High End Munich 2022

For those of you interested in all the new gear presented at High End Munich 2022, including dCS, here is an extensive photo report (600 photos!) to enjoy:

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pretty awesome

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Thanks for sharing. Amazed how much phono / vinyl gear there is …

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I had noticed that too. A lot of turntables and I even saw a Philips PRO12 tape deck that I had 45 years (!!) ago… You almost think dCS has missed something and they should also supply a turntable, ha ha. I may offend some people but I’m glad I don’t have a turntable anymore. In my past life I sold and adjusted hundreds of turntables. What a hassle that was and that they are still sold is because the store keeps seeing the customer come back for a new needle, cartridge, phono preamp, etc., etc. In short, good for the trade, but in terms of ease of use and price quality compared to a streamer no longer of this time. Or…yes, for the real romantic who likes to play an LP in a room that is too dark. Sorry.

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Revisiting this thread several months later. Am I wrong or is this system:
(a) dCS Vivaldi One + dCS Vivaldi Master Clock?
(b) Vivaldi One direct to Dagostino Monos, i.e., no pre-amp in the chain?

To me the absence of a pre-amp says a lot if that is what dCS chooses to demo at Munich…

I wasn’t there, but from the pics it does look like you’re right.

I’m pretty sure I get your point, too — dCS (and D’Agostino, and Wilson) could have pulled together all sorts of different gear, but their choices here will plainly have been made because they think this is a good sounding system.

(For what it’s worth I agree with them, too. I’ve heard all this gear in a different room — also without a pre — and it definitely didn’t leave me wanting to add one. It sounded gorgeous with a capital F, and just having The Plank as my main control was lovely, once I’d queued something up in Roon or Mosaic.)

The rub for us (and our decision-making processes and bank accounts) is that there are umpteen other pages of pics of gear at the same show that also sound good to at least some other people. In the same way that adding a pre made of exotic banana wood, silver wire and 2A3 tubes might make the exact same dCS/D’Agostino/Wilson system sound “better” to some people. Perhaps me included, just that I haven’t heard it, in all possible configurations with all possible tunes.

I don’t think I’d fret endlessly that the Banana 9000 was out of my reach if I had the system in the pic, though. I’ll never hear everything, and a few feet in front of such a simple, elegant, wonderful-sounding rack wouldn’t be such a terrible place to rest my arse :slight_smile:

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I agree.

I think the high end shows offer valuable information about how a manufacturer–the possessor of asymmetrical information–chooses to showcase their equipment. While their may be many pictures, and there are some practical concerns like weight and available amps at a show, I think it is telling that MSB usually choses Magico speakers, for example, and DCS chose these amps with no pre-amp.

About high end Munich 2022 one of the best report is from TOTALDAC which used very good microphones. No subjective comments just Music. DCS appears at 51:00.