High End Vienna 2026 ⸜ show report

The latest edition of the High End show took place on June 4–7. It was held in Vienna for the first time, after twenty-two years in Munich (2004–2025).

As it happens, my first High End show was also the last one held at an even older venue, the Kempinski Hotel in Frankfurt. This year’s event was therefore, for me, a turning point, marking the end of one era and the beginning of another.

Fears about the move were widespread and voiced loudly by nearly everyone. However, I heard similar complaints in Frankfurt, where people predicted the show’s decline, its degeneration, and ultimately its disappearance. Things turned out differently. Munich “catapulted” this large – yet still local – event into the stratosphere of the audio world and secured its unique status – it was simply the place to be.

Will it be the same with Vienna? The world has changed in ways that were hard to imagine during that time, and audio has changed as well. However, if I were to say something about its future based on what I saw at this year’s High End Show Vienna 2026, it would be brief: things are looking good.

» High End Vienna 2026 as seen by „High Fidelity”:

• ˻ I ˺ Dragon of the Exhibition – a new award of “High Fidelity” magazine; more → HERE
• ˻ II ˺ STATEMENT in High Fidelity ‖ Vienna Edition 2026 awards: Harbeth Super HL5plus XD2 & Wilson Benesch Prime Meridian; more → HERE 
• ˻ III ˺ I was at ACV… ⸜ a report on the preparations for the exhibition; more → HERE
• ˻ IV ˺ Exhibition High End VIENNA 2026 ⸜ coverage (below)
• ˻ V ˺ Exhibition High End VIENNA 2026 ⸜ photoreport → HERE
• ˻ VI ˺ Polish brands on High End VIENNA 2026 (& a few words about Hifideluxe) ⸜ more → HERE ˻PL˺

text by WOJCIECH PACUŁA

photo by “High Fidelity”, PMC, J.Sikora

ON SATURDAY EVENING, AFTER THE THIRD DAY of the Vienna show, I went out to the town to wander around. Earlier that same day, in the morning, I’d visited the Belvedere to see Klimt’s The Kiss, so I didn’t have any more “cultural” plans – just to have a beer here, a glass of wine there, and a potato salad, so different from the one I’d eaten in Munich, yet unmistakably kartoffelsalat.

From the hotel, which was located one block behind St. Stephen’s Cathedral (Domkirche St. Stephan), I headed not northwest toward the grand Brandstätte, but rather south and east to reach the City Park (Stadtpark). I arrived there and headed toward the Wien-Kanal, a wide, elegantly framed canal that relieves Vienna during heavy rains – and first I heard music, which quickened my pace; and when I reached the bridge spanning the canal, a scene like something out of another world appeared before my eyes.

Half of this wide bridge is fenced off with low railings. On the ground, red LED light strips mark the boundary, and chairs are lined up along the railings. A few people are sitting on the chairs, but almost everyone who has made their way into this cordoned-off area is on the dance floor. Actually, on a vinyl floor mat rolled out on the concrete bridge, but still – the dance floor. And they’re dancing – they’re dancing the tango.

This was the very music I heard as I entered the park. It was music played – as is often the case – from digital files, but files ripped from 78 rpm shellac records from the 1920s and 1930s. No doubt the artistic bohemians of that era danced to these same orchestras and these same records, creating amid the mists of surrealism and expressionism and within the framework of the New Objectivity movement, already in the shadow of rising fascism and a difficult economic situation.

I can imagine Oskar Kokoschka leading Alma Mahler in a dance – he was madly in love with her, and she would ultimately reject him. I mention this artist because one of his paintings was used to advertise an exhibition at the Leopold Museum titled Vienna 1900. Birth of Modernism.

