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Bristol show 2017

Agree! A really good show this year!
Didn't get to see/hear everything because of the 7 hour round trip but it was interesting to see a 50/50 split between trade and public (well.....it felt like that!)
I also thought that the Spendor, Leema, Neat and (especially) the Audio Note rooms were particularly splendid!
The Devialet Phantom's were truly awesome but the choice of music to demo them: what WAS that???
My absolute favourite thing, 'though, was the widespread use of turntables as primary source; I haven't seen that for MANY years: a really pleasant surprise and I would therefore add Rega, Michell, Roksan, Henley Designs et al to my list of 'favourite things'!
Not too much A/V either.
Really good show; wish that I could go again tomorrow or Sunday but just can't face another journey like that!
 
Thanks for the reviews - keep them coming please!

Looking forward to the T707 at the Chester show in a couple of weeks.
 
my favourite was the new kudos 707 prototype soon to go into production at 13,700 quid . lovely imaging and sense of realism .

Great speaker, but same price as the old Titan 88!!
 
I popped in briefly yesterday afternoon.

Was impressed by: Harbeth, Exposure and, particularly, the Music First Audio room, (MFA passive pre-amp, Quad 405 power amp, Chartwell speakers) which, compared to some of the bombastic stuff being played elsewhere, was like a breath of fresh air.

Was not impressed by: the £70,000 Esoteric system; the dreadful music being played in most rooms. The low point was a jazz-lite version of 'A Whiter Shade of Pale'.
 
i was impressed by the quality of the esoteric though , what were those speakers used.

and i thought those 707 are very good vfm compared to some like magico and wilson.
 
Would be interested to know if Proac are showing/playing their Tablette 10's.

They look very much like Kans, sealed box, etc, but suspect they would be more to my taste sonicaly.

If anyone might lend an ear to these I would be really interested. Thanks.
 
bob atherton said:
Would be interested to know if Proac are showing/playing their Tablette 10's.

They look very much like Kans, sealed box, etc, but suspect they would be more to my taste sonicaly.

If anyone might lend an ear to these I would be really interested. Thanks.
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Sadly they are not - I wanted to see and hear them too. They're using DB3's (which do sound good).

There's not even a pair of Tab 10's on display unfortunately.
 
Pinky said:
Sadly they are not - I wanted to see and hear them too. They're using DB3's (which do sound good).

There's not even a pair of Tab 10's on display unfortunately.
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Thanks for that info.. shame, they looked like a very room friendly speaker
 
Last minute decision to go. Was originally invited to share a car but our driver decided (wisely I think) that we should let the 'Train Take The Strain'.

Via 'splitticketing. com' I got the return journey from Wigan to Bristol for about 44 quid.(Old Git's Railcard :) ) The others paid about 60 quid. I've checked since and even booking about a month ahead I couldn't have beaten that via 'The Trainline'. So.. an 05:15 start... :(

Don't think I've been to the Bristol Show before. It was a very good one.

Unfortunately a combination of a few very busy days, late nights, early starts, knackered knees and some iffyness on the 'Ticker' front spoiled it a bit for me. I was having to constantly sit down for a breather and really struggled with stairs, though maybe better than the endlessly frustrating wait for lifts. So, I didn't see as much as I'd have liked, or enjoy what I did see as much as I should.

Kicking myself that I completely missed the Michell room. How did I manage that? I was on that floor for some time. Didn't even spot them on the floorplan. Bugger.

I long ago gave up on the idea of learning much about the sound of most kit from shows. Far too many variables in play, so that even if they get a good sound, you may never get it from their bit of kit in your system, or the bit of kit that sounds crap in show may work brilliantly in your system.... etc..
So.. with the above caveats, a couple of things sounded nice to me. Little Harbeths, the Devialet Phantoms, and a bit of a surprise to me.. the Audio Note stuff. I thought QUAD struggled to get a decent sound though I'm not convinced 'dance' music is right for their electrostatics.

There were other nice noises there but I wasn't taking notes and can't remember much about a lot of what I saw/heard.

Far too many exhibitors still using stark, empty 'plinky plonky' 'audiophile' discs for demos, when I think most of us just want to hear the real world stuff we normally play at home.

OTOH, very good to see almost everyone using vinyl as a source. One or two were alternating it with digital which makes sense.

After both exhibiting at, and attending many shows over the years, I now treat them more as a bit of a day out, social occasion, chance to get an overview of what's happening etc.

Had a quick word with Noel Keywood from HFW and told him the speakers they gave me 20 years ago are still going strong. He seemed genuinely pleased to hear that. Also bumped into Ketan Bharadia who was with HFW way back and now with What Hi Fi. Always a genuinely friendly, helpful and pleasant chap.

Finally got back home around midnight and completely knackered...

Good day out.

