Northwest (England) Audio Show 2017, 24/25 June

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by Shiver, Jun 22, 2017.

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  1. Shiver

    Shiver Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    UK
    Anyone else going to this? Held in Cheshire this coming weekend.

    North West Audio Show

    Never been to an audio/hifi show before and quite looking forward to seeing what stands out, albeit in the given settings.

    Intrigued to hear this too: 'To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the release of SGT. PEPPER’S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND, Music First Audio will be playing the album in full from 3pm on Saturday 24th and Sunday 25th. Using a 1970 7.5 IPS 4 track stereo reel to reel tape recording from the Capitol/Ampex L-2653 recording. A stunning recording to delight all Beatles fans.'
     
  2. harmonica98

    harmonica98 Senior Member

    Location:
    London, UK
    Wrong part of the country for me but please report back!
     
  3. Shiver

    Shiver Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    UK
    Will do - well not at length but any particular highlights.
     
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  4. Shiver

    Shiver Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    UK
    Some highlights and reflections. Caveat emptor being limited exposure to everything and, not least, the rooms and conditions the exhibitors were forced to work with etc.

    Favourite system in terms of compelling rightness of musicality was the Music First Audio room with Nagra D tape recorder > MFA passive Baby Classic pre > pair of Howes Acoustic modified Quad II amps > Graham Audio LS5/9. Just a stunning cohesive sound, and an absolute pleasure to hear for its own sake.

    The show was the first time I’d really heard some proper big, very, expensive systems. Quite an eye opener. All were very impressive in clarity and scale; some really nailed the feel of the music too; but it was really interesting how some just sounded a bit… meh. A couple in particular ran to multi tens of thousands of pounds – the best of everything with huge power conditioners and various cables as thick as wrists – but just came across as a soulless pursuit of fat-free music reproduction. Nothing to ever make you tap your feet, or even stay in the room. Friend felt the same in each case.

    Really dug the Audio Note system made of CDT One/II > DAC 2.1x > M2 Pre > pair P2-SE amps > AN-E/SPe HE. The speakers in particular did an incredible job of sitting in the corners of a smallish room, putting out a good volume on a range of music, and never seeming anything other than utterly composed (non-boomy) and natural in their presentation. Probably my 2nd favourite room, despite again undercutting some other systems by a massive margin.

    Interestingly heard the AN-J LX speakers in another room (with CDT 1, DAC 1.1 sig, and OTO SE phono integrated) and although they had the essential musicality of the Es, they did seem a bit over-loose and unfocussed in comparison, especially when pushed.

    One room did some demonstrations with LP12 and ATC amp and SCM50 passive speakers (w REL sub). Speaking as I found it.

    a. Glass vs. (expensive) bamboo/bronze/aluminium top shelf supporting the same LP12. Very slight difference in depth, really not massive.

    b. 2x LP12s with same arm and cart, but one with wooden and one with the bamboo ‘booplinth’ plinth. Again not huge to our ears. Small increase in scale and depth of presentation, but nothing that genuinely seemed like a walk-in the-room-and-tell difference.

    c. Lower end (£10/m) vs. top (£1,100/m – yup!) speaker cable form the same company. Brave demo and hats off to them. Difference? Honestly, struggled to hear it. There and then at least. Very slight something, but seemed like you’d get more turning the volume up half a notch or moving or angling the speakers a few inches. Some low mutterings from the crowd echoed the same lack of impression. Odd thing to me was they didn’t seem to address the sub whilst doing this.

    Amphion speakers are ace. They demoed a few (forget the rest of the system, but was server and expensive-looking SS amplification), and the smaller models in particular (Argon 1 and 3) were impressive. Smooth, punchy little buggers with great clean dynamics and no sense of mid-bass hump.

    Also really enjoyed the Tannoy Prestige Turnberry driven by Auris Fortino 6550 integrated. Filled a large room with endearing musical confidence.

    Overall, a really well organised and run event, in only its third year. Free parking and entry too. Well worth checking out in the future if within range.
     
    harmonica98, 4xoddic, timind and 2 others like this.
  5. Dubmart

    Dubmart Senior Member

    Location:
    Bristol, England
    Would have liked to have gone, just too far away, with regard to the Linn demo, why anyone would need a sub with ATC 50s is totally beyond me, the ATCs don't exactly lack bass although it's very controlled so perhaps they were using the Rel to make the demo sound more spectacular even if less accurate, as for your conclusions, they are perfectly valid for you, just because something costs 100 times more doesn't mean it will sound any better, a good lesson, always listen and make your own mind up.
     
  6. Cyclone Ranger

    Cyclone Ranger New old stock

    Location:
    Best Coast USA

    All of that is VERY interesting. Props for posting it. :thumbsup:
    .
     
