High End Audio Meets the Future. From May 15-18, audioXpress attended the 42nd edition of the High End show. The 2025 edition of High End was vibrant, exciting and full of new interesting things to discover. And it was also the last one in Munich. This article details our impressions of a show that will be remembered very fondly by all participants and attendees, with every corner of the MOC Event Center Messe München sold out. Next year, the High End show is moving from Germany to Austria.
From May 15-18, audioXpress attended the 42nd edition of the High End show, which signaled an important transition in the history of this international audio trade show. Next year, the High End show is moving from Germany to Austria. The new location, the Austria Center Vienna, promises to offer everything that the excellent MOC Event Center Messe München never could ensure – room to grow.
With every corner of the MOC Event Center sold out in 2025, it was more than obvious that the success formula for the High End created a growth problem, and the High End Society delivered a transition that seems to please the large majority of the exhibitors and professional attendees (not so certain about the general public that visited the show traditionally during the weekend). In any case, the decision was not taken lightly. The High End Society announced the move two years in advance and even promoted one of its regional trade shows (Finest Audio Show) in the new location to test the facilities. The report was highly positive, and the decision to move to Vienna seems to have been well received by everyone.
This year, there was even a team from the Austria Center Vienna available to provide information in the foyer of the MOC, where both exhibitors and visitors could already ask questions, plan for 2026, and even make a pre-booking.
The configuration of the MOC, with its brightly illuminated halls, was always a strong contributor to the success of the Munich High End, contrasting with the darker environments of similar events taking place in hotels. The growing number of structures added just for business meetings was a strong indicator that the facilities were reaching the limits of their capacity.
Even the visitor’s information counter was updated over the weekend to indicate the transition to Vienna. This booth was located side by side with an information center managed by the Austria Center Vienna.
That’s why the High End show has always been so successful. It is very well organized, not overlooking any details to make the experience as convenient, rewarding, and productive as possible for everyone. More importantly, the organization understands the segments of the industry that it serves and how to create the right convergence of trends and dynamics. With many companies promoting their own distributor meetings and partner events in the days preceding the show, it was clear that the “trade” aspect of this show was key to its success. The decision to improve the Business-to-Business (B2B) aspects for the more than 500 participant exhibitors, and hundreds more companies attending but not exhibiting, was a clear sign that the High End show was in the right hands.
The valuable B2B business opportunities during the two first business days (Thursday and Friday), with time for professionals and the press to discover new products and reconnect with the audio industry, have proven year after year that the organization understood the dynamics of these types of shows. While respecting the original model and staying open to the general public during the weekend, the High End understood that its international projection was the key to maintaining its relevance and responding to the industry’s needs.
Now running during all four days of the show, the International Parts + Supply (IPS) concept proved an ideal complement to the High End show, creating a vital section for manufacturers and brands to find the latest technologies and solutions for product development. After all, high-end audio was always built on the effort and dedication of inventors, builders, entrepreneurs, and relatively small businesses that rely on a close network of specialized suppliers to realize their vision. As important as it is to appreciate the final designs, the constant search for innovative ideas, materials, and evolution in key parts is precisely what makes the pursuit of high-end audio relevant.
Within the IPS exhibits was once again the Audio & Loudspeaker Technologies International (ALTI) Pavilion, where many other specialized suppliers from North America also participated, including a dedicated meeting area for OEM/ODMs. Not surprisingly, this was an area of permanent activity, where audioXpress was able to have valuable meetings with the many professionals – including the many that don’t have a booth. Our deepest appreciation to ALTI and Barry Vogel for the support and excellent coordination.
German brand Sonoro offered another great example of an interesting and expanding trend – creating innovative products at the intersection between lifestyle home audio and hifi. This year with an even better room at the High End, Sonoro used the opportunity to showcase new interesting hifi-oriented products that offer high sound quality and refined design, while remaining affordable for a broader target group. Sonoro has hired Karl-Heinz Fink and Rainer Finck to create a new Signature Collection comprising a hi-fi receiver, loudspeakers and a record player.
