Munich
The Munich Show is globally regarded as the foremost international audio event.
We demonstrated a Vox Series system every year between our Show debut in 2013 and 2019 (there was no Show in 2020 & 2021) and returned at the 2022 event with a smaller-scale demonstration highlighting our system-building and set-up abilities. The 2023 show saw the international debut of a completely new loudspeaker, the R80, a sophisticated 2-way combining the lyricism, coherence, and innate musicality of the OBX-RW4, with the scale, dynamic range, and visceral thrill of the Vox Series horns.
We think it’s fair to say that many industry commentators feel we have consistently not only redefined what’s achievable within the limitations of a hifi show, but perhaps set a standard for what’s possible from audio reproduction itself.
A collection of comments from the world’s audio press re our presence at Munich. Further acclaim, awards and comment may be found here.
The Living Voice R80 loudspeakers truly energized that large and beautiful space, yet still managed to sound light and airy and detailed at the same time. This was another room that was constantly packed throughout the show, and for good reason.
Mark Phillips Mark Phillips, PartTimeAudiophile, USA.
… so this is a pretty serious system but not the most expensive at the event by a long way, yet it provided highly engaging sounds as well as the broadest selection of music with everything from Shostakovich to Scientist dubbing Culture. The system proves that 9 Watts is all you need if the quality is high enough.
Jason Kennedy, The Ear, UK.
With a suite of SJS valve amplification running Takatsuki and Living Voice 300Bs, Kuzma XL AIR and Grand Prix Monaco 3.0 turntables – the latter of which in all its compactness and carbon fibre construction is a dream record deck for yours truly with a Viv Labs Rigid Float tonearm for the ultimate in energy preservation and visual understatement – a custom Consolidated step up transformer (a work of art in itself), all of it sitting on Living Voice’s own equipment stand and fed by the fabled bank of batteries that always gets taken to Munich… the sound was as dynamic and musically expressive as I ever experienced in this room. Utterly convincing.
Erik Van Spelde, HiFi Pig, UK.
Teamed here with the top-tier SJS electronics and the latest turntables from Kuzma and Grand Prix Audio, the sound was as bold and engaging as it was effortlessly involving. Kevin Scott’s range of distinctly non-audiophile discs kept things interesting and this room was permanently packed – probably not helped by the comfy bucket seating which, along with the astonishingly entertaining musical performance encouraged the audience to take root.
Roy Gregory, GY8, UK.
Paradoxically, truly great listening experiences are few and far between at hi-fi-shows.
Still, there are rooms I return to every year, safe in the knowledge I will find both great sound and great music. One such room is that of Kevin Scott of Definitive Audio and Living Voice, the English maker of ultra-expensive horn speakers and somewhat less expensive dynamic speakers.
Jan Omdahl, Tracking Angle, USA.
…for people looking for that elusive emotional connection with music and not just sound effects, these speakers will give you more than a taste of their vastly more expensive horn offerings.
Adrian Wu, USA.
In a way, the room was the opposite of every other at the show. There was no attempt to ‘out hi-fi’ other rooms. Rather than the focus being all about the sound, it was all about the music. This was a system to melt your heart because there was nothing getting in the way–sonically speaking–of that happening. Yet this wasn’t one of those systems where musicality comes at the expense of sonic performance. Rather, one got the feeling that all the music was there–and that nothing was missing from the sound, either.
Allen Taffel, The Absolute Sound, USA.
Living Voice was running the latest Auditorium OBX RW4 compact floor-standers. Those expecting to see (and hear) the Vox speakers were beguiled by sound that was both delightful and extremely engaging and, while the Kuzma R/Safir and Grand Prix Monaco/4Point14 front-ends (with CAR-60 and CAR-50 cartridges respectively) were obviously playing their part, don’t overlook the contribution of the SJS electronics.
Roy Gregory, Gy8, UK.
Possibly taking my crown as the most favourite among favourites was the room with Living Voice loudspeakers supported by SJS electronics and Kuzma and Grand Prix Audio analogue sources.
Edgar Kramer, SoundStage! Australia (10 Favourite Exhibits).
This is the kind of system that, once installed in your home, would deliver a lifetime of musical pleasure, leaving you to concentrate solely on exploring music.
Jonathan Gorse, Ultra Audio, USA.
But I do have to give Kevin of Living Voice his props–somehow he creates a sylvan and relaxing room that connects visual beauty with the superb sound his loudspeaker designs provide. This was a truly memorable room three years ago, and it was equally memorable in 2022.
