High End Vienna 2026 Report Part Four – Floor 3
OSCAR AND KELLY CHECK OUT THE TOP FLOOR OF HIGH END VIENNA 2026
Oscar and Kelly head to the top floor of the ACV for Floor 3 of the High End Vienna 2026 show.
With such a huge venue to cover, we sent Oscar and Kelly up to the top of the show to snoofle out the hottest HiFi for part four of our High End Vienna 2026 coverage.
You can read our High End Vienna 2026 Report Part One here, Part Two here and Part Three here.
ARCAM
Arcam had their CD25 running into an A50 signature, they also had an ST25 streamer in the system, and were running into R45 speakers. Controlled, good clarity and depth, overall, a lovely sounding system. Arcam are celebrating their 50th Anniversary with a great range of re-tuned products, tuned by Arcam co-founder John Dawson, with the same modern aesthetic.
JBL
New Summit Everest speakers were on demo, paired with Mark Levinson 631 power amps, 626 pre-amp, and 519 streamer. These speakers use an interesting triple compression driver for the highs. Huge scale, backed up with bass depth, clarity and control. JBL also had their history in speakers on static display outside the room.
CLEARAUDIO
Loads of turntables on display in this area (including a cool Rammstein collaboration), alongside accessories, and record cleaners.
AUDIOQUEST
Audioquest had a pair of Sonus Faber Sonetto V G2 for their main demo system, paired with a Musical Fidelity M6x DAC and M6xi integrated amp. They were using this to demo with new Lone Ranger and Big Foot cables. The main attraction for many, though, was the new DragonFly Copper dongle DAC – the latest in their range of dongle DACs, now the most powerful and most efficient in their lineup.
TONEAUDIO
Toneaudio are the sister brand of Pro-Ject, with a range of more lifestyle looking products.
AUSTRIAN AUDIO
More Austrian Audio headphones here.
CONSTELLATION AUDIO
New statement power amps running into Wilson Sasha V speakers, full DCS Vivaldi stack, E.A.T. Fortissimo turntable, and Constellation Altair II pre-amp. They were using Transparent reference cabling, and this system had good control with plenty of clarity. We spotted a wild Rick Rubin enjoying this system, and I couldn’t miss this opportunity to grab a selfie and hand him his own little HiFi PiG!
PHASEMATION
Phasemation had quite a few of their models on display, along with their main demo system which included the SA-1500 integrated, Aura Linear Classics LCP1 and LCC1, Phasemation CM-2200 passive attenuator, EA-1500 phono stage, PP-2200 MC cartridge, Yuki AP-01 turntable, and Wolf von Langa Ultima speakers.
JOSEPH AUDIO / SOTM / DOSHI
Joseph Audio had their Pulsar2 Graphene speakers on demo, paired with Doshi and SOtM kit, with Cardas cabling. Lovely sounding speakers, a great match with the excellent Doshi amp/pre-amp, great layering and depth from such small standmounts.
TRIODE JAPAN
Junone 845SE amp playing with Atlantis Lab AT 23 Pro speakers, big sounding speakers for their size, lots of bass depth with a natural midrange and clear highs.
ARETAI / HARTLABS
Aretai had their Contra 200F speakers playing in here with an Aurender streamer into a Hartlabs Tune Three dual mono power amplifier and Tune Two preamplifier combo, with a Revox reel-to-reel player and – superb sounding system with a solid bass foundation that never stepped out of line, the midrange is superb allowing each instrument to have air and space, and the treble comes across detailed and controlled without sounding sharp. We got to hear Ratchet at a decent volume, and the whole room was moving, I mean this is true trouser flapping bass – impressive stuff from these speakers (I could feel the hairs on my head moving). Nice to see new British HiFi rack brand MW Stands in here too. Cables were by Athenamuse.
MP&S
MP&S Klangwelten – electrostatic panels with subwoofers, delicacy meets impressive sub-bass, a great sounding system if you enjoy more delicate music (which they were playing in this room). They were running off a Primare Pre 35 amplifier and Ayon CD-1 player.
THALES
Thales Reference turntable with Xquisite cartridge, alongside a Thales Elegance turntable with Voro cartridge, running into a Thales Magnifier phonostage, paired with a Stellavox Diadem amplifier, running into Manger P2 speakers. These are detailed speakers, especially the midrange, great with the female vocal track that was playing.