‖ On Karlplatz, there was a booth where you could record your own vinyl single – to be collected straight away

What was interesting about it was that, although the atmosphere was utterly campy and nostalgic, the people on the dance floor were dressed as if for a picnic – in T-shirts, blouses, and jeans. No feathers, sequins, or elaborate outfits. They simply came here to dance – and they did it wonderfully… It was, therefore, a deliberate encounter between the past (the music and recordings) and the present (the venue, the attire). I stood there with many other onlookers, leaning against the railings, lost in thought, a bit dreamy, but also aware that we were standing outside, not part of this celebration.

Walking back to the hotel, passing by Karlplatz, where a techno party was in full swing – with crowds of young people, lights, and thumping bass – I wondered if this wasn’t exactly how people who are “on the outside” see the audio industry. Do they look at us with curiosity, perhaps even a touch of envy, but also certain that they don’t belong to this reality – that they’re outside those red LEDs marking the boundary and symbolically separating what’s inside from what’s outside? In other words, I asked myself, “What’s it going to happen?” 

‖ The ACV building as seen from the entrance, and the entrance to Hall X2

▓ What’s it going to happen?

It seems that the organizers and participants of the High End Show Vienna 2026 were asking themselves the same question. There were really a lot of us – it was a huge show – and yet I could see a hint of nervousness in the eyes of the people I spoke with and in the movements of those leading the presentations. So: What’s it going to happen?

In my opinion, it’ll be fine. For many years now, I’ve been hearing that perfectionist audio – that is, the audiophile industry – is a thing of the past, and soon there won’t be anyone left to sell all these new, shiny black boxes, cables as thick as a python, or speakers the size of a small bachelor apartment in Warsaw.

In Vienna, however, I saw a truly large number of young people. There were so many women who were genuinely interested in the event – not just tagging along with their partners – and there were quite a few children as well. In this respect, Vienna stood out from Munich right from the start, where the show was geared toward “guys,” preferably aged fifty and older (more often than not). It wasn’t some old-timers’ show-off, but something similar to what I’ve been seeing for years in Warsaw at the Audio Video Show. 

‖ An interesting bit of trivia: a turntable built into a table, in a rather striking colour, isn’t it? Brand: Tone Factory; tagline: “Made in Europe – Designed in Vienna”

There was also a genuine interest in music and equipment, even if that equipment was out of reach for everyone except a select few. In this regard, a thriving, innovative high-end and top high-end sector is becoming increasingly distinct, alongside products that are reasonably affordable for anyone with a decent job and financial resources. However, the mid-range segment – somewhere in the 7,000–15,000 zloty per product range – is slowly disappearing.

But what’s happening at the very top is incredibly interesting. First of all, there’s a complete convergence of signal sources. In other words, different sources play simultaneously within the same system. They don’t compete with one another; they complement one another. In Vienna, most of the playback was from files. But, as far as I understand, this was more for practical reasons than for sound quality. Since it was the first event at this venue, most exhibitors preferred to play it safe and have all their recordings “at their fingertips.” Streaming is, after all, a safe choice. 

‖ The coexistence of different signal sources is now a reality. Pictured above: Shanling portable CD players, a Kl AUdio Magnezar turntable, a Stellavox tape recorder (Mr Okihiko Sugano recorded on a similar model), and an Innuos file transport from the new Nazaré series, featuring a clock and a LAN switch

Those who opted for vinyl and CDs (!), and some even for tapes (though in a much smaller group than in Munich), generally achieved great sound. All the more so because there’s a lot of activity and many new products in both “camps.” Take Wadax, for example, whose “system” – the five-part Studio Player – starts with an integrated SACD/MQA-CD player and ends with a separate transport featuring two external power supplies and a dedicated clock. The Studio Transport made its debut there.

‖ Wadax with a separate player from the Studio Player series: SACD transport, DAC, clock generator plus two power supplies

The return of the CD was, in fact, one of the “hot” topics of the event. Some of my manufacturer friends, such as Alan Shaw, the head of Harbeth, were surprised by this, while others simply took note of it. It’s no coincidence that Chinese companies, led by Shanling, currently offer the most CD players – a new version of the portable CD player, and the EC Zero T Max, featuring a new amplifier, made its debut in Vienna. As usual, Göbel High End played music from SACDs using top-of-the-line Wadax players, while Luxman showcased some wonderful SACDs.

