Bristol S&V - My Views.....

[Alec]

Andrew Everard:

Yes, can we try to keep this on-topic, rather than people speculating about what may or may not have been heard had they gone...

Oh, and taking any opportunity to promote Beresford.

Pretty much totally agree, and whethwer i do or dont doesnt matter to you or anyone else anyhoo, but it does, with the greatest of respect, rather help balance the cambridge love-in on here lately.

 

[Anonymous]

The What hi-fi demo was great, but the Kef demo was amazing! At times during the clip I could feel the air move my clothes, not fatiguing at all considering the volume level.

Agree with the DAC comment, not worth the 2k difference, think I will stick with the Beresford for now.

I was also not to impressed with the headphones, specially the Sennheiser's, I also use the Grado SR60's and found the 650's not to be a great improvement, although I think I prefer my amplification. I will give them a home demo sometime.

Didn't get a chance to listen to the Meridian kit, it seems like the demo's stopped fairly early

I liked all the different kit on the upper levels, although I felt some manufactures were constricted by their affiliated components, for instance the Naim kit (Which I now pronounce properly

) were connected to their own speakers, I thought they might get better results from other brands.

Wish I had been at the Russ Andrews demo but I missed out.

I also missed out on talking to the what hi-fi team because I was distracted by the lovely ladies on their stand

possibly next year.

Overall I was pleased with the event, I got to experience lots of kit I hadn't before and kit which I won't be able to own, but why weren't the £110,000 Focal's on demo? They were gorgeous!

It was a shame there weren't some younger people there, I'm sure if they could experience this sound quality it would promote the use of hi-fi to future generations. I will continue this crusade myself, I've convinced my housemates but I have a few more to convince yet. Sometimes I felt the sample tracks were a little limited and to be honest, boring, may be if they used tracks that were more familiar people could make a better comparison.

 

[The_Lhc]

the_lhc:Pioneer - useful info ahoy! I spent quite a while talking to the Pioneer people in their display room, well at least until I started to feel light-headed from the heat! Anyway, news is they should have stock for the next 6-12 months, which is good, however based on sales from the last 6 months they think they'll run out in September, BUT and this is an important BUT, since the announcement last week, sales have gone through the roof, the nice young blonde lady quoted one dealer as having shifted 80 units in 5 days following the announcement, so stock might well run out a bit quicker than that. Main point is there's no need to panic right now, they are getting more stock in for the time being, so please, everybody stop buying them all cos I want one!ÿ

Panic over, I just found out my local dealer in Barnstaple (Bernard Smith) has got a KRP-500A IN STOCK!!! And now I've put a deposit down on it and it's mine!

Now I just to pay for it...ÿ

 

[Alec]

Brisk: Sometimes I felt the sample tracks were a little limited and to be honest, boring, may be if they used tracks that were more familiar people could make a better comparison.

A very good point. There is a reason why many think hifi is for the rich, and for people who care what the latest jazz/classical/plinky plonky female singer songwriter sounds on tehir kit (hey, im using teh show for my examples).

Hifi does give itself a bad name, largely. There are even those here who are of the (honestly held, im sure) view that hifi doesnt suit certain types of music. it may be that they have deeper pockets than me and tha they are the people i refer to above. Either way, if i ever conclude theyre right, ill just hunt down something totally non-hifi that sounds good to me.

 

[The_Lhc]

al7478:Brisk: Sometimes I felt the sample tracks were a little limited and to be honest, boring, may be if they used tracks that were more familiar people could make a better comparison.
A very good point. There is a reason why many think hifi is for the rich, and for people who care what the latest jazz/classical/plinky plonky female singer songwriter sounds on tehir kit (hey, im using teh show for my examples).

Yeah I do get annoyed at that! See how good it sounds sir! Well of course it does, there's a piano and singer and that's it, half the speaker isn't even doing anything! Give it something difficult!

 

[Andrew Everard]

al7478:A very good point. There is a reason why many think hifi is for the rich, and for people who care what the latest jazz/classical/plinky plonky female singer songwriter sounds on tehir kit (hey, im using teh show for my examples).

Don't think it's a question of wealth, but rather that simple jazz/classical music, and 'plinky plonky female singer songwriter'-type stuff, doesn't exactly stretch a system. In fact, it sounds good on just about everything...

