Munich High End 2022: News of the New

The press releases are pouring in for new product releases making their debut at Munich High End 2022. Here are a few highlights.

Pictured up top is the Voxativ 9.88 modular speaker system (est. $75,000/system) that features the Berlin-based company’s new AC-4NP full-range driver.

Dynaudio is launching their new Focus Range of High-End Active Streaming Speakers at Munich 2022 that replace the Focus XD line. The new Focus lineup is comprised of the two-way stand-mount Focus 10 ($5500/pair), the two-and-a-half-way floor-standing Focus 30 ($8250/pair) and three-way floor-standing Focus 50 ($11,000/pair). The Roon Ready Focus speakers support Spotify Connect, TIDAL Connect, Apple AirPlay 2, Google Chromecast, Qplay, UPnP, Netradio Bluetooth, and Dirac Live room correction.

NAD is showing their new C 389 HybridDigital DAC Amplifier ($1499) that sports the company’s latest Modular Design Construction platform, MDC2. Coming early this summer, the C 398 puts out 130 Watts of power (into 8 and 4 Ohms) and supports Tidal, Deezer, Qobuz, Amazon Music HD,  Spotify, and Rooin thanks to the inclusion of the MDC2 BluOS-D module. Just add speakers.

UK-based Innuos has introduced their new Pulse Series of network players with handsome angular bead-blasted anodized aluminum faces. The Pulse Mini ($1249) houses 4TB of SSD storage, 4GB of industrial-grade RAM, and can output PCM resolutions up to 32-bit-768kHz and DSD512 via USB, and up to 24-bit/192kHz PCM via Coax and Toslink outputs. The Pulse ($$3249) adds 8GB of RAM, a new custom RECAP2 LPSU power supply, medical-grade IEC filtering, while adding AES output. The USB-output-only Pulsar ($6899) adds the company’s PhoenixUSB Lite Reclocker, a full bead-blasted anodized aluminum chassis, and a host of parts upgrades. Look out for the Pulse Series coming in September.

Denmark’s DALI is set to revel their new flagship DALI KORE speakers (44,000€/each) that sport a pair of 11.5-inch woofers, a 7-inch midrange featuring the company’s SMC (Soft Magnetic Compound) technology, and hybrid tweeter. The KORE tip the scales at > 300lbs. and stand a reported 65″ tall! I visited the DALI factory back in 2019 and its worth a tour. The DALI KORE are coming this fall.

The limited edition dCS Vivaldi One APEX network music player and CD/SACD Transport ($95,000) will be working at Munich 2022. The original APEX was released in 2017 in a batch of 250 units, and dCS’ new APEX Ring DAC was cause for resurrecting the Vivaldi One in just 50 units worldwide.

Norway’s Electrocompaniet will have their new flagship AW 800 M Classic Line Power Amplifier ($TBA) on display that puts out, you guessed it, 800 Watts of power amplifier (1500 Watts into 4 Ohms!) and can be run in stereo, mono, and bi-amp modes.

Monitor Audio is showcasing their new prototype Concept 50 Loudspeakers ($TBA) that celebrate the company’s 50th anniversary (in style). The Concept 50 employ an ultra-compact multi-driver midrange and tweeter system comprised of 6 midrange drivers that encircle the tweeter. The force-cancelling woofers extend in-room frequency response down to a reported 21hKz (-6dB) while the thermoformed mineral and acrylic stone base and custom milled solid aluminum baffle with a 3D printed synthetic resin acoustic enclosure make for an eye-catchy design.

Maine’s Rockport Technologies new ORION Loudspeakers will be on display in Munich and come with a retail price of $133,000/pair:

The fundamental absence of any enclosure induced noise has a profound effect on the ORION’s presentation,
yielding an incredibly low noise floor, unmatched dynamic contrasts, and astonishing low level information
retrieval,” says Andrew Payor, Rockport’s founder and Director of Technology. “Like the LYRA, the ORION’s
DAMSTIF2™ enclosure is unique in that it has no conventional joinery, no fasteners, and simultaneously achieves the multiple goals of maximum damping, stiffness, and mass.

The ORION feature three newly developed drive units while the enclosure is comprised of just three components; the inner cast aluminum housing, the outer carbon fiber main housing, and the outer carbon fiber baffle shell. The fabrication process completely eliminates the design constraints imposed by conventional construction methods, and owing to this design freedom, the ORION’s form has been fully optimized for ideal drive unit placement, reduction of internal standing waves, and minimum edge diffraction, ensuring an unhindered, coherent wave launch.

I was (very) impressed with the three Rockport speaker models I heard at Goodwin’s High End, so I look forward to hearing ORION…