Random thoughts from the Bristol Show 2025

[nopiano]

A quick canter through what I recall, though a few rooms I passed by, so by no means an exhaustive list. Lots of folks snapping and filming, so doubtless YouTube and other social media will carry the results.

I thought British brands had a great showing this year. Stalwarts like Acoustic Energy, ATC, PMC, Harbeth, Rega, Russell K, AudioNote, Fyne, Exposure, and ProAc had some nice kit with several new or upgraded models. I could have happily enjoyed the Russell K 120SE or the ATCs at home!

Quad showed the re-imagined 33/303 with Wharfedale Super Lintons, and the latest Quad ESL-2912X waiting to be rolled out later on. The X models are about £12.5k a pair!

No KEF or Linn this year, but there were some KEF Ref 5 in (I think) the Innuos room. Several rooms used Hegel amps, and in their own two Hegel rooms they repeated their preferred ‘across the room’ layout, when the majority choose ‘along the length’ layouts. I didn’t dare ask the price of their new Reference DAC!

I hadn’t attended on a Saturday for a long time, but with fewer exhibitors and not so many crowded rooms, I found it more relaxing than it has sometimes been.

Musical Fidelity are relaunching those cylindrical X designs, including a Tube Buffer, and some mains/power supply models, and a new B series amp and CD is on the way.

Michell showed a pricy phono stage, and an upgraded turntable or two are in the pipeline. They are now distributed by PMC who didn’t play records, but had a turntable in their room.

Rega demo’d a new Brio mark 7 amp, at £799, alongside their 3RS turntable and the ‘concrete’ £1500 speakers, making one of the more affordable complete systems. They also showed a new pre+power amp combo, with Perspex tops so the nerdier amongst us could ponder the layout.

PMC had the new Prophecy speaker range on demo each hour. I heard the 11am presentation on the 9, the top 3-way. Mighty impressive sound with brief excepts of very loud but exciting electronic music, that showed their impact, but it wasn’t possible to gauge realism. The presenter was an Oliver Thomas, presumably Peter’s son.

ATC played their active SCM20 stand mount in the Anniversary blue finish. Beautiful sound with ‘normal’ recordings, but not a look I could enjoy domestically, with shiny metal cone surrounds and that paint finish.

Harbeth have a new cone material, so their range is now XD2 suffix, but pricing is the same on the ones I heard - the M30.3 and the P3 ESR with Nelson.

Not too huge Fyne Classic speakers showed what Tannoy could have become - traditional cabinets with 21st century sound. Lovely!

Audio Note had new speakers in their usual corner placement with costly low-wattage tube amps and CD source, and their trademark dynamic sound with such high efficiency speakers and glowing amplifiers.

Acoustic Energy had some quite modest models playing very enjoyably, while I drooled again at the luxurious Corinium models.

Elite Audio had a huge variety of their imports on show, with the Revival speakers again looking good value.

I didn’t detain myself with headphones, AV systems, soundbars or Bluetooth speakers, though there were quite a few on offer, including JBL with that reticulated foam front. Talking of which Arcam had an impressive display, with a super luxurious brochure, thanks presumably to their Samsung ownership?

Quite a few familiar faces too, as Hifi isn’t such a big world really!

 

[Revolutions]

Thanks Nick, appreciate you sharing this. I’d not realised the show was on, seems a lot less conversation building up to it this year.

What did you think of the Quads with the super Linton?

 

[nopiano]

Thanks Nick, appreciate you sharing this. I’d not realised the show was on, seems a lot less conversation building up to it this year.

What did you think of the Quads with the super Linton?

Well, I’m afraid it sounded a bit ‘Hifi’ to me, in a largish and busy room. Not the sound I seek at home, but it was one of the first rooms I visited, so I couldn’t say it was a good opportunity to make any meaningful assessment other than to see those orange lamps glow!

 

[bigboss]

Thanks! Did you manage to check out Optoma UHZ68LV?

 

[nopiano]

Thanks! Did you manage to check out Optoma UHZ68LV?

No, I’m afraid I tend to avoid the AV stuff, sorry. I wouldn’t know a projector unless I tripped over one ! Old fashioned stereo is my thing.

 

[Messiah]

I tend to go every year but skipped it this year.

For me I want to hear (alongside PMC, Acoustic Energy etc) KEF, Mission, Q Acoustics, B&W, Marantz, Monitor Audio etc. (I especially liked the KEF and B&W demos). Just a real shame these brands no longer attend.

Not massively surprised Linn are not there after last year's (IMO) poor demo.

 

[davidf]

Several rooms used Hegel amps, and in their own two Hegel rooms they repeated their preferred ‘across the room’ layout, when the majority choose ‘along the length’ layouts. I didn’t dare ask the price of their new Reference DAC!

£4250

 

[Gray]

I found it more relaxing than it has sometimes been.

...because you didn't trip and fall this year?

