High End Vienna 2026 Report Part Three – Floor 0
TEAM HiFi PiG CHECK OUT THE GROUND FLOOR OF HIGH END VIENNA 2026
Team HiFi PiG snoofle around Floor 0 of the Austria Centre at High End Vienna 2026.
With so much to cover, this report is a joint effort with Lin, Stu, Oscar, Kelly and Jon all snoofling around the ground floor of the show, Floor 0.
If you haven’t yet read them, here are our reports from Stu and Lin on floor – 2 and Oscar and Kelly in Hall X4 with the World Of Headphones and more.
Please note, all content and photos are the copyright of HiFi PiG Magazine/Big Pig Media LLP and must not be copied or reproduced in any way without the prior, written consent of the editor.
ADVANCE PARIS, VIENNA ACOUSTICS, and MONTAUDIO
The A12 amp from Advance Paris is an exceptionally cool-looking bit of kit that carries off old-school HiFi aesthetics with bang-up-to-date vibes. It’s a dual mono configuration and costs 3500 Euros.
The Apex range is all tubes for the pre and solid state for the amp. All the amps have an onboard DAC and are all Class-AB. They are all compatible with an external Bluetooth dongle to safeguard future proofing. The Bluetooth dongle will allow connection of phones, headphones – its bidrectional and a very clever and innovative addition. The range is very affordable. There is also a CD player in the range with tube outputs.
The Nova range includes DSP with 4 independent channels where you can set the crossover between the speakers and the subs. It also has an external dongle for Bluetooth, but also a slot for a streaming cartridge that can work with anything with optical, but on this amp, you just slot it in. The remote is very, very cool and nice to see folk thinking about this essential part of a bit of kit,
Vienna Acoustics were showing the brand-new entry line, the Schubert edition. There are three models in the range, but we got to listen to the biggest model, the Grande Sonnata, at around 4.5 Euros. The speakers are built in Vienna, and I reckon they represent excellent value for money based on my brief listen. Cables were all by Montaudio.
CHORD ELECTRONICS
Chord Electronics had the ubiquitous INNUOS ZEN NG streamer into their Quartet Scaler, going into the DAVE DAC, into Ultimate 33 Pre and a pair of Ultimate 3 power amps.
The other source was a Rega 10 turntable going into the Ultimate phonostage.
ATC SCM50 completed the system. All of this was hooked up with Chord Company cables.
We’d just come up from the – 2 level where there was uber money HiFi, and if I’m honest, it was nice to hear really good tunes on a real-world money system. The Chord part of this system would cost you around 82.5K English pounds. Now that is a lot of money, but it did sound rather lovely.
We asked again for Kurt Vile’s Chance to Bleed, a track we’ve been hammering at home, and I was not disappointed. It was interesting to see the folk who love music nodding along.
The room was perfectly on brand, cool, with nice seating and a good range of static displays of this iconic English brand.
Thanks to Tom for taking the time to sit and natter to me, to Moz who always does an excellent job at shows and to Colin for the chat and feedback.
One for the Golden PiG award shortlist for Stu.
CHORD COMPANY
Always a pleasure to see the guys from Chord Company (cables, not electronics). We were welcomed and shown into a room where Ant was doing a presentation that we had heard a few times, but which never fails to impress. These guys know how to do a presentation, and many could learn a thing or two from them.
We did get a presentation of a new product that the general public is not privy to, but we were very excited to be shown. So, I’d love to go on about this in detail, but I had to sign the Official Secrets Act! Long story as short as it gets is that in the final quarter of this year, there will be a product that goes above Chord Company’s Music range of cables. It will be roughly double the price of Music. At launch, there will be analogue XLR and RCA, plus speaker cables, though I expect digital cables will follow. Plugs and shielding of the outer and inner cables are going to be the main difference, but the OSA suggests I’m not allowed to talk about that either!
PEAK CONSULT
Andy Lam of Hong Kong-based Fung Hang Records was doing a presentation about the difference between his new improved UHQ CDS and polycarbonate CDs when we went to the PEAK room. We got to hear Jennifer Warnes’ First We Take Manhattan on polycarbonate CD and then to the new product. And then the Crystal version. Not an unsubtle difference!
The system was made up of CH Precision electronics, an INNUOS Nazare (again) and PEAK speakers.
HARBETH
Harbeth were showing off their latest NLE 3 loudspeakers, and they did sound very nice.
ELAC
ELAC, who are celebrating its 100th anniversary, had a very, very nicely laid out room with a system fronted by Concerto L809 speakers along with T+A electronics. The speakers feature ELAC’s VXe12 technology with Adaptive Directivity and JET 6c, Dual 115mm A-XR low-mid drivers, and four 250mm woofers.
INAKUSTIK / PRIMARE
Inakustik had a wide range of their cables on display, alongside mains distribution blocks and interconnects. They had a demo system with their cables being used, this consisted of the AudioVector R3 Arreté driven by a Primare Prisma I35 streaming amplifier.
They had a Primare room in here too, with prototypes of their new 928 mono-block amps (using Hypex Nilai modules), 928 stereo power amp, and 928 pre-amp, with a streamer coming in the future. The 928 pre-amp features a loop circuit, allowing you to easily integrate an EQ or room correction device, a very handy feature on such a product.
