Audio Show Deluxe 2026

[michael hoy]

Anyone attend this show at Whittlebury Hall this weekend.

 

[Angle Poise-Lamp]

Not for me, I couldn’t care less about what the rich spend their money on and, not just in Hi-Fi.

 

[davidf]

It's not really about "what the rich spend their money on". It's called Audio Show Deluxe. That doesn't necessarily only include ridiculously expensive audio, although most of the show ends up being just that. There's not really any other shows for manufacturers/distributors to show this kind of stuff - the Bristol Show is essentially a visual representation of anything you can buy on the internet, and the North West Audio Show sits somewhere in between.

If you take any show/exhibition, no matter the industry, who is going to pay to go and look at budget stuff you can buy on the internet, or see in any local shop? If you're paying money, making a trip, you want to see stuff you don't normally see (or can't see), something aspirational.

 

[Entrigo]

It's not really about "what the rich spend their money on". It's called Audio Show Deluxe. That doesn't necessarily only include ridiculously expensive audio, although most of the show ends up being just that. There's not really any other shows for manufacturers/distributors to show this kind of stuff - the Bristol Show is essentially a visual representation of anything you can buy on the internet, and the North West Audio Show sits somewhere in between.

If you take any show/exhibition, no matter the industry, who is going to pay to go and look at budget stuff you can buy on the internet, or see in any local shop? If you're paying money, making a trip, you want to see stuff you don't normally see (or can't see), something aspirational.

Well I guess it would be an opportunity to listen to gear you'll never be able to afford. And probably realise that an amp or a turntable whatever costing £50K does not sound that much better than your £1-3k one - so you'd have the smug feeling that these people are being taken for a ride 😂.

 

[davidf]

Well I guess it would be an opportunity to listen to gear you'll never be able to afford. And probably realise that an amp or a turntable whatever costing £50K does not sound that much better than your £1-3k one - so you'd have the smug feeling that these people are being taken for a ride 😂.

I think the whole thing about feeling better about your own system stems from a few things:

People flitting from room to room aren't going to appreciate anything, and their opinion on any room will be null and void.

It takes time to acclimatise to the sound of a system after just having heard another. If you don't, you're just comparing tonal balance.

It takes a lot of time to set up a system well. You can't just arrive in a room you don't know, set up the system and be done with it. It takes hours (sometimes days) of tweaking to start approaching its capabilities, and even then you're held back by room can take room treatment, but you'll never know what you need until you're there. And you can't hire an extra van to bring along all the possibilities.

Believe it or not, some people just aren't very good setting up rooms.

Either that, or they just don't care. And yes, some don't. They're just there to show off expensive stuff. Mentioning no names.

You're also setting up a system for a large listening area, not a single listening position. And those who walk into the room, refuse to sit in empty seats, stand in the doorway, or stand at the back (where all the bass collects) or off to the side (outside many speaker's usable listening window), can't have an opinion, as they didn't hear the system within the intended listening position.

You're going along to an exhibition where you don't know how the rooms sound. You can't appreciate any aspect of a system if you don't know the room. Once you hear a few tracks you know well, you can hear of the room is adding anything unsavoury, and only then can you settle in to the sound of the actual system.

Even the exhibitors have to get to know the room before they can start to tweak the system and try and get out of it what they know it's capable of.

You never get out of the system what it's fully capable of.

If you don't know the music, you have no reference point. And I've always classed electronic music as a bit of a cheat. It usually sounds great on anything. What you need is real instruments and voices. Something real that you know how it should sound.

If you heard any of those systems at home, it would sound quite different, as you already know your own room. You know exactly how your system sounds in it, and once acclimatised to the different sound the better system presents, you'll far more easily be aable to appreciate just how much better it is than your own. It's one reason why I actually hold very few single product demos, as it means nothing. The product needs to be experienced in your own listening environment, on your own system, with your own music. And that's somewhere where you'll be far more relaxed and open to its capabilities.

 

[Angle Poise-Lamp]

I think the whole thing about feeling better about your own system stems from a few things:

People flitting from room to room aren't going to appreciate anything, and their opinion on any room will be null and void.

It takes time to acclimatise to the sound of a system after just having heard another. If you don't, you're just comparing tonal balance.

It takes a lot of time to set up a system well. You can't just arrive in a room you don't know, set up the system and be done with it. It takes hours (sometimes days) of tweaking to start approaching its capabilities, and even then you're held back by room can take room treatment, but you'll never know what you need until you're there. And you can't hire an extra van to bring along all the possibilities.

Believe it or not, some people just aren't very good setting up rooms.

Either that, or they just don't care. And yes, some don't. They're just there to show off expensive stuff. Mentioning no names.

You're also setting up a system for a large listening area, not a single listening position. And those who walk into the room, refuse to sit in empty seats, stand in the doorway, or stand at the back (where all the bass collects) or off to the side (outside many speaker's usable listening window), can't have an opinion, as they didn't hear the system within the intended listening position.

You're going along to an exhibition where you don't know how the rooms sound. You can't appreciate any aspect of a system if you don't know the room. Once you hear a few tracks you know well, you can hear of the room is adding anything unsavoury, and only then can you settle in to the sound of the actual system.

Even the exhibitors have to get to know the room before they can start to tweak the system and try and get out of it what they know it's capable of.

You never get out of the system what it's fully capable of.

If you don't know the music, you have no reference point. And I've always classed electronic music as a bit of a cheat. It usually sounds great on anything. What you need is real instruments and voices. Something real that you know how it should sound.

If you heard any of those systems at home, it would sound quite different, as you already know your own room. You know exactly how your system sounds in it, and once acclimatised to the different sound the better system presents, you'll far more easily be aable to appreciate just how much better it is than your own. It's one reason why I actually hold very few single product demos, as it means nothing. The product needs to be experienced in your own listening environment, on your own system, with your own music. And that's somewhere where you'll be far more relaxed and open to its capabilities.

A couple of things I would like to say.

You are never going to properly hear what any Hi-Fi gear can do, in the noisy environment of a show, regardless of cost.

There is nothing wrong with electronic music, it’s only a matter of whether or not you like it.

 

[michael hoy]

A couple of things I would like to say.

You are never going to properly hear what any Hi-Fi gear can do, in the noisy environment of a show, regardless of cost.

Depends if it is a restricted room where people do listen and not chat.

 

[davidf]

A couple of things I would like to say.

You are never going to properly hear what any Hi-Fi gear can do, in the noisy environment of a show, regardless of cost.

There is nothing wrong with electronic music, it’s only a matter of whether or not you like it.

All I'm trying to say there is there's no reference point for electronic music - artificially created sounds, unless they're presets on a keyboard you have access to, have no reference point as no one knows what they're supposed to sound like.

 

[davidf]

Depends if it is a restricted room where people do listen and not chat.

Even if it's a closed of room through, there's always an ambient noise level. After the show had finished on Saturday, we carried on playing music until about 7pm, and it was surprising just how much better the system sounded when most other rooms had closed up and sloped off to the bar/restaurant. Loads more details, and no need to play it as loud.

 

[Al ears]

Even if it's a closed of room through, there's always an ambient noise level. After the show had finished on Saturday, we carried on playing music until about 7pm, and it was surprising just how much better the system sounded when most other rooms had closed up and sloped off to the bar/restaurant. Loads more details, and no need to play it as loud.

Agreed. Although shows may be a good way of viewing new equipment, and meeting makers, they are hardly the best place for actually audtioning.
The main reason I no longer attend these affairs.