HIGH END Munich
I had not been to HIGH END Munich before, so I was pretty unprepared for the aural onslaught that awaited me on my debut. As a guest of Meze Audio at the show (and others), my naïve idea was to interview Antonio with a microphone each and transcribe the resulting conversation. This was impossible; the background noise generally precluded such a cunning plan. As a result, I’m left with minimal notes but an impression of a very inspiring man.
Antonio Meze, of Romania, founder of Meze Audio in 2011, is a highly engaging person to meet. Eye contact characterised our conversation by showing drive and engagement for our brief 20 minutes.
I mention Romania as I was involved, as an early teenager, with my school in a UN youth gathering where we represented Romania at this summit. We met the Ambassador to the UK, who helped to form our opinions of his country, which was at the time ruled by Communist dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu. As such, I have taken a more than passing interest in the country. The arrival of Meze Audio in my sphere has been a source of joy not only for my formative experiences but also because of their design and continuing acoustic excellence.
Innovation
Having established my Romanian affiliations, I went straight into Antonio’s thoughts on innovation, both in terms of brand and product. Antonio was very clear in his thinking, citing being curious and constantly learning to innovate. He noted that he is seeking to expand this innovation within his team of designers and engineers, a few of whom we were introduced to and were equally impressive. Vlad Toca and Alexandru Grigoras were on hand after the interview to take me through Meze Audio’s future plans, to which I am sworn to secrecy. It isn’t often you sign an NDA before meeting a brand founder; the NDA was there to show us the latest products on the test bed with Meze Audio that will be released in the coming period. You’ll be needing to watch this space for this if you love Meze Audio.
I did ask Antonio about a possible Bluetooth headphone in the future, which is heretical given Meze’s focus on perfection at their individual price points. The response was a rather vague ‘Maybe in the future’, perhaps I did ask the wrong question, and the question affronted Antonio. However, given how few, if any, passengers on the Lufthansa flight to Munich had wired headphones (I had a pair of wired ADVAR in-ear monitors), it does seem to be a rather significant question. That ‘maybe in the future’ may hint at a required step change in Bluetooth technology required to handle the data required to offer that more textured delivery that is a function of wired audio.
Music
One question I always ask designers and audio engineers is what music they are listening to as they tune their latest creations. Antonio was somewhat vague on this matter, and the fact that I wrote nothing down reveals the same.
However, moving on to what we mutually relaxed to, Antonio directed me to Haruomi Hosono by tapping and showing his mobile. As a longstanding Haruki Murakami reader, I was slightly taken aback, trying to compute the similarity I saw. Nonetheless, subsequent listening reveals depth and a whimsical artist with thought and intrigue. Enquiring further as to how Antonio listens to Hosono and others when he relaxes it emerged, he has a pair of Kii (seven I think?) loudspeakers, one of the stellar highlights for me of Ascot 2023 with their forward-leaning cardioid dispersal profile.
The Future
My lingering thoughts after our time together were to be curious and learn, and I certainly understand this. I had a feeling that Meze Audio’s future is in really good hands as he passes on his responsibility to the next generation. There is no handing on the baton as yet, which is good news for us all; it is just an understanding that the company can grow with the personnel and the passion it retains.
The future was on display at HIGH END Munich with the debut of the new 105 SILVA, designed to share the space and warmth of 105 AER, whilst including the technical insights gained from the peerless 109 PRO. The extremely nice self-adjusting spring steel headband found in the AER is in evidence with the SILVA.
The 105 SILVA was indeed a delight with a rounded and full midrange, notably on offer in the brief period I was able to sit with them. I noted a significant bias towards LTA headphone amplifiers in the room, which has piqued my interest, as well as the imperious dCS Lina next to me.
While I’m here, I should pass on special thanks to marketing dude Alexandru Balazsi, who was so passionate about their new products, notably the new 105 SILVA. I might still be in Munich if it were up to him!
