Vienna against the clock
High End moved to Vienna this year — its first time outside Munich in decades — and we brought our largest presence at the show to date. The lorry set off from Sweden, aiming to reach Vienna by Tuesday morning, with the room needing to be ready when the show opened Thursday. The drive ran long, and they didn’t arrive until mid-afternoon — the rest of the team was already on-site, ready to start. What had been two days to build the room became just shy of a day and a half.
Twelve people worked through what was left of Tuesday and all of Wednesday. By Thursday morning, the room stood exactly as planned — Dexter in place, nothing rushed showing through, no trace of Tuesday left in it, thanks to our hardworking and efficient team.
The debut
That room held the world premiere of Dexter. Dexter Quintet and Dexter Duo ran as full live demonstrations, the first time either had been heard outside our own facility. Dexter Quartet and Dexter Trio stood alongside as static display — the first time all four had appeared together in public. Partway through the show, Dexter Quintet received the Dragon of the Exhibition award from Wojciech Pacuła of High Fidelity.
Goldmund supplied the electronics, TechDAS the source — running two listening sessions a day on their new Airforce 20 — and Innuos the digital playback. Jorma cabling ran the chain end to end, on Sea Sound Technology racks. None of it was there to impress on its own terms — it was there so Dexter could be heard properly, in a room built for exactly that.
The partner rooms
Beyond our own, the wider Marten range was in the hands of seven partners, running nine rooms between them.
Jorma throughout
Jorma cabling ran through five of the ten rooms in Vienna — from Parker Trio to Mingus Septet Statement Edition. Different tiers, same wiring underneath. Easy to miss next to the speakers, but unmistakable work in each system.
The dinner
Friday evening brought the largest distributor dinner we’ve hosted — fifty-six guests from across our network, in one room after two days on the floor. It’s the kind of evening that does work a booth can’t: the conversations that don’t happen over a demonstration, the relationships that carry the brand from one show to the next.
What stayed with us
Vienna asked more of us than most shows do — a new venue, a delayed build, a series making its first public appearance, all in the same week. What stayed with us wasn’t the scale, but the reaction on the floor. Distributors stood in front of the cabinets and asked when they could take stock. Jörgen, Leif and Martin fielded most of those conversations — the kind that only work with relationships built over years.