Mull
 
My girlie & I went Saturday by train from Reading then got a taxi. It was pretty busy as expected. Quad were making good noise with their electos but would have liked to have heard their Z3s as they are very similar in design to my newish Quadral CS8s. The Loewe 4k TVs caused some mirth (they swivelled back & forth!) before we went upstairs. The up-firing Neats were making some decent sound & the Kudos Titans could certainly kick. The funniest demo was the from the Devialet Phantoms with their vibrating panels (they did sound better than my description). Heard the new Quadral Aurum Galans - won't be flogging my CS8s though. Was very disappointed by the tiny Raidhos - they were far too bright as demo'd.
One speaker that had no x-over & single driver was Pearl Acoustics Sibelius speakers made from solid oak in the Malvern Audio Research room powered by Ming Da valves. There was a rather interesting deck with what looked like a perspex parallel tracking arm for under £3k.
N-Nu's TAD demo was making nice sounds with their "budget" stand-mounts!
We introduced ourselves to JW & chatted for a while before heading off to Pizza Express in the Cabot Centre.
Air Audio were comparing a Teac half track running at 15"/s with vinyl on a Planalogue Prelude that made a fairish account of itself. The speakers were the Pearl Acoustics again, powered from the new Astin Trew integrated. One of the more interesting rooms, IMO.
The only item I'm thinking of purchasing possibly this year is a record deck so headed off to Elipson room to check out the new Omega 100 RIAABT Carbon for £700. The only issue for me is the non-bipassable phono stage despite having a USB output.
Heard virtually no CDs - it was either records or streaming. Did notice that ribbon tweeters were being used far more this year though some manufactures such as Kudos had tried but preferred not to use them at this stage.
Nearly forgot to mention Ophidian Audio - they weren't demo'ing their P2s unfortunately, just their P1s & Minimos. IMO, well worth the journey even if the weather was really foul.
 
hifinutt said:
i was impressed by the quality of the esoteric though , what were those speakers used.

and i thought those 707 are very good vfm compared to some like magico and wilson.
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Proac K6 was used with Esoteric. I agree with Joe Hutch and hifinutt. Esoteric visual and build quality is top notch. I went four times to listen to the Esoteric System but unfortunately I failed myself to be impressed . May be I need to book an appointment with GP to check my ears:D.
 
Mullardman said:
Last minute decision to go. Was originally invited to share a car but our driver decided (wisely I think) that we should let the 'Train Take The Strain'.

Via 'splitticketing. com' I got the return journey from Wigan to Bristol for about 44 quid.(Old Git's Railcard :) ) The others paid about 60 quid. I've checked since and even booking about a month ahead I couldn't have beaten that via 'The Trainline'. So.. an 05:15 start... :(

Don't think I've been to the Bristol Show before. It was a very good one.

Unfortunately a combination of a few very busy days, late nights, early starts, knackered knees and some iffyness on the 'Ticker' front spoiled it a bit for me. I was having to constantly sit down for a breather and really struggled with stairs, though maybe better than the endlessly frustrating wait for lifts. So, I didn't see as much as I'd have liked, or enjoy what I did see as much as I should.

Kicking myself that I completely missed the Michell room. How did I manage that? I was on that floor for some time. Didn't even spot them on the floorplan. Bugger.

I long ago gave up on the idea of learning much about the sound of most kit from shows. Far too many variables in play, so that even if they get a good sound, you may never get it from their bit of kit in your system, or the bit of kit that sounds crap in show may work brilliantly in your system.... etc..
So.. with the above caveats, a couple of things sounded nice to me. Little Harbeths, the Devialet Phantoms, and a bit of a surprise to me.. the Audio Note stuff. I thought QUAD struggled to get a decent sound though I'm not convinced 'dance' music is right for their electrostatics.

There were other nice noises there but I wasn't taking notes and can't remember much about a lot of what I saw/heard.

Far too many exhibitors still using stark, empty 'plinky plonky' 'audiophile' discs for demos, when I think most of us just want to hear the real world stuff we normally play at home.

OTOH, very good to see almost everyone using vinyl as a source. One or two were alternating it with digital which makes sense.

After both exhibiting at, and attending many shows over the years, I now treat them more as a bit of a day out, social occasion, chance to get an overview of what's happening etc.

Had a quick word with Noel Keywood from HFW and told him the speakers they gave me 20 years ago are still going strong. He seemed genuinely pleased to hear that. Also bumped into Ketan Bharadia who was with HFW way back and now with What Hi Fi. Always a genuinely friendly, helpful and pleasant chap.

Finally got back home around midnight and completely knackered...

Good day out.

Mull
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Don't want to piss you off more but Michell was the best room in the show. They were using Proac D20R which I think present better value even at £2800 than the Proac Tablette 10 everyone is so keen on. No stands needed either. I also liked the Ming Da room but found most of the sound lacking or not to my taste. Often the problem is not playing loud enough, digital sources and Classical music. I think there were about half a dozen exhibitors that did a really good job of demonstrating their products capabilities. Coincidentally they had a vinyl source. Frankly I have been going on and off since the show started in the 80s and it is slowly declining by the year IMO. £12.50 to get in and nearly £5 to park for a few hours is barely worth it. I would be thoroughly brassed off if I had paid a £60 rail fair.
 
audioman said:
Don't want to piss you off more but Michell was the best room in the show. They were using Proac D20R which I think present better value even at £2800 than the Proac Tablette 10 everyone is so keen on. No stands needed either. I also liked the Ming Da room but found most of the sound lacking or not to my taste. Often the problem is not playing loud enough, digital sources and Classical music. I think there were about half a dozen exhibitors that did a really good job of demonstrating their products capabilities. Coincidentally they had a vinyl source. Frankly I have been going on and off since the show started in the 80s and it is slowly declining by the year IMO. £12.50 to get in and nearly £5 to park for a few hours is barely worth it. I would be thoroughly brassed off if I had paid a £60 rail fair.
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What amp was the Michell guys using??

S.
 
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