I went on Friday afternoon and the exhibition is well put together for the most part. The first place I visited was Ultimate Stream in the St Julien room on the second floor. The Farnham based company were demoing Kii Audio Three Pro speakers linked to an Auralic Aries Streaming G2 Transporter, which is £3899.
The audio files varied in fidelity and included DSD.
Before the demo started, the chap I was sitting next to suggested some music by The Doors when we were asked and the LA Woman album was played.
I was very impressed by both the sound reproduction and imaging. They are quite powerful speakers and bass capable given their size. However I was surprised that the album wasn't as aurally exciting as I remembered it to be.
When more recent recordings were played during the demo the difference in production values was quite amazing and the Kii's picked up all the little details. This is in part down to the fact that each box has six speakers, three amps and a DAC. There was also active wave focusing going on.
Ultimate Stream have had stands of their own design made. They will retail for £1,100 I believe. The demo room is well worth visiting and you'll get to see a bit of a hi-fi comedy video.
Walked out and thought: right I'll get some Kiis in future. However I then popped into the Audio Note demo. This was in a smallish hotel bedroom, but the difference between analogue and digital was writ large.
All the kit used was Audio Note, from the turntable, cartridge and arm, through the pre and power amp to the speakers. There was also a CD player attached to a DAC. The Audio Note guy said this gear was at the lower end of their range. In retrospect I should have jotted down the names of the different boxes.
From The Beatles' When I'm 64, through classical and blues, the music was more alive in the way that analogue recordings can seem to be, right down to the scratches on the records. At a rough calculation the equipment used was at least £6 grand more expensive than the Kii set-up, but the music was beautiful and gritty to listen to.
Two demos in and the audio dilemma a lot of us are facing had come into focus: stay analogue, go digital or try and mix up both worlds.
The great thing about the Kiis is they are modestly sized given how much each box contains. With a streaming transport and the Kii Control, the gear doesn't doesn't take up much room.
The Audio Note equipment on the other hand includes five boxes so you need a fair amount of space.
I then went into Sony and listened to their new soundbar, which replicates Dolby Atmos. It seemed to do this not too badly and costs £1,499. The 4K Blue Ray DVD we saw was excellent.
Looked in at the Chord, Dynaudio and Yamaha set-ups. Stopped at the latter to listen to the NS 5000s. They are a fantastic looking and sounding pair of speakers and I am told they cost £15,000.
I didn't get to hear the £35,000 Wilson Audios Devialet had and don't know if they were hooked up, but listened to a pair of Phantom Golds. I heard a pair of Phantom Silvers at Indulgence last year and still think they turn in a great performance.
I mentioned to the Devialet rep that designing a pair of speakers which can't be repaired is stupid. His argument was they don't break down, which is easy to say of course.
From there I headed to the headphone section. I wanted to try some Stax equipment, but it wasn't being demoed so I had a play with a £300 pair of Astell & Kerns instead. They were very comfortable, did a fine job of reproduction, and seemed at first try to be better than the Sennheiser Momentums I use at home. Wish I'd had more time to mooch about there.
If you're in the Hammersmith area, the Indulgence Show at the Novotel is definitely worth a few hours of your time. Friday afternoon wasn't crowded, but I guess it will fill up over the weekend.
Jack
