Munich 2016

You mean Brinkmann of Brinkmann turntable fame? Yup (they actually made their first DAC back in 1986, the Zenith). The brandy new Nyquist DAC (€12,000), which is RoonReady and MQA-enabled, currently processes PCM resolutions to 32-bit/384kHz and DSD128 but since the Nyquist is modular in design, future upgrades can be done in the field with a simple hardware/software swap. Inside resides a hybrid circuit topology employing tubes in the output stage, leveraging their "instantaneous response to voltage changes."

Inputs include USB, S/PDIF, AES, and Ethernet while outputs include Balanced, Single-ended and Headphone. Brinkmann has loaded up Nyquist with custom filters "tailored for every digital format."

The system in use included the Brinkmann Marconi preamp, Vandersteen M7-HPA amps and 5A Carbon speakers. Here's what John Atkinson of Stereophile had to say about the Vandersteen pair in his review, "All I can say is that I greatly enjoyed my three months with Vandersteen's flagship system. The combination of true full-range sound, superb transparency and soundstaging, and a magically palpable way with recorded voices, is hard to beat unless you spend a lot more money."

I've never heard a system with Vandersteen speakers sound anything but good to great and Munich 2016 was certainly no exception.