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High-End '99
By a stroke of bad planning (possibly not even realized), the HI-FI '99 Show was taking place in Chicago over the same days, thereby leading to some dilution of the effort in Frankfurt. This was a pity, but next year, High End 2000 will take place in June, and we can hope that there will be no collision of dates. This year I made the bold decision of staying all four days at the show. This would not only strain my budget a bit, but as it turned out, I would be rather dead on my feet by the last day. I did see and hear several fine exhibits, but I must admit to being well below par in terms of energy and curiosity by the end of my time at the show, which turned out to around 4 PM on Sunday.
Otherwise, let me tell you that getting a good impression of a show with over 170 exhibitors can be a bit of a Herculean task. As Sunday lunch time approached, I was aware that there were quite a few exhibits I had not seen or heard, many of them being very worthwhile. But I was fading rapidly. So my sincerest apologies to those companies that displayed interesting and good-sounding products I was not able to cover. Hopefully I'll make it up to you next year. In terms of trends, I could not discern any major shifts. Multichannel and home theater are here to stay, and I personally think they indeed will grow, even among those who are not film buffs. There was a phenomenal amount of analog equipment and quite a large selection LPs at the show. I don't know how much analog is being sold, but the market is by no means dead. Many eye-catching and interesting designs were on display and in use, so vinyl is alive and kicking. On the digital front, we have the new high-resolution formats coming, but the CD is not dead yet either, and other digital products are making their entries. Among the speakers I listened to, the more modest designs (everything is relative) made the greatest impression upon me. I will first be writing about some of the people I met at the show. This will be followed by a dip into the analog end of the show, after which we will look at speakers and some products to remember. Here is the game plan: This report is late in getting to you, but other obligations have demanded virtually all of my attention over the last six weeks. But the time is here, so let's get on with the High End '99 show.
Show Coverage and Photography: Robert Jørgensen |
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Copyright © 1999 |
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Once again, the High End show took place
over the long Ascension Day weekend in May. I was looking forward to my yearly trek to
Gravenbruch, which is a very nice town outside of Frankfurt. Well, the town of Gravenbruch
itself is perhaps not too inspiring, but there is a considerable amount of woodland around
it, making the show "High End among the trees." The Kempinski Hotel with its
great park and lake is a real oasis, and seeing it again is something to look forward to.
Walking up to the entrance of the Kempinski, I felt a great amount of
recognition. The hotel didn't look any different, and there was even the
now-customary red Ferrari outside.
We were met at the entrance
by the new Dynaudio Evidence speaker. The Evidence is quite a statement, and it was a
pleasure to listen to later on. As seems to be the case in the US, there were indications
of a bit of gloom in Frankfurt. It's not that the people who could afford real high-end
gear have less money to spend; but whether the malaise is due to saturation or other
markets eating into the traditional hi-fi market is hard to say. Funny, however, that
there seemed to be fewer multichannel and home-theater exhibits this year compared to
last, but then perhaps it was just my cut of the show.