SB Acoustics continues to surprise positively with the always expanding number of new speakers that it offers for all applications and product segments. The industry is responding very positively to the concepts that are created by the development team at Danesian Audio and masterfully executed by the company in its factories in Indonesia. At High End 2025, that response was apparent in the large number of products that visibly embrace the new drivers, particularly from the Satori high-end line. Highlights for this year are the outstanding Satori TW29TXNWG-4 tweeter with advanced TeXtreme dome and dual balanced compression chambers and large solid aluminum waveguide, the new Satori TeXtreme 6.5″ and 5″ midranges, and the new 5″ and 6″ coaxials. This photo of the booth, taken at the last hour of the show on Sunday, was the only one I have where we can see most of speakers, many of which are new models.
An Upbeat Vibe The 2025 edition of the High End show was the last one in Munich and will be remembered very fondly by all participants and attendees. This year’s slogan was a “Passion for Music,” and it was something that was truly shared, particularly by those companies who sit at that interesting intersection between consumer electronics and home audio and the entry-level hifi. Yes, the show is called High End, and high-end audio is a massively dominant category at this show. But it is also clear from the crowds that surrounded some of the most popular brands – from the local German names such as Sonora and Nubert, to the cutting-edge products from Rose or WiiM – that there is excitement and innovation at both ends. And nothing reflects horizontal expansion better than the always dynamic presence of Pro-Ject, the turntable company that increasingly plays with the two extremes of the market, showcasing the most affordable designs all the way to most extreme, but often exquisite efforts.
The really great thing about High End – I said it several times – is the fact that there are real exhibition halls, where all sorts of companies can showcase their products and do business – without the rules of a demonstration room, where necessarily the systems playing need to preserve the attention. Some companies actually manage to create decent demo rooms for non-critical listening in the exhibition halls, and there’s room for manufacturers and suppliers to publicly join forces in meeting attendees and explaining their efforts. After all, what better way to captivate a dedicated audience than to have the actual suppliers of your drivers or amplifiers coming to a room or booth to explain what they do?
That’s the formula that differentiates the High End show from other audio shows in hotels, where the listening rooms are the dominant format. The MOC was excellent for the dynamic it created, and the bright rooms, full of natural light, were a very welcome contrast with most North American hifi shows. The MOC exhibition halls and atriums are always a place of encounters and discoveries that listening rooms cannot provide. And that was what attracted the actual industry – audio manufacturers and all their suppliers – to choose this show for their activities.
Before it moves to its new location next year in Vienna, we could confirm that this balanced formula worked great. I don’t know if the new location will award a better dynamic – it will be certainly different – but at least now everyone can do things bigger and better – and that’s something I’ve heard occasionally from some brands that was an issue in Munich.
The business-to-business IPS area of the High End show – and the ALTI Pavillion – allow for young entrepreneurs such as Julian Galm to promote new concepts and receive valuable feedback from industry experts or simply promote his idea. In this case, Julian is using his 10 years of professional experience (seven of which working in China) developing and producing headphones, TWS earbuds, and speakers to now bring a new idea to life. His project is called Orphit, a pair of custom-mold earbuds that can be both wireless or wired as in-ear monitors that actually perfectly fit every user. Using carefully selected dynamic and balanced armature drivers to deliver the same quality experience of professional IEMs, Orphit offers all the advanced features and technology of true wireless earbuds in a custom shell that really seals the ear.
Once again, PMC surprised positively with its new Prophecy speaker series premiered at High End 2025. Five home audio speakers that include the prophecy1, two-way standmount, and slimline two-way prophecy5 floorstander, the three-way prophecy7 and flagship prophecy9, which have dual bass drivers. There is also a matching center speaker for multichannel systems, the prophecyC. All these designs improve on the company’s previous Advanced Transmission Line (ATL) designs, now adding a patent-pending LaminairX vent incorporated into the heavy extruded aluminum base of the cabinet, which also serves to ground the speaker for even better control. The soft dome tweeter and midrange drivers come from the company’s renowned professional near and midfield studio monitors, with the tweeter featuring a specially designed dispersion grille for 180 degrees dispersion.
