29 November 2025 | Photo: Sophie Wanninger
SPIN creates an installation-like setting where architecture and audio merge
Munich has a new destination for serious sound enthusiasts. SPIN, which opened its doors last week, is tucked into Theklastraße 1 in the city’s Glockenbachviertel district, directly beside the well-known club Goldener Reiter. The space is overseen by Felix Ruëff of Goldener Reiter, together with Jens Milkowski, known for his booking role at the club.
Inside, SPIN presents a warm, intimate environment shaped around the act of listening. A floor-to-ceiling vinyl wall with room for up to 2,000 records anchors the interior, while the bar serves artisanal sakes and a curated menu of drinks. Its central feature is a fully restored pair of JBL 4341 studio monitors, originally released in 1975. Ruëff and Milkowski sourced the vintage speakers last year and rebuilt them specifically for SPIN. As they shared on Instagram: “At the heart of our HiFi setup sits a restored pair of JBL 4341 studio monitors. Built in California, USA in 1975. We were lucky to source them last year and brought them back to life.”
SPIN draws direct inspiration from Japan’s traditional Jazz Kissas, the jazz cafés that emerged in the 1950s and 60s and shaped an environment where listening became a spatial and aesthetic experience. These rooms functioned almost like intimate installations: meticulously arranged speaker systems, carefully calibrated lighting and walls of vinyl created spaces in which sound, atmosphere and design operated as one. By referencing this lineage, SPIN positions itself within a culture that treats the listening room as a form of visual and spatial expression, where the experience of hearing music is inseparable from the architecture around it.
SPIN is currently open from Thursday to Sunday, with plans to expand to Wednesday evenings next year. All guests at the bar are invited to continue their evening at the club on Fridays and Saturdays, with entry offered free of charge.
