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With the advent of solid state media,
i.e. MP3, ipod, broadband mobile phone technology and server-based
systems, the hi-fi industry seems to have shifted towards multi-media
products, rather than concentrating on audio purity.
Whilst the 2006 Hi-Fi Show at Heathrow accurately
reflects this shift, it begs the question; instead of quality, are
we now merely looking in the direction of convenience?
Entering the room designated to Chord Audio, a
name that has been highly respected in the hi-fi industry for many
years - I was immediately faced with a multi-media server. A SERVER,
I thought this was a hi-fi-show, not some computer expo.
Granted, the thing cost a five-figure sum and
wouldn’t look out of place on the space shuttle, but it is
one example of how music delivered to us in this day and age has
changed.
On to the Ypsilon room - As I enter and turn right,
I am now looking at a quarter of a million pounds worth of audio,
yes you read that right, £250’000. (It makes the eyes
water).
Huge, hulking amps that look like the property of the National Grid,
an obelisk of a Rockport turntable, and cabling the thickness of
a giant squid’s tentacles, ready to pull the whole lot off
their respective shelves.
Even the brick like remote control unit would require
the owner to purchase a re-enforced coffee table to rest it on.
An impressive sight indeed, but was this wallet-busting set-up equally
impressive to the ear?
Sadly not! The words flat, soul-less and non-communicative
immediately spring to mind. I engaged my favourite Victor Wooten
CD for this listening session (A Show Of Hands). Wooten’s
bass playing is phenomenal on this album promising truly seismic
bass frequencies within. Unfortunately this mortgage-inducing equipment
did not come close to reproducing the dynamics and tonal shift this
great man is capable of. In fact, it was the total antithesis –
messy, un-involving, cold and clinical, with absolutely no deep
bass to speak of – not what I anticipated from amps the size
of 1960’s classroom radiators and speakers the size of a magician’s
trick cabinet. “It’s vinyl time”, we thought,
but unfortunately Joe Sample’s “Seven Years Of Good
Luck”, from the album “Spellbound” clamped firmly
to the Rockport turntable did not fair much better.
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By now, my faith needed restoration. Thank God
for Absolute Sounds – this Wimbledon-based, high-end hi-fi
importer was my salvation. The demonstration of a combination of
Audio Research amps and Wilson Audio watt puppy speakers was a revelation.
An insight into what REAL hi-fi sounds like. Powerful, yet unforced,
tactile and delicate - The true ‘musicians in the room’
experience.
As per previous years, many small, independent
companies were touting their wares. Totem’s small floor-standing
speakers proved that size is definitely not everything. ECS surprised
and left us eager to hear more from precisely constructed but un-complicated
components - Front man, Reuben Klein rightfully demonstrating confidence
in his equipment by just letting it speak for itself!
The biggest surprise (which I hinted at the beginning
of this report) was the number of MP3, MA and AAC devices, which
were allowed to be plugged into such esoteria. Even suggesting such
an act a few years ago would have been met with looks of pain, disgust
and even horror from many hi-fi manufacturers. Such add on devices
would not have been seen as ‘true hi-fi’. Jeez, they
would not even entertain the compact cassette 15 years ago –
Now, manufacturers allow us to plug Walkman phones into thousands
of pounds worth of hi-fi gear. What is the world coming to?
It seems as if the two-channel, ‘real hi-fi’
world is going into extinction and is therefore trying to lure potential
buyers in by sacrificing themselves at the altar of solid-state
media to keep their heads above water.
Me personally? I believe, with all of these music
formats available, we are only HEARING and have stopped LISTENING.
Well, that’s one man’s opinion anyway.
Albums used on demo included:
Victor Wooten – Show Of Hands
(CD)
Chris Botti – Night Sessions (CD)
Tsuyoshi Yamamoto Trio - Midnight Sugar (CD)
Joe Sample – Spellbound (vinyl)
Report by Andrew Griffith
© Michael Valentine Studio Ltd.
September 2006
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