Reborn from the ashes of Scotland’s most famous speaker brand, Fyne Audio continues to expand its range of designs, refining and improving on every aspect. All carefully built at Fyne Audio’s new Scottish manufacturing facility, the latest speakers embody the pinnacle of the company’s craftsmanship. This year, the brand introduced one of its most ambitious and powerful loudspeakers to date in the new F700SP loudspeaker range, that includes the F704SP (Special Production). It uses Fyne Audio’s signature 300mm IsoFlare coaxial arrangement, with a 3″ titanium dome compression driver at the center of a 12″ multi-fiber bass/midrange cone, and a unique twin cavity loading cabinet design with a downward-firing port. Demonstrated side by side with the slimmer F502S, the room impressed us both times we visited.
A Great Year According to the High End organization, 2025 was once again a big success with 501 exhibitors from 42 countries in the sold-out 30,000 square meters of space at the MOC, representing a comprehensive cross-section of the international audio industry.
The High End received a total of 22,818 attendees from 92 countries, which according to the High End Society, is another visitor record. Personally, I had the feeling of it being busier in the two trade days and seeing fewer people over the weekend, but that could just be a distorted perception. Last year, the reported visitor numbers were very similar (22,198) but contradicting my perception this year there were 10,562 trade visitors against 11,237 in 2024. The number of members of the press was once again impressive with over 583 accredited media representatives.
Apart from Germany, the largest countries of origin were the United Kingdom and the neighboring European countries, along with the United States and China. That is not likely to change much in Vienna.
“The High End is a high-caliber combination of a trade show and hands-on event, once again a powerful manifestation of the diverse and forward-looking ways in which audio technology can be experienced in our time,” said Stefan Dreischärf, Managing Director of the organizer, High End Society Service GmbH. “Both the high appeal as an industry trading hub and the strong demand throughout all generations underscore its international significance.”
One of the biggest surprises of the show was in the Scan-Speak booth, where the Danish team revealed a collaboration with Niron Magnetics, the Minneapolis, MN-based pioneer of Clean Earth Magnets – an advanced, high-performance material with Iron Nitride technology that is entirely free of rare earth elements. Niron has been pursuing the development of solutions that meet real market demand and sustainable loudspeaker design, delivering exceptional performance while reducing environmental impact is certainly an important milestone. At High End, Scan-Speak was showing early prototypes of a tweeter and a midwoofer with Niron (Clean Earth) magnets. The technology is still being developed and not near ready for production or commercial sale, but the collaboration signals an important effort to understand and perfect its potential, benefiting from the vast expertise of a renowned speaker manufacturer that is part of Eastech, a Taiwan-based group of companies that currently has around 6,000 global employees, including more than 200 engineers. As Dennis Hansen, who is heading the R&D effort at Scan-Speak explained, the tweeter is not far from being useful, but for the midwoofer the design is still missing the magnetic strength that is required. Also, the prototype shown didn’t yet match the form factor of the magnets that Scan-Speak will eventually use in a final design.
Michelle Malecha and Jonathan Burke from Niron Magnetics attended the High End show in Munich to support Scan-Speak in the presentation of the first prototype speakers using Clean Earth Magnets. On the left in the photo, holding the midwoofer prototype is Dennis Hansen from Scan-Speak, who believes that it will probably take a year or more before the company can start delivering drivers with Niron magnets.
More Product Variety As always, the High End listening rooms were permanently busy, but the business aspects of the show explain why private meeting rooms are seeing so much demand, while certain areas of the show, such as the World of Headphones and the IPS, were always busy. During all four days of the show, I couldn’t help noticing the presence of many of the company’s founders and current visionaries, together with the leading product designers for the high-end and hifi segments, not only from Europe and the US, but also from Asia. This is a clear sign of momentum.
The World of Headphones section expanded significantly this year and was always bustling with activity, benefiting from the fact that many leading manufacturers from Asia all exhibited there. This allowed not only experimenting with all the headphones from all the brands – as we can normally do at any CanJam or other headphone shows – but also finding actual booths for all the streaming players, headphone amplifiers, and even finding plenty of manufacturers of parts and accessories for headphones and personal audio, most of them located adjacent to the IPS and ALTI Pavilion areas – which was excellent.
