Bristol Show 2014 - Wilson Benesch and Audionet

Pretty good sound here, clear and clean from the turntable into the new Square speakers. However, the usual caveat for many of the rooms in that they played safe well recorded jazz, so no idea what it sounds like with female folk vocals or the Stereophomics.

Bristol Show 2014 - Arcam and Q Acoustics

Arcam disc spinner and AV receiver into Concept 20 then Concept 40.  Good range  of tunes played, but annoyingly most of them changed to the next track about halfway through. The 20s are very good for 350 - sharp, controlled, tuneful. Theyre quite expensive when you add the stands. 

The 40s (which are the floorstanders) add weight but not as much as you might hope. Both image very well. If someone said the Concept 40 was 600 to 700 pounds I'd be impressed.  But at 1k theyre not the knock out I would hope for. They genuinely did have a rubbish room though, with a semi-domed ceiling. Not helped by the Q staff nattering and giggling with some mates at the back of the room. Why can't these people step out into the corridor? !?

Bristol Show 2014 - Bryston and PMC

Launch of PMC Twenty.26  At 6k I rather enjoyed them more than the FACT 12 which are twice the price. First time I've heard a PMC that seemed to have a properly integrated bass. Enjoyed the music in here and they hald the audience in the room too.

Sorry about the rough picture. When the battery gets low on my phone the flash sswitches off.

Twenty.26

FACT 12

Bristol Show 2014 - Quad

 

Quad were playing their new Air Play wifi bluetooth integrated amp into electrostatics.  Lowish volume with surprisingly extended but very woolly bass. Also suprised to hear these speakers lacking sparkle and life. Have heard these sounding far far better so it must be the amp or the unknown digital source to blame.

Bristol Show 2014 - KEF

 

The KEF blades are pictured above (the orange was a bit more vibrant than they look above), but they weren't playing when I was in the room, mores the pity as I've heard them before and really enjoyed them.

The tiny LS50 (on the stands) was playing, and its fair to say that it took a minute or so to be sure it was them and not the blades, which has got to be a complement!  They sounded very good to be fair, but I didn't hang around in here too long as small standmounts don't interest me too much at the moment. 

Bristol Show 2014 - Cyrus and Vienna Acoustics

For me, the Lyric doesnt look any better in the flesh:

 

Vienna Acoustics 

 

Unfortunately, due to my being wrapped up in getting to as many rooms as possible during the day, I forgot to keep an eye on my watch.  Which meant I missed my appointment time at Cyrus (apologies Cyrus, I hope you were able to let others into the room to fill your seats) when I was booked in to hear the new Stream X Signature, something I was genuinely interested in hearing.  So I was in there when they were playing the Lyric 09.  Generally I get on well with the Cyrus / Vienna combination but this was somewhat uninspiring today.  A bit lifeless really, but they were playing it quite quietly. 

Bristol Show 2014 - Chord

 

It was late in the day when I got here and there was no music playing, so I didn't hang around to listen to the technical discussion which was ongoing (not a presentation, just chatter). 

Bristol Show 2014 - Audio Note and Snell

 

Turntable being played here, through some of those boxes on the table and floor (who knows which ones, another jumble of stuff where the visitor is expected to guess what's going on).  First track was a bit uninspiring but the second track was great - a real flow to the music and a sense of naturalness, if that makes any sense.  One of the best rooms today. 

Bristol Show 2014 - Lumin, Albarry and Amphion

One of the most musical rooms today.  

I have a Linn Klimax DS/1 which shares many of the same design approaches (machined from solid case, separate internal compartments, Lindahl output transformers etc.) of the Lumin streamer so was really interested to hear this kit.

By combining it with the Albarrys which I like very much and the Amphions which are new to me at this show, a very musical and unforced presentation resulted.  Very fluid, smooth across the frequency range, speakers sounding very comfortable with what they were doing.

How does the Lumin compare to the Linn?  Well, they'd have to be in the same system in the same room on the same day really, so no way to make that comparison here.  On the basis of this though, it is a comparison worth making.

I understand the Lumin is available at a very good price to introduce it to the country and its price will increase later, so probably worth checking out sooner rather than later.  The finish isn't up to the standards of the Linn, but its significantly lower cost too.

Another room where they were happy to play a good variety of music too - I'm learning that this is often a good indicator of a good system.

Bristol Show 2014 - BMC

Including belt drive cdp.

Not bad sound in here - too many lights and dials though - they can be dimmed but not turned off.

