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Whittlebury Hall Show

J

John James

pfm Member
I haven't seen any mention of this on here.

The show is this weekend, has anyone been before? Is it worth the trip from South Yorks?
 
been twice.
Its a good show. I liked it better than Bristol (crap sounding rooms, and lots of AV), and better than Heathrow (hardly any rooms).

Wont personally be going, there's nothing I want to see. If you havent been to a show in a few years, its pretty good.
 
Its a good show, i went last year and all being well will be going on sunday. Well worth a visit especially as Im after a new turntable
 
Biggus-Dickkus said:
It will be worth going just to see John Howes new Voigt domestic horn replica
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They are utterly fabulous.......and could fairly be seen as less a 'replica' than a (very late) pair of genuine Voigts. By which I mean they are faithfully built using Voigt's original signed plans, and, frankly, better built than the 1930s ones. Sound just a touch better too (probably because they are more rigid with better construction.)
I use an original pair of Voigts, and my brother-in'law built the new pair, but I have no commercial interest in all this,For John Howes it was actually the realisation of a dream.He truly adores the Voigts. Quite right too! This hobby needs passion and dreams.
The sound? To my ears and tastes, utterly fabulous. But they won't suit everyone (does any speaker, can any speaker?) Certainly worth a look at what could be achieved 75 years ago. And it's fun!
 
Im not interested in any of the commercially built products on display.

I would love to hear the Voigt corner horn replicas though.

Where can we hear them if we can't make the show?
 
Good question. The Voigts weight about 200lbs each. I imagine they will be shown at other exhbitions at some point. You should hear them if you can, because they are quite a surprise. I , like you, am not too interested in the 'commecial' stuff, I suspect hifi is rerturning to a sort of hobbyist thing. After all, how did firms like Linn and Naim start out!
 
Myself and friends will be going on Sunday (the only day one of my friends is free to go). There is always something interesting to see and hear - better than sitting at home imagining what it is like, any way.

I'm always surprised how little interest the forums seem to have for hi-fi shows. Perhaps people are more interested in arguing, or stating their opinions, than they are in expanding their experience.

I'm personally not all that excited by horn speakers and have found that they rarely seem to deliver in the manner suggested, but one of my friends will be most excited and I look forward to hearing the Voight units (which do sound most promising). At least I wont have to rely on a second hand opinion to know (well, get an idea at any rate) what they sound like.
 
Just got back - very busy show, but emptied the wallet quite quickly at the vinyl stands. Highlights - the CJ/Avalon system, Kudos Titans and Cymbiosis's rooms in general, the modular Kensai thingy from Audiosmile certainly made me smile, oh and Audiovector not bad at all IMHO, with Roksan front end. Disappointments included the ArtDeco Signatures driven by MacIntosh amps. Was expecting better, but the acoustics and background noise didn't help in any of the rooms. The HiFi Critic TRK kit speaker with BMR is very respectable - first time I've appreciated that type of unit. Well worth spending some time with.
Had a headache when I left, but now soothing that away with some Natalie Merchant. The good thing about those shows is that, if you keep an open mind, you can see the broad spectrum that makes up music replay these days. But v. Glad to be back home in my comfy ATC slippers
Good show
 
Pretty good I thought, on a par with last year. The John Howes speakers were excellent. I thought the Hart speakers were good too. The rooms tend to be easier to manage than Heathrow, so the sound was pretty good.
Very expensive, but I liked the all Ensemble system a lot.
The usual Nordost demonstration , had some variations, envolving the Q base distribution block, QX4 and QVT. Jeremy Baldwin from Right Note had an interesting talk on room acoustics and as usual, his room had some of the best sounds.
 
Jeremy Baldwin from Right Note had an interesting talk on room acoustics and as usual, his room had some of the best sounds.
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I found him completely unconvincing.

IMO the Kudos/Cymbiosis and AudioSmile rooms are oases.

Paul
 
YNWOAN said:
The HiFi Critic speakers are probably the thing I am most interested in hearing.
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Then go straight to the HiFi Critic stand in the main hall and get a ticket to one of the talks by Martin Colloms - most interesting. The speakers have a distinctive bass character but that's a matter of getting used to - the BMR driver is really rather impressive by any standard.

Pretty good I thought, on a par with last year. The John Howes speakers were excellent. I thought the Hart speakers were good too
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Maybe I just don't like horns. I'm sure the Voight corner horns do 'music' very well, but I could not live with their rather strong character. The small Howes Quarter Wave models used by Music First in their room are much better, to my ears. I looked forward to hearing the Hart speakers, but found them deeply unimpressive. Just proves that we are all different, with different tastes and priorities!

As a novelty tomorrow I will take my 24/96 digital recorder and record in the rooms...
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That will be an interesting exercise - will the recordings reflect how you 'feel' about a particular room and the music being played?
 
Shuggie said:
Then go straight to the HiFi Critic stand in the main hall and get a ticket to one of the talks by Martin Colloms - most interesting. The speakers have a distinctive bass character but that's a matter of getting used to - the BMR driver is really rather impressive by any standard.
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Will do - thanks for the 'heads up' (setting of in 10 mins).
 
The quarter waves in Music First's room did sound lovely..the best I have heard them (but then I love the deep red colour..maybe that influences perceptions!). Credit there to the Voxativ drivers, which really work.I'm told they even measure verty well unlike some full range single drivers! I use an original pair of Voigt corner horns so I am naturally predisposed to the new pair.....I find them less coloured than most modern speakers.But they are a 'marmite' speaker and will always divide hi fi fans.
As for the show itself, for me it was too noise and too busy. But you do get a chance to see a broad range of hi fi in one place. I probably won't go again for many years, but I can see why some people find such shows attractive.Where else would you see so many rival brands. And I spent too much on vinyl, nothing new there.
 
show what show. hardly anybody there. high end expensive crap. very few domestic friendly set ups. a flop it wont run again ,even reps said it was sinking fast
 
Just returned from the show. Lots of interesting products, some of which I'd never seen before. A few of the smaller highlights - seeing DPA back in business, an aray of horns, from the Voigt to AX loudspeakers - some really interesting horns.

The two ''standout's'' for me -

1) Kensai's - simply because you get such a great sound from such a small footprint. They did the big-from-small thing better than anything else on show. If you've got a big old biffer of a grumbling WAF and about £2k to spend it's a good choice.

KensaiandST.jpg


Also, you forget what nice people simon and robert are. Nice blokes with a great product (and free beer). What's not to like?

2) Check these XTZ speakers out, and price them up in your head - you're looking at Accuton ceramic mid range and treble drive units, and I believe Seas for the 2 x10 bass.

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What do you think they cost?

10k?

15k?

9k?







How about 4,200.

Wow.

Seriously, wow.
 
rich46 said:
show what show. hardly anybody there. high end expensive crap. very few domestic friendly set ups. a flop it wont run again ,even reps said it was sinking fast
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Obviously we went to different shows..when I was there it was crowded (around lunchtime on Saturday.) The special car park was 90% full.
 
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