Hifi & Friends Summer Festival 2026 – our first major event on August 29

There are certain events you just spend ages eagerly counting down to.

The August 29, 2026 is one of those.

From 10:00 AM to 8:00 PM we invite you to our first major Hifi-&-Friends Summer Festival at Wilhelm-Kabus-Straße 77 in Berlin. The event is free, open to everyone, and features tons of tech to listen to, view, test out, and discuss. We’ll also be serving grilled food, leading tours of our studios, and we’re excited to see familiar faces again while getting to know many new ones.

For us, this day is more than just a grand opening event.

The name Hi-Fi & Friends perfectly captures how we envision events like this: not as a stuffy trade show, but as a gathering of fellow music and tech enthusiasts. We showcase the things that excite us, answer questions, test things out together, and ideally, we all just spend a genuinely great day with one another.

Six studios, many systems – all expressly designed for hands-on interaction

Our showroom was built specifically for days like these.

In our various listening and demo rooms, visitors can experience systems from a wide range of categories: Stereo, High End, Analog, Studio, Headphone and Home Cinema.

And the following explicitly applies: Please try it out.

We don’t want anyone to spend this day just standing in front of exhibits reading signs. Speakers will play, visitors can put on headphones, guests are welcome to touch the synthesizers, and projectors will show off everything they are capable of.

Two quite significant stereo highlights

Even though we repeatedly emphasize that great music playback doesn’t start at astronomical prices, exceptional high-end systems naturally can’t be missing on a day like this.

That's why we've planned not one, but two genuine highlights.

For one thing, the KEF Muon at a large Hegel Pre/Power Amplifier Combination, wired with AudioQuest components from the Mythical Creatures series. On the other hand, the powerful DALI KORE that they may showcase what they are capable of in our large listening room

This is exactly the kind of technology you don’t absolutely need to buy to find it fascinating.

Sometimes it’s just fun to hear what’s technically possible.

And it goes without saying that we will also be showcasing systems from far more affordable price classes on this day. Our core belief remains the same: a visit is well worth your time, regardless of your budget.

Analog is alive and well – Thorens is right on board with it.

Vinyl enthusiasts will also get their money's worth.

Thorens shows, among other things, the new TD 124 DD Exclusive with a specialized 12-inch tonearm and demonstrates what is currently possible in the analog space.

In our view, direct one-on-one consultation is especially valuable when it comes to turntables. The turntable chassis, tonearm, phono cartridge, and phono preamp form an integrated system – and small changes can make a surprisingly huge difference.

Studio, Synthesizer, and Genelec

Our studio area will also host a full slate of programming that day.

A large active monitor system is used with Genelec 8361. Various hardware synthesizers are available to try out, including Oberheim OB-X8, Oberheim TEO-5 and ASM Hydrasynth.

That makes this area likely one of the more dangerous locations of the day.

Because anyone who only wants to spend a 'quick minute' tweaking a synthesizer almost always ends up staying a while longer, as experience shows.

Headphones: the new Audeze MM-520

Our headphone studio will of course also be part of the program.

A special focus is placed on the new Audeze MM-520, which is targeted primarily at musicians, producers, and discerning listeners. Especially when mixing, a highly precise set of headphones will mercilessly reveal exactly what is going on in a recording – for better and for worse.

Of course, our full standard range of headphones is also available here for you to compare.

So anyone who wants to can simply listen to music, try out different concepts, or bring their own headphones.

Home Cinema: Dolby Atmos, Projectors and the Arcam Premiere

Our cinema studio will also be active all day long.

There, we are celebrating the premiere of the new Arcam AVA 15 and simultaneously demonstrate just how varied the performance of projectors, projection screens, and speaker setups can be.

One point is especially important to us: a very good home cinema does not automatically have to be unaffordable.

Our DALI Sonik 7.2.4 Dolby Atmos System is a great example of this. It shows what can already be achieved today in the reasonable price range.

Matrix Audio and new streaming solutions

Modern streaming technology also gets its own dedicated place.

Matrix Audio will personally present the latest streamer highlights and provide insights into the new devices.

Specifically with streamers, we repeatedly find that most questions only arise during direct conversations: operation, integration, apps, DACs, networking, or the question of whether a standalone streaming device is even worthwhile in the first place.

This is exactly what days like this are perfect for.

And how did all of this actually get started here?

Anyone who visits our showroom today will see our fully finished listening studios, our private cinema, and all our various demonstration spaces.

A few months ago, surprisingly little of this was still available.

That is why, during the event, we are showcasing a continuous Photo projection of the construction phase, from the nearly empty industrial loft to today's spaces.

For us, that will probably be one of the more emotional parts of the day.

At some point, you've got to eat, after all.

Technology is all well and good – sooner or later, you get hungry.

That's why we are turning over 14:00 o'clock and once again by 18:00 hrs turn on the grill.

Feel free to discuss speakers, music, films, amplifiers, or any other completely unrelated topics.

After all, that’s exactly what Hifi & Friends is for.

Familiar faces are explicitly welcome — new ones are just as much so

We are very much looking forward to reuniting with the people who have stood by us for many years.

But we are equally thrilled to connect with everyone who may have only known us from our online shop, YouTube, or Instagram up until now, or who hasn't encountered us at all yet.

You don't need to be a HiFi expert.

You don’t even have to want to buy anything.

Curiosity is more than enough.

Drop by, listen to music, check out our cinema, test out headphones and synthesizers, ask questions, or just have a coffee with us.

The most important data

Saturday, 29 August 2026
10:00 to 20:00
Hifi & Friends GmbH
77 Wilhelm-Kabus St.
10829 Berlin

Admission: free.

We are looking forward to a long day filled with music, technology, conversation, the smell of grilled food, and hopefully plenty of friends.

Welcome to the first Hifi & Friends Summer Festival.