Looking back on Munich 2024
We’re still reeling from an incredible week in Munich, at Europe’s biggest celebration of all things HiFi and premium audio.
This year, we decided to change things up a little. Moving away from the busy and bustling corridors of The MOC, we instead set ourselves up in MotorWorld - an incredible facility directly opposite the busy corridors of Munich High End.
This was the location for a really special moment in the history of Vertere - the reveal of two new, game-changing products - the CALON Dual Mono Phono Preamplifier, and the SG-II Pathfinder tone arm.
In their own way, both these products represent a significant step forward in the precision performance of Vertere analogue listening. If you’d like to find out exactly how, we’d encourage you to dive into last week's piece, where we revealed exactly how and why CALON and the SG-II PTA are so special.
VERTERE at Motorworld
When looking around for a change of scene from the dizzying intensity of the MOC, MotorWorld immediately felt like a perfect fit. Motorworld is located a literal stone’s throw from High End’s entrance - occupying a building that once played host to Munich’s revered train building industry. Today, this building has been transformed into a haven for car enthusiasts - classic and contemporary sports cars and racing vehicles can be found throughout the cavernous space, alongside a whole host of cafes, restaurants and bars. Given our deep roots in precision engineering, we couldn’t have found a better location for our exhibition.
We set up our demo room in the Walter Rohrl Suite on the first floor, and this became our base for showcasing the very best in premium analogue listening throughout the show. The demonstration we provided represented the very best in high end analogue listening. A pair of PMC Speakers Fenestria loudspeakers, FM Acoustics 266 MkII-RC Preamp and 411 Mono Amps, Vertere HB Cabling, and a Vertere record player provided the perfect sonic foundation for showcasing CALON and SG-II Pathfinder Tonearm.
From this space, we would introduce the world of HiFi to our two new analogue source products for the very first time.
Launching CALON and SG-II Pathfinder Tonearm
To celebrate the launch of these two game-changing new products, we invited a specially selected group of HiFi journalists, retailers, distributors and industry tastemakers to join us on the first day of the show.
Come the event, it was ‘standing room only’ in the Walter Rohrl Suite, with a packed room of guests excited to discover what Vertere had to offer next. Touraj Moghaddam, Vertere’s chief designer and MD, began proceedings with a fascinating and entertaining talk on his overarching, fundamentals-focused philosophy. He gave guests a detailed insight into how and why he’d made the decision to develop a high end, perfect dual mono phono stage, and a new, upgraded tonearm designed to take listeners as close to Reference PTA as possible.
Anyone who has had the privilege of attending one of Touraj’s events will know that he speaks about analogue reproduction with such passion and deft expertise that it's impossible not to be completely swept up in his infectious enthusiasm. The real proof, however, was in the listening. Touraj presented a whole complement of demonstrations, first in the absence of both new products, then introducing each in turn. The sonic results were nothing short of extraordinary.
Feedback from across the weekend was staggering - and we thank everyone who took the time to come and see us at Motorworld throughout the show. We’re so glad that so many of you got to witness the first demonstration of CALON and SG-II PTA, and that such a significant number of attendees left as real advocates for a whole new level of Vertere analogue listening.
Early Press Reaction
We’re yet to receive any official reviews for either the CALON Dual Mono Phono Stage, or our SG-II PTA, but there was plenty of excited reaction in various post-Munich show reports.
AV Forums were impressed by Vertere’s “wildly prolific” recent product output, and seemed excited by both products’ ability to “ensure that performance is as good as it possibly can be”.
The Ear called Vertere’s demonstration system “pretty damn impressive”, noting the system’s “three dimensionality, depth of image, dynamics and timing to die for”.
Enjoy The Music were particularly impressed with the transformative qualities of the SG-II PTA, revealing that it “sounded remarkably good on an SG-1 Super Groove turntable”. They also praised Vertere’s demonstration system, calling it “one of the best analog sounds of HIGH END 2024”.
HiFi Pig took a deeper look at the tech that makes CALON and SG-II unique in their show report, noting how both products “ensure all the performance gains enabled by recent improvements in Vertere Record players…are not lost.”
CALON & SG-II PTA - What next?
CALON and SG-II may have enjoyed an unquestionably successful launch, but for us at Vertere, the fun is only just getting started. Both products go into production in the summer. We’re anticipating incredibly high demand for both products’ initial run, and so we’d highly recommend contacting your local Vertere dealer for more information on when they’re available.
But if you couldn’t make it to Munich, don’t fret! The UK Launch of CALON and SG-II PTA will take place at The Audiobarn, Harlow, on Saturday 8th June. Touraj will be on hand to present the same demonstration as guests enjoyed in Munich, so it’s certainly not to be missed! Tickets are available now, but don’t wait! There’s only a limited number of spaces available.
For more information on future opportunities to see and hear CALON and SG-II PTA, head to the events page on our website - and follow us on social media.
