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HiFi Deluxe Show

£25k for cables. Wow. Absolute La La land, ever that Hifi shouldn’t be about.

I get that it’s all boutique etc & some love it but dear god. If GT Audio can design & manufacturer great low volume gear at relatively reasonable costs I fail to see the point of all this high priced frippery.

No wonder ASR exists.
 
I made it along today, it was my first Hi-Fi show, a very enjoyable experience. Beautiful systems, I wish I could remember which was which. Next time I’ll take some notes. Many thanks to the very helpful and knowledgeable exhibitors. The highlight for me was listening to a copy of San Francisco Ltd (I think) on White vinyl in the Auden Distribution room, a fantastic recording and reproduced in a stunning way. Looking forward to the next one.
 
I went today. Some enjoyable rooms including the Boyer one which frankly looked ridiculous but sounded great. I enjoyed the Living Voice room too. It was a treat to hear the dCS Vivaldi stack in one of the Absolute Dounds demos but this one of several rooms where a bit of attention to the room would have paid huge dividends: the mids and highs were crystal clear but the bass was on holiday and stuck at an airport somewhere. Several rooms suffered similarly.

It felt very quiet today but apparently yesterday was much busier.

Really good to meet a few folk and chew the hifi cud. Some pathetically childish behaviours by a couple of folk from another forum (act your age FFS, boys, please) didn't spoil the day for me. I don't think they were representative of said forum, just a couple of Yorkshire mavericks.

Will see if I can dig out some photos tomorrow.
 
I arrived at about 3pm on Saturday so had four hours. Very interesting, not enough time, some very amazing kit and my overall impression was big sounds: some rooms were struggling with bass reverberation and several rooms were imaging 10-foot-high violins but maybe that's true to the recording - I don't know.

It was only my second visit to a commercial show, and I was pleased to be able to listen briefly to things I hadn't heard before. I enjoyed an STST Motus II with STST arm, Brinkmann Taurus, KEF R11.

I returned on Sunday so I can now answer the below:
Did you hear the demonstration of the Analogue tape vs direct cut record hosted by Mike Valentine in the Brinkmann/Serblin system room ? Could you hear a difference?

Yes and yes. I would describe the direct cutting as crisper and a little more vibrant and energetic.

Mike Valentine's talk was entertaining and informative since he demonstrates the differences between microphones, recording techniques, tape master versus vinyl, and direct vinyl cuts versus tape-to-vinyl. A great room - thanks to Nigel, Matthäus of Brinkmann and Mike.

Overall I really enjoyed many rooms, most of which were very impressive sounding. The Avid/Hegel/Egglestone room (Auden?) was quite an experience, with fight-or-flight controlled deep bass, but many other rooms were a real pleasure too.

A lot to see and take in, and well worth a visit - well done Kris.
 
Some pathetically childish behaviours by a couple of folk from another forum (act your age FFS, boys, please) didn't spoil the day for me. I don't think they were representative of said forum, just a couple of Yorkshire mavericks.

Wow, it must have been particularly childish. What did they do? No need to name the forum if you don't want.
 
I have to say what a really nice show that was yesterday. Very well organised and nicely laid out. Also specialising in the high end which kept the show compact in size but high in quality and content. Good job Kris @audioshow.

Personally, I liked the Symmetry room which was using Brinkmann turntables and amplifiers and Franco Serblin loudspeakers, also Mike Valentine's Studer 820 using 1/2" tape was playing master tapes. It was also great to catch up with Mark Döhmann in the Absolute Sounds room. This and meeting and listening to Elles Springs at the end of the show in the Audioshow Lounge was the highlight for me. Elles sang some very special and personal songs and you could experience the emotion and tension in the room. She has a great voice and produced some lovely harmonies with her guitarist Mark da Grauw.

IMG_3156-e1679820794235.jpeg

Must be a little weird to play to a revolving audience of relatively emotionless middle aged and older men. Just think of the money!
 
@sonddek Would love to hear The STST Motus one day- glad you enjoyed listening to it.:)

One of those decks where the speed stability is actually noticeable through the poignancy of tune and harmony. When I hear that quality I infer that it's a deck which will guarantee long term musical satisfaction. I was surprised that one of the other decks which impressed me with that quality was the Kronos, which looks like an OTT design, and definitely not something for me. It was a little let down by other factors, perhaps, but STST and Kronos were mesmerisingly tuneful, as you would hope for the price.

There are so many factors in assessing performance that it is hard to distinguish between the contributions of room, speakers, amps, phono-amps, cartridges and arms. If any of those things is a bit off, whether it be harsh or dull, it's impossible to attribute it, so as has been said many times elsewhere you can't necessarily judge individual components at shows.

I should also put in a word for MBL whose non-directional speakers produced a remarkably alluring sound in every position as you walked around the room. My son and I went round and stood behind one of them and everything still sounded great - the effect of collapsing and reversing the stereo image didn't seem to matter at all. Fascinating.
 