Another rare photo of the StreamUnlimited room and members of the engineering team waiting outside, already on the last day of the show. StreamUnlimited is helping a growing number of audio companies to bring better products to market faster, helping many to solve the challenges of supporting wireless technologies, embedded streaming, digital signal processing, and voice interfaces. This year, StreamUnlimited was busier than ever with every one of its existing customers announcing support for the new Qobuz Connect across all its StreamSDK-based products via a simple OTA update. Inside the company’s demo room there were very convincing demonstrations of immersive multichannel audio and lossless multichannel content playing from PureAudio via Artist Connection, launching in the Summer 2025. The company also showed the possibilities of Apple Spatial Audio with Dolby multichannel playback over AirPlay, using its Stream1955 soundbar and miniAVR kits — both running full 16-channel setups.
Qobuz, the French high-quality music streaming and download platform, launched Qobuz Connect, a direct streaming feature that offers simplified control and seamless continuity between devices. During the 2025 Munich High End show, Qobuz held a press event to signal the availability of Qobuz Connect, but the real story was in the broad support that was visible from dozens of different companies, some already demonstrating brand new streamers with support for the new direct streaming feature, developed in collaboration with StreamUnlimited Engineering.
Confirming the trend toward a new generation of hifi components and integrated audio hubs for any room in the house, Eversolo launched the new Play, an all-in-one streaming amplifier that offers everything you could ever wish for, including integrations with TIDAL, Qobuz, IDAGIO, Amazon Music, TuneIn Radio, Presto Music, KKBOX, Radio Paradise, Deezer, and other streaming platforms, and enabling high-res lossless audio playback directly from those services. There’s even a model with a side CD tray for those that still want to rip their collection. With inputs for all sources, including phono, the Eversolo Play excels in digital and multiroom integration, with support for up to PCM 32-bit/768kHz and DSD512 Native. The company also launched the Eversolo AMP-F10 dual-channel amplifier at the show, combining a 1000W dual-channel linear power supply with totally independent left and right channels, using five pairs of precision-matched MOSFET transistors for the high-current amplification stage, leveraging a parallel configuration.
The best sound at High End? Certainly one of the best rooms, with the large dimensions revealing the ideal volume for the incredible planar designs from Clarisys Audio. A true paradise for ribbon planar enthusiasts, this room was a true haven. Clarisys is a global venture promoted by a team of engineers based in the US, Vietnam, and Switzerland, building a large range of high-end ribbon loudspeakers unlike anything else on the market.
Harman’s Luxury Audio division promoted a press conference and world premiere event in a room that was too small for the attendance. Seen in the photo are Dave Tovissi (VP & GM Harman Luxury Audio), Jim Garrett (Senior Director, Product Strategy & Planning Harman Luxury Audio), Paul Neville (Senior Director, Global Engineering Harman Luxury Audio), and Benedikt Böhm (the famous extreme ski mountaineer, alpinist, and CEO of Dynafit Gore-Tex), who shared how he conquers the highest summits of the world in less than 24 hours. This was certainly inspiring and appropriate since the event was to promote the launch of the JBL new Summit Series speakers – the new flagship for the brand in the luxury audio category. At High End, Harman unveiled three of the models of the JBL Summit Series, all named after mountain peaks — Makalu, Pumori, and Ama. At the same event, Harman also launched the Mark Levinson 600 Series, including three new reference components: the Nº626 Dual-Monaural Preamplifier, the Nº632 Dual-Monaural Amplifier, and the flagship Nº631 Monaural Amplifier – all designed, engineered, and assembled in the USA. These world premieres proved to be too ambitious for the High End show, revealing how important it was for the show to find a new location with rooms and conditions for this type of event. At High End 2025 there was no room or time to explore all that these new products deliver.
The return of the Genelec room to the High End show was a huge success, with attendees flocking to hear the new Piano Black version of the flagship 8381 floor-standing Adaptive Point Source speaker, or one of the demonstrations of The Ones three-way coaxial point source models. In typical Genelec fashion, the listening sessions were intertwined with lengthy technical presentations of the speaker’s characteristics and design. And yet, everyone listened patiently not wanting to give away their seats and lose the opportunity to hear how the speakers performed. The mighty Genelec 8381 generated enthusiastic reactions, but the more compact 8341 and 8361 coaxial models have certainly conquered even more followers, given its much more affordable price point.
