A few thoughts about yesterday (Friday) at the show but I would like to emphasise that I am aware that this is not the ideal place to assess ultimate SQ and that creating a level playing field is impossible. Too many varying factors so I won't go into these.
Still, I would like to think that most exhibitors put effort into making theirs sound as good as humanly possible. On that note I must say some succeeded whereas others failed.
I also think the format of the show is good. It must be because it seems to have been unchanged from the last time I went, some 11 or 12 or so years ago. - I was glad I went on the Friday. I didn't feel to good and my girlfriend went for the first time to a Hifi Show. It was plenty of busy for us but we did manage to get into most rooms without too much waiting. - I can't imagine how it will be like today ... .
Some shots I've taken. I apologize for the lack of quality. Lighting was challenging on occasions and it was done on a phone.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/147127884@N06/albums/72157692065119911
So here are a few thought/impressions. I am still full of cold so probably forget to mention one or two things. I will update this post as and when;
The first room/dem we attended was
Dynaudio/Naim. Nice enough sound with good rythm, no surprise with Naim but lower treble seemed harsh and it did take away the enjoyment for me. I have noticed that with Dynaudio speakers before and can only assume this was due to the speakers. - I left after a couple of songs. My other half stayed for another song, she must have liked it better than me.
Next was the
Arcam/Revel room. Now I must I was genuinely surprised. It sounded really good and that was without me knowing what was actually playing. There were big floor standers and the assortment of Arcam's electronics. When told that it was a lowly HAD S20 amplifier with the smallest Revel stand mounts my appreciation of the powerful and coherent sound grew further. Still not exactly budget stuff for many but very nice. I would have had this over the previous room for sound if not for looks. I can't honestly say I dig Arcams new design with the shiny volume know, cheap looking LCD display and 'Tuner' style buttons. - Nevertheless, it feels nicely made.
On to the
Chord/B&W room. I wasn't familiar with their show music but my first visit left me somewhat disappointed. It sounded a bit plodding and bass wasn't integrated nicely. We listened to a couple of tracks and left. - We then came back later in the day. They played something more upbeat and I found it better but neither of us thought it was special. It should have been considering the amount of money that was stacked up in front of us. Amazing build quality I have to say though.
On to
QAcoustics. They played the big Concept 500. Unfortunately SQ really disappointed. I can't really say much more. We left after a couple of tracks. The reps talking in room to punters and to each other didn't help.
Next was the
Quad/IAG room. One of two visits. The first time round they played the
Artera Solus with the small ribbon equipped
S1's. This was nice enough but the room was clearly to large for the S1's. It seemed a strange choice.
S2's would have been more fitting. It sounded coherent and treble and other hifi niceties were good but bass was clearly lacking and it sounded to lightweight. - On our second visit they played the large Electrostatics, again using the Solus. It sounded good but again felt a fraction to lightweight for my taste. The usual amazing midrange of a well designed ES but its not where my money would go (if I had the funds).
We tried twice to get into the
B&W room but the doors were closed and there were folks waiting and we didn't want to hang around.
We got into the
Kef dem the second time round. It was worth the wait. The
Wireless convinced on all levels other than perhaps looks. Very impressive dynamics, tonality and coherence. It filled the room with ease with very good sound. Impressive. Most comments from visitors seemed entirely positive. It may no woe all of those that are used to hulking big speakers but if you need more bass/scale it has a sub out with adjustable cut off frequencies. Nice. I said 'all of those' used to big speakers because some will perhaps question their coffin sized boxes after hearing these.
On to the
Cyrus dem. I am a little biased here as a long term C
yrus user but it wasn't entirely positive. - Cyrus's new
ONE, whilst looking somewhat snazzy, lacked in build quality. The volume and selector knobs seem poorly made and 'eggs'/feel a little loose. Not good for a crucial interface even though most folks will use the remote more often. I also don't like the choice of LED's but that's subjective.
Using the main system consisting of streamer, pre and mono's (there might have been some PSX'R's in there too) it sounded powerful with
Kef Blades. The usual Cyrus detail came to the fore and it was all there. Bass was tight and it sounded coherent but to these ears (and where I sat) it was simply to loud. - Unfortunately I didn't hear the
ONE. The new Cyrus stand mount speakers were on display but I did not hear them.
The
ACT/Prism room sounded good using actives. Coherent, driving, clear but not cold. We liked this one. Expensive but good.
The two
Spendor Rooms; One using top
D9's, the other
A7's. I think they both used
Auralic hardware. - Unfortunately the over riding impression in both rooms was one of a slightly too dominating upper treble. With both speakers there was a mild harshness I couldn't dial out. Whilst my other half couldn't point out exactly what it was, she did not like either room. Go figure. I really wanted to like the little A7's. Having also read good things about the even smaller A2's I wanted to go back to the room later but somehow forgot
.
The
PMC/Bryston Room was typical neutral whilst not having any dominant or distracting traits. One for 'active sound' fans not wanting to give up boxes. I found it sounding powerful and involving. Expensive but good. The
AVM electronics on display looked superbly made.
On to the
Neat room. What can I say? - It was superb. No other way to put it. - The sound emenating from the small
Xplorer was astonishing. Using
Heed amplification it just oozed into the room. Rhythmical, punchy with a lovely full sound. It drove the room perfectly with just the right amount of elastic and bouncy but delineated bass. At the end of the day we both thought this was the best room of the show. That this was achieved with diminutive components just added to the attraction. Lovely. - Unfortunately I didn't hear the
Iota Alpha but I was bowled over at just how SMALL they were looking at the display samples. - If they sound half as good as the Xplorers I would be happy to own them.
For some reason we missed the
Leema rooms. Shame as I would have liked to hear that.