 

[Alec]

Superaintit:al7478:

Messiah:Right, so I went to the Bristol Sound and Vision show today and here is some feedback!

First of all, I think the whole show was excellent. Each manufacturer with their own rooms (where needed) and on the whole some friendly Reps.

So, better start with What HiFi! I went in and watched the demo which I believe Joe presented?? It started off by demonstrating the difference between a 128kbps file sent to a Meridian preamp via the laptop analogue output and then onto some Meridian DSP7200 loudspeakers. (Don't these have DACS in them?? Are they bypassed for the demo??) It sounded very good. Next the same song was played but this time it was a lossless version via the digital output on the laptop to a £2K Bryston DAC and then onto the preamp etc. Did I notice a big improvement. An improvement worth £2K...No!! It sounded better but not that much better. Maybe a longer demo would have brought about a different result??

I agree. the difference would have been more aparent, imo, if cheaper kit had been used.

(...)

Hi Al7478,

Thanks for sharing your experience. I agree on mp3s actually sounding quite good- even though I almost always listen to lossless, IME the difference between highish bitrate mp3 and lossless is less than the difference between a bad and a good recording.

In relation to this, one thing that caught me eye was you saying that you think the difference between 128kbps and lossless would have become more apparant if cheaper kit had been used.

Are you sure? I would have thought higher end kit would be better in showing up so called ' faults' in the source. My reasoning being that lower end kit has more distotion of it's own, masking bad recordings or lower bitrates. Your thoughts/experience, please.

I migh be absolutely wrong, you make a great point. i think what i was thinking is that on my low end kit, i noticed the difference with lossless files and a dac easily (but then i also switched from using the dac to not using it many times to make sure, which didnt happen at the show.

I certainly would have expected the lower quality mp3 to sound really awfull with such high end kit, but it didnt. even on that kit...this somehow doesnt make sense to me...

...and im sure my rambling reply makes little sense tou you lol! Sorry, i may need to think it over some more.

i think waht im saying is that budget kit with rubbish files and no external dac should sound impressively better when you feed it with with good files and a dac of decent, tho budget, quality.

 

[Alec]

Andrew Everard:

al7478:A very good point. There is a reason why many think hifi is for the rich, and for people who care what the latest jazz/classical/plinky plonky female singer songwriter sounds on tehir kit (hey, im using teh show for my examples).

Don't think it's a question of wealth, but rather that simple jazz/classical music, and 'plinky plonky female singer songwriter'-type stuff, doesn't exactly stretch a system. In fact, it sounds good on just about everything...

Another good point.

I'm really not doing very well today lol!

 

[Andrew Everard]

Doing fine, as far as I can see...

 

[Alec]

the_lhc - sorry, got to be really quick.

agree totally about the Dali 1s ad 2s.

most left doors open, which i guess may have been a h&c thing, plus wanting to appear open to people, if they were not doing scheduled demos as such. maybe scheduled demos with signs on doors would have been good, but neither method is perfect i guess, as people also want to chat before and after demos.

still no idea about teh bearded phantoms.

"Were they the ones that sounded like someone had bi-wired them and forgotten to plug the bass cable in? I thought it was awful, there was no bottom end there at all! I actually thought there was a problem, but none of the people running the room seemed to be worried."

possibly, they sounded a bit airy and wooly to me, not as neutral as i thought they would, a bit polite and lazy. i was expecting something more taught, like the dalis, actually. but they leaned more toward my MAs, which im looking to replace because they sound like that. the MSs are really the only ones i heard that i didnt prefer to mine!

 

[Alec]

Andrew Everard:Doing fine, as far as I can see...

Haha! You're too kind, you liar!

 

[Andrew Everard]

al7478:still no idea about teh bearded phantoms.

Clickington.

 

[Alec]

Andrew Everard:

al7478:still no idea about teh bearded phantoms.

Clickington.

Oh wow, cheers!

Not as funny as i expected, but it may have been had i met them.

I did see a couple vinyl stands i think and wished i was into it. Still, im contemplating a better dedicated rack soonish, and there may be a spare shelf...saw a turntable i rather fancy too, in the mad, i think. probably teh cheapest, bout 140.

Anyway thanks andrew.