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  7. Pastafarian

    Pastafarian Forum Resident

    My experience of shows, in the 80's, was the usual suspects everywhere, those great sounding albums. However I'd prefer to hear what can be done with those regular sounding albums, any good system can make some recordings sound stellar, where a stellar system can make average albums sound fantastic.

    So what was the story now, same album in every room?
     
  8. Shiver

    Shiver Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    UK
    Dunno re the Rel. Hadn't heard the ATCs before that point for reference, but either way it all sounded fabulous. Amen to your last point.
     
  9. Shiver

    Shiver Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    UK
    Ha, good point.

    There was certainly some Pink Floyd, Rumours, and Money for Nothing at large if that's what you mean.

    Overall quite a mix of music though tbh, and we got there early which was quieter to talk to exhibitors and request stuff we were familiar with.

    ...Must say I'm developing something a physical repulsion for 'impressive-sounding' obscure jaunty jazz pieces being used to show off hifi gear; and there was plenty of that around too! I get it highlights timbre and midband etc, but where's the frame of reference (unless you're in to that stuff); how does it deal vocals, sibilance, and frequency extremes; can it cope with high energy and can it do dirty... and indeed how does it handle lesser recordings.
     
  10. Pastafarian

    Pastafarian Forum Resident

    Had a look at who was there and the AudioWorks room looked exciting, The Kronos Sparta turntable and Acuphases's DP-560 CD / SACD player. The Kronos has a reputation of possibly the best turntable and the new Accuphase has surpassed the dCS, according to dCS owners I know. Did you have the chance to hear what was happening there?
     
  11. Cyclone Ranger

    Cyclone Ranger New old stock

    Location:
    Best Coast USA
    Hate to go on about this, and I know that show conditions aren't always the best to hear differences, but...

    You just blew up three pretty big sacred cows there. As in, you made burgers out of 'em.

    Expensive shelves not making a big difference? Check.

    The incredibly hyped Linn Sondek 'booplinth' third-party mod (which allegedly makes a $4K 'Magik' level LP12 sound better than a $20K+ 'Klimax' level LP12, according to certain 'professional' reviews)... actually not that big a deal.

    And of course, the #1 Audiophile Rip-Off of All-Time™, the crazy-expensive cables scam. Nailed that one too.

    Bravo, good sir, bravo. :thumbsup:
    .
     
    Last edited: Jul 1, 2017
    Shiver likes this.
  12. Pastafarian

    Pastafarian Forum Resident

    The first question is how much better is the $20K LP12 than the $4K, perhaps not that great? The cost of the Booplinth, is a joke,even if Bamboo is an incredibly difficult material to work with and if major improvement is possible by using a different wood why have Linn stuck with a 40 year old design. I also wonder how much you can trust any review by Roy Gregory (I wouldn't), the only review I could find online.
     
  13. Shiver

    Shiver Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    UK
    Well, as you say not the best conditions... I don't know, maybe they'd all make a suitably big impact in different ones....

    Either way, always best to suspend any hype and pre-conceptions when using one's ears!
     
  14. Shiver

    Shiver Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    UK
    Yes, did hear a couple of track in that room. It was the Accuphase digital front-end in use at the time and not the Kronos. From memory, it didn't strike me for feel but sounded really impressive.
     
  15. Shiver

    Shiver Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    UK
    Just seen the booplinth cost: £2k plus shipping. Alrighty.
     
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  16. Stunsworth

    Stunsworth Forum Resident

    Location:
    Uk
    I went, my favourite rooms were the Music First Audio room with the Nagra digital reel to reel recorder mentioned above (I could very easily live with that system), and the TAD room. I thought the TAD speakers superb on vocals.

    At the other end of the scale the room I liked least was the one with the large red horns, I thought they sounded dreadful - though as ever it could have been a problem with the (large) room.

    Overall I really enjoyed the day out - and refreshments weren't the rip off I was expecting. I expect to go next year.
     
  17. Cyclone Ranger

    Cyclone Ranger New old stock

    Location:
    Best Coast USA
    Sigh. Even third-party LP12 upgrade prices are unintentionally hilarious. :biglaugh:
    .
     
    Last edited: Jul 2, 2017
  18. Shiver

    Shiver Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    UK
    Cool re the MFA system - someone really knew what they were doing putting that together.

    We also found the (Autotech/red) horn-based system a bit less enjoyable than we felt we should have. Despite the scale and detail, something of an off-putting starkness to it all (which others might enjoy).

    I recall too the Tune Audio Anima horn based system. Never heard anything like it in terms of a transparent, suspended image - amazing - but after dialling in to the lack of bass and drive it seemed a bit hollow. Conversely, I'd imagine after getting used to that, or if it suits one's musical taste, cabinet-based speakers would seem coloured and boomy in comparison.

    And right, details like not feeling ripped-off with catering can really help the feel of these things.
     
  19. Shiver

    Shiver Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    UK
    Don't know enough about the LP12 world to comment!

    The tables (as part of the system) did sound fantastic though - whichever plinth.
     
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