BOULDER / YG ACOUSTICS
YG speakers tend to sound great, especially when partnered with Boulder electronics, they seem to work very well together, creating a crisp, yet big sound that has effortless extension on both ends. They don’t seem to miss a thing, and create a very accurate stereo image, the model on demo was the Hailey 3, paired with Boulder 851 mono amps, 808 phonostage, 812 DAC/pre-amp, and Clearaudio turntable.
WOD AUDIO
New Toscana speakers by Rosso Fiorentino, Kubala Sonsa Ovation cabling, Bergmann Modi / Thor, iFi Zen Phono 3, Ypsilon Phaethon Neo amp, iFi iDSD Phantom, Silent Power Silent LAN. Really lovely sounding system, with impressive bass from such a slim floorstander, with a downfiring woofer.
Next to this room, they had another room with static displays of more products they distribute.
LEHMANN
Lehmann had a few of their models on display, along with their headphone amps on demo with the Grell OAE2.
GRELL
Grell had quite a few pairs of their OAE2 headphones on demo, they are a lovely family run company and I did enjoy the Grell OAE2 when I reviewed them.
NORDYX
Nordyx had a static display of a few SV audio and Starke models in the hallway, along with a demo room switching between Final Model 7+ Hybrid speakers, and the SV Audio Gro, paired with Bryston kit, LAiV DAC, and Starke subwoofer. The Final electrostats were in the system when we visited, and they sounded very open and natural.
DS AUDIO
DS had a static display in their room, with the new valve phono stage making its debut.
GRELL
Grell had a little dedicated listening room too, and there were multiple pairs of headphones and a few different sources in here too.
T&W
Big speakers from T&W who use ortophase drivers in a line-array, Sound Warlock electronics, McIntosh MSA5500 streaming amp, Norma CD player, Acoustic Signature Turntable. No crossover, no phase issues, easy to drive, Ortophase diaphragm – impressively natural sound from this dipole design, with a deep soundstage.
CYRUS / NEAT ACOUSTICS
The new Cyrus 80 Amp was running into the brand-new Neat Acoustics Vito Classic speakers – and what a great setup this was. The Cyrus sounds fantastic and easily drives these speakers, which sound excellent with a wide soundstage and that signature superb bass response from Neat. These dig deep when called for, yet the mids and highs retain crisp clarity and excellent separation. A lovely speaker, and a great amp.
ACORA / ACOUSTIC RESEARCH
Acora SRC5.2D, Acoustic Research Reference 80X, Reference 20 pre-amp, Aurender N50 streamer, and Lampizator Horizon DAC. Big, yet controlled sound in this room.
MAVIS / THIVAN LABS
Vietnamese sister brands Mavis and Thivan Labs had the Mavis P200 mono-blocks driving Grandhorn Gamma speakers, with a Mavis MMS-1 streaming pre-amp. They also had a selection of Thivan Labs kit in the rack, that weren’t playing when we were in the room. Another rather organic sounding system, horns and valves, smooth and sweet with good depth too. They were using a J.Sikora Initial turntable as the analogue source.
VAC / ACORA
Another room with Acora speakers, this time powered by VAC electronics, an Aurender streamer, and Lampizator Horizon DAC. This room sounded fantastic, they played Toccata by Marcin and it was brilliant, the speakers throwing out a huge soundstage whilst effortlessly delivering deep bass and handling dynamic shifts with utter ease. A hugely impressive sound, and one of the highlights so far.
These two companies also had another room, mostly with displays of their kit, alongside a couple of smaller demo systems with standmount speakers.
STENHEIM / THIELE
Thiele IWD 01 dual motor idler wheel turntable running into Stenheim Alumine Five speakers with subs, using MasterFidelity electronics, including the NADAC C, NADAC D, NADAC S, and Westend amp. Controlled as always with Stenheim, beautiful detail retrieval, and excellent separation – with no issues in terms of bass depth. Thiele were also showcasing their brand-new dual-motor idler drive turntable in here, something you don’t see many brands doing anymore – cool!
VOXATIV
Voxativ had their larger Elektra system on demo in this room, alongside their Alberich 2 and Aries. They played some Rammstein through the Elektra and it was superb, Till Lindemanns vocals cutting through with grit and clarity, heavy hitting bass, and sharp transients. This was a brilliant room and track to end on, topping off an excellent day at the show. Voxativ make some interesting kit, and it works very well together on multiple genres, I am glad to see some brands pushing their kit a bit more than others – what a blast.
Stay tuned for the next part of our coverage, coming soon!
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Oscar Stewart
Additional photography by Kelly Bowden