You've got the job....to do the annual show report 👍

 

[nopiano]

...because you didn't trip and fall this year?

You've got the job....to do the annual show report 👍

Yep, two years on and I made it there and back in one piece! 🙂

 

[nopiano]

£4250

That’s a snip when it comes in proper chassis, and looks the part, rather than the coloured balls that Chord seem to like! The room was constantly full so they must be doing something right.

 

[Gray]

Yep, two years on and I made it there and back in one piece! 🙂

Wow, that shows how quick time is going, I thought that was a year ago 😦

 

[nopiano]

A few more thoughts:-

There was a Wiim stand and Bluesound one. The former surprised me at first until I remembered Henley import them, and they had various other stands with Klipsch and Pro-ject amongst others. Pro-ject also showed some compact systems for desktop or sideboard use, all but one with a turntable.

The new Bluesound Node Icon was the source in several rooms, and it looked very swish. The screen was colourful and neat, but unreadable from more than a couple of metres away for my eyes.

Cadence had a large space with a pair Spendor A series looking very ‘lost’, and only one person listening. I’d read beforehand they have an updated range to launch, so it was disappointingly low key. The Rotel Michi amps and streamers looked enormous!

Solidsteel racks looked very nice and the plainer ones were more affordable than I’d guessed. They seem to have adopted the spot that Hifi Racks previously took on the ground floor.

 

[matthewpianist]

Here's my take, after visiting on Saturday...

I too found the QUAD demonstration to be too clinical, something I've heard across a lot of IAG stuff, both with the Super Lintons and the new electrostatics. The assertion in the morning by the demonstrator that a £7k system is modest shows how out of touch with reality things are becoming.

Harbeth sounded superb as always, and Hegel amps put in a strong showing wherever they were in use.

The Rega room was one of the highlights, as it so often is. The new Brio Mk.7 was a welcome sight, and sounded excellent with the P3RS and Aya speakers. Rega has maintained the natural musicality that has always been characteristic of their kit, and a new Brio with digital inputs is a great move. I think it will secure Rega as offering the best value and performance for A/B amplification below £1k

The Henley rooms were very enjoyable. Pro-ject's colour system offers great value for money overall, and produced a sound I could have listened to for hours. Next door, the WiiM Ultra was going great guns with their new Vibelink amp and a pair of the new Klipsch RP60M speakers. It's an affordable system that offers flexibility, room friendly aesthetics/size and strong performance. The WiiM kit is making Bluesound look very expensive for no real difference in quality, and in my own experience the WiiM app is actually the better of the two.

Ruark Audio's R610 and Sabre-R combination was a very enjoyable listen, and those speakers don't half reach low whilst also managing to stay controlled. It would make for a very tempting system if only there weren't so many reported issues with the matching optional CD drive.

The Leema system was another highlight, and Pro-Ac too.

I quite enjoyed the PMC Prophecy demonstration, but I'm not convinced they really offer great price/performance ratio, and I think that's true of a lot of what was on demonstration at the show.

I think the show demonstrated how wildly systems can range both in price and in sheer size and complexity, and how a relatively simple and affordable system can bring as much and sometimes more pleasure than a huge multi-box and high-priced system. I heard some pretty uninspiring stuff (Spendor, for example), some surprisingly bad stuff and some kit that was simply over-priced and over-sized for what it offers. Does anyone really need all those Cyrus boxes, the massive Michi and Esoteric boxes, and the drain pipe sized cables used in some rooms? I think there was plenty of evidence elsewhere at the show that they aren't necessary for musical enjoyment.

One of the worst things I heard was the Rolling Stones played through ATC speakers. I found it virtually unlistenable. There was also a piercingly bright HANA cartridge, and I found the new Acoustic Energy speakers disappointingly muddy sounding.

Travel made it a 15-hour day in total. I'm glad I went - I enjoyed it, and it really put things into perspective for me.

 

[Revolutions]

I think the show demonstrated how wildly systems can range both in price and in sheer size and complexity, and how a relatively simple and affordable system can bring as much and sometimes more pleasure than a huge multi-box and high-priced system. I heard some pretty uninspiring stuff (Spendor, for example), some surprisingly bad stuff and some kit that was simply over-priced and over-sized for what it offers. Does anyone really need all those Cyrus boxes, the massive Michi and Esoteric boxes, and the drain pipe sized cables used in some rooms? I think there was plenty of evidence elsewhere at the show that they aren't necessary for musical enjoyment.

This has been an argument raging since I first got into hifi 20 odd years ago: can the micro system beat the traditional boxes. I suppose it's always been possible to get a 'great' system for 1/10th the price of an 'excellent' setup. Just somehow seems that Chinese class d amps & streamers have really opened this up in new ways.

That WiiM setup must cost just north of £1k in the shops. My amp & speakers are well north of £10k... it does make me think I'm an idiot, and why the hell am I not selling everything to settle for a perfectly enjoyable sound without the silly money.

