I was at Vienna High End 2026 and this are my Favorite Devices part 1 - Musical Fidelity, Ortofon, Advance Paris, Gustard

I never made it to High End in Munich, but here I am in Vienna in 2026, right at the epicenter of everything hi-fi.

High End — formerly anchored in Munich for decades — relocated to Vienna's Austria Center for 2026. The move was scrutinized before a single speaker played a note. It didn't need to be. The first Viennese edition landed well: rooms were busy, product pipelines were stronger than expected, and manufacturers showed up with hardware that suggests high-end audio may be catching genuine tailwinds again after a difficult few years.

From a $3.8 million speaker system on one end of the spectrum to a $250 USB dongle DAC on the other, the show covered every conceivable tier of audiophile ambition. Anniversaries dominated the narrative — B&W at 60, JBL at 80, Arcam at 50 — but the most exciting stories weren't the commemorative editions. They were the genuinely new technologies: Wi-Fi planar magnetics, quad-tube portable players, and the most ambitious headphone driver yet built in Romania.

This won't be a comprehensive report of everything I saw — there was simply too much for that. Instead, this is a rundown of the ten devices and companies that surprised me the most, and that I'd most love the chance to review one day.

I'm also not going to focus on the multi-million-dollar speaker systems, even though I did get to hear some of them. I'm sure there will be a hundred YouTube videos about hearing billion-dollar speakers at High End Vienna already. Instead, I want to focus on gear that's something you might realistically own at home, or that impressed me on a technical level.

Active Speakers

One of the biggest hidden winners of Vienna, to me, was active speakers — something I've been rooting for for a while now. The big problem with active speakers in the past was that if you wanted a genuinely good pair, you had to pay a premium. Now, more and more of them are arriving at lower prices without sacrificing quality.

Yamaha, Cambridge Audio, Fyne Audio, Jamo, and Ruark all had active speakers on show. My absolute favorites were the following.

Fyne has historically been a serious (and expensive) hi-fi brand. The Cubitt 5 lowers the entry point dramatically while keeping the brand's defining IsoFlare point-source technology. At €649.99/pair, it's one of the more accessible ways to get genuine Fyne engineering DNA, and it slots Fyne into the active-wireless lifestyle market for the first time. It looks great, and the price is right.

The same goes for Cambridge Audio, who showed a three-piece active speaker lineup. Shared across all three: six finishes — Blue, Green, Orange, Black, White, and Real Walnut veneer — with Cambridge's signature "floating" base design.

The pitch is clear: Cambridge is committing loudly and publicly to the design-led, lifestyle-friendly, music-first active-speaker space that KEF has long dominated. Bold, stylish finishes, serious power, and StreamMagic streaming — aimed squarely at the LSX II, LS50 Wireless II, and similar competitors. The S is desk-focused and stripped down, while the M and X are full hi-fi systems with TV and turntable integration built in. They look amazing, and there's a wide range of colors and sizes to choose from.

And something brand new for Vienna: Yamaha's first new wireless active speaker in roughly a decade, launched at Vienna 2026. It's a fully active two-way bookshelf design (each speaker has dedicated per-driver amplification) aimed squarely at the KEF LS50 Wireless II, Cambridge L/R X, DALI, and Klipsch active-wireless crowd. They also come with premium DSP technology and a sound correction system. These speakers looked and sounded amazing — very mature for a first effort in a decade.

A CD Renaissance

I was also shocked by how many brands presented new CD players — Technics, Gustard, Arcam, Eversolo, FiiO, Fosi, and many others. It shows we're truly living through a CD renaissance. Some of these players are so good that I can't wait to see more of them, and they're genuinely pushing forward a market that had been stagnating.

Best and Worst of the Booths

I want to touch on a few of my personal frustrations here — things that probably won't concern you, and that you likely won't run into in the same way. But I think it's worth highlighting some of the good and the bad from my time at the show.

At many booths, in the listening rooms, press were given the chance to demo and listen to new devices — but with so much ground to cover and so many outlets requesting time, some products were simply hard to get to. For anything I didn't get a chance to see or hear in person, I decided not to include it in this report rather than write about it secondhand. The Fosi V4 and V5 fell into that category — every time I tried, a listening session for another outlet was already underway. This wasn't unique to Fosi; a handful of brands had the same scheduling crunch over the two days.

On the other hand, the presenters and hosts at some brand booths were fantastic — JBL, Arcam, ELAC, Advance Paris, and Gustard among them. I had a genuinely great time talking with them about hardware, software, internal architecture, ideas, and the future of these brands.

Not every interaction was as warm. At one of the larger booths, the person I approached seemed reluctant to engage at all — even with a simple question about their new devices, the answers stayed brief and the tone guarded, even after I explained the context of the report. It was a strange moment, and a notable contrast to what came next.

