Click images above
to enlarge. (Bentley / Naim & info desk)
Report by Les Best & Robin Francis
With the wind and rain battering bare faces,
expectant ears, camera, lenses and laminated name tags, it was
a relief to take shelter and be greeted by the warm smiles at
the front desk of the 2020 Bristol Hi-Fi Show. With five packed
floors of premium hi-fi to explore, we knew we would be fully
warmed up by the end of the show.
We followed the laid back (slightly retro sound
& looks) from the Harman / JBL stand. A real
reminder of how simple things were in the ‘80s. Another
name of long standing and a further welcoming greeting came from
Keith Monks who was keenly demonstrating his
new Prodigy record cleaning machine. With a sleek, modern design,
this machine garnered a lot of attention from vinyl lovers looking
to insure their records remained in tip-top condition.
A new-to-us company, Kirmuss Audio,
kept all hi-fi enthusiasts mesmerised with their technical and
passionate explanation regarding their Ka-Rc-1 ultrasonic record
cleaner. Our just purchased copy of Vincent Berlanger’s
“Pure Cello” on the Audio Note record label was handed
over for the ‘well advised’ (by Vincent Bélanger
himself) clean on this super quiet machine.
‘What a difference a year makes!’
Last year’s demonstration by Dynaudio left
us colder than the temperature outside the hotel! This year we
couldn’t get enough of the musical power, control and elegance
of the Confidence 50 loudspeaker (powered by Dynaudio’s
Bill Livingston’s own Naim amplification). We were handed
the main control tablet for the Naim system and were encouraged
to select whatever genre we wished. The fact that we (and others)
sat back, removed our loose jackets and relaxed our shoulders
is testament to all components used (list with photographs below)
in the gently lit Dynaudio room. The Dynaudio Confidence 50 speakers
not only conveyed emotional insight into every track selected,
these speakers delivered tonal accuracy on par with some of the
most revered studio monitors with added emotion and drama. Hopefully,
we will be able to explore other speakers in the Dynaudio Confidence
range later?
Naim / Focal bravely occupied
the same huge space as last year, but with added room treatment
in the form sound dispersion & absorption panels in specified
areas. Whilst both of us found the system vastly lacking last
year, this year’s ND555 fronted Statement (power & pre)
/ Scala Utopia Evo combo was, to at least one of us, “jaw-droppingly
good.” The centrally placed Naim Statement amplifier
(746W into 8O, 1450W into 4O, 9kW burst power into 1O) certainly
had a tight grip on all areas within the musical spectrum. Given
the cost (57k amplifier & 65k pre-amplifier) I can imagine
this system will be a discussion piece for a long while.
The PMC / Martin Logan / AVM / Bryston
demonstration focused mainly on the MartinLogan Expression ESL
13A, Motion series & the PMC Twenty5 26i’s. Obviously,
this was a wide range of speaker types for a very wide ranging
audience (something for everyone). Those who had not before experienced
the musical holography of a MartinLogan ESL, left the demo room
especially in awe. Many also visually expressed contentment after
listening to music through the PMC Twenty5 26 i’s.
That doyen of hi-fi, Audio Note,
repeated their relatively simple looking system set-up from last
year. Again, we were quickly reminded not to be fooled by simplicity!
Just as with the relatively no thrills looking system set-up,
we were treated by a very low key live (unamplified) cello duo
performance (Belanger alongside CD) by the aforementioned Vincent
Bélanger. With eyes closed, we listened and genuinely found
it difficult to differentiate ‘live’ from recorded.
The Audio Note system demonstrated great depth, breadth, width
and tonal accuracy with ease.
The uniquely named Von Gaylord
130watt Nirvana mono block amplifiers and Legend Reference speakers
fronted by the MBL CD transport offered a big, vibrant and detailed
sound. This was a room we would definitely have spent more time
listening and exploring given the chance.
