Bristol show ortopsy - Nordost room??

Based on the fact that many views have been exchanged since RG's review of the Nordost power cords I wondered what folks thought of the Nordost demos at Bristol?

Also, over and above the Valhalla cabling, what folks thought of the Hovland/Eben combo?

 

Sorry, cant help, couldnt even be bothered to go in the Nordost room

 

I put some thoughts in the other thread:

https://www.audio-forums.com/as-rediect/showthread.php?s=&goto=lastpost&threadid=3127

-- Ian

 

Well at least you are honest.

 

Nordost cables always seem to introduce a hardness in the upper midrange/lower treble that is rather unpleasant. IMO there are other cables that give better performance for a lot less money. Of course, YMMV.

The people I spoke to who did go in there said that there was quite a significant difference going from a standard lead to the entry level power cable, but the differences between the entry level cable and more expensive ones were minor.

 

Shows-----Why bother

Chaps

I hardly bother with shows now because they are just a waste of time.

You cannot really dem anything due to the cramped conditions and overspill noise from the room next door.

Hotel bedrooms just distort music and sound nothing like what you have in a domestic environment. The reality is that you make your way to hear what product X sounds like and you will almost certainly be disappointed. I do not know why the suppliers even bother to attend because their products are always badly presented.

Also I hate being jostled by a bunch of pamphlet collecting nerds.

The only decent sounds come from companies such as Naim who book a decent sized room at the top of the hotel.

I also feel sorry for the poor reps who have to stand there with a fixed smile answering the same daft questions from nerds who have no intention of buying anything.

Regards

Mick

 

Re: Shows-----Why bother

Except that this year they didn't. They had two small rooms, granted still at the top of the hotel, but next to each other

Wilson Benesch sounded good in the conservatory though. Those new Curve speakers sounded nice on the end of Audionet kit.

Meridian had a decent size room but still didn't manage to seem like value for money.

Some companies did however manage to make some very nice sounds in smaller rooms. Audiovector (+Arcam), Seventh Veil (+Wadia & Steinhart Audio), Living Voice (+damn, can't remember).

 

Yep in the main, show demos are poor and the environment is not conducive to say the least, but rather than general comments about Nordost or shows generally, I just wondered as well as Ian, whether anyone else sat through the Nordost demo at this show and particularly whether folks found the Hovland/Eben combo interesting?

I'm inexperienced with Nordost and dont aspire to their products but I was interested in attending because the subject of their power cords has stirred recent contraversy.

The room was very scandinavian - Nordost, Hovland, Eben (I dont recall the CD player but no doubt was from one scan country or another.

Their system was fully Valhalla cabled, then the demo involved changing the power cord on the CD player only - standard to Shiva to Vishnu to Valhalla (why the blend of Norse and Hindu?). I was surprised by the Valhalla cord though for the money?? No. However I did find the Hovland/Eben combo interesting.

Aside - Whilst the main Naim audio room (with the CDX2) was quite good, incidentally I'm neither pro nor anti Naim, I thought the CD5i/NAIT combo was poor.

 

Re: Re: Shows-----Why bother

Agree

Wasnt it SME TT, SME V, Kondo Cart; Resolution Audio Opus; Kondo Ongaku pre, Kondo valve mono blocks?

 

There are a few things I hate:
- when during a demonstration they talk too much
- when comparing stuff they change music. Sorry but why should they change the music? Fu****g why???

I heard a bigger difference from the common cord to the shiva but much less to the top line model. Well to express my feelings:
- with the common cable I could listen to that system for about half an hour
- with shiva for 2 hours
- with the top of the line maybe 3 hours

that also shows what I though about the Hovland/Eben combo.

 

Spot On titian

 

Titian I'll be honest it (Valhalla) after being 'cooked' for 3 days lasted in the system for a week (standard test period), before returning to reference & has remained unused since, so if anyone would like to buy a Valhalla power chord (US import) for a very fair price then PM please.

 

Titan, I think they [lay different music because they can't be sure you will hear a difference with the same !

I think it was bristol when naim unveiled the 552. IN fairness to them they did play the same peice of music with a 252 and a 552 and the differences were notciable. Plus they shut up when the music played!

 

Well I wished he could have shut up when the music was not playing.
His effort to put some humor in his long speech irratated me even more. On the other hand his speech was the only sound without distortion.
Actually why did that irritate me?
The problem must have been in me.