I have to give high praise to ELAC and Lars Baumann here. I'm a huge hi-fi nerd, and standing in ELAC's 100-year anniversary showroom was a transcendent experience. Surrounded by all that legendary gear, I spent a good ten to fifteen minutes just talking about ELAC's history and future with Lars. He was incredibly accommodating and genuinely wanted to share his knowledge and expertise with me. I felt completely welcomed, and walked away from that conversation feeling like I'd learned something. ELAC's 100-year booth was amazing, and if you get the chance to see it anywhere else, please do. I'll talk about ELAC a bit more later in this coverage.

Now let's talk about my favorite things from Vienna 2026.

Musical Fidelity

You all know I'm a huge Musical Fidelity fan, and something I've talked about on this channel for a long time is that the M3si and M5si were seriously overdue for an upgrade — it's been a decade since they were released.

And there it is — the M2xi, M3xi, M5xi, and M6xi: a whole revamped lineup of these devices. The gods of hi-fi were listening. For this new generation, they've added USB connections and HDMI eARC, Bluetooth, and — more importantly — bumped up the already impressive output, including 190W into 8 ohms for the M5xi, plus a dual-mono configuration for the M6xi. If pricing stays reasonable, similar to what their predecessors cost, we'll have a new generation of best-in-class amplifiers. Hopefully we'll also see a better DAC and improved phono stages.

The spec sheet is still a bit blurry, so I don't have the full picture yet, but I have huge hopes for these devices. The previous amplifiers were amazing in terms of transparency, delivering a very muscular sound that wasn't warm so much as dancing right on the edge of neutrality, tilted slightly toward the bass.

At Vienna 2026, the brand's headline narrative was clear and unusual: a serious, multi-tier commitment to CD as a format. While most of the industry treats optical disc as either dead or a single-product token gesture, Musical Fidelity arrived with CD players at multiple price points — from the entry B1 series companion to the flagship M8x and the tube-output A1 CD T. This is one of the strongest CD statements made by any brand at the show, alongside Arcam's CD25 announcement. The trend is real.

The Vienna display combined three distinct categories of news: new finishes for existing products (chrome variants), early samples of upcoming launches (the M8x CD and A1 CD T), and a confirmed new product (the M3x TT turntable, filling out the vinyl range).

Musical Fidelity didn't make Vienna 2026 about a single hero product — it made it about platform completeness. The B1 series gets its matching CD player. The M3 lineup gets its turntable. The M8 series gets a flagship CD spinner to match the existing M8x DAC. And the A1 reissue family gets the most distinctive product of the lot in the tube-output, top-loading A1 CD T. Heinz Lichtenegger's strategy since the 2018 acquisition has been consistent: complete every tier, restore the classic designs, push the flagships harder. Vienna was a clean execution of that strategy across the full range. The CD commitment in particular is rare and welcome — and worth watching closely as the format's high-end revival builds momentum through 2026 and into 2027.

On top of all that, the value, the output, and the looks were all impressive across the board.

Advance Paris

Advance Paris is slowly becoming one of my favorite brands in the modern landscape. I love the idea of pairing a solid-state amp with a tube preamp to drive the sound. The Apex lineup is absolutely breathtaking in terms of design language and build quality.

The A10 is seriously good gear — I'm now saving up to buy and review it. Great design, an impressive amount of power output, and versatile connectivity. Just great, all around. So my big recommendation is the A10, or the A12, which is more expensive and comes in a dual-mono configuration.

There's also their flagship Nova amplifiers, which I haven't tried yet but which seem amazing in many respects. This was their main showcase — they have a quad-DAC setup built into the amps, which is crazy. They also demonstrated that the unit is upgradable with a complete Advance Paris streamer module that fits inside the chassis, which is again amazing. And every device has a custom-built EQ. Even though they have a slightly vintage look, everything about the Apex and Nova lines feels very futuristic and forward-thinking.

At Vienna 2026, Advance Paris presented the NOVA range — a five-product modular ecosystem positioned at the top of the lineup, above the long-running Classic and APEX series. The strategic message is clear: NOVA is not a single product launch but the foundation of an evolving audio platform that will expand over time. Streaming and Bluetooth are explicitly modular add-ons rather than built-in features — an unusual decision in 2026, but a deliberate one. Buy the amplifier; add the connectivity only when you want it.

Overall, Advance Paris is making a specific bet at Vienna: that the future of high-end integrated amplifiers is modular, not all-in-one. Buy the amp; add streaming when you want it; add Bluetooth when you want headphone listening; add the rotary remote if you want tactile control. The hybrid tube-preamp design with visible glow is the brand's visual signature, and the dual-mono architecture in the A-i190 is genuine engineering rather than a cosmetic upgrade over the A-i130. The optional-streaming decision will divide opinion — most competitors at this price bake it in — but it does mean the amplifier itself can be evaluated on its own analogue merits without paying for a streaming module the buyer may not need.