Falcon Acoustics had another good sounding room with the big Sugden Mono's powering some Studio 30's. Sound seemed tightly focused and fairly neutral but involving. One for long term listening in your mansion ... which you no doubt would have if you can stump up for this stuff and which you need to accommodate the Sugdens. Unfortunately I did not hear the
LS3/5a's with the
Sugden integrated but I can imagine it would sound good on a smaller scale.
The
Exposure Room; I was lucky Tony Brady was there. A very nice and humble person. However, the system assembled sounded somewhat mechanical and cold, it didn't really involve. Again, my Spanish girlfriend thought the same. - However, in a different room, the brand of which me unfortunately escapes (I took a pic, they used some small what seemed like omnidirectional floorstanders) an
Exposure integrated which looked like a 3010 sounded better to my ears.
Proac; This sounded a little harsh with the larger floor standers. I also heard the smaller
Tablette 10 (Signature?) and they sounded nice and open but with little weight, unsurprisingly. Probably best for the smallest of rooms.
Musical Fidelity; The big all-in-one together with a
Nu-Vista Phono stage and
Rega deck through
B&W floor standers made good noises even if the choice of music gave me the runs.
Acoustic Energy; Big disappointment. - Not because of the sound generated with an
AVI integrated and their new passive entry floor standers ... it was entirely ok even good for a speaker that cheap. No,
AE, in their infinite wisdom chose to bring one (1!) Speaker only of an
AE1 Active pair. I mean what ... ?! - Apparently its because they showed the Actives last year and want to concentrate on the new entry models. Ok I get this but considering their actives are featuring dominantly in their current line-up ... and why bothering bringing one speaker. Never Mind, their loss as ...
...
Canton also featured a superb powered floor stander in their room. It sounded great, costs 1400 quid and has niceties such as r/c, digital tone controls, adjustable cut off for subwoofer connection. It sounded fun. Active operation will soon be extended to their more upper market floor stander. If they sound even better some of the more familiar manufacturers here may have something to worry about. Great sound imho.
Quadral also had a fantastic sounding room. Powered by a
Belles Aria Integrated one of their floor standers made very involving, punchy and rich sounding music. Unfortunately German brands still seem to have a stigma attached to it within british audiophile circles. Probably partly explained as a lot of good stuff is made (or at least designed) here.
Rega. They played some
RX3's powered by a mostly
Brio 2018 system when we visited. A brave move as they could have aimed higher. - Unfortunately it didn't quite pay off, the system sounding somewhat edgy. There was a little bit to much treble and bit metallic with it. Sound was also a little lightweight and lacking in solidity and bass. It was not all bad though as it had a good measure of snap. - Some may say 'but look at the price ... '. Correct, it was cheaper than many but a roughly price comparative system would be
Kef's LS50 Wireless. Unfortunately there is no comparison imho. Nada. To add insult to injury, even slightly better sound can be had for less ...
...
Jamo and
Project teamed up in the Henley room with some microscopic Components by the latter and some truly handsome, small floor standers by the former, courtesy of their Studio line. It will never win best show sound but I thought it was better than some systems many times it's price. Musical and it looks great. On a budget? Me thinks one could do much worse.
I thought the
Totem room sounded superb. Powered by Rega Electronics we very much enjoyed the result. Looked stylish too.
Harbeth played a Sherlock Holmes play. Voices sounded good. That's all I can say really.
Mission showed off their new
QS range. Unfortunately sound was boomy even with the stand mount. Not the prettiest speakers but I have no doubt they will do well.
Astin Trew was another stand out. Their new integrated sounding powerful, warm and clear. Very nice. Wished I could say the same about the looks. Reminds me a little about certain cheap Chinese made 'pro' power amplifiers.
I was also impressed by
Dali's Callisto active floor stander. Powerful, rich and musical. Not the prettiest speakers* but they sounded better than many vastly more expensive systems/speakers.
(* Apparently these were pre-production samples)
Audio Note; They made one of the best systems I can ever remember having heard. This wasn't one of them. I appreciate that the electronics chosen were one of the more cost effective lines (I think) but the speakers cost nearly 5 grand unless I read incorrectly. Sorry but that is a little steep for something that looks like it was knocked up in shed. Worse, they sounded somewhat boxy when they played a single voice recording. I wasn't familiar with the record but ... choose your show music wisely if you want to exhibit your products at their best ... . - In any case, a lot of uhhhh and aaahh'ing by gentlemen with beards. It was liked by the ones in the know it seems. - What do I know?
One for the single, die hard, hair shirt enthusiast.
Hegel. A few rooms using the manufacturer. In one they had a
Roest with small
Amphion speakers. It was played quietly as the Rep was talking to someone ... A bit too quietly. It sounded like a small system. Looked good mind.
In the main room they had a number of configurations. When we listened they did a comparison between a ripped 16 bit file and the recording played through the
Mohican CD Player and
H360 Amplifier. It was vocal based and slow so it was difficult to make a judgement. Sounded powerful. The rep fancied himself as a bit of a comedian and was quite funny to listen to. Nuff said.
I think I've covered enough. There was some more but I bored you guys enough
I stayed away from cable/accessory stuff as we had some time constraints and I did not visit Technics' or a couple of other TT focused dems as vinyl is (unfortunately) not on my agenda at present for practical reasons.
Highlights ... Neat's Xplorers/Heed, KEF LS50 wireless, Arcam/Revel.
Best budget system ... Project/Jamo
Best value for money high end ... KEF LS50 wireless.
Best sound of show ... Neat Room.
All in my humble opinion only and hampered by a cold. Your mileage may vary, different music may change the outcome and its worth taking in to consideration what I said at the beginning of the post.
Cheers