 

[The_Lhc]

Andrew Everard:al7478:A very good point. There is a reason why many think hifi is for the rich, and for people who care what the latest jazz/classical/plinky plonky female singer songwriter sounds on tehir kit (hey, im using teh show for my examples).
Don't think it's a question of wealth, but rather that simple jazz/classical music, and 'plinky plonky female singer songwriter'-type stuff, doesn't exactly stretch a system. In fact, it sounds good on just about everything...ÿ

I'd say it sounds the same on just about everything (of the calibre of components you'd find at a show like Bristol that is), which is spectacularly unhelpful when you're trying to pick out components that sound good to you!ÿ

 

[The_Lhc]

al7478:ÿmost left doors open, which i guess may have been a h&c thing, plus wanting to appear open to people, if they were not doing scheduled demos as such. maybe scheduled demos with signs on doors would have been good, but neither method is perfect i guess, as people also want to chat before and after demos.

Well, without wanting to crawl too much I think WHF have got the right idea, a simple clock outside the room that tells you when the next demo is. Easy! I can't remember who were opposite KEF downstairs, they had a queue outside their door, but they had an actual real live person stationed outside the door to let people know what was going on, which is boring for the staff member in question perhaps but is the sort of thing that you want to see.

It was particularly galling because I LIKE KEF, I'm a big fan and I have been for years, I've got KEFs now and I'm looking at them for my new system as well, I might just change my mind (although I'll definitely be getting some iQ10s for the other room now that I know you can get a custom wall mount bracket for them).

 

[The_Lhc]

al7478:ÿI did see a couple vinyl stands i think and wished i was into it.

I looked at all the vinyl stands, bought a couple of LPs from Diverse Vinyl, a Jimmy Smith/Wes Montgomery re-issue, which sounds fantastic and an Eli "Paperboy" Reed (new) album, which, ummm, how can I say this, doesn't! Really poor pressing, either that or his vocals have been deliberately recorded with distortion, 60's fashion. It's not an audiophile pressing I know that much, which is annoying as it was nearly as expensive as the Jimmy Smith one.

Diverse were easily the cheapest of all the stands though.ÿ

Still, im contemplating a better dedicated rack soonish, and there may be a spare shelf...saw a turntable i rather fancy too, in the mad, i think. probably teh cheapest, bout 140.

Did you see the Pro-ject stuff in the Henley Designs room? Had some things in there I had my eye on, but I've got a new TV (and amp, blu-ray and speakers) to pay for first.ÿ

ÿ

 

[Alec]

i agree re signs etc..

i have to mention (with no agenda either way, ive never bought from tehm but wouldnt rule it out) that i did have a chat aith a yamaha bloke outside the yamaha room during one of their home cinema demos. cant say whether thats representative tho of the whole day, even less teh whole weekend.

 

[Alec]

the_lhc:Andrew Everard:al7478:A very good point. There is a reason why many think hifi is for the rich, and for people who care what the latest jazz/classical/plinky plonky female singer songwriter sounds on tehir kit (hey, im using teh show for my examples).

Don't think it's a question of wealth, but rather that simple jazz/classical music, and 'plinky plonky female singer songwriter'-type stuff, doesn't exactly stretch a system. In fact, it sounds good on just about everything...

I'd say it sounds the same on just about everything (of the calibre of components you'd find at a show like Bristol that is), which is spectacularly unhelpful when you're trying to pick out components that sound good to you!

is this because at the higher end people are chasing the same kind of sound, but at the lower end that sound is too expensive, so companies end up using cheaper stuff which leads to greater diversity in kit at the low end, or am i completely off here (i know im off topic, sorry!)?

No, i didnt really see pro-ject, as im not taking the idea that seriously just yet.

i know nothing about TTs. i saw the cartridges in WHF recently and mistook them for funny looking plugs.

ive a lot to learn

 

[Clare Newsome]

I spent far too much money on vinyl at Bristol today - about 8 new LPs, including some master recording pressings of Sinatra. Both Diverse and Classic stands have a good selection of way-too-tempting stuff.

Very excited about giving them a spin!

And Al - no worries re calling out yesterday: happy you could make it. Re subs - renewals typically all-discount deals.

 

[Alec]

Cheers Clare. Maybe at the next one ill see you in the same place long enough to introduce myself.

in truth, i was pointing you out to a friend, and was tired and did it too loudly ("THEIR!!!) lol! Most embarrasing. Begs the question why have i just posted that here? LOL!