Ortofon

Ortofon presented two major phono cartridges: the MC X50 and the MC Vertex. The Vertex is a super-high-end cartridge — great in every respect, and priced at €15,000.

The MC Vertex was unveiled at a well-attended press conference on the first day of the show. Ortofon's positioning was unmistakable: this is not a $5,000 cartridge that's been incrementally refined into a $7,000 cartridge. This is a fundamental architectural advance designed to redefine what's technically possible at the absolute top of the moving coil category. The solid diamond cantilever alone is among the most unusual construction choices in any cartridge currently on sale. Combined with the SLM titanium body, platinum damping, and the new Vertex stylus geometry, this is genuinely state-of-the-art cartridge design.

But what I liked most was the continuation of the new X Series with the MC X50 — a cartridge I recently reviewed.

The MC X50 is arguably the more strategically important of the two Vienna launches. The MC Vertex makes a statement at the top of the market for an audience of perhaps a few hundred customers globally. The MC X50 brings Ortofon's current engineering focus — low moving mass, stable tracking, controlled resonance, precise signal generation — to a cartridge that thousands of serious vinyl listeners can realistically consider. At €1,499, it's a meaningfully more capable cartridge than the MC X40 it sits above, and it slots into the much-praised MC X Series lineage that has consistently earned strong reviews and awards.

Ortofon's dual-launch strategy at Vienna 2026 mirrors a pattern visible across multiple categories at the show: a simultaneous push at the absolute top of the market (statement products to define the brand's engineering ceiling) and at the practical mid-tier (real products for real customers). B&W did this with the 800 D5 series flagship at £43,000 alongside the more attainable 805 D5 at £10,000. ELAC did it with the Concentro L 809 at €33,000 alongside the BS 100 at €999. Ortofon did it with the MC Vertex at $17,000 alongside the MC X50 at €1,499.

The cartridge market is in an unusually competitive moment right now. Audio-Technica's AT-MCD1 at $11,000 represents a renewed Japanese push at the high end. Sumiko's Oriole has expanded options at lower price points. Hana cartridges continue to dominate the value end. Ortofon's response — going significantly higher than Audio-Technica with the Vertex while reinforcing the mid-tier with the MC X50 — is the right strategic move at the right moment.

The technical content of the MC Vertex itself is the substantive story, though: solid diamond cantilever, SLM titanium body, platinum-disc damping, a new Vertex stylus profile, and a mechanical joint rather than a glued bond between stylus and cantilever. This is genuine engineering advancement, not just price escalation.

Gustard

The team at the Gustard stand told me about their new CD player, designed to sit alongside the X26, R26, and similar devices — the CD26. It's a CD transport rather than a full player, but if you're already in the Gustard ecosystem, that's not much of a drawback. The two new 2026 products are explicitly designed to work together — matching 10 MHz inputs allow both to be slaved to the same external master clock for synchronized digital timing. This positions Gustard as a complete digital system supplier rather than just a DAC manufacturer. I couldn't test or try it there, but beyond the great specs, it should be an interesting product.

I know plenty of YouTubers have already reviewed this, but I haven't, and who knows if I ever will: the R30 R2R DAC with streamer is just crazy good. I mentioned it in my coverage of the Shenzhen audio show, but having such a mature R2R DAC with great streaming and a linear power supply is an absolute end-game DAC — a flagship 32-bit pure R2R DAC plus streamer.

They also showed a refresh of their R26 DAC. The R26 II is not a marginal refresh — it's a comprehensive upgrade that inherits the decoding module from Gustard's flagship R30 R2R DAC, along with significant improvements across networking, Bluetooth, tuning, and power supply.

The R26 II is Gustard's most strategically important product of 2026 because it democratizes flagship R30 R2R technology at roughly one-third the price of the R30 itself. For audiophiles who want the organic, analog character of true resistor-ladder conversion — without the chip-based delta-sigma sound — the R26 II is now the obvious entry point. Same price as the original R26, significantly more performance.

Gustard's Vienna 2026 wasn't about new product reveals — most of the news (R26 II, CD26) had landed in the months leading up to the show. The Vienna presence was about visibility, partnerships, and ecosystem maturity. Sharing a booth with CelAudio and Audalytic showed coordination across the wider Chinese desktop audio scene; bringing the complete lineup from entry to flagship demonstrated breadth; and the R26 II in particular delivered the kind of generational refresh that proves a brand is still innovating, not just iterating. The headline takeaway: if you're shopping for serious desktop digital audio in 2026 and you're not at least cross-referencing Gustard, you're not doing the homework. The R26 II at $1,649, with R30-derived decoding architecture, is one of the strongest value propositions in the high-end desktop category, period. For part 2 click on the link below:

https://www.hifidaydreaming.com/post/i-was-at-vienna-high-end-2026-and-this-are-my-favorite-devices-part-2-eversolo-luxsin-arcam-vol