 

[Jasonovich]

Really nice to hear the commentaries from @nopiano and @matthewpianist, I feel like an armchair hifi enthusiast, I recall my last visit to HiFi Show was in Earls Court that's was centuries ago!
It's nice to be immersed in the real thing, to see and hear how things are developing in the world of HiFi.
Many thanks for feeding back to us, really appreciated 🙂

 

[daytona600]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCms7B4Cxhs

 

[DougK1]

That WiiM setup must cost just north of £1k in the shops. My amp & speakers are well north of £10k... it does make me think I'm an idiot, and why the hell am I not selling everything to settle for a perfectly enjoyable sound without the silly money.

I'd agree with this as I'm similar. Huge price differential between the Wiim setup and what we currently each own. However, if we were blindfolded and asked to pick out our systems I'm sure we could every time, without fail. It's the pursuit of higher fidelity and the cost of chasing it. Diminishing returns as always...it's just knowing when to stop. I stopped four years ago, that's me contented and done!

I don't think I could ever go back now, having heard what I've heard.

 

[Revolutions]

I'd agree with this as I'm similar. Huge price differential between the Wiim setup and what we currently each own. However, if we were blindfolded and asked to pick out our systems I'm sure we could every time, without fail. It's the pursuit of higher fidelity and the cost of chasing it. Diminishing returns as always...it's just knowing when to stop. I stopped four years ago, that's me contented and done!

I don't think I could ever go back now, having heard what I've heard.

Good point. I suppose that's the truth: I'll happily pay 90% more for a 15% uplift in fidelity. Why? Because I've experienced that sound & how it feels ❤️

*edit* also want to add that a big part of the equation is being fortunate enough to afford the equipment I have, too.

 

[matthewpianist]

I wish I still had the Rega system I had a decade ago - a step up from what I have now, but without going mad. It was RP3/Elys 2, TT-PSU, Apollo-R, Brio-R and some Dynaudio DM2/6 (the speakers I kept longer than any other, but regretfully sold last year).

I think if I could have come away with a system from Bristol, it would be the Planar 3RS and Brio Mk.7 to which I would add my WiiM Ultra, a second hand pair of Dynaudios (preferably DM2/6) and a second hand Apollo-R or Apollo CD player (although I would worry about repairability of the CD player, given that Rega's reason for ending the model was unavailability of a critical component). My RP3 was without doubt a superior turntable to the Audio-Technica I have now, and I suspect even a Planar 1 or 2 would be.

Of course, with endless budget and the right room, it's possible to achieve even better, but I have neither, and I've experienced enough hi-fi now to know that I would be happy if I could settle down with that set-up.

 

[jjbomber]

Good point. I suppose that's the truth: I'll happily pay 90% more for a 15% uplift in fidelity. Why? Because I've experienced that sound & how it feels ❤️

*edit* also want to add that a big part of the equation is being fortunate enough to afford the equipment I have, too.

Law of diminishing returns and it applies to all things. A car costing 90% more will probably only go 15% faster. However there are times when you just want to put your foot down, and that extra cost seems a bargain.

*edit* and 'fortunate enough' to afford it normally means worked hard to afford it!

 

[nopiano]

Really nice to hear the commentaries from @nopiano and @matthewpianist, I feel like an armchair hifi enthusiast, I recall my last visit to HiFi Show was in Earls Court that's was centuries ago!
It's nice to be immersed in the real thing, to see and hear how things are developing in the world of HiFi.
Many thanks for feeding back to us, really appreciated 🙂

Thanks, and i thought it was interesting that apart from Acoustic Energy and ATC we had similar likes and dislikes.

 

[Jasonovich]

Thanks, and i though it was interesting that apart from Acoustic Energy and ATC we had similar likes and dislikes.

That's surprising, Acoustic Energy and ATC failed to show up.
Nice you got something out of it though 👍

 

[The_Lecht_Rocks]

Great show reports folks, thank you !
Similarly, I had an EVO150 into Opticon 2s for a couple of years… Was happy with it…
Then upgradeitis srtuck…
As it is now, I must try to avoid any further adjustments!
And in saying that, what was bought for my home office 3rd system has become the most musical and enjoyable system I currently own…

I am with you on the WiiM amp, streamer and speaker combination at £1k ish.. A veritable bargain and probably does the business…… But I suspect the new Brio, P3 RS and Aya sounds miles better !

 

[davidf]

...and I found the new Acoustic Energy speakers disappointingly muddy sounding.

To be fair though, I think they were the new AE309 Mk2, which are £1199 a pair, and it's a fairly big room for them to fill - play that same level in a suitably sized room it'd likely be too loud. I'd have put the AE320 Mk2 in there.

 

[nopiano]

That's surprising, Acoustic Energy and ATC failed to show up.
Nice you got something out of it though 👍

They were both in attendance. My point was that Matthew and I had different impressions of those two, but agreed elsewhere on the majority.