Bristol Show Favourites - hi-fi

[jerry klinger]

As I've posted elsewhere, I think the problem with the Rega system was the combination of the cartridge and the speakers. Both are very idiosyncratic units and to me far too toppy. Since I've had nice rich, warm sounds from rega t/ts and amps in the past I guess it must be the transducers.

Arcam - really liked the irDac into A19 and Kefs - I reckon the best value for money system at the show.

Everyone was impressed with the PMC 21s in their room, conveniently forgetting that they were driven by £10,000 worth of Bryston electronics.

On the other hand, there were numerous systems around using just a Naim Nait XS or Unitilite (Guru, Audioquest, Proac, Quadraspire etc) which show how good these amps are and how versatile. Also v clever product placement by Naim.

There were very musical sounds coming from the quiet Focal room this year, new 706 driven by Superuniti. They played the 1812 overture with extremely effective cannons!

Roksan systems also very good, and the new Avid turntable was cool too and sounded good.

 

[Frank Harvey]

Did anyone get to hear the SVS Ultra Tower speakers and what did you think of them? i heard them with the home theatre set up and I have never heard so much room shaking bass!

It was a bit mental in there wasn't it?! I think it was just a bit too loud though.

 

[Frank Harvey]

Oh, and another one to add - the on-wall REL sub. I didn't like it. The woman in charge was flicking between switching the sub on and off with the speakers that were being used. The speakers sounded excessively bass light without the sub, and when the sub was switched on it then seemed too much. The timing of the sub also seemed wrong. Whether this was a setup issue or whether the sub just wasn't particularly responsive, I don't know.

I still miss Yamaha's excellent AV demos they used to do that always sounded great, even when they used their own (relatively budget priced) speakers.

 

[Frank Harvey]

Shame the new KK Sound speakers were not on demo there.

Unfortunately, we wouldn't be allowed to show them.

 

[Frank Harvey]

I just wish I could've took an AV system there and demonstrated it with some interesting and impressive demo material - it'd easily have been the best AV system at the show, putting quite a few to shame.

Modest too! It is all personal opinion, even from those in the trade. I do not believe that the guys who put these rooms together are completely ignorant to good sound. It must have been a long trip to Bristol from the top of that ivory tower.

Its not modesty - it's confidence. What's wrong with knowing you can produce a better sound than some others? Sme of them do a very good job, others don't. And some take the time to do the little things, like sort out audio delay.

And yes, it was such a long trip I went down for all three days, and visited some rooms more than once, and for more extended periods of time.

 

[ID.]

Noone asked amp manufacturers why they ship with kettle leads then?

Funnily enough, i went to a household appliances show and asked kettle manufacturers why they shipped kettles with amplified leads, and they gave me some very funny looks

 

[jerry klinger]

I thought the Cyrus demo of the 30th anerverary system was the best of it. The system sounded great but what was better was the insight into the product development.

Bit cross cos I went down to the Cyrus room at 345pm on the Sunday and they'd packed up & gone!

 

[Frank Harvey]

Are you sure? It was a closed demo and needed tickets, so the door might've been closed.

 

[Anonymous]

Nice to hear you visited the Oriton room and where grabbed by the speakers, they where being run by our latest mono blocks the OR-70 which will be available shortly in two versions, a standard and "S". More details will appear shortly on our web site www.oriton.co.uk. And many thanks again, look forward to seeing you next time.

 

[KeithT]

Did anyone get to hear the Ming Da Valve Audio UK set up? When I went in (twice) they were in having a short break mode! Would be interested in opions.

 

[The_Lhc]

Did anyone get to hear the Ming Da Valve Audio UK set up? When I went in (twice) they were in having a short break mode! Would be interested in opions.

You did better than me, the door was closed when I walked past.

 

[Frank Harvey]

Lhc - I remember what film KEF were playing now - the opening scene to Watchmen

 

[The_Lhc]

Ah, just slightly different from what I saw then!

 

[kmlav]

The KEF film clip I saw was some Redbull snow board film, which if my memor serves me is called "the art of flight"