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Can High End in Vienna Be as Good as It Was in Munich?

Details: Written by Doug Schneider Doug Schneider; Category: Editorial & Opinion Editorial & Opinion; Created: 01 June 2026 01 June 2026

I’ve been attending the annual High End show for almost 30 years. I started going in the late 1990s, when it was held at the Kempinski Hotel in Frankfurt, Germany. In 2004, the show moved to the Munich Order Center (MOC) in Munich, where it remained through 2025. Since I first started going, I’ve attended every High End show that’s been held.

Audiolab 9000P Stereo/Mono Amplifier

Details: Written by Roger Kanno Roger Kanno; Category: Full-Length Equipment Reviews Full-Length Equipment Reviews; Created: 01 June 2026 01 June 2026

Note: for the full suite of measurements from the SoundStage! Audio-Electronics Lab, click here.

The 9000P power amplifier, along with the 9000Q preamplifier‑DAC I reviewed earlier this year, rounds out Audiolab’s top-of-the-line 9000 series of components. Although the 9000Q is the company’s only dedicated preamplifier, Audiolab does currently offer a couple of other power amplifiers. However, the 9000P (US$1499, CA$1999, £1099, €1499) is the company’s flagship power amp, and it’s a visual match—and, presumably, a sonic match—for Audiolab’s high-value preamp. As well as operating as a stereo amplifier, the 9000P can be bridged for monaural operation to provide additional power into a single channel.

SV-Audio Frida Loudspeaker: Surprisingly Big Sound, Surprisingly High Price

Details: Written by Doug Schneider Doug Schneider; Category: System One System One; Created: 01 June 2026 01 June 2026

Note: measurements taken in the anechoic chamber at Canada’s National Research Council can be found through this link.

At the start of my reviewing career—from the mid-1990s to the early 2000s—I dedicated a lot of time to reviewing compact standmounted loudspeakers, which were almost always two-way designs. That’s because I lived in an apartment and my listening room measured only about 12′W × 14′L × 8′H, so those speakers suited the space best—not just because of their small sizes, but because their limited bass output wouldn’t overload the room.

SVS SB17-Ultra R|Evolution Subwoofer

Details: Written by Philip Beaudette Philip Beaudette; Category: Full-Length Equipment Reviews Full-Length Equipment Reviews; Created: 15 May 2026 15 May 2026

Reviewers' Choice Throughout most of my tenure at the SoundStage! Network, I was living in a one-bedroom apartment in downtown Ottawa, Canada, where I did all of my listening in a decent-sized living room. Based on the simple fact that I couldn’t hear my neighbors through the walls, my older building seemed well constructed, and I appreciated how quiet it was. My place was large enough to accommodate a pair of Amphion Argon3L floorstanding speakers without the room becoming overloaded. However, it wasn’t so big that I felt I needed a subwoofer to flesh out the low end, so I never entertained the idea of owning one.

Recommended Reference Component: WiiM Ultra Streaming Preamplifier

Details: Written by SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors; Category: Components Components; Created: 15 May 2026 15 May 2026

Our Recommended Reference Component awards are not reserved solely for the most expensive and/or highest-performing products in audio. While these components can certainly qualify, we also recognize more affordable products when they establish a meaningful benchmark against which other products can be judged. Furthermore, depending on the product type, when evaluating the candidates, we consider not only sonic performance but also user functionality—an increasingly important factor for today’s listeners, who expect modern hi‑fi products to integrate seamlessly into everyday use. That brings us to the WiiM Ultra streaming preamplifier (US$329, CA$499, £349, €349), reviewed by AJ Wykes on SoundStage! Simplifi in May of 2025.

Four Weeks of Wilson Audio—From the Sabrina V to the Autobiography

Details: Written by Doug Schneider Doug Schneider; Category: Monthly Column Monthly Column; Created: 01 May 2026 01 May 2026

On March 3, Bill Peugh, a sales director at Wilson Audio, showed up at my house to install a pair of Sabrina V loudspeakers that had arrived beforehand. Four weeks later, SoundStage! chief videographer Chris Chitaroni and I flew down to Wilson Audio’s factory in Provo, Utah—not to learn about the Sabrina V, which, at $28,000 per pair in the US, is the company’s least-expensive floorstanding loudspeaker, but for a preview of its newest flagship model, the Autobiography, which clocks in at almost US$800,000 per pair. There’s a video that we shot at the factory on our YouTube channel right now, focusing on the Autobiography’s design details, and there will soon be another about how the speaker is made.

Lyngdorf Audio TDAI-2210 Streaming Integrated Amplifier

Details: Written by Roger Kanno Roger Kanno; Category: Full-Length Equipment Reviews Full-Length Equipment Reviews; Created: 01 May 2026 01 May 2026

Note: for the full suite of measurements from the SoundStage! Audio-Electronics Lab, click here.

Reviewers' Choice The TDAI‑2210 is the third integrated amplifier–DAC in Lyngdorf Audio’s current lineup. The Danish company also manufactures two audio/video processors, both a multichannel and a stereo power amplifier, and a CD player. And they produce multiple freestanding and inwall loudspeakers and subwoofers, but their number of SKUs is fairly limited. So, when Lyngdorf introduces a new model like the TDAI‑2210, it is a relatively rare event, implying that a lot of thought and effort went into its design and production.

Sigberg Audio Saranna Active Loudspeaker

Details: Written by George de Sa George de Sa; Category: Full-Length Equipment Reviews Full-Length Equipment Reviews; Created: 15 April 2026 15 April 2026

“I want the truth!” “You can’t handle the truth!” These lines from A Few Good Men should resonate as deeply with audiophiles as they do with fans of the 1992 film. The truth can prove highly inconvenient in today’s hyper-polarized political environment, and the same can be said for the truth’s effects on highly resolving audio systems. Some high-end systems are configured to flatter recordings, sweetening them up so that they deliver consistently pleasing sound—even if that means glossing over the details. Other systems present recordings in an unadulterated manner, resolving details and illuminating their inner workings, with results that can be musically blissful. But sometimes such truth is hard on the ears.

Recommended Reference Component: KEF Q Concerto Meta Loudspeaker

Details: Written by SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors; Category: Components Components; Created: 15 April 2026 15 April 2026

Recommended Reference Component The Q Concerto Meta loudspeaker occupies an intriguing place in KEF’s lineup. Priced at US$1399.99, CA$1799.99, £1099, or €1198 per pair, it sits one step above the company’s Q3 Meta. On paper, at least, the Q Concerto Meta does not immediately distinguish itself as a dramatic step up from its smaller sibling. Senior editor Dennis Burger reviewed the Q Concerto Meta on March 1 and the Q3 Meta on January 1, both for SoundStage! Access.

Generations of British Hi-Fi: Monitor Audio and Node Audio

Details: Written by Doug Schneider Doug Schneider; Category: Monthly Column Monthly Column; Created: 01 April 2026 01 April 2026

I am writing this editorial shortly after returning from England, where our chief videographer, Chris Chitaroni, and I visited two audio companies. One of these companies, Monitor Audio, has a long history dating back more than 50 years. The other, Node Audio, is less than ten years old. I first learned about them in 2018.