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Why Munich is Different

Why Munich is Different

From reading TAS, you already know Munich is a different sort of audio show. Perhaps you have seen that it is bigger than anything in the U.S., and that different manufacturers attend. If you thought about it, you may even have realized that demos and side events are conducted in German. As a Munich newbie, I looked forward to experiencing these distinctions first hand. What I discovered, though, was that the dissimilarities I had anticipated, while all there, missed the two essential ways in which Munich is different: its radical physical format, and the culture in which it exists.

The first of these is the easiest to describe. If you’re used to U.S. audio events, Munich is a revelation. The show takes place not in a hotel but in a sprawling convention center. In the rest of the world, the closest equivalent to Munich is not an audio show at all—it’s an auto show. In both cases, companies display their wares in large exhibit halls, encouraging attendees to inspect and handle it. In these vast halls, you can’t drive/listen to the products, but knowledgeable reps are plentiful and stand ready to answer questions. Want to talk specs or compare models within a line? In Munich, it’s no problem.

Why Munich is Different

Compare this with a typical U.S. show. Sound systems reside in their own space at the front of a hotel room, as if on stage. And like stage performers, they exude a don’t-touch-me aura. While it is possible to get a closer look—by clawing through crowds and annoying those trying to listen—the physical arrangement discourages anything more intimate than taking a photo. Meanwhile, manufacturers are busy with crowd control and playing requests. Lingering to ask questions seems inconsiderate to both the rep and those awaiting a turn in the room. Munich’s exhibition-space arrangement neatly sidesteps all these problems.

Ah, you say, but what about actual listening? Isn’t that the main point—to actually hear how this stuff sounds? Well, yes it is, and Munich has that solved as well. The organizers have hit on a simple but amazingly effective tactic: separate looking from listening. In the hall, you can ask the Raidho rep about the specs of the latest D2 speaker. Want to hear it? Head up to the associated listening room on the 2nd and 3rd floors. There you will find something more akin to other audio shows.

Even here, though, there are differences. The listening rooms in Munich are not hotel rooms; rather, they are conference rooms. This is both good and bad. In general, Munich’s facilities are more spacious than a typical hotel room. That allows more chairs and therefore the ability to accommodate more people without stress. The bad news is that these rooms were designed for meetings, not for a good night’s sleep. Consequently, wall thickness is meager and so is the acoustic isolation between rooms. Pretty much every manufacturer prefaced musical examples with an apology for sound intruding from the next room. Still, surprisingly, by raising levels enough to overcome the (substantial) ambient noise, good sound was not only attainable but commonplace.

 

The one exception to the above is the Atrium level, where rooms offer both display and listening space. Yet unlike the largest hotel rooms at other shows, the space here is clearly divided to serve the two distinct functions.

Why Munich is Different

Overall, Munich’s layout encourages things that typical audio shows discourage; notably, interaction with the equipment and the people who make and sell it. The penalty for this arrangement appears minimal, while the benefits are obviously huge. The crowd at Munich was delighted not only because they could hear a bunch of great gear, they could learn about it and physically engage with it.  

The second essential way in which Munich differs from other shows is more difficult to describe. Indeed, thinking of Munich as simply a show is already imprecise. Munich is actually a full-blown cultural event, trumpeted by signage everywhere from street posts to subway walls. This happens elsewhere when the auto show comes to town, but an audio show? Imagine signs in Manhattan trumpeting “High End 2013”, as they do in Munich. The reaction would either be “High End what?” or a collective shrug. Audio is just not as important to Americans as it is to Europeans.

In Europe, a hi fi system is still considered as essential as a washer/dryer, and a really good hi fi is aspirational. In America, audio systems are generally optional, even in well-to-do neighborhoods, and aspirations tend to lie elsewhere. Also, European couples still actively listen to music—together, even! Music is not merely something playing in the background, nor is it an isolationist pastime. This is why you see so many couples attending the show; European women have a stake in audio purchases that goes far beyond aesthetics.  

Could something like Munich ever develop in the States? Not exactly. There are, of course, plenty of convention centers on the scope of Munich’s MOC that would love to host our industry. But organizers would need to be confident of attendance figures near the 20,000 mark to make that approach financially feasible. None of our regional shows approach that number (though the Newport Beach show is growing exponentially.) So, for now, achieving that level of attendance would mean drawing from multiple regions.

Unfortunately, the reality is that America is far more spread out than Europe, and lacks a transportation infrastructure commensurate with Europe’s magnificent train network. Flying from, say, L.A. to Chicago isn’t nearly as cheap or hassle-free as taking an ICE train from Paris to Munich. These practical considerations effectively rule out a centralized show that could draw from multiple regions, which in turn rules out a venue like the MOC. However, in America there are large hotels that could offer Munich’s unique combination of large exhibit space and corresponding listening areas. As shows like Newport Beach crest the 10,000 attendee mark, such an arrangement would be viable.

Yet, an equal challenge to mimicking Munich is our culture, which relegates high end audio to a sliver of a niche. For most Americans, music comes through earbuds. Until that changes and the role of music—and with it the role of audio systems—changes, a show of Munich’s scope and cultural significance will remain beyond our borders.

Tags: HIGH END MUNICH

Alan Taffel

By Alan Taffel

I can thank my parents for introducing me to both good music and good sound at an early age. Their extensive classical music collection, played through an enviable system, continually filled our house. When I was two, my parents gave me one of those all-in-one changers, which I played to death.

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