The aluminium extruded speakers didn't sound like tin cans, so that's good.  I think the thing that stands out for me in this room is that it didn't stand out.  When I think back, I can't really recall much about the sound here - so take that as you will - it must've been either bland, neutral or somewhere in between.

Nice to see some original thoughts around design though.  It's not to my taste, but it is quite refreshing.

 

Bristol Show 2014 - Dali, Anthem and PS4

 

In this room they were playing movies on a decent flat screen TV using an Anthem receiver and this tiny speakered Dali 5.1 system.  That subwoofer you can see above is only about 35cm cubed and the little cast aluminium boxes on lollipop sticks are about 10cm high and 6cm deep.  They have wood fibre cones to the mid driver (not sure what the difference is between wood fibre and paper, but it sounds like it might be more rigid.

Usually something this compact and "lifestyle" sounds thin, hard, harsh and rather unpleasant. However, for movies, this lot was rather impressive.  I know Anthem have a good reputation so that will be contributing, but, to be fair, this tiny little set up gave a really good account of itsself and if that was what I needed in terms of space or cost, this would do very nicely indeed.  No music heard when I was in there so that's a bit caveat, but for TV or film this was a big, and pleasant, surpise. 

Bristol Show 2014 - Sony

Promoting hi-res audio which is a good thing. Music wasn't really demonstrating much except how to send you off to sleep perhaps.Not sure if that was the choice of music or the kit itsself though.

The electronics below were playing through some Sony gloss black floorstanders containing lots of drivers.

Bristol Show 2014 - Musical Fidelity

M8 cdp pre and power and the very cute little V90 DAC/integrated amp playing into the Spendor floorstanders below.

Another lifeless and rather unexciting listen.  Not even particularly detailed to be honest.  It all sounded a bit "small".  Was expecting more, given all the good reviews this kit has.

Interested in the minature kit - the V90 is tiny yet has lots of functionality.  Perhaps a pair of phono inputs rather than the 3.5mm input would've improved it further, but it seems to be focussed on desktop audio with a printer style USB input which looks to mean a PC is the primary target.

Bristol Show 2014 - Focal and Naim

It must be said, I haven't really had good experiences with Focals to date.  The likes of the Diablo always sound too aggressive and waaaay too bright, topping off a very "technical" sound that doesn't seem to offer much in the way of music.

However, today, these are the best I've heard Focals (and that includes the ones used in the Naim Statement demo) the floorstanding Aria 900 being far less bright than their usual offerings. 
Mid range Naim electronics (NDX / XPS and SuperNait / HiCap) feeding streamed music into these really bounced along with deep and reasonably controlled bass lines.  Still a touch on the bright side, but without the aggression and it wasn't overpowering.  They let you play your own music in this room too, and this was popular - had to wait in the queue of 4 other tracks on USB sticks before we got to the Malia / Boris Blank I brought along.  Yet another example of how much better Naim can sound when not using Ovators...

Bristol Show 2014 - Heed, The White Room

Possibly best decorated room with white sheen drapes all-round and the black and white spotty rugs hiding the usual hotel room carpet challenge. Sounding thin and lightweight with the Foo Fighters on the TT. Much richer sound from mac mini. Enigma speakers remind me a bit of Shahinians.   I do like the all white simplicity of the kit, but not sure that glossy white plastic fronts look very expensive.

Often at these shows the room host will be seen to exaggeratingly nodding their head, rocking their bodies or waggling their toes.  The Heed room took this to excess with our host clearly out to prove how rocking the Foo Fighters were sounding - with head banging and air guitar to prove it.  On the flip side, he did say that the Enigma 5 speakers "won't suit everyone" due to their sloping baffle which disperses the sound into the room.

Bristol Show 2014 - Antelope, Amphion, Audeze

If I remember correctly there was a Canor amp hiding behind this lot.  Playing from the Mac through the Antelope DAC into some Amphion floorstanders this room was playing some music very well indeed.  I liked what I hear and it was another of those rooms that was playing lots of musical variety.  Is there a link between musical variety being played and the confidence in the system?

Also had a play with the Zodiac DAC / headphone amp playing into the Audeze cans shown below.  Not bade, but I preferred the Grados I heard later in the day which were fed by an Arcam disk spinner and a Graham Slee amp. Not sure which component it was here, but there was a certain hardness to the sound.  I suspect the cans as I didn't get on with them on the A&K hi-res portable players either.

Bristol Show 2014 - Sound of Eden

Not sure about the electronics in use here (not the Marantz in the picture), but the big orchestral scale had a very harsh top end during the loud passages so I didn't stay in here very long.

