics of the drum solo that was playing, very beautiful soloist voices and choirs in the Requiem by John Rutter (Reference Recordings). I did not know this record, but I want to buy it as soon as possible. Thank you to the person that was in the room that chose it. DPS EAR Electronics, Graham Audio LS 5/8 loudspeakers: A swift and dynamic sound, deep and controlled low range with the vinyl records. Voxativ Pi loudspeakers, Voxativ and Totaldac electronics: A very beautiful sound produced by these German loudspeakers that were helped this year by two special stands with woofers inside. The designer asserts that they are not subwoofer due to their operating principle. Living Voice Vox Olympian loudspeakers and Kondo electronics: I have listened to opera voices that were more real than real. It was just like having the singers close at hand. I do not love operatic music but I could not stop listening. When the man in the room tried to stop the CD to change it, someone in the back said “Please don’t stop!” We all agreed. Strings were beautiful too: delicate but rich at the same time. TAD Compact Evolution One loudspeakers: A very natural reproduction of the human voice, a deep low range despite the reduced dimension of the woofer. It was never in a tight spot even if the room was really big. Blumenhofer Genuin FS-1 loudspeakers, Einstein Audio electronics, Cammino cables and power filter: I listened to “Way Out West” by Sonny Rollins on a vinyl record. A wonderful timbre and a very accurate set up. It is really impressive the quietness of the phonostage (an Einstein prototype) thanks also to the cables that were very well shielded. And now the bad rooms, on which we will not linger too much: Silberstatic loudspeakers and Totaldac electronics: A piano played at a volume fit for a dentist’s waiting room, with no substance and, moreover, disturbed by the sound in the room next door. There’s no use in demonstrating this way. Jo Sound loudspeakers: A wideband with no dynamics, no low range and no high range. The midrange was particularly annoying … still a long way to go baby! Silbatone Someone liked these old Western Electric loudspeakers also this year. I understand the appeal of vintage, I understand the surprise to hear a sound that comes from those old horns but it was distorted and very limited in its frequency range. It reminded me the old movie clubs of the suburbs during my young age years. Magico Q7 loudspeakers and Soulution electronics: The worst price for value of the show. They played “Private Investigation” by the Dire Straits but the sound was flat with no dynamics at all. Audium loudspeakers: It’s useless to try and play with these loudspeakers “Locomotive Breath” by Jethro Tull. With their small cones they cannot make it . And now two systems that are not in the ranking: Q Acoustics Loudspeakers for the best price for value. FM Acoustics systems that played at the Marriott Hotel where another exhibition was held. I want to speak about these systems not so much for their sound, that I love and I deem among the best, but for the presentation of the histrionic Manuel Huber, owner of FM Acoustics. It’s wonderful to see someone that after 40 years of business is still enthusiastic about it, just like a young boy telling about his first achievement. It’s very interesting to hear his stories, he has a musical and cultural background that few people have. His ideas about music and sound are never trite and always interesting. He does not care if a young Joe Cocker’s vinyl is badly recorded, he plays it anyway because music is what matter. And you can tell it by the way he listens attentively while the record plays and by the way he quotes all the important musicians that played along with Joe Cocker. Well I am so happy that persons like him still exist and I’ll keep on dreaming to have the chance to buy, some day, a device conceived by the mind of a special person. Angelo Jasparro Translation: Francesca Rubino |
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