Bristol show notes (and pics)

[NHL]

So, all in all Neat SX1 speakers was overall one of the best in the show?

 

[GetCarter]

We went to the show on Friday, and came away with very mixed feelings about the whole thing.

Generally we found the amount of AV very, very dissapointing, this is the first time we have been in several years, and I would have to say that this element has declined to the extent that there is now only about 30% of the number of AV type products than previous. I think we only saw 2 projector manufacturers overall, Epson and Sim 2, previous years have seen up to about 10 brands. this was very much the case across the board, where there was once a lot of AV, now there is hardly any.

The Anthem demo was, on the whole, one of the main highlights for us, and will certainly make us consider the brand when next updating, it was excellent.

We had hoped to see more screens (ie LED/Plasma/OLED etc) than we were able to, and I have to say that the What HiFi demo of 4k and OLED was actually pretty awful, it might have worked if you were sat at the front, but 3/4 the way back you could hardly see anything (mismatched screen sizes didn't help), and although they kept saying the blacks on OLED were much better, from where we were the 4k Looked much better. The whole demo room was the wrong way round for the majority of viewers, and would have been much better rotated 90degrees. As for the sound, their claim of 15k plus worth of speakers and amp, well all I can say is there was no rear chanel info, and very distorted front! This was amongst the most disappointing of demos on the day.

One really worrying concern for the industry, must be the age profile of potential buyers, as the average age at the show must have been well over 40 with very few youngsters on the day we went. Also with such a poor AV selection on view, where does one go to see a decent selection, if this is the UK's biggest show, then there is clearly a massive decline in the market now. Which as a potential buyer is very concerning. Clearly (as I have become more and more aware of) the youngsters don't care about quality, only instant access and quantity, all for either free or nearly free.

The manufacturers must take some of the blame for this, as TV and Blu Ray player prices have become far to cheap to be sustainable, it is no wonder Pioneer got out of the game, and Panasonic/Sony are in the process of doing so to an extent. In the Blu-Ray market you are generally hard pressed to find a product that costs more than £250 and with 40inch TV's readily availble for £300 upwards it is no wonder the industry has issues. Only a decade or so ago we were all not to unhappy to pay around £1,000 for a 32 inch TV. This supermarket approach to pricing has created a market where quality no longer seems to matter in many areas, only price.

And do we all really need so many platforms for catch up material anyway?

 

[cheeseboy]

nowt to add, just to say thanks to AlmaataKZ for sharing the piccies and for others feedback, most interesting. :cheers:

 

[bigboss]

So, all in all Neat SX1 speakers was overall one of the best in the show?

The Kef blades were :roll:

 

[spiny norman]

Generally we found the amount of AV very, very dissapointing, this is the first time we have been in several years, and I would have to say that this element has declined to the extent that there is now only about 30% of the number of AV type products than previous. I think we only saw 2 projector manufacturers overall, Epson and Sim 2, previous years have seen up to about 10 brands. this was very much the case across the board, where there was once a lot of AV, now there is hardly any.

You say that like it's a bad thing ;-) I was much more heartened by the apparent resurgence in the fortunes of two-channel audio, and music in general.

One really worrying concern for the industry, must be the age profile of potential buyers, as the average age at the show must have been well over 40 with very few youngsters on the day we went.

Over 40? Poor old devils! The shadow of the Grim Reaper must loom large along the Marriott corridors.

But seriously, I think that's symptomatic of the Friday audience, where you get a lot more hard-core enthusiasts (who have taken a day off work to go to the show), retirees (who of course are free to go to the show on a weekday), and members of the audio/consumer electronics industry. IME the Saturday/Sunday audiences are much more mixed, both in terms of age and gender, and tend to have more very small people with them.

if this is the UK's biggest show, then there is clearly a massive decline in the market now.

Most seem to think the show was busier than it has been for several years, and the show organisers say sales were up 'substantially' on last year's.

The manufacturers must take some of the blame for this, as TV and Blu Ray player prices have become far to cheap to be sustainable

I think most manufacturers will tell you that the retail sector has been driving prices down, not the manufacturing one.

In the Blu-Ray market you are generally hard pressed to find a product that costs more than £250 and with 40inch TV's readily availble for £300 upwards it is no wonder the industry has issues. Only a decade or so ago we were all not to unhappy to pay around £1,000 for a 32 inch TV. This supermarket approach to pricing has created a market where quality no longer seems to matter in many areas, only price

You're right: everything should be much more expensive. That'll soon boost sales. ;-)

 

[jerry klinger]

One of worst Ive heard were Dynaudio with Naim source and amp which sound bloated, dull and lacking in detail and they cost a fortune which is a shame!.

That was the big £75,000 Dynaudio. The smaller £2k one actually sounded very good!

The Rega room was a terrible disappointment soundwise. I can see the potential in the RP10, though I'm not convinced by the looks, but why use with RS3 speakers? Naim into Proac 20R and 30R sounded extremely musical to me. Spendor SP2/etc sounded nice but the D7s grating. The PMC 20.26 were cleary classy but not quite special enough for me - the fact.8, though less forgiving, clearly had the edge; but I wouldn't buy either. I wanted to hear Naim's NDX/SN2/S400 downstairs but no serious demo was happening.

Fewer turntables this year, which is odd given vinyl sales. But some of the cheaper DACs etc sounded great!

 

[Frank Harvey]

We went to the show on Friday, and came away with very mixed feelings about the whole thing.

Generally we found the amount of AV very, very dissapointing, this is the first time we have been in several years, and I would have to say that this element has declined to the extent that there is now only about 30% of the number of AV type products than previous. I think we only saw 2 projector manufacturers overall, Epson and Sim 2, previous years have seen up to about 10 brands. this was very much the case across the board, where there was once a lot of AV, now there is hardly any.

AV is on a downward slope at the moment. Why? Who knows. Maybe people are sick of feeling they have to upgrade evry year, maybe more and mroe people don't want six or more speakers clogging up their living space - soundbars and now soundbases seem to be increasing in popularity, although I see this as a bit of a fad (like soundbars). Eventually it'll come back round, but hi-fi is where it's at at the moment. People are buying streamers and turntables (and systems, obviously). People are getting back into music in a big way - maybe due to ease of access via streaming apps, but the vinyl surge is also helping too.

Maybe projector manufacturers are hanging back due to 4K TV popularity at the moment - if there were 4K projectors around at £5,000 or less at the moment, we'd have seen a lot more of them at the show.

 

[bigboss]

Apart from JVC & Epson, Optoma also demoed its projector at the show.