Fourteen rooms. Across two venues. Featuring optical cartridge–based systems.

When HIGH END opens its doors in Vienna for the first time this year — June 4–7, 2026 at the Austria Center Vienna (ACV) and the adjacent Vienna Sound Fest at Tech Gate — visitors will encounter optical-cartridge playback on a scale never seen before at the show.

Across the two venues, fourteen exhibition rooms will feature optical-cartridge systems: thirteen built around DS Audio optical cartridges, and one — in the ZELLATON room — featuring Reed Acoustics’ own optical cartridge. From entry-level systems to seven-figure reference setups, from compact phono stages to flagship tube preamplifiers, the optical-cartridge category is now represented across virtually every tier and design philosophy of high-end analogue playback.

This breadth is no accident. Several of this year’s most significant phono-stage launches are purpose-built for, or fully compatible with, optical cartridges:

• Phasemation EA-1500 — Phasemation’s first phono equaliser with optical-cartridge support (Room 3.89/3.90).
• ENGSTRÖM M-OPTIC — A purpose-built optical-cartridge amplifier, the optical counterpart to M-PHONO (Room 0.94 and Vienna Sound Fest Multimedia Stage City).
• Aavik R-188 / R-288 / R-588 — Audio Group Denmark’s new x88 series, supporting MC and DS Audio optical cartridges (Hall X2, B02).
• ThivanLabs ULTIMATE 300 — A 300B SE tube preamplifier with built-in optical phono stage (Room 3.50).
• Wattson Audio Madison Phono — Debuting at Vienna Sound Fest (Tech Gate).

DS Audio cartridges in use across the show will span our full range — from DS003 to Grand Master Extreme — reflecting the category’s reach into every price point and listening philosophy.

At our own booth (Level 3, Room 3.64), we will present our latest products — the TB-50 tube phono equaliser and the SC-001 Sonic Cleaning Brush — in a static display.

Optical Cartridge Rooms at HIGH END Vienna 2026