‖ ESD CD Transport

Also in one the largest rooms, dominated by massive, colossal speakers from the Chinese company ESD, the most prominent spot among its electronics was occupied by an equally massive, stone-slab-constructed, split CD player, part of a system valued at over three million euros. In three of the four rooms at the Vienna Sound Fest – a smaller accompanying event held at the hotel next door – SACD and CD players were also in use: an Esoteric in the company’s own room, an Esoteric SACD player in a system paired with Audio Nostrum speakers and Vinnie Rossi electronics, and – once again – a Wadax in a room featuring Kroma speakers and Ypsilon electronics.

Of course, the issue of software is also tied to these players. Would you believe that two more labels have decided to release their own Crystal Discs? I didn’t believe it either until I saw it for myself.

So I popped over to the Wadax room, where Fabio Camorani from Audionates Recordings was giving a presentation. He’d brought along a copy of Famous Blue Raincoat: The Songs of Leonard Cohen by American singer Jennifer Warnes, released by Impex – the very same Impex that supplies us with excellent 1-Step LPs. Fabio compared it to a standard release and to a UHQCD, also from Impex (!). Do I need to tell you what the listeners’ verdict was? I don’t think so – the differences were staggering. 

‖ Fabio Camorani (on the right) at the Crystal Disc album launch

The second surprise was the Crystal Disc CD by Hans Theesink and Terry Evans, The Analog Session Vienna, released by Revox Music. In fact, they were all displayed side by side at the same booth: the Crystal Disc CD, the LP, the cassette tape, and the reel-to-reel tape, all eagerly awaiting their new owners. This “coexistence” of formats in the audio world strikes me as the most distinctive trend of recent years.

‖ The album The Analog Session Vienna by Hans Theesink and Terry Evans, released by Revox Music on Crystal Disc CD, LP, audio cassette and reel-to-reel tape

If we add files to the mix – considered the most important medium – we’ll see that what format a given release appears in matters less and less to labels, as long as there are as many of them as possible. And there’s no need to force the argument that an LP is better than this or that, or that the CD is king – they’re all potentially good.

That’s exactly how Revox sees it, because alongside Theesink’s album – available in nearly as many formats – Deep Purple’s latest album was also on display. Mastered from digital files at a studio in Vienna, the album SPLAT! was showcased in its ultra-limited edition on LP and cassette. Band members Roger Glover and Simon McBride signed copies of the album; Theesink signed his release the following day. 

‖ Hemolia Records is a label specialising in cassette tapes. For some time now, it has also been offering LPs, and at the exhibition it made its debut with a box set containing SACDs and CDs – a review will appear in our magazine shortly

I saw similar enthusiasm at the booth of the Italian label Hemolia Records. We wrote about this recently, but it’s important to note – having previously offered almost exclusively tapes, copies of master tapes, and only top-tier titles, the label has for some time now also been offering 1-Step LPs, as well as – which premiered in Vienna – SACDs. The first release was, unsurprisingly, Miles Davis’s Kind of Blue, but it was also included in the same box set on both a single-layer SACD and a UHQCD.

However, there is another aspect to this story, related to music encoded in Dolby Atmos. In 2019, during the High End Show, I attended a demonstration organized by PMC, which was also attended by Miles Davis’s nephews – his heirs – and where a multichannel version of the album Kind of Blue was presented. The master tape has only three channels, so the additional channels – both surround and height – were recorded by setting up PMC’s top-of-the-line speakers at Capitol Studios in Los Angeles and capturing their reverberation. I liked it; I really liked it. In Vienna, we had the opportunity to delve even deeper into this world. However, this part deserves a separate chapter.

