All prices are in German marks unless otherwise noted.
At time of show report, 1 U.S. dollar is worth approximately 2.1 German marks.

Post-Show Report - Part 1
by Robert Jørgensen

Introduction

This year at High End 2000 it was a treat to have Doug Schneider and Jeff Fritz doing the general coverage. As you might have noted in previous years, I’m not the fastest of writers, and I really do prefer to have a bit of time to let the many impressions -- and believe me, there are many -- sink in a bit. This, of course, reduces some of the news value of the show coverage, but hopefully I’m able to convey some points of view that make reading all of this worth your while anyway.

It’s not without reason that the show is affectionately called "hi-fi in among the greenery" since the Gravenbruch Kempinski Hotel is placed in a wonderful park with a fine lake. Taking a beer outside at the tables is a great way to relax, and the picture above only gives you a small sense of how beautiful the surroundings truly are. Most of the time you see the front of the hotel, but I thought I would let you have a peek at the back and see how wonderful the greenery is.

It seemed to me that there were fewer visitors this year, but when I spoke to various exhibitors at the end of the show, they seemed universally happy with the show and mentioned that the interest of the visitors was notable.

Aalt Jouk van den Hul was of the opinion that this might have been the best High End show ever. I heard similar sentiments from Hartmut Janssen of Amazon/Audio Physic, so it seems that widespread malaise has not killed interest in hi-fi, and especially analog.

Analog

It is true that I did not pay much attention to analog this year. This is not to say that analog was not present. On the contrary, many companies demonstrated with analog as source and produced excellent sound. A few analog setups caught my interest along way.

Shown right is a somewhat over-the-top TransRotor Quintessence turntable from Jürgen Räke. It is gold-plated, and if you have to ask the cost, you probably can't afford it. It remains a piece of turntable art and offers the option of several tonearms and multiple motors. TransRotor must be making more different versions of turntables than any other company on this planet, and they also represent SME, Michell and Rega in Germany. So much expertise in one place is unique.

Another interesting company that I have been visiting for several years is Audio Agile. Not only do they show several well-developed complete systems of equipment, but they also keep analog alive with several turntables. I must say I remain charmed by the blue half moon seen here.

Yet another company that I have made it a habit of looking in on is Acoustic Solid. They make fine turntables, and at a time when prices of equipment with a bit of ambition very quickly run into five digits (certainly in DM, but also in USD), I really enjoy seeing solid engineering without sky-high prices. This version shown below would set you back somewhat over 6000 DM, which is a lot of money, but not at all unreasonable considering the engineering that has gone into it.

An aspect I also enjoy when speaking to Mr. Wirth, who is the owner and designer at Acoustic Solid, is his total lack of BS. He is as far from a showman as you can get and is instead a real technician. As such he exudes pride in the technical qualities of his goods and the materials and parts with which he designs his products. An example is the new bearing he proudly shows off below, whose sleeve material is used in industrial bearings taking over 100 tons of pressure.