CP mentioned in his very thorough report on the perplexed look he, Ingo and I gave to each other during our unbeknownst introduction to a full-battery powered setup. This, of course, happened when we stepped into the Audio Consulting of Switzerland listening room. The "Wow" factor was in this room alive and breathing!

The three of us sat there listening to these battery powered electronics and were simply astonished and bewildered by the sheer naturalness of the sound. I literally could have stayed in this room for the entire three days. I’ve been to a couple of high end shows and understand how difficult it is to achieve good sound, forget this level of sonic excellence. But damn it if the Audio Consulting team didn’t accomplish just that. There, of course, were other listeners in the room as well who were also stuck to their seats. Because the sound was so eerily translucent and possessed an incredible sense of ease and musical nuance rarely heard anywhere outside of CP's huge horn setup. We kept going from song to song. We listened to almost everything from classical to jazz, contemporary to country and were equally mesmerized regardless. Clearly this was the best sound at this year's show. Could battery-powered components be the new wave of the future regardless of how complex and costly it may be? We’ll have to wait and see.

One thing for sure, there is never a boring moment at Munich’s High End Show. It’s a privilege to have been a part of such a prestigious high-profile event. I look forward to living and learning more and of course, to make the cross-Atlantic journey once again. Until then...