‖ DAW mixing session screen with Dolby Atmos encoding

▓  PMC Studio Vienna

PMC is a British company that manufactures speakers for both studio and home use. In addition to Capitol, its clients include Abbey Road Studios (London, UK), Metropolis Studios (London, UK), and BBC Maida Vale Studios (London, UK), to name just a few of the obvious ones. For several years now, these have been exclusively Dolby Atmos immersive studios. I’ve written about this a few times, but let’s repeat it: almost every week we hear about a new DA studio. Today, almost no one designs studios for stereo anymore. As it turns out, this trend dates back to as far as 2017.

‖ Tom Loader and Ollie Thomas, co-directors of PMC, shortly after their interview with the author

That’s when the record label’s executives approached Maurice Patist, head of PMC USA, and Capitol’s senior engineer, Steve Genewick, and told them to mix a few albums in Dolby Atmos. They didn’t say why – there weren’t even suitable formats at the time, and audio streaming was still in its infancy – or how.

The engineers did it their own way – there weren’t any tools yet, aside from those used in movie theaters, nor was there any idea of what the end result was even supposed to look like. Since then, Genewick has mixed over six thousand tracks this way. How do I know this? Well, from the mastering engineer himself.

‖ Steve Genewick, Senior Engineer at Capitol Studios – in the background, in the mixing studio set up for the exhibition

One of the highlights of the Vienna Show was a series of lectures and demonstrations collectively titled PMC Studio Vienna. As Patist explained at the very beginning, their goal was to bring the experience of the Dolby Atmos mixing studio to the show.

To that end, they built – literally – a full-scale studio, complete with the company’s top-of-the-line speakers, a mixing system, and monitors configured in a 9.1.6 setup (nine surround channels, one subwoofer, and six height channels). As stated in the invitation, it was “a replica of our own recording studios in London, Los Angeles, and Nashville.” 

‖ Steve Genewick with yours truly

Genewick played songs by artists such as Melody Gardot, Miles Davis, Bob Dylan, and Diana Krall, discussing his choices regarding the sound. Again: an incredible experience. I really enjoyed it. Over time, however, a thought occurred to me: this is a perfect way to spend an hour or two a week, just like watching a movie. Listening like that every day, for several hours at a time – that’s not for me. It was a kind of carnival, a temporary escape from normal life.

‖ Maurice Patist, head of PMC USA, announces a session with Sohn

Having said that, I’ll add right away that I briefly wavered on the second day when I met one of my favorite contemporary 4AD musicians, Sohn, whose fourth album Albadas (Dawn Songs) was recently released. I’ve been testing audio equipment using his songs for twelve years.

For twelve years, my daughter has been listening to this from her room – and for a very long time, she resented me for “torturing” her with it. Until something “clicked.” Today, he’s her favorite artist, too. As Sohn said when I told him this – it must be Stockholm syndrome 🙂 As he said it, he signed the album for her, which was the cause of all the commotion.

‖ Sohn with a signed album

Anyway, the meeting with this artist unfolded differently than the first one. The musician had previously provided Steve Genewick with the tracks for his debut album Tremors, and live – together with us, the participants of the event – he performed a live mix of one of the tracks in the Atmos format.

Although mixing a single track normally takes four to six hours and we only had thirty minutes, it turned out really well. Maybe that’s because this spatial format is practically tailor-made for the long reverbs, cathedral-like scale, and bass that we find on his albums. 

‖ On the left, wearing a blue shirt and a cap, is Sohn; next to him, behind the DAW system on which he was mixing live, is Steve Genewick

So – a unique experience, a perfect stimulant, and food for thought. I spoke briefly with Genewick because I was curious about a few things. First, with Dolby Atmos, compression is rarely used because it isn’t necessary. Distributing the signal sources across multiple speakers provides a freedom that a mixing engineer doesn’t have with stereo material, where everything has to fit into two tracks and is intended for LP, CD, or radio. It was also interesting that the versions intended for headphones aren’t mastered separately, though that could be refined even further.