They also had a prototype of their upcoming SP36 Kontroll, a 16-channel home cinema processor with 4 independent subwoofer channels, and support for all the modern protocols – with Dirac Live built in.
Outside the room Inakustik had more cables on display, including their sub-brand Eagle Cable, a more affordable alternative to their higher-end offerings.
AUDIO REFERENCE – VTL
Audio Reference were showing a single, highly ambitious system built around VTL’s new Lohengrin monoblocks. With Wilson Audio’s Alexia V loudspeakers. Analogue was handled by an SME Model 35 turntable fitted with the Series 5 polycarbonate arm and a Lyra Ytna SL Lambda cartridge. The digital front end was a dCS Rossini APEX DAC paired with the Rossini Clock. Phono duties went to the VTL TP6.5 Series 2, which includes a silver step-up transformer, while the VTL TL7.5 Series 3 Reference handled line stage duties. Power came from a pair of VTL Lohengrin monoblocks.
Networking and power distribution were taken care of by a Nordost QNET7 switch running from a linear PSU and a Nordost Qbase 10 distribution block. Cabling throughout was Nordost Odin, with Nordost Valhalla used for the Ethernet run. The whole system sat on an HRS EXR rack.
B.AUDIO / AUDIO PHYSIC
This room centred on the world premiere of the Ultime DAC; the new flagship from French HiFi brand B.audio,, complete with an external power supply. It was partnered with the Ultime Pre preamplifier and B.amp Mono monoblocks. The loudspeakers were Audio Physic Cardeas floorstanders, and the source was an Innuos Zenith Next Gen streamer.
WBT
WBT had a system playing in their room but only to provide background noise, as they were working in conjunction with the B-Audio room next door. The system comprised a Quad Platina streamer, Westminster Labs Omne integrated amplifier, and YG Acoustics Carmel 3 floor standers.
They also had static displays of all the various interconnectors and banana plugs they make.
IAG
The IAG room had quite a bit going on. For the system being demonstrated the sources were a choice between a Sofino turntable, a Quad Platina streamer, and a Quad Platina CDT disc transport. Networking came via a prototype Audiolab Network Switch, understood to be around two months from release at the time of the show. Amplification was the Quad Platina Integrated.
Speakers were a double world premiere: the Wharfedale Rosedale floor stander was making its global debut alongside the new Wharfedale Elyssian 4R floor stander.
Around the room were large number of other components from IAG’s considerable stable of brands, including a full Mission setup, some dinky Wharfedale Denton 1S, and a full Leak setup including the Trustream, and the Sandwich 100 stand mounts.
LUMIN
Lumin filled their room with an all-Lumin electronics stack: the X2 streamer as the source, the L2 handling library management and network switching duties, the N1 as a dedicated network switch, and the AMP stereo power amplifier running in bridged mono mode. Loudspeakers were the Marten Parker Quintet Diamond Edition floor standers.
WADAX / ENGSTROM / KROMA ATELIER
Room 0.94 was one of the big-ticket rooms of the show. The Kroma Callas loudspeakers were driven by Engström Lars Mono amplifiers (€62,000 each) and the Engström Monica preamplifier Digital source duties fell to the Wadax Studio Player, running via the Wadax Studio Clock and Wadax Studio Power Supply. On the analogue side, a Thales Reference Turntable with Thales Statement tonearm and DS-Audio Grand Master cartridge took care of vinyl. Cabling throughout was Argento Audio Flow Ultima across interconnect, speaker, power, and clock runs. The system sat on an Artesania Audio Video 3-Level Panzerholz stand.
AUDIOVECTOR
Audiovector were using a Brinkmann turntable as the analogue source, with a CH Precision I1 all-in-one handling streaming, DAC, phono, and integrated amplifier duties in a single chassis.
The speakers on show were the Audiovector R5 Arrete floor standers, making their debut at Vienna. These use an AMT tweeter, and Audiovector has opted to change their approach. Whereas they used to offer various tweeter options, they now just offer what they feel is the best option. Pricing is €20,000.
They also had a single R10 on display, as well as each of the finish options for the R5. It’s worth pointing out the really exceptional veneer and finish work that have gone into these units. The timber looks amazing, and the gloss really brings out all the details of the grain and markings.
LINN
Linn had a full Klimax-level system on demonstration, anchored by an LP12 fitted with a Bedrock plinth, Ekos SE arm, and Ekstatik cartridge. An external Klimax Radikal PSU and speed control drives the deck, and also powers the Urika 2 phono stage mounted internally within the LP12. The streaming and preamplifier role was
handled by the Klimax DSM, which incorporates Linn’s Organik DAC technology.
Power amplification came from a pair of Klimax Solo 800 monoblocks, rated at 400W class A/B into 8 ohms.
The loudspeakers were the 360 PwAB (Passive with Active Bass) which received brand new drive units for the show. These are also the first Linn speakers to feature the Pistonik motor control system in the drivers. Cabling throughout was from Transparent’s Reference range, and the system sat on HRS racking.
Stay tuned for the next report from HiFi PiG at High End Vienna 2026, coming soon!
Please note, all content and photos are the copyright of HiFi PiG Magazine/Big Pig Media LLP and must not be copied or reproduced in any way without the prior, written consent of the editor.
Linette and Stuart Smith
Oscar Stewart
Jon Lumb
Additional photography by Kelly Bowden
