Show report: Munich High End 2008 pt2

Arcam FMJ range Arcam has replaced its Diva range with more affordable FMJ models, the entry level for its stereo amp range now starts at £450 for the A18 50-watt integrated, while the 75-watt A228 has full logic control and comes in at £750. The CD 192, 73 and 36 are being replaced by the CD73 at £500 and the CD37 (pictured) which is also an SACD player with full DSD decoding for £1,000 - that'll be the one to watch.

Esoteric X-05 SACD player TEAC's high-end brand Esoteric has a new SACD player in the X-05 (£3,495). This will come in under the well regarded X-03 and offers the MkV incarnation of the VRDS-NEO transport mechanism. It has Word Sync and balanced as well as single ended outputs. The company also showed its A100 (€17,000) KT-88 valve-powered stereo power amplifier.

Densen B440 CD player Densen brought along three new products including its latest range-topping B440 CD player (€3850), B130 integrated amplifier (€2,850) and B230 power amplifier (as yet unpriced). It also showed an external power supply called DRG which works with all Densen components that have an EPS socket and functions much like the external PSUs in Naim's range.

Transrotor Opaco turntable It wouldn't be a Munich show without shiny turntables and Transrotor is a specialist in this department. The company showed off two new entry-level models, the Avorio (€1,498) and Opaco (€1,800), both of which feature 25mm acrylic plinths and 60mm aluminium platters with an acrylic mat.

Transrotor leather prototype turntable There's a fashion for exotic materials in the German high end so it probably made sense to Transrotor to upholster this prototype in leather and take time to stitch up the tonearm whilst they were at it!

Ambien Tone in-wall speakers This new company takes in-wall loudspeakers to the next level by making large NXT drive units that you fit in the wall and then paint over so that they are pretty much invisible. The 50x70cm panel is said to offer an 80Hz to 18kHz bandwidth and thus be well matched to traditional surround systems with subwoofers. Each panel costs €1,100.

< Previous page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Next page >

Share this article:

Del.icio.us this