How does this translate to the music market? No one knows. There are several surround series, the most interesting of which is the “SDE Surround Series” from the online magazine → SUPER DELUXE EDITION, but I don’t see how this would fit in with audiophile systems. It’s more of a way to keep interest in surround sound systems alive after home theater underwent a spectacular collapse and essentially disappeared – with a few exceptions – from the pages of audiophile magazines and from stores. Perhaps, however, there’s something I don’t know – for example, about streaming – that the publishers have picked up on. Maybe.

That’s what Tom Loader and Ollie Thomas, the company’s co-CEOs, said, anyway. Tom and Ollie are the sons of Adrian Loader and Peter Thomas, respectively, the company’s founders. They’re young, full of enthusiasm, and have good musical taste. I spoke with them for you to celebrate the company’s 35th anniversary – you can find the interview in a separate post (soon), and you can already see our photo on the company’s Instagram → HERE.

‖ One of the highlights of the show was the announcement of Qobuz’s plans to enter the Polish market; streaming services are one of the sources of Dolby Atmos recordings.

▓  “High Fidelity” at High End Vienna 2026

A show like High End is an opportunity for recap and awards. As we wrote about it → HERE, a few of us traveled to the Austrian capital. Janusz Tuchowski will prepare a separate recap of the event for you, focusing on Polish products at the event and the accompanying Hifideluxe Vienna 2026.

It was a good time to present two separate awards: the new Dragon of the Exhibition award, which we recently wrote about; more → HERE; and, as usual, together with hifistatement.net magazine, we also presented the Statement of High Fidelity award.

‖ A dinner during which we had the opportunity to chat with the winners in a relaxed atmosphere, without any time pressure; pictured (from left): the author, Harry Elson (Head of Commercial and Operations at Harbeth), Dirk Sommer (hifistatement.net), Alan Shaw (owner and designer of Harbeth) and Birgit Hammer-Sommer (Sommelier du Son)

As a reminder, these awards are presented twice a year by the magazine hifistatement.net and “High Fidelity”. This year in Vienna, the STATEMENT in HIGH FIDELITY awards will be presented to products from the United Kingdom:

• Harbeth Super HL5plus XD2 ⸜ bookend speakers; review → HERE
• Wilson Benesch Prime Meridian ⸜ turntable; review → HERE

‖ The award-winning Wilson Benesch turntable

We brought six ‘Dragon of the Exhibition’ figurines to Vienna.

‖ Tom Loader and Ollie Thomas with the author and the award statuette • photo courtesy of PMC

You’ve already heard about the first one, if you’ve visited the PMC website, because it was their studio – mentioned above – that struck me as an excellent example of how music should sound in a super-natural, super-dynamic, and – of course – super-spatial way.

The PMC Studio Vienna setup included the new, two-way PMC 12 XBD active speakers, featuring Class D amplifiers, extensive DSP equalization, and the company’s proprietary Advanced Transmission Line (ATL) technology. 

‖ Edwin van der Kley Rynveld (on the left) and his son and COO, Viktor de Leeuw (on the right), are an example of a successful succession

‖ The Siltech system, which we have awarded a prize to

The second one went to Siltech, for a system featuring Sphinx Element 5 speakers, the company’s own electronics, and new Classic Legend Mk II cables, along with SAGA’s own electronics. The speakers in question are the result of Edwin Rynveld’s quest. The Element 5 model, which I saw for the first time in Vienna as part of a working system, is extraordinary in both form and sound.

I know Edwin’s taste (or I think so…) – he discussed his previous speakers when he was at my house – but this is something truly “extraordinary.” The bass extends down to 19 Hz and features a hybrid, passive-active PAC crossover – Edwin’s idea for decoupling the speakers from the amplifier. 

‖ Caroline Göbel and her husband – founder and designer Oliver Göbel – accepted the award for the Göbel High End speaker system.