Some of the speaker manufacturers, such as SB Acoustics and Scan-Speak, were located in the other halls of the exhibition area, whereas, as usual, there was a great mixture of analog and digital audio technologies, with the vintage and the cutting-edge, the esoteric and the lifestyle-oriented designs creating interesting opportunities for discovery. Last year, I pinpointed the number of streaming media players that dominated the show. This year, that number increased even more, with more companies from Asia understanding the trend, while many established European audio manufacturers are increasingly creating components in that product category (even if mostly outsourced). But we can also say that the number of companies presenting turntables, tonearms, and vinyl accessories increased, which is a clear sign that a rising tide lifts all boats.
Although many exhibitors in the exhibition area – particularly from Germany – normally repeat their booth and location from year to year, there are always a good percentage of new companies to discover at High End. And that’s part of the reason why the exhibition area is so vibrant. Not only is this show more international than any other, it also provides for a larger diversity, including many highly specialized manufacturers, all conveniently located.
Always a nice touch is the idea of inviting a new show-ambassador every year (previous names included Al Di Meola, Alan Parsons, and Steven Wilson). This year it was the charming Norwegian singer-songwriter Anette Askvik, who remained active at the show on all four days. In exclusive performances scheduled throughout all the days, she even premiered two songs from her album “Liberty” in public. The sessions took place in the incredible Kii Audio room, configured for immersive audio, which always had long waiting lines for all sessions. Anette Askvik gave several bonus performances and took extra time to speak to journalists and her fans. This is certainly a great idea, and a great way to ensure a more diverse audience for an audio show.
Pictured is Christian Seebauer, Head Of Research & Development for GSS Audio, explaining the company’s groundbreaking technology to an intrigued visitor. A “team of engineers, designers, and problem-solvers – united by sound” as GSS Audio describe themselves, this was probably the company’s first public appearance (they were at the Menlo suite during CES 2025, but that was only for a few privileged industry insiders…). What Christian was showing at High End 2025 is nothing short of miraculous – a speaker that delivers up to six times the low-frequency output for the size of its cabinet when compared with traditional designs. And that is the result of an extensive engineering effort, completely rethinking a transducer architecture from the patented surround and ultra-flat voice coil, all the way to the mechanically optimized drive unit and spider, tuned for stability and linearity. The robust aluminum cabinets are required to contain the effects of the extreme levels of excursion that these drivers can generate in a small space… The result is true, raw bass in a small enclosure volume, ideal for soundbars or ultra-flat architectural speakers.
The Ilumnia suspended speaker is seen here demonstrated by Frank Essink, one of the company’s founders, together with Jef Nuyts, Tom Nuyts, Lukas van der Sterren, and Felix de Schwartz, all Belgian music enthusiasts with a hobby of building their own speakers. The company was created in 2010 and this design breaks new ground, showing a full-range paper cone with no surround that floats on its own electromagnetic suspension and is therefore free from any mechanical restraints. The tweeter seen in the image is mounted on an aluminum structure and is aligned vertically with the center of the cone. The interesting cabinet reminded me of the remarkable Amadeus Philharmonia speakers by Jean Nouvel. We have no doubt that this invention will be expanded very soon in the pages of audioXpress.
The ALTI Pavilion provided once again the opportunity to meet the Dinaburg Technology, for the first time showcasing production units of its Concentric Coplanar Stabilizer (C2S) transducers, including a 6.5″ driver that is ready to be applied in commercial audio applications and in general for designers to explore this groundbreaking transducer architecture. But nothing prepared us (and many other attendees who flocked to their booth) for the extraordinary surprise that was the audition of the new C2S Gen2 high-performance oval headphones driver, now available in a reference design. This low impedance C2S elliptical diaphragm was optimized for sealed enclosures, enabling a surprisingly strong output from minimal power. The experience of listening to these headphones with a diversity of source material that included movie soundtracks can only be described as a whole new level for headphones. The combination of the C2S passive radiator and active driver so close to the ear is something truly unique – closer to the immersive experience of a premium home theater than anything else. The large 60mm x 72mm driver provides a bass response that is powerful and can be felt in a unique way, while remaining engaging, pleasant and fun. Not surprisingly, headphone brands and ODMs flocked to the Dinaburg booth after word quickly spread and requests for samples quickly exhausted the existing supply. The Dinaburg C2S transducer had its magical breakthrough moment.