One thing I forgot to say: the direct switch between tape master and vinyl pressing on the Brinkmann Taurus with Lyra cartridge was the first time I have had the opportunity to hear such a comparison. The vinyl did sound less good, but by a surprisingly small margin. I reckoned all you would need is a more perfect tone-arm and the vinyl would have caught up! ;) Just kidding. Sort of ;)
 
One of those decks where the speed stability is actually noticeable through the poignancy of tune and harmony. When I hear that quality I infer that it's a deck which will guarantee long term musical satisfaction. I was surprised that one of the other decks which impressed me with that quality was the Kronos, which looks like an OTT design, and definitely not something for me. It was a little let down by other factors, perhaps, but STST and Kronos were mesmerisingly tuneful, as you would hope for the price.

There are so many factors in assessing performance that it is hard to distinguish between the contributions of room, speakers, amps, phono-amps, cartridges and arms. If any of those things is a bit off, whether it be harsh or dull, it's impossible to attribute it, so as has been said many times elsewhere you can't necessarily judge individual components at shows.

I should also put in a word for MBL whose non-directional speakers produced a remarkably alluring sound in every position as you walked around the room. My son and I went round and stood behind one of them and everything still sounded great - the effect of collapsing and reversing the stereo image didn't seem to matter at all. Fascinating.

Not sure when you heard the STST Saturday or Sunday, but it did sound much better on the Sunday with the Etsuro gold cartridge mounted on it guy thought it was a big from the early production Bordeaux he was using.
 
The STST Motus is a stunning turntable. Really well made too.

I have to agree its one of those real hidden gems out there, it offers tremendouns value compared to many offerings out there with it's real world pricing. I have always found it a very musical turntable and as you very well made too having seen it in bits.
 
Not sure when you heard the STST Saturday or Sunday, but it did sound much better on the Sunday with the Etsuro gold cartridge mounted on it guy thought it was a big from the early production Bordeaux he was using.

I actually heard it both days and liked it both days. I tend not to listen very hard for the kinds of differences cartridges make, so that may be why I wasn't that concerned with cartridges. Every room is different, so I would expect the differences between rooms and systems to outweigh cartridge changes. I think you have to try to listen through these vagaries and that determines what you listen for.
 
This weekend. Anyone going?
I was in two minds of wether to go or not but went up and stayed overnight. I am glad I did. I thought that it was very civilised, well organised and with the availability of bean to cup coffee, a free happy hour and people to help you find your way around there was not much more you could want. Sunday morning was entertaining as so many people seemed to have forgotten about changing the clocks that breakfast was chaotic and not particularly well managed.

I agree with the person who was impressed by the Boyer room. they did good job of creating a very listenable sound with equipment i had never heard of. The amps were not only over large but seemed to made of three ply wood and poorly painted. I suppose it is the sound that matters! The Audiopax room (Audio Reference) sounded much better on the Sunday; I think they changed the phono stage and created a more believable listening experience. I enjoyed the sound in the Brinkmann room with the Sonus faber speakers.They sounded like they used to do; coherent and harmonically right. The room that amused me the most was Stratton Acoustics with their multi driver packing cases. I struggled with understanding the market they were aiming for at £50k. I was informed that they had been designed as furniture. Oh well it takes all sorts. The MBL really did disappoint me. I was expecting a lot more, having heard them a number of times to good effect at Munich .

I think that the organisers and exhibitors should be congratulated in creating an enjoyable and informative show. With a a great balance of presentations, live performances, facilities and of course the listening experience.

For those with a feeling of helplessness, bewilderment and despair; there was always the the room with the 'wellbeing strategist' where you could be 'gonged' in mindlessness.
 
A friend and I attended yesterday (Sunday) and we both had a fantastic time. As some may know, I have attended many, many audio shows (most of the U.K. ones in the last ten years) and this was one of the most friendly, civilised and well organised I have ever been to. Friendly reception, free coat check, glass of fizz, free tea and coffee all day - free canapés later on (these were very tasty) and more free booze (though I was driving so had to abstain). There was also a very nicely provided guide to the rooms and friendly staff to assist the lost. As for the audio, well that was pretty good too. I understand the criticism about the bass in some of the rooms but none of them were booming in the manner I have heard at other shows and Idid find that ones seating position made a significant difference in some rooms. I’m not sure why Absolute Sounds were doing ticket only demonstrations as there was no formal presentation of the equipment (in fact there was no explanation of the equipment at all when I was there). I’ll try to write a bit more about individual rooms as I do think this show deserves attention.
 
The highlight for me was listening to a copy of San Francisco Ltd (I think) on White vinyl in the Auden Distribution room, a fantastic recording and reproduced in a stunning way. Looking forward to the next one.
I have to say, I was highly impressed with the track from that album, so I caught the visitor who it belonged to on his way out to take some details! With the dynamics of the recording and all the different percussion instruments, it showed off the Eggleston Works Vigintis extremely well. As well as the abilities of the accompanying system, of course!
 


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