Third Dragon was given to the system we’ve already mentioned: Göbel High End. This German company – based in Munich – showcased its new Divin Monarque speakers, driven by Vitus Audio electronics from the Masterpiece series: the MP-M201 Mk 2 monaural amplifiers and the MP-L201 Mk 2 preamplifier. The source was the top-of-the-line, separate Wadax Level 8 SACD player, and the entire system was connected with Lacorde Statement cables.

By the way, it’s worth noting that Ole Vitus Nielse, the founder of Vitus Audio, has returned to managing the brand, as well as the brand of his son, Alexander Vitus Mogensen, who decided to pursue a completely different path after a few years. So while some sons take over from their fathers – as in the cases of PMC or Audiovector – others choose a different path. 

‖ Ole Klifoth, founder of Audiovector (left), and his son Mads, the current director and designer, are a good example of a successful succession

The fourth Dragon was placed on a rack with a Brinkmann Audio turntable, in a system featuring the exceptional, truly surprisingly good Audiovector R5 Arreté speakers.

This is a new model based on the 3.5-way design of the flagship R10 model. It is a vented design with a bass-reflex system, with a port located at the bottom of the cabinet. This configuration uses two independent woofers – one responsible for the full mid-bass range and the other dedicated exclusively to reproducing the lowest frequencies. The entire system was powered by a Goldmund amplifier with a D/A converter.

‖ Jörgen Olofsson (CEO) and Leif Mårten Olofsson (founder) accepted the award on behalf of Marten.

The fifth award found a new home at the Swedish companies Marten and Jorma. At the Show, they premiered four new speakers from the Dexter series – one bookshelf model and three floor-standing models. The system also featured another new product, the TechDAS Air Force Model 20 turntable.

During the press presentation, however, the music was played from digital files. As the LAN switch they used – surprise, right? – another premiere, from Innuos’s new NazaréNET series, and the entire system was powered by Goldmund electronics. The system also featured new Jorma Origo Encore cables. The sound was super-precise yet full and faithful, with excellent dynamics. 

‖ Mana Chikui-san, a journalist for the Japanese website Phile Web

As it happened, during the presentation I was sitting next to Ms. Mana Chikui, a journalist for the Japanese website Phile Web, which includes the magazines “Audio Accessories,” “Analog,” and “Net Audio.”

I don’t know if you remember, but in 2018 I prepared an interview for you with Yosuke Asada-san, editor-in-chief of the latter two; more → HERE. Ms. Chikui remembered this, and we quickly agreed on an interview with her, also as part of “The Editors” series. She had only one condition: she would also interview me. We’ll see how that turns out…

‖ On the left is Robert Sikora, accepting the award on behalf of J. Sikora; for your information, he is the company’s new owner and director – yet another example of a successful handover of management to a child.

And finally, the sixth dragon – this one flew to Poland, to Lublin, to the J.Sikora’s headquarters. The entire system deserved an award, but there was only one to give, so a choice had to be made. And the whole system sounded phenomenal! The signal source was a Reference turntable with a KV12 Max tonearm; the electronics were provided by Aries Cerat; the speakers were Alsyvox; and the cabling was from Omega Audio Concepts and Stealth Audio Cables.

I really enjoyed listening to the records played by Giulio Cesare Ricci, the founder and engineer of Fonè Records, which has been in operation since 1983. What stuck with me the most was the fantastic guitar on the Mesolella & Ascolese album Chitarre Vagabonde. 

‖ Mr. Giulio Cesare Ricci (left), founder and engineer at Fonè Records

▓  Poland NOW!

And while on the subject of Polish manufacturers, I can’t help but mention something that came up repeatedly in my conversations with exhibitors and journalists from around the world: the distinct presence of our country at the Vienna High End Show. On the one hand, this should be normal, even a given. After all, the Austrian capital is a very popular destination for our compatriots on short getaways. Thanks to direct trains from Warsaw, Wrocław, and Kraków, the trip is quite short and casual.

