weybridge show 24-25 march

[flapland]

Any pics anyone?

I think everyone has given up on photo's Nick, even the Scalford thread didn't have that many compared to previous years. Now we had a excuses as we were exhibiting but the 500 visitors didn't appear to post many.

Anyway back to the thread and bring on the photo's.

[frankyc2003]

Well, yes... except that it was a MFA Baby Reference preamp (about £6k), a £3k phono stage, a £1k step up, and that really affordable turntable was a Spacedeck, but with an SME V and a ZYX cartridge.

If you can get that little lot for £5,000, you must have special money. But I agree it sounded great.

Indeed, I stand corrected. But still you can get the Classic for 1200 notes, feed your netbook into it... and not being too far off what we heard in that room.
My point is HIFI has to be affordable, or at least APPROCHABLE. We don't all have premiership salaries... and manufacturers should maybe cater for the lower part of the scale a bit more...

[frankyc2003]

How come you don't have an "In the hifi industry? yes/no on your postings Franky2003

And are you or not??

Status updated...

[browellm]

Indeed, I stand corrected. But still you can get the Classic for 1200 notes, feed your netbook into it... and not being too far off what we heard in that room.
My point is HIFI has to be affordable, or at least APPROCHABLE. We don't all have premiership salaries... and manufacturers should maybe cater for the lower part of the scale a bit more...

There is tons of budget stuff on the market.

[tricky1]

Got a day pass to go this on Saturday and wasn't expecting much, as the exhibitor list was not that extensive. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find that I enjoyed this more than

Whittlebury last year. There didn't appear to be that many people attending, which made it easier to hang around in rooms and have a good listen. Most rooms were also a decent size. The hotel layout also made it a breeze to find your way around.
I was initially impressed with the Voxativ black 'squares on wheels'. Really stonkingly good with uncluttered recordings but sounded really awful when someone put on a Bowie live CD.... maybe it was that CD.
Another single driver speaker that really impressed was the Bodnar Audio speakers.They were playing AC/DC when I walked in the room and that sounded just right to my ears and I was amazed at the price...I was expecting them to cost so much more.
Audion/Revolver was disappointing, as was the Cary Audio room with speakers that must have been about 9feet tall!! The Hart bronze speakers produced an enormous amount of bass for their size, but they didn't sound right...the treble sounded very muted (and the speakers easily took the 'ugliest hifi of the year' award).
The DCS/VTL/Focal room was better than a similar setup I heard at Whittlesbury, but considering the cost, I was not bowled over. Even less impressive was some new wooden equipment support the DCS stuff was sitting on. According to the brochure, it utilizes stealth radar-absorbing material...hmmmm, ok dokey then.
The High End Cable room were demo'ing Raidho speakers that had really impressive treble quality and mid-range, but then disappointed with a rather one-note bass...
Zen Sati was entertaining...both for the music, pleasant banter and hosepipe sized cables. Rammstein never sounded so controlled and aggressive through Gamut speakers driven by Viola electronics..not that you could see the amps through the jungle of cables facing you.
Audio Note had impressive sound as always at these shows but best sounds of the day though had to be the Music First Audio room with a setup that included their new baby reference preamp and a Quad 405 amp driving rogers ls3/5as. I've never heard these speakers sound so impressive before. The system sound was one that i could listen to for ages.

[frankyc2003]

There is tons of budget stuff on the market.

Totally, but none was on show in Weybridge...
Unless I missed it completely, which s always a possibility after too many G&Ts...

I guess what I am hinting at is that these shows are a great opportunity for loads of people to experience around 20 odd systems in fairly realistic environment (no bass traps etc...) without having to book x amount of listening sessions at dealers around the country..
So seeing in a commercial show a MFA and Quad driving LS3/5A was very refreshing...
It certainly got me thinking about my system, and I hope to be able soon enough to afford a piece of MFA...

[myrman]

I think everyone has given up on photo's Nick, even the Scalford thread didn't have that many compared to previous years. Now we had a excuses as we were exhibiting but the 500 visitors didn't appear to post many.

Anyway back to the thread and bring on the photo's.

That's just not good enough. I demand bonkers cables pics.

[flapland]

That's just not good enough. I demand bonkers cables pics.

Me too, I want to see them from behind.

[frankyc2003]

That's just not good enough. I demand bonkers cables pics.

Not exactly pictures from the Show, but still you can realize the sheer size of those pipes...
http://www.zensati.com/film/index.html

[meninblack]

The Bronze Toads weren't playing when I was in the Hart room. They seem to have Tannoy DC drivers (cheapo plastic ones from the lower end of the range) AND soft-dome tweeters - odd! Whatever was playing - big square things - was sounding mushy and vague.

I had a feeling those Voxativs were one trick ponies, as every time I went in they were playing smooth jazz - nice! I wanted to play my Stranglers track, but the guy with the controls seemed to speak no English.

[myrman]

The Bronze Toads weren't playing when I was in the Hart room. They seem to have Tannoy DC drivers (cheapo plastic ones from the lower end of the range) AND soft-dome tweeters - odd! Whatever was playing - big square things - was sounding mushy and vague.

