Bristol HI Fi Show this Weekend.

[eddie-baby 1,655]

2 hours ago, MF 1000 said:

4 hours ago, eddie-baby said:

I see them as more 'steam-punk chique ' 

Apart from the finish not too dissimilar is it

This was from a gig I attended the other day, a Pink Floyd tribute. Me being me had to take a photo of their speaker system as well didn't I I have to say the overall sound was excellent as well.

[eddie-baby 1,655]

And who wants to polish stuff anyway

[hifinutt 1,705]

I have a nervous tic whenever the cleaner goes near my speakers , would have a nervous breakdown with those !!

[deggie 697]

Kevins living voice speeks would be on my wish list.....listened to them at munich show , ..oh yes they are divine....

[Carlbkk1 41]

9 hours ago, deggie said:

Kevins living voice speeks would be on my wish list.....listened to them at munich show , ..oh yes they are divine....

Me too.  Kevin was demoing them once in quite a large hotel room.  I went in listening with massively high expectations and I was still overwhelmed by the perfection they produced.  Faultless. If I was a millionaire and an audiophile I couldn't imagine considering any other speaker.

[Colinjg 3,084]

Thoughts on Bristol.

Petrol: £15, OK,  Entrance Fee: £14, OK,  Late lunch for two down the road at a nice Italian: £33, OK.  Parking : £17, NOT OK

Had a good wander round with an old friend, who loves his music but is not a HIFI buff. Interestingly, we both agreed on what we liked and didn't like.

For the first hour or so we were becoming a bit bored, comments like, "this room is slightly less irritating than the last" were not uncommon. Lots of "Boom rooms".

We had booked the Linn LP12 demo, as I have an old one.  Quite interesting, decent sound. However, they had their "Room optimisation" software in full flow, so would have liked an A/B with it on and off so I could hear what the TTs were doing.  

We were thinking about an early lunch when our interest and enthusiasm were renewed. Why, because we discovered the 4th Floor.

Some very enjoyable sounds, Rogers, Audio Note, Von Gaylord and Living Voice.  Could have listened to the Rogers system all day.  Reel to Reel tape feeding a 20 watt Push/Pull valve amp, made for them by Audio Note, and some LS3/5as sitting on active sub stands..  Stunning, but not cheap.

There were obviously a few other things we liked but we mainly concluded that the systems we liked the most all had one or more of the following ingredients: TTs, Valve amps, Reel to reel tape. Two of which we are told measure poorly.  Interesting!!

Other observations;  Some hysterical price points.

If I was cynical, I could be forgiven that at least one range of Cartridges we saw look like  fairly bog standard items from a well known source and given new outer bodies , a funny name and price points that were " think what these normally sell for, multiply by your birth date and then stick a nought on the end for good measure".

Good job I'm not cynical.

Good day out though.

[Beyond you 2,327]

18 hours ago, hifinutt said:

I have a nervous tic whenever the cleaner goes near my speakers , would have a nervous breakdown with those !!

Same, I’ve already noticed the Mrs caught one of my speakers hoovering 🤨

[notevenclose 365]

19 minutes ago, Beyond you said:

Same, I’ve already noticed the Mrs caught one of my speakers hoovering 🤨

Lucky you. My speakers are idle bastards and have never lifted a finger to help with any housework.

[Tristan 172]

49 minutes ago, notevenclose said:

Lucky you. My speakers are idle bastards and have never lifted a finger to help with any housework.

Superb work, sir. 

[sunbeamgls 1,171]

I managed to get into most of the non-headphone rooms at the show over 1.5 days.

So there's lots of photos and notes on the rooms if you step this way:  https://audiophilemusings.blogspot.com/2020/02/the-bristol-hifi-show-2020-pictures-and.html

[Jules_S 662]

Interesting to note that virtually every comment on this thread seems to be about speakers or oocasionally amps, very little mention of any sources. Is that because there was nothing new being demonstrated, or was there nothing of any interest? I know it's probably easiest to evaluate speakers over anything else at these events (and therefore comment on them) but was there really no innovation in front ends? 

Just interested, that's all. I couldn't make the show after all so keen to hear what else might have been new and noteworthy (and perhaps not aimed at lottery winners!). Was there any obvious bias towards streaming vs CD vs analogue?

[eddie-baby 1,655]

17 minutes ago, Jules_S said:

Interesting to note that virtually every comment on this thread seems to be about speakers or oocasionally amps, very little mention of any sources. Is that because there was nothing new being demonstrated, or was there nothing of any interest? I know it's probably easiest to evaluate speakers over anything else at these events (and therefore comment on them) but was there really no innovation in front ends? 

Just interested, that's all. I couldn't make the show after all so keen to hear what else might have been new and noteworthy (and perhaps not aimed at lottery winners!). Was there any obvious bias towards streaming vs CD vs analogue?

Yes I get your point. There was nothing that stood out for me as a source I have to say, even though there were some beauties there. I was quite refreshing to see a lot of the sources this year was in the way of turntables and vinyl. In the past I have seen more of a dominance of streaming, storage or file methods of digital.

Even got to hear a reel to reel as a main source in one room which I thought was a nice change. I would say though vinyl might have been king at this years show with lots of it around, followed by file methods and streaming and finialy quite a few CD sources as well, and some nice ones at that.

Edited February 25, 2020 by eddie-baby

[sunbeamgls 1,171]

26 minutes ago, Jules_S said:

Interesting to note that virtually every comment on this thread seems to be about speakers or oocasionally amps, very little mention of any sources. Is that because there was nothing new being demonstrated, or was there nothing of any interest? I know it's probably easiest to evaluate speakers over anything else at these events (and therefore comment on them) but was there really no innovation in front ends? 

Just interested, that's all. I couldn't make the show after all so keen to hear what else might have been new and noteworthy (and perhaps not aimed at lottery winners!). Was there any obvious bias towards streaming vs CD vs analogue?

My blog post mentions Kuzma, Audiolab, Linn, Chord, AVM, mbl, Rega, Avid, Dual, EAR, ELAC, Hegel, Naim, Bryston, Technics, Auralic, Thorens, Goldring and Innuos sources.

Not many of them were new or different though - unless you want to go into SE vs standard versions of things like Innuos but to cover the whole show in a short period and document every single item of kit then report back on it would consume 3 days there and 3 days afterwards. Unfortunately I don't yet have the luxury of that much time.  And by the time I do its unlikely my hearing would make it worthwhile

Edited February 25, 2020 by sunbeamgls

[Turn it up! 263]

20 hours ago, sunbeamgls said:

I managed to get into most of the non-headphone rooms at the show over 1.5 days.

So there's lots of photos and notes on the rooms if you step this way:  https://audiophilemusings.blogspot.com/2020/02/the-bristol-hifi-show-2020-pictures-and.html

Great blog and report, lot of work just to remember it all! Thanks 

[MartinC 2,902]

14 hours ago, Jules_S said:

Interesting to note that virtually every comment on this thread seems to be about speakers or oocasionally amps, very little mention of any sources. Is that because there was nothing new being demonstrated, or was there nothing of any interest? 

For me it's principally because the speakers, room and placement of speakers in the room are so dominant on terms of affecting the sound. I only really feel confident in commenting on other components if they are swapped between in the same setup. The Linn streaming demo did this but I was in a rather sub-optimal position at the side of the room unfortunately. SPACE did still make the sort of bass response improvements I'd expect. The difference between standard and Katalyst DACs I'd want to have heard more times to be sure of but it seemed like an improvement from the quick single A/B.