Bristol Show 2013

Went yesterday (saturday) with Simon and the first thing noticed was how quiet it was.
Gone are the days where you had to struggle through packed corridors and on one occasion I left a room only to find the corridor empty. Sad but a sign of the times.

Kef appeared to have splattered loudspeakers all over the place with many manufacturers using them, especially the small models which as usual were being driven way too loud to appreciate.
Most sounded hard and aggressive as a result. On a couple of occasions we got up and turned the volume down to something more sensible at which point the sound improved considerably. Unfortunately this didn't last and the guys at the back of the large room just kept turning things up again These DC models have real potential but you'd never know it from the screeching and shouting coming from some rooms. Shows are always playing too loud IME. Fine if you want to show that something can play loudly but don't do it for continuous levels throughout the show. Well that's the main gripe out of the way.

Stars of the show were Rega, VDH, Quad (IAG), Sony, Guru and Rohde & Schwarz.

Rega were demonstrating a simple system nicely wighted to the front end - RP8/Apheta/New Phono stage/Elicit R/RS5. Sounded nicely controlled and inviting, and I like the new styling a lot.
A non working proto of the Saturn R was on display and you can see pics below.
Good to chat with Paul Darwin.

Quad were showing the new Electrostatics and these were sounding much like I expect them. Clean, controlled and driving the room nicely. Since this was also the IAG room we also saw the new Audiolab QDAC. Good chatting with Peter Comeau.

VDH had a static display but I include them in my stars of the show list since I managed to corner the good prof VDH and spend some time discusses stylus profiles, the history and development behind his work, and how things sit presently. Fascinating man and maker of the best tips ever to appear on a cartridge. Sadly the VDH tip is no longer manufactured but fortunately he holds good stocks to last him a long time. He'll be restoring my Mission 773 in due course.

Sony were demonstrating 4K equipment or Super HD as it's sometimes knows.
Yes folks, HD is dead, long live Super HD!
It looked absolutely stunning and sounded pretty good too.

Guru were showing the new Junior loudspeaker at £800 which is a more conventionally styled box than the existing models. I wasn't too struck on the looks but it sounded fine, much bigger than it looked and very even.

Rohde & Schwarz were sharing a stand with Hi-Fi world and had live demonstration of their audio analysis hardware. Various dacs and cables were shown under test with the results described. Very powerful stuff but the main analyser will set you back £20k. Fortunately you can hire them which was good to learn since this is about the best you can get. Hi-Fi world own one and use it for all of their technical testing.

That was it really. We visited most rooms but nothing else really struck me.



Some pics:


Naim had a large display stand (one of several plus a room) showing the new range new kit with the emphasis on streaming.


IMG_0212 by trebor1966, on Flickr


IMG_0210 by trebor1966, on Flickr

TEAC has some dinky new boxes - didn't hear them but they look cute:


IMG_0214 by trebor1966, on Flickr


IMG_0217 by trebor1966, on Flickr

Cyrus are 35 years old this year and were celebrating with limited edition gloss black kit and racks:


IMG_0206 by trebor1966, on Flickr

Cant recall what these are but they look interesting!


IMG_0260 by trebor1966, on Flickr


IMG_0261 by trebor1966, on Flickr

Brinkmann power amps, yummy, me want:


IMG_0251 by trebor1966, on Flickr

Guru Junior:


IMG_0245 by trebor1966, on Flickr


IMG_0243 by trebor1966, on Flickr

Rega Saturn R - prototype (non working):


IMG_0236 by trebor1966, on Flickr


IMG_0240 by trebor1966, on Flickr

Audiolab QDAC & M Power:


IMG_0229 by trebor1966, on Flickr


IMG_0234 by trebor1966, on Flickr


PMC:

If you want to play LOUD at shows, this is what you need:


IMG_0222 by trebor1966, on Flickr

This is the new PMC mid dome, made in house. Larger than most 8" bass units!


IMG_0226 by trebor1966, on Flickr


IMG_0223 by trebor1966, on Flickr

PMC passive crossover:


IMG_0228 by trebor1966, on Flickr

Close up on the Kef LS50:


IMG_0220 by trebor1966, on Flickr


Rohde & Scharz audio analyser:


IMG_0208 by trebor1966, on Flickr

 

I like the TEAC boxes. The Kef driver looks interesting, what did the rest of the speaker look like?

Edit: never mind, just Googled it.