UK Audio Show Deluxe 2025 - Highly Commended Award - Hegel / EgglestoneWorks as presented by Auden Distribution

 For those attending on Saturday, they will have heard a different system to the one that was being demonstrated on Sunday.  I only heard this room on the Sunday, but understand the Saturday demo was constrained by a technical problem that meant a less than optimum DAC / pre-amp combination was in play - not in keeping with the rest of the system.

Pushing towards the 200k GBP level, from a streaming perspective, this system was fronted by an Innuos Statement feeding the newly launched Hegel D50 Raven DAC (which prides itself on its considered approach to power supply designs), then the Hegel P30A pre-amp and a pair of monoblock H30A power amps.  The floorstanding speakers are the Viginti from EgglestoneWorks.

Here was a system which had clearly been set up with some thought / experimentation on how it was going to interact with the room.  No matter which track was played it was remarkably free of room nodes and boom, which adds enormously to the enjoyment.  This is one of the most balanced / neutral systems on offer this weekend.  So often at the higher end of audio manufacturers are wedded to solving what they see as the single greatest ill of sound reproduction sometimes forgetting that its a complex set of problems, all of which need to be tackled to deliver an overall balanced performance. So here we have deep powerful bass without bloat, power with out shoutiness, clear treble without edginess, vocals with texture without over emphasis...you get the picture.  Its not perfect, there could be a bit more atmosphere, particularly with live recordings, and perhaps a little more subtle nuances.  But that's being very picky.  A very enjoyable listen.

 

Audio Show Deluxe, Whittlebury Hall, March 2023 - Sound of the Show and Music Choice Award - Auden Distribution

Many shows have smaller rooms and Audio Show Deluxe is a bit different in offering so many larger rooms.  Auden, typically with Hegel all-in-one streamer / DAC / pre- and power-amplifer products and standmount Amphion speakers have received multiple Audiophile Musings awards for their show systems.  Largely because they put together systems that work with the room - a fundamental that many exhibitors just don't grasp.  So here was a chance for Auden to show us what they can do at the larger end of the scale. At roughly the £180k end of the scale, excluding the turntable element.

On analogue duty was a full Avid front end of turntable, turntable PSU, phono stage and phono stage PSU

Audiomica cable display

EgglestonWorks Viginti

Above can be seen the digital and the power side of the system.  An Innuos Statement server provided USB signals to the Merason DAC. Pre-amp and mono power amps are from Hegel.

So Auden have done it again.  Whilst this system wasn't the absolute last word in refinement and detail at the show this weekend, it excelled in many other areas.  Here is a system that could actually move some air in the room without being aggressive nor harsh - bass that's got weight, power and presence but no sense of overhang or boom. Lots of detail and expression in the mid-range and vocals with a crisp but smooth top end, this system drove the music along, timing being precise and tight and everything presented with a sense of balance an proportion. The imaging illusion was nicely done too.

But here's the thing - musical variety. Yes, some jazz, but also Dylan, Massive Attack, The Who, Nitin Sawhney - lots of chances to hear what the system could do with real World music, the breadth and depth of the music being played gives a chance to appraise a system properly.  It seems blindingly obvious to me, but very few do as good a job as Auden did this weekend.