Day Two in Munich started with a couple of coffees and then to some ‘little’ things…the new modular Suzi pre and power amplifiers by Chord Electronics. These two units are an analogue pre and power featuring trickle down technology from their reference Ultima range of amplifiers. They are designed to fit together like Lego with a Hugo 2 and a 2go Streamer. Very neat and very N I C E.

Next an exciting new offering from Acoustic Signature. What really stands out is the TA-10000 NEO. Not a TA 1000 NEO, that’s a TEN thousand. Their new reference tonearm comes in above the TA-9000 NEO. This is the most adjustable tonearm available, period. Counterweight, VTA, Azimuth and Anti-Skate adjustments are capable of being adjusted to the fractions of grams and millimeters and all ‘on the fly’ to easily find exactly the best fit for your cartridge and turntable. Of course this is also a no compromise tonearm with the very best of bearings, materials and tolerances building on Acoustic Signature’s expertise in Tonearm manufacture. For this sort of precision, German-made highend instrument, it will set you back 49,998€.

And then enough of these ‘little’ things, I received a special invitation to go see Sonus Faber’s new Reference system the Suprema with a full McIntosh set up. This meant jumping in a taxi and going to another suburb to a fancy hotel where they’d made themselves at home in a large conference room. The biggest thing at the show?...without a doubt! It’s not hyperbole to say that this exceeded my expectations. Even though this space was a large commercial type venue, the Suprema took it all in its stride. Delivering spine-tingling effortlessness and incredible spatial awareness. This is not only in the category of best-at-the-show but best-I’ve-ever-heard.

Getting in a Taxi and heading back to the heart of things, my last visit of the day was the Audio Research M330 Mono blocks. I saw two years ago a Prototype version of these that didn’t make it in that form into production. I like that Audio Research have taken the time to refine the design, make it as best as they can before they’ve released it into the wild. And hearing them in the wild delivered incredible soundstage and quiet as black noise floor. These amp do not break up at all even in those notoriously difficult peak power moments for example when a singer’s voice breaks suddenly. Those fleeting moments that require vast power immediately is where lesser, but still highend amplifiers break down a bit. And that’s just where the 330Ms shine. In these fleeting moments you can still hear the detail in the voice. The detail of the straining, the effort of the artist. And that’s where the difference lies. The perfect imperfections of the artist are there for you to hear and to experience the real quality of human nature not just some machine trying to recreate it.