High End 2018 • TABlog

by Dennis Davis | May 18, 2018

s any audio enthusiast in the US, London, Singapore or Shanghai knows, CanJam has become a fixture on the rapidly expanding headphone scene. Started several years ago at Denver’s Rocky Mountain Audio Fest and cities around the US by Jude Mansilla and community members from Head-Fi.org, and then organized as a separate entity for worldwide shows, CanJam became a hit among headphone enthusiasts. It became a gathering place for industry leaders and manufacturers, and a place for new manufacturers to put their products in front of knowledgeable fans who could supply valuable feedback. Head-Fi later expanded, holding CanJam shows outside the US, beginning with London in 2015, then adding Singapore and Shanghai in the years since.

Naturally, when I received an invitation to attend a CanJam in Munich, across the street from the High End show, I assumed this was a continuation of that tradition. However, it quickly became clear that something was not quite what I expected. First, I noticed that the signage bore similar messages but a different logo than Head-Fi’s CanJam. More important, when I entered the show space, it was more like a morgue than a CanJam -- and this was on Saturday, traditionally the big day for consumer traffic at the High End show.

And it wasn’t just the traffic -- it was the folks manning the show booths and tables. I’ve been to plenty of CanJam events and know the players in the headphone industry, and they weren’t the ones manning the tables in Munich. After making an inquiry, I learned that local dealers ran most of the tables. I have no idea whether the folks who hold themselves out as CanJam Europe, a name I only discovered by checking the website, have any legal right to use the name, but even if they do, they lack any sense of imagination, and it looks like they are trying to borrow a name made familiar and valuable by others.

The bottom line is that their “show” was a waste of time, and I left after a very short time. There were headphone manufacturers at the High End show -- at the real show in the convention center. I guess they got the memo to stay away from what was happening across the street.