Although not for us, it is impossible to not
mention to the beautifully crafted Curvi-BMR (Funk Firm
/ Curvi hifi) speaker. Resembling a vertical side-winding
snail in shape, this speaker is definitely eye-catching and raised
many eyebrows. Coupled with the Akutrak phono stage turntable
– cartridge performance comparison by physicist Arthur Khoubesserian,
this room prompted many a technical and emotional discussion.
We entered the Living Voice / Kuzma
demonstration room with great expectation. Thankfully, the celebrated
Auditorium OBX speakers fronted by the Kuzma Stabi R turntable
did not disappoint - giving a sound and experience to behold.
The effortless dynamic range and beautiful natural highs massaged
our ears. Credit has to be given to the ‘Living Voice Pure
Music Battery Power Supply’ occupying one corner of the
room. Considering the consistent use of specific power conditioners
in many of the rooms at last years’ show, this was definitely
a ‘different’ (and refreshing) approach!
Rogers - another name from
yesteryear displayed ‘another type of retro’ with
a visually beautiful collection of ‘vintage’ turntables
including a pristine looking Goldring Lenco75 with an equally
attractive Thorens TD124 with 12” SME arm. To prove the
fact that beauty and high audio quality can be achieved, the Thorens
TD124 with 12” SME arm provided us with a stunning fluid
and haunting playback of the vocals of London Grammar’s
Hannah Reid.
As with last year’s show, we were treated
with various streaming demonstrations, but this year it seems
we were provided with extra home theatre & AV room demonstrations
from the likes of Klipsch and Kef,
through to Emotiva / SVS systems. Most of these
demos generating room filling, chair vibrating sounds. However,
it was the Rel AV room we feel offered the most
accurate, fastest and believable sound (room size permitting)
with their S/510 in-line array configuration supporting a pair
of Kef Ref 1 stand-mounts. The Rel set-up was not only visually
very impressive, but their ability to fill-in, punch, be subtle
(when required) and convey sound with speed in a 2-channel setup
is the reason we have chosen to invest within our own two-channel
systems.
We spent two days (one day more than last year)
exploring, discovering, excited and generally fulfilled at this
years’ Bristol HI-FI Show. Yet, we still did not see everything.
We may have to consider pitching a tent for the full three days
next year
(weather & any other unnatural events permitting)!
© Michael Valentine Studio
22-23 February 2020
Featured exhibitors:
Audio Note, Audio-Technica, Audiolab / Wharfdale, Avid HI-FI,
Bentley / Naim Audio, Bowers & Wilkins, Canton, Chord Company,
Chord Electronics, Decent Audio, Dynaudio, Elipson, Emotiva /
SVS, Falcon Acoustics, Funk Firm / Curvi HI-FI, Fyne Audio, GIK
Acoustics, Harmon / JBL, Henley Audio / Musical Fidelity, Keith
Monks, KirmussAudio, Living Voice / Kuzma, Melco, Michell Engineering,
Naim Audio / Focal, PMC / MartinLogan / AVM / Bryston, Proac,
Pro-ject, Project Audio Systems / Musical Fidelity / Klipsch,
Rel, Rogers, Sound Fowndations, Tonar, Von Gaylord Audio &
Voxativ
Audio Note delivering a natural sound.
“Audio Note keep it simple” - Vincent Bélanger
Dynaudio
- Power, control and elegance. Our show listening room winner!
List of components:
Confidence 50 Raven speakers
Naim ND555/55PS, Naim NAC552/552DR, Naim NAP300/300DR
Naim SuperLumina interconnects
Naim SuperLumina 2.9m speaker cables
Naim core with 16 bit albums ripped from CD (Accurip) and 24 bit
albums from HD tracks loaded onto the core
Akutrak phono stage turntable
& cartridge performance comparison
by physicist Arthur Khoubesserian (Funk Firm)
Go
to The Bristol HI-FI Show 2020 page two
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