I had a feeling those Voxativs were one trick ponies, as every time I went in they were playing smooth jazz - nice! I wanted to play my Stranglers track, but the guy with the controls seemed to speak no English.

How convenient. Did you try sign language?

[khfm865]

Got back from this show today also - really enjoyed the venue and music. Anyway, my views:

Hart audio: big soundstage but muddled image - just not coherent at all
Jo sound: ok but image had no height. Bass a little flabby for me.
Burmester: quite enjoyable although room felt too small for me. Same with the other 15 audio room. That Boulder gear looked gorgeous though. The boulder was playing through triangle speakers and sounded really good. Room was too small to really enjoy the system for me.
Inspire: got to see the Monarch - lovely tt - sounded extremely dynamic and very stable image indeed. I think they could do with better speakers but overall I enjoyed this room a lot. The Monarch is on my shopping list I think ;)
Voxativ: I enjoyed the sounds in this room although I died the image depth a little shallow for my liking. The reproduction of some jazz pieces was awesome in tone though - I remember hearing a muted trumpet with extreme realism - very cool. I quite like the design of those big black slabs.
Analogue alchemy: I just can't get ,y head around how much tt you get for your money with this company. They win the bling kit award. Sound from the room was okay but not great.
Townshend: enjoyed spending 30 mins in here on my own at the end with the man himself. We were blasting organ music at some monster volumes and it put a large smile on my face. The wall of sound pounding down the room was pretty awesome.
Focal / vtl: I enjoyed this room - listened to classical violin concerto and some jazz. Big, deep image with ferocious dynamic swings.
Focal / vitus: good sounds again from this room. Smooth and great imaging.

[hifinutt]

Not exactly pictures from the Show, but still you can realize the sheer size of those pipes...
http://www.zensati.com/film/index.html

hope they sound better than his spelling !

[khfm865]

The Bronze Toads weren't playing when I was in the Hart room. They seem to have Tannoy DC drivers (cheapo plastic ones from the lower end of the range) AND soft-dome tweeters - odd! Whatever was playing - big square things - was sounding mushy and vague.

I had a feeling those Voxativs were one trick ponies, as every time I went in they were playing smooth jazz - nice! I wanted to play my Stranglers track, but the guy with the controls seemed to speak no English.

Agreed regarding the Bronze toads. Just did not work at all.
Not sure regarding voxativs as they were playing jazz!

[madvinyljunkie]

Status updated...

nice one Franky

[Beobloke]

Bizarrely, as we were leaving, we noticed David Price from HFC, and guess what? he wasn't talking about music, he was showing to a group of people the innards of the engine of a 1980's Range Rover purring like a tiger.
Understand who can...

That was my Range Rover and David and I were demonstrating to Tim Jung of My Audio Design what a healthy Rover V8 sounds like as he's after a Range Rover himself but has seen a few rough ones, apparently.

Even better, at least four people told me this was the best sound they'd heard at the show....

[Cable Monkey]

Totally off topic:
My Dad had an SD1 3.5 V8 manual while I was a teenager/learning to drive. I used to volunteer to wash it because that gave me the opportunity to drive it in and out of the garage. At 17 I was dead set on a motorbike but he persuaded me not to and bought me a Fiat 600. When I passed my test we traded it in against my first Beetle. He said "drive it (the 600) to the dealer and I'll follow you in the Rover". I hesitated and he then said "I'll drive it and......" He got no further because I was already in the Rover starting it up! I adored that car!

[jimibird]

Townshend room was great. Sat there for about an hour of Bach which sounded brill. No flicking from track to track he just let people sit and enjoy the music.

Focal/dCS/VTL sounded good too in smallish room. Had a demo track which was an acapella version of 'the boxer' which was great. The usual 'Right Note' talk about Vertex was a bit boring though!

MFA with the LS3/5a's sounded great, rally nice.

[khfm865]

Townshend room was great. Sat there for about an hour of Bach which sounded brill. No flicking from track to track he just let people sit and enjoy the music.

Focal/dCS/VTL sounded good too in smallish room. Had a demo track which was an acapella version of 'the boxer' which was great. The usual 'Right Note' talk about Vertex was a bit boring though!

MFA with the LS3/5a's sounded great, rally nice.

Hi Jim,

I think I was in the same dem at the same time on Sunday afternoon. I think the Vertex has a tiny effect, probably not worth the 5.5k for the stand ;)

[frankyc2003]

That was my Range Rover and David and I were demonstrating to Tim Jung of My Audio Design what a healthy Rover V8 sounds like as he's after a Range Rover himself but has seen a few rough ones, apparently.

Even better, at least four people told me this was the best sound they'd heard at the show....

Well, there we have a mystery solved! Indeed, you can't beat a V8 when it comes to sound...
What a great idea, a motor show and an audio show run in parallel!
Quad running side by side with E type Jaguars... Surely there is a serious business proposal somewhere!