High End Munich 2024 preview

It's the highlight of any hi-fi fan's calendar: the High End Munich 2024 show is just around the corner in early May, and we're excited to see all the new products, exlcusive launches and stunning examples of engineering and design at Europe's biggest hi-fi show.

Last year's High End Munich 2023 was its biggest yet, celebrating 40 years running and showcasing more brands than ever before. The High End Society is set to smash those records once more, with 1000 brands exhibiting and even more visitors estimated to traipse through the halls, looking in awe at the latest designs and technological marvels from the world's finest hi-fi brands.

There are global names we have become accustomed to see at the show – Naim, Focal, Sonus Faber, Burmester, D'Agostino, PMC, Audio Research – as well as more boutique brands showcasing their latest innovations. We won't list all 1000 brands below (check out the full list of exhibitors here) and many brands are keeping their new launches close to the chest. But we've taken a whistlestop tour of brands in the list below to highlight what we know they'll be showing and surmise what we can expect to see (as well as hope to see) once the doors open at this year's show.

The What Hi-Fi? team will be on the ground from 9th May at the MOC exhibition hall to bring all the latest news, launches and first-hand impressions of new products, so stay tuned as we'll be populating this page with previews, news and highlights as and when we get them.

High End Munich 2024 preview: what to expect

Audiovector
The Danish brand has unveiled the Trapeze Reimagined floorstanding speakers just recently and we expect these new, nifty-looking high-end models to have their first public showing at Munich.
Atrium 4.2, F203

Burmester
It wouldn't be the High End Show without a press conference showcasing new products from the established German brand, and this is taking place at 2.30pm CET on Thursday 9th.
Atrium 3.1, C119

Cambridge Audio
Cambridge Audio turned heads last year when they set up camp right outside the MOC exhibition doors in a bright red London double decker bus. Will the bus (full of the British brand's latest audio products) return this year? Cambridge has already started the year with two hi-fi launches – the five-star CXN100 music streamer and the just-launched CXA81 MkII stereo amplifier, the latter of which we're hoping to see in the flesh for the first time at High End. We're also hoping to have a peek at the special Evo 150 Delorean Edition...
Hall 4 entrance

Chord Electronics
The British brand always has a shiny new product to reveal (last year's Ultima Integrated amp certainly caught our eye) and we're told there will be two new "analogue" products launched this year. Watch this space...
Atrium 3.1, C122 & Atrium 4.1, F107

Dali
Dali has treated us to high-end product launches such as the towering Kore and Epikore speakers, along with premium wireless IO-12 headphones, in the last few years – could we see more of the same or something completely new? We don't know yet, but we're excited to find out.
Atrium 3.1, D107/D108

Fyne Audio
Get your retro fix as Scottish brand Fyne will likely be bringing its fine line of Classic and Vintage speakers, as well as its latest (and more modern looking) SP (Special Production) models.
Atrium 4.1, E116 & Hall 3, L04/M03

HiFi Rose
Products from emerging brands like HiFi Rose have cut through the established hi-fi separates fare and stood out with their stunningly crafted design and smart streaming tech. Last year we saw the debut of the RS130 streaming transport, but perhaps we'll see the new RA280 – the more streamlined but still stylish sibling to the flagship RA180 amplifier – this year at Munich.
Hall 2, G04/J03

Naim/Focal
A mainstay at any hi-fi show, we expect to see the Naim/Focal partnership out in full force. Naim celebrated its 50th-anniversary last year with the Naim Nait 50 limited edition amp and the new 300 series. This year, maybe we'll see the Uniti Nova Power Edition (launched at ISE 2024) and perhaps also Focal's new Aria Evo X speaker range (launched at CES 2024). Will we see any new streamers, speakers or headphones too?
Atrium 4.1, F105

NAD
The Canadian brand took to Munich last year with its retro-modern C 3050 LE streaming amplifier, a brand new Masters M66 DAC/streaming preamplifier, and the affordable CS1 add-on streaming solution. Could we see new additions to the NAD line? We hope so.
Atrium 3.1, D107/D108 

PMC
PMC will be flexing its pro and hi-fi muscles together with an ambitious large-scale Dolby Atmos speaker system to play prog legend Steve Wilson's latest album, The Harmony Code, in full. Wilson himself will be there on all four show days at Room K1, Foyer 1 to showcase how he uses and mixes reference-level audio, using the PMC set-up to demonstrate the capabilities of Dolby Atmos and spatial mixing. Also on show will be PMC's new Twenty5i Active speaker range that was launched at the Bristol Hi-Fi Show earlier this year.
Atrium 3.1, D106 & Room K1, Foyer 1

Pro-Ject
We've become accustomed to seeing Pro-Ject reveal special edition turntables with artist collaborations – who can forget the snazzy Metallica turntable, or the beautiful Pink Floyd one, or the delightful Yellow Submarine deck? – but we also tend to see innovations like the T2 W wireless turntable. Could we see even more turntables, please?
Hall 3, M04/N03/N04/P05 

Q Acoustics
Q Acoustics launched the new 5000 series of speakers last year, one of which (5040) became a What Hi-Fi? Award winner, while another (5050) just made their official global debut – our full review goes live next week.
Atrium 4.1, F110

Sennheiser
The German headphone brand will be launching "a new addition to its audiophile profile" – that could mean anything, but we have our fingers crossed for a new wired headphone in the vein of the HD 800S range, perhaps? It's a wild guess for now.
Hall 1, B14

Sonus Faber/McIntosh
We were treated to the exquisite Suprema speaker system earlier this year at CES 2024 to kick off its 40th birthday celebrations, and we fully expect the Suprema/McIntosh demo to happen again. This ambitious project consists of two main speakers, two subwoofers and an electronic crossover, priced at a whopping £695,000 / $750,000. Also on demo will be the stunning Stradivari speakers, all powered by McIntosh amps.
Atrium 4, F109

TAD Labs
The Japanese brand will be displaying the latest addition to its flagship Reference Series, the TAD-C700 preamplifier, costing a cool $68,000. 

Tannoy
Tannoy's 100-year anniversary is looming in 2026, and we hope to get a glimpse of what the speaker brand has planned for this incredible milestone.
Hall 4, S06-1/S06-2/S06-3 

Vivid Audio
This is one we can't miss: we are very much looking forward to seeing and hearing the behemoth (and half-million) 13-driver Vivid Moya 1 speakers from Laurence Dickie's brand in person.
Hall 3, K16

WiiM
The wildly popular affordable brand will be launching two new products at Munich, one of which is the WiiM Ultra, which seems to be an advanced version of the superb WiiM Pro Plus music streamer with an improved DAC and full-colour touchscreen. The other launch is still under wraps, but we'll bring you the latest news as soon as we have it.
Hall 2, F07

Yamaha
We loved listening to the HA-L7A headphone amplifier at last year's show with the exceptional YH-5000SE headphones. We're not sure what Yamaha has in store for us this year, but we will be sure to share the news once we know.
Atrium 4.2, F207

YG Acoustics
We don't know what the high-end American speaker brand has in store for us either, but it has announced a press conference on Friday 10th, at 1pm CET, so we're expecting something new.
Atrium 4.2, E218

MORE:

See all the highlights and launches from last year's High End Munich 2023

Our guide to the best speakers you can buy across all budgets

Check out the best high-end record players we love and recommend