Marc Phillips, Part-Time Audiophile, USA.
With Mari Samuelsen’s rendition of ‘Violin Concerto (Second Movement)’ by Philip Glass the system was heartbreaking, I ordered the vinyl there and then but getting it to sound this good at home will be a challenge.
Jason Kennedy, EnjoyTheMusic, USA.
When a system is ‘just right’ like this it’s difficult to tear yourself away, and the Living Voice system was a real treat to listen to. The scale of the music playing defied the relatively small size of the LV loudspeakers and the dynamics on offer were incredible.
Give me detail, dynamics and slam and you have me won over – Living Voice at Munich High End had me won over. Another of the top systems for me, despite this being at the more affordable end of Living Voice’s offerings.
Stuart Smith, HiFi Pig, UK.
Living Voice took a break from the magnificent horn systems it usually demonstrates to reveal the capabilities of the rather more approachable OBX-RW4 floorstanders. These sounded superb with Kuzma and Grand Prix Audio turntables allied to SJS tube amplification…
Jason Kennedy, The Ear, UK.
The sound of the show so far. In a change from the monster speakers Living Voice has traditionally exhibited, the relatively diminutive OBX-RW4 speakers (in gorgeous Santos wood finish) sounded big and sweet yet super-detailed. The clarity led to a realistic impression of in-the-room instruments and, my oh my, the transparency to the source was spectacular. There’s something quite special about the OBX-RW4 speaker when used with the other equipment on display in this room.
Edgar Kramer, SoundStage! Australia.
What can I say about the Living Voice that I didn’t say last year? It’s a system that is impossible to beat in dynamic range and expression… surely one of the greatest stereos in the world.
Jonathan Valin, The Absolute Sound, USA.
Let’s not beat around the bush. This is by far the most convincing and musically complete speaker system I’ve ever used. It has completely rearranged my notions of the limitations that apply to audio and how close we can come to the live event. ‘Product of the Year’ doesn’t do them justice: Product Of The Last Decade gets closer.
Roy Gregory, The Audio Beat, UK.
The dynamics, the tone, the… well what can I say, the realism is simply beyond what others can achieve. It is not just incrementally better hi-fi, it is monumentally more realistic in all ways I can think of.
Brad Morrical, Positive Feedback, USA.
Now, Kevin Scott of Living Voice is a master of mating different horns to make a truly integrated whole. In this category it’s a true winner – and way above competitors. Best male vocals I’ve heard from a horn system. Delicate upper mid and a seamless integration of the three upper horns, never – ever – heard better. The ease of presentation, the dynamics, the weightlessness of micro transients, I could go on. It takes years of fine-tuning to produce such a system.
Troels Gravesen, loudspeaker designer, Denmark.
Yes, this system is expensive, but I have owned and listened to equally expensive ones in my own home (also powered by vintage Kondo designs) and I can say with some assurance: this visually elegant system generates a type of dead-quiet, 0–60 in 3 seconds, totally musical, loves Igor Stravinsky and Wilhelm Furtwängler experience that exceeds the sum of its parts. It delivers the complete gestalt of horns and triodes high fidelity with no conspicuous compromise.
Herb Reichert, Stereophile, USA.
Living Voice’s room at the High End 2016 was without a doubt the best sounding room of the show. It had that rare combination of finesse, flow, scale & uniformity while feeling free of the confinement of a ‘box’ or discernible point of origin. It displayed a true full range representation of the music without all that nonsense of ‘punch’ and supernatural highs.
Alon Golan, HiFiMusic, Israel.
I found I had trouble convincing myself to leave the room on the several visits I made there. Absolutely wonderful presentation.
Consistency of presentation is difficult to achieve, especially from year to year but the combination of Origine source, Kondo amplification, and Living Voice horn loudspeakers seems to achieve it. I’d love to say effortlessly, but I think that the effort involved is reason they achieve such consistency.
Alan Sircom, HiFiPlus, UK.
It has always sounded magical in that room but this was really another, and totally unexpected, level. We were not the only ones to notice how good it was… we kept bumping into people we know around the show and it was always ‘have you heard Living Voice yet?’
Linette Smith, HiFiPig, UK.
Living Voice has been literally stockpiling raves, year in, year out in Munich. After congratulating Kevin for his mesmerizing room I walked out, gave it a second thought and walked back in for more.
Panagiotis Karavitis, Part-time Audiophile, USA.