That’s why, as I walked around the city, every other step I heard – I swear, I swear it was true – the Polish language. They were mainly tourists, but I also encountered them from time to time among the vendors, though the Czechs, Ukrainians, and Russians were the dominant group there. The latter, incidentally, form a large group in Vienna; they were also present at the High End Show, both as exhibitors, visitors, and journalists. This is, to put it bluntly, very, very bad – downright despicable.

‖ Piotr Gałkowski assembling a table for himself – he must have been bored – during the exhibition; below is a system featuring a complete Divine Acoustics MARS table; also on display here are a Gigawatt AC conditioner and a J. Sikora Aspire turntable

But let’s get to the point. It turned out that the change in the exhibition venue also altered the geography of relationships. Many manufacturers asked Polish distributors to bring their products to the Austrian capital, since it was cheaper and faster that way. So products from Nagra, Transrotor, YG Acoustics, Boulder, and many, many others arrived from Poland. Some distributors even helped out at the booths of these companies, such as Soulnote and Final.

‖ One of the systems, almost entirely imported from Poland: a Transrotor turntable, Vinnie Rossi amplifiers (a review coming soon), Crystal Cables, and Audio Nostrum speakers. Adam Czerwiński from AC Records (pictured below) was there to oversee the whole event and play his own LPs and master tapes.

And we were well represented as manufacturers. J. Sikora, Ancient Audio, Everest Audio Labs – the new company of Adam Mokrzycki, organizer of the Audio Video Show – Divine Acoustics, Gigawatt, Albedo, Melodika, Unitra, Graphite Audio, Pylon, and Fezz Audio – these are just a few of the companies that come to mind right now, and Janusz Tuchowski will discuss them in more detail in his report. That’s already quite a force to be reckoned with.

‖ As usual, a great demonstration by Fezz Audio and Pylon Audio

Along with a clear over-representation – compared to previous years – of journalists from Central European countries, the Balkans, and even Albania – this seemed to confirm the organizers’ intuitions, which I wrote about in my report from my “reconnaissance” trip to ACV in February of this year: the center of gravity of the audio world has shifted slightly in our direction. Yes, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, and France still “rule” the continent, but on the one hand, they are increasingly being displaced by brands from China and Taiwan, and on the other, they face ever-stronger, professional competition from Poland; more on this in the column titled I visited ACV… → HERE.

▓ So what actually happened?

In my opinion, changing the venue for the High End Show was a very good decision. The new venue still needs to be “mastered,” because for now we wandered around like children in the fog, asking at every turn where exactly we were. The problem was the unfamiliarity, not the layout. After three days, we learned to use the signage and directions, and there were a huge number of people there to help us.

The organization of the event was also very good, including for the exhibitors. I spoke with many of them and asked each one the same question – whether they were satisfied. Over 90% of those I “surveyed” said they were satisfied or very satisfied. The problem remains with the venue itself, which is smaller than the one in Munich. Many companies simply couldn’t get into the event. The accompanying events organized right next door aren’t likely to remedy this issue.

‖ At the Belvedere, you can see Klimt’s The Kiss

What was great was that almost every room had really good acoustics – sometimes even spectacular. It turns out that both the rooms in the main building and those in Halls X2–X4 were much better in this regard than what we’re used to in the Bavarian capital. And then there’s the cleanliness – in a league of its own. We walked around the ACV with pleasure, without the crowds, at our own pace.

It was the first show in Vienna, so we were a bit confused – by pretty much everything, actually. I think, however, that this will change quickly and we’ll feel right at home. These were good days for audio. ‖ WP

‖ View of Vienna from the Upper Belvedere

▓ Exhibition at a glance

When: 4–7 June 2026
Where: Austria Center Vienna (ACV), Bruno-Kreisky-Platz 1, 1220 Vienna – Austria
Organiser: HIGH END SOCIETY Service GmbH

→ www.ACV.at

→ www.HIGHENDSOCIETY.de

text by WOJCIECH PACUŁA

photo by “High Fidelity”, PMC, J.Sikora

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