The weekend of the HIGH END show—this year, June 5th-7th—is one of the biggest annual events in the audio industry. Tens of thousands of visitors descend on the host city for the largest trade show in the industry, boasting thousands of brands and hundreds of exhibits. After a two decade stint in Munich, HIGH END headed to Vienna for the first time, and Ray Tubes followed.
It's a fitting choice. As the capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Vienna was one of the most important cities in the development of Western music. Mozart and Beethoven both lived, worked, and died in Vienna, and you'd be hard-pressed to find a German-language composer who didn't spend at least part of their career in the city. (And lest we imply that Vienna's musical legacy is limited to classical music, who could forget the immortal Falco?)
All of which to say—we were utterly delighted to be part of the festivities this year. Ray Tubes had a table at the Arcotel Kaiserwasser for HiFi Deluxe, and though the RESERVE 300B and RESERVE 6SN7 took pride of place, we showcased almost our entire lineup of vacuum tubes. It was one of the most comprehensive introductions to our products so far, and if you were one of the many people drawn in by the incredible GM100 tube lamp, we hope you came away with an appreciation for who we are and what we do!
That lamp was the brainchild of Marco at music2, our Dutch distributor, who spearheaded our participation in Vienna. We're grateful to him for making it all happen! (In case you're wondering: the GM100 is a Soviet-made tube that weighs over four pounds, which should tell you something about its raw power.) In the room with him were Gary and Damon of loudspeaker brand von Schweikert, fresh off an Absolute Sound Product of the Year Award for their VR.30 loudspeaker. As always, it's an honor and a privilege to share the stage with such well-respected brands.
We'll be back for next year's HIGH END weekend. Until then, if your interest's been piqued (and why wouldn't it?), check out our retailer page to find an authorized Ray Tubes dealer in your region.
