Very well put Tony and I totally agree, the bake offs I have been to also produce the same results and its not surprising that its the old school equipment is what produces the Jaw dropping moments at these events.The thing I love about this show is it proves beyond all doubt that there is still a whole world of proper old-school enthusiast audio buyers / builders / tweakers etc out there. The mainstream market may only be interested in selling cheesy little lifestyle boxes, soundbars iPod docks etc these days, but a lot of folk clearly want a lot more - it may be a 'niche market', but it very much exists and it is wonderfully self-sufficient / self-sustaining too.
The most amusing room for me was the Naim 32.5 / HiCap / 250 blind-test vs. the Yamaha AS500. That was great fun, and yes, I picked the AS500 as better. Twice. As did another ex-32.5/Hicap/250 owning friend. Ok it was through a nice easy to drive pair of Quad 11Ls, but you'd be amazed by how close they sounded!
I think that what we are seeing is the hobby returning to its roots...the overblown, overpriced world of 'high-end' audio has largely alienated its own client base. It has lurched off in pursuit of wealthy people, mainly in Asia, who see audio as 'status.'
The rest of us are returning to the traditional world of diy, vintage and simply weird components. The hobby is now split into those polarised groups. Those in the middle will probably drift off into audio as commodity..a source of easy, effortless, music on demand.
Scalford is simply where the divide becomes most visible. That divide will accelerate.
A tale of horns:
Biggest disappointment for me was the stacked Quad's, something odd going on there I think.