Simon Dinaburg holding the new headphone reference design and multiple samples of the C2S elliptical driver for headphones on display. The experience of listening to these headphones with a diversity of source material that included movie soundtracks can only be described as a whole new level for headphones. The combination of the C2S passive radiator and active driver so close to the ear is something truly unique – closer to the immersive experience of a premium home theater than anything else. The large 60mm x 72mm driver provides a bass response that is powerful and can be felt in a unique way, while remaining engaging, pleasant and fun. Not surprisingly, headphone brands and ODMs flocked to the Dinaburg booth after word quickly spread and requests for samples quickly exhausted the existing supply. The Dinaburg C2S transducer had its magical breakthrough moment.
Hypex Electronics surprised with new NCORExMP Class-D power amplifier modules, including the new NCx252MP and NCx122MP boards with integrated power supply, offering an integration-friendly design for new high-end amplifiers and high-performance active loudspeakers. Both boards are equipped with a Hypex Extension connector, enabling the integration of an additional low-power tweeter amplifier channel, which is what the also new NCx102EXT amplifier add-on module delivers. Among the new products promised for this year, Hypex is launching the new NCx1000 OEM amplifier module, with twice the power of the successful NCx500 module, and complemented with the new PS1000 OEM 1000W switch mode power supply board. In the photo is a new very compact 2×20 watts module that Hypex says is being developed, aiming for high-efficiency requirements in battery-powered speakers.
Since Radiant Acoustics was launched in September 2024, the new Danish hifi speaker brand quickly became a global sensation in the market, quickly crossing the Atlantic. High End 2025 was the first opportunity to showcase these passive speakers at an international trade show, including the new Clarity 4.2, a smaller version of the original Clarity 6.2 that use Purifi woofers and passive radiators, matched with an AMT tweeter and custom-designed waveguide, developed by Lars Risbo. The brand’s presence was discreet, since the brand is part of the expanding audio universe created by Peter Lyngdorf, the founder of HiFi Klubben, and co-founder of Purifi Audio. The project was inspired by Henrik Reinholdtsen, the CEO of Nordic Hi-Fi, a direct-to-consumer business that is also part of the HiFi Klubben universe.
This year, Purifi Audio focused its activities completely around its open booth, part of the IPS section of High End, and located just in front of the ALTI exhibits, which helped create a very vibrant and busy year. The demonstrations included the new PTT1.3T04-HAG-01 WG104 ultra-wide dispersion tweeter and waveguide, which is finally shipping, and production units were presented for the first time. In the first day, there was a unique opportunity to find the core founders and owners of Purifi all at once. Seen here left to right are Peter Lyngdorf (also owner of Hi Fi Klubben, DALI, and Steinway Lyngdorf), Carsten Tinggaard (COO), Lars Risbo (CTO), Bruno Putzeys (CTO), and Claus Neesgaard (CEO).
Let’s Move to Vienna After 22 years in Munich, the High End 2025 moves to Vienna, Austria in 2026. The move will allow the show to become even more international given the extra space at the Austria Center Vienna. The modern location is widely seen as a refreshing change for the show that will allow accommodation for the needs of the largest and the smallest of companies. “The move to Vienna will usher in new opportunities for us to further boost the level of the trade show,” says Stefan Dreischärf.
To ensure the changes go as smoothly as possible, the organizers have long started planning, and they even hired the services of the same booth construction and logistical partners, apart from adding established service partners in Vienna. The Austria Center Vienna (ACV) complex, with its five-floor structure, will be fully used, and reports from exhibitors, visitors, and media that previously attended the Finest Audio Show in 2024, are all positive, praising the outstanding modern infrastructure.
In total, there are five large exhibition halls and 21 event room areas located on five levels. For listening and demonstration spaces, there are a total of 134 rooms of different sizes ranging from 13 to 124 square meters, with a ceiling height of 2.70m (in general, the complex has always standard ceiling heights). There are also several large hotels within walking distance of the ACV, which is situated close to an underground station, with connections every 3 to 5 minutes. It also helps that Vienna has a strong musical heritage, creating a perfect setting for the world’s leading international audio show.
The 2026 High End show will be held from June 4-7. We sincerely hope that the positive memories we’ve created in Munich will be multiplied in Vienna. aX
The Austria Center Vienna is the next location for the High Show, starting in June 2026.
This article was originally published in The Audio Voice newsletter, (#517), June 6, 2025.
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