Bristol Show 2014 - Norma, Elac

Superb!

Stayed in this room for a while, and guess what?  They were happy to play a large variety of music and music brought by punters.

I've never heard ELACs before (the ones playing and pictured below are £3,800) and never even heard of Norma electronics (I'm afraid it put me in mind of Last of the Summer Wine, but that's not really relevant eh?).  This system had bags of unaggressive energy, sweet treble, suprisingly deep bass (for the size of the speakers - however, they're a lot deeper than they appear to be in the photos) and played music.

The speakers are made from and alumimium extrusion and they truly disappeared from the soundstage - there was no impression of any boxiness or box-bound sound here.  Definitely worth a visit, and will be looking into the Norma electronics too.  They were using a Mac into the DAC inside the CD player.

Bristol Show 2014 - Linn, Nytech and ARC

Pheonix brand Nytech playing some great music through ARC 102 speakers (the larger of the 2 shown).  Source is heavily modified Linn Akurate with changed psu and DAC output stage - you can read about the modifications on the Linn forum here: http://forums.linn.co.uk/bb/showthread.php?tid=15549&page=8

Nytech were playing their "still prototype" pre-amp, active crossover and monoblocks into the also revived ARC branded speakers. They have 2 ranges of amps - a very tiny pre / pre PSU / 2x monoblocks for £2k that are about to go into production (they look great and feel like quality kit but they weren't playing when I was in the room) and the prototype stuff that was playing.  Each uses the same basic classic Nytech circuit design but using updated and better quality components.  The main difference between the 2 ranges is the quality of the components and the size / quality of the power supplies, and the larger range has the active crossovers.  The crossovers are designed to be able to support the same speakers as the originals (so Linn Isobariks for example), but I think they'll need to update that significantly for more modern speakers, otherwise there's going to be a very limited market for that box).

On the evidence of this showing, they're doing something right - very fluid but dynamic sound.

Also nice blokes to speak to and clearly passionate about what they're doing.

Bristol Show 2014 - Clearaudio, Canor and Kudos

Master Innovation (magnet drive, counter-rotating, centre clamp and perimeter ring weight) turntable, Canor valve amp and Kudos Super 20 speakers.
And a range of phono stages.

One of the best sounding systems, but then a £36k turntable should sound pretty good, right?

A lot of faff to play a record - the deck has a centre spindle clamp and an weighted ring that goes around the perimeter of the disk.  Gives the room host lots of time to explain all the technical bits of this deck when changing the disk though.  Kudos speakers were doing a good job - nothing fancy, but very effective.

 

Bristol Show 2014 - ProAc, Naim

Making good sounds from Naim CDX2 and a Nait of some description into (probably the SuperNait) Response D30 which is the larger of the two pictured below. Perhaps a touch bright in balance but doing great things with vocals. Bass not the deepest but tuneful. Excellent imaging, unlike my cameraphone photography!

Bristol Show 2014 - Michell, Trichord, sugden, ProAc

Orbe SE.ex with new motor and laminated base.

 

I've enjoyed Mitchell turntables in the past, but this was smooth, inoffensive, a bit boomy and therefore a bit of a disappointment .  The system looked a bit "plonked" in the room - no clear position to listen to it and speakers looking too close together.

 

Bristol Show 2014 - Ming Da and Janszen

Ming Da integrated with 24/192 DAC, Ming Da cdp and Janszen Hybrid electrostatics / cone woofers

 

This system was sounding really good - valve amp with a bit of oomph and some creamy speakers that married smooth sweet mids and trebles with a decent bit of bass.  Occasionally a touch boomy, but it sounded like a positioning challenge rather than the speakers themselves.  Rather bizarrely the speakers were pushed as afar apart as possible, butting right up against the wall.  It wasn't a big room, but I think they might've benefitted from more space around them.

Bristol Show 2014 - Moon, Nordost, ProAc, Atacama

 

Not a bad sound, but a rather glassy sheen to the top end. Would've liked a demo of with without their sort kones (of which, you can see in the picture, there were many), but they weren't doing this.  Not an outstanding room but not a disaster either.

Bristol Show 2014 - Primare, Canor and Isotek

Very boxy kind of sound, but not sure if that's just Bat for Lashes as I don't know the music.

 

In here they were demonstrating the system with and without the Isotek mains cleanerupper.  Once the door was shut it was possible to concentrate better on what was going on.  They played this system at a moderate volume, which was a relief after being bombarded in some of the rooms.

Was less boxy and much better at imaging once the Isotek added.