May has long been one of my favorite months of the year, mostly because it means it’s time for the Munich show, the annual gathering of the high-end audio tribe in the Bavarian capital. High End Munich 2023 marked my return to the biggest audio show in the Western world following three years of lockdowns and travel restrictions, so I was eager to get back to the land of Wiener schnitzel and bratwurst.
This year, as an added bonus, I was invited to visit the production facilities of turntable and tonearm manufacturer Acoustic Signature, which is based about 110 miles west of Munich, near Stuttgart.
Acoustic Signature factory visit
One day prior to High End Munich’s opening, I traveled with a group of dealers, distributors, and fellow hi-fi scribblers west by motor coach from Munich. With perfect weather replacing the previous day’s rain, we drove for a couple of hours past rolling hills and fields of bright yellow rapeseed flowers until we arrived in the small town of Süssen, home of Acoustic Signature turntables. Nestled in the Fils River valley about 30 miles west of Stuttgart, Süssen manages to blend light industry and housing without the type of zoning restrictions we often see in the US, which tend to sequester small factories in dingy industrial corners. Here, residential neighborhoods surround the factory; somehow it manages to work together beautifully.
Our hosts were Acoustic Signature sales director Robert Hagermann and company CEO