Enjoy those records.

 

[Messiah]

As has been mentioned already, the music being played did get quite
irritating. Now the best thing to do about it is to learn from this
experience and actually get the CD's I bought with me put on!

I am glad however that a lot of people had similar experiences to me and that my hearing is not just 'rubbish'

 

[Anonymous]

So then, who's up for a bit of Pendulum on the new PMCs tomorrow?

 

[AndrewH13]

Spent day there Friday with my wife, bit hungover after travelling 180m miles from Southend on Thursday evening, arriving at 9pm then finding a really good group above a pub (Louisiana) nearby to hotel. Group were called Wild Beasts I think (Muse-like but a bit punkier), burt we drank some enjoyable pints too quickly.

Anyway, once headache cleared enjoyed some speakers especially new AE range. Then Waterfalls - amazingly flat £700 pair (biggest surprise since Linn Kans for their bass, and the sexiest speakers ever seen - made with cristal glass, shame they were 25K! Tannoy had a poor LCD with their speakers but great to here some Rush even if they look so old now. PMC GB1s also sounded very good, organic sound to some blues.

Finally got into What Hi-fi demo after their blown speaker teething probs - what a kingsize Panasonic!

Was keen to see the Anthem AV processor (thought a future replacement for my Tag AV32) but not upon learning price, £8500! Smart looking piece of kit though. Had interesting chat with Arcam A600 designer, looks a rival to the Denons.

A/V Forums had a demo of upscaling Toshiba DVD against Blu-Ray on Pioneer 5090 Plasmas. Having just bought a 500A plasma was intersted in this - no contest, DVD looked very grainy in comparison. Phil Hinton explained this was artifacts from the higher compression smudging the detail in Will Smiths face compared with the fine detail in the Blu-Ray. Good demo and amazed anyone could think upscaled DVD compares.

Enjoyable day, worth the trip, and took out a years sub of What Hi-Fi to get a QED HDMI cable there and then! Only purchase of the day, so wife relieved.

 

[JoelSim]

Hughes123:Yay! I'm going! I'm going to bring my Paul Weller - Live at the BBC LP and my Kings of Leon - Only By The Night CD. Anyone know if there are some good speaker cable deals going for around £40/metre stuff?

Your 'In the night garden CD?'

ÿ

 

[Vimeous]

Thoroughly enjoyed wandering round the show on Saturday.

Star showing for me was the PMC Bryson combo but there were so many systems sounding great many blurred into one. In the end I was left wishing for deeper pockets!

Biggest dissapointment for me was my own stupidity. Having read the Pioneer BDP-51 was half-price I was all set to for a fabulous evenings viewing only to discover you needed to buy a TV as well.

The misleading sales sign didn't really help as reading half-price on one line severely distracts you from reading the line above!

Shame really because I'd have bought a 863SE as well on the spot. Looks like I will be buying a car afterall then.....

Enough negativity for a sec as I was blown away by the surround set-up Pioneer had brought along. It's a fabulous reminder of how superb a cinema setup can really be, even if the speakers aren't likely to fit through the front door!

Epson showed my dearest that you really can have an even bigger screen in the front room and marveled at the clarity of the picture. Just a shame it was a little washed out.
There was even discussion about where a projector would fit when we got home

Also a big thanks to the helpful staff from Atacama and QED. Both confirmed my faith in their respective brands and I've no doubt they'll be seeing more of my hard-earned in the future.

Another thanks to the shaven-headed, fresh-faced gent hanging round the What-Hifi stand for his sage advice. Appologies for the misleading Pioneer info, see my mistake above, I nearly cried lol.

Finally two notes, one of which has been picked up on already.
After rooms full of hyper-priced, unobtainable kit, most of which is likely to grace the Temptations pages of the estimeed mag, I was impressed by Dali giving the Lektor 1 and 2 their own room.
In fact I am now seriously questioning if my future speaker config as those tiny boxes give a very special performance for the price.
If that were the case then my B&W's would be ousted which brings me to my final point.

I may have missed it but where were B&W?
I was secretly hoping a vendor had brought a pair of 685's along for the ride but to no avail. With Dali now in my thoughts and Dynaudio also impressing it was a shame to say the least.

All in all a very good show, throughly enjoyed. Thanks to all involved!