Heathrow

Hardly anybody there apart from ZG'ers. Very good to finally meet The Esteemed Leader, Michael, and Greg, MartinC and timbo, and to meet up with some of the usual suspects again.

The Seventh Veil room was sounding better than it was at Bristol, and many thanks to Steve for once again letting us take over the room and play loads of music. Very foolish to put me in charge of the CDP for any length of time... Impressive skanking, Steve.

I managed to play John Zorn in the MacIntosh room (very nice looking integrated, serious beast, I believe Merlin was quite impressed), Mingus in the Towshend room (those speakers are not worth 12K of anyone's money, although it was sounding pretty good), and John Lennon, Robbie Basho, Burning Spear, The Art Ensemble of Chicago, Son House, and Captain Beefheart in the Seventh Veil room. I count this as a result.

An odd selection of kit: Opus 3 turntable with Professor Branestawm linear tracker, cheap and decent, full Audionote vinyl setup sounding quite pleasant, Icon Audio amps into Living Voice speakers (supported on coffee tables) in a huge room that wasn't doing them any favours, DPS turntable into Tron amps, Tact sounding distinctly underwhelming (I suspect they need a bad room to show what they can do, in this room the music sounded far better without any correction), underwhelming and expensive Audia amps into Vienna Acoustics in the Henley room. Nothing outstanding, to be frank, and no fisticuffs over DBT either, what a missed opportunity.

An odd show, on the whole, but a diverting day.

-- Ian

 

sounds like the best thing there was yer music

john

 

it was certainly a different kind of show than either bristol or the 'big' heathrow event. i for one enjoyed it more then either of them. the rooms were bigger and more conducive to a better sound. they were also spaced farther apart so you got less intereference from 'next door'. best though was not having to wade through crowds of people only to find a boom'n'tizz av system at the end of the rainbow for your troubles.
to my mind none of the rooms actually sounded bad, i was quite impressed with the steinhart audio room, it actually made classical music interesting to listen to! steves speakers sound better every time i hear them. i finaly got to hear the metronome t1i cd player. not with naim amps mind you so i'm not drawing any conclusions but after listening it's still on the shortlist for when the great cd player hunt resumes - although i'm leaning towards a seperate transport / dac now as this will allow me to stream music wirelessly from a hard drive.
as usual with these things the best part was meeting up with my fellow zg-ers and having a bit of a chin wag in the bar (cheers for the drink ian).
cheers


julian

 

Hi

Again, it was great to meet everyone, and have a few drinks in the bar after.. thanks Graham for explaining what a 'fugue' is - I actually get it now!

Nothing was outstanding hifi wise I feel. Lots of Dali speakers (in 3 rooms) which sounded a bit clumpy and lumpy to me.

Worst sounding room to me was probably the DALI/TACT room, which sounded thin and emaciated. Im sure this kit can do better... Also the 'graves audio' horns and valves room, sounded pretty poor to me, with horns I wouldnt be able to live with. Funny looking 1930s style amps too. Bless em.

The beauhorn Virtuosos did something 'right' with classical music and jazz that nothing else did - definately a well designed horn, and a very packed room. Why they used a cheap philips CD player with this high end kit though, is beyond me

Nice one Steve for putting up with a flock of forum people! 7V room was one of the better sounding ones on the day.

Audio Physic room - boomy bass, ? whats going on here? Ive heard great things about Audio Physic, but this sounded a bit crap to be honest.

Dean will be along soon (hopefully) with some digi pictures... There was one open baffle pair of speakers with perspex and a horn loaded tweeter that might sound really good under different circumstances... worth looking out for...on the day the near field position we had gave me a headache with overly exhuberant treble, but I think they can do better.

Merlins new Mac looks the business, with a very enjoyable sound. Big flashing blue VU's and black perspex front look the dogs aswell. Hope this one is a keeper mate

The audionote room sounded good too.. it appeared that they had rear ported speakers stuff right into the corners though?? - whatever, it sounded good. Treble a little withdrawn, but a full engaging sound that was liveablewithable.

I also sneaked a listen at the end to the 'RDC' speakers (as in built of RDC - resonance damping compound - like the RDC cones).. Ive seen these speakers a couple of times in audiophile candy mags. Dissapointingly on the day, another lacklustre performance... the room again perhaps?


Anyway, Ive waffled enough.

NB Dean- if you're reading - what was that Solomon Burke CD?

Chris

 

Yep, good to meet up with the usual suspects again yesterday, plus it was nice to meet greg, A0S and MartinC for the first time.

I thought the Graves kit sounded OK when I heard it, they weren't playing anything too taxing though at the time, the slow movement of a Mozart horn concerto from vinyl on a an old (but not that shabby?) Sony direct drive turntable.

I think the room was definitely working in Audionote's favour what the speakers backed into the corners, but then their speakers are always designed to work best hard up against the back wall aren't they? As that's how I've always seen them dem'd at shows. Impressive chest thumping sound from such small watts of course, so case proven there. As for the rolled off top end, that's just AN (UK?) kit for you isn't it, as I've never heard any different?

 

Yep, they're based on Snell rear loaded horn designs, and only really work in room corners. I know from experience, if you can't get them in the room corners, there's not much point having them.

-- Ian

 

I had a good day despite having to rush off reasonably early. It was good to meet Steve (7V), WM, HenryT, Julian & Isaac among others.
I thought Steve's speakers sounded great. I'm looking forward to hearing the smaller ones(standmounts Steve?)
The Beauhorns sounded great paticularly on Mars from The Planets.
I did like the Townsend system but as Isaac pointed out it was £20k.
I agree with Botleneck about the RDC speakers I was expecting great things. I really like the RDC platforms but the speakers were just a bit

Andrew

 

Good to meet a few new people off the forum, as well as a few of the bake-off/show regulars. Cheers for the drink Ian!:beer:

 

Good to see the usual suspects again and meet Ian (sideshow), greg, timbo and Dev for the first time. I had to leave early though - shame I missed Chris and Dean

Steve's (7th Veil) room sounding pretty good to my ears - the first time I've heard them. I thought most rooms actually sounded pretty good for a change. Most impressed by the AudioSolutions room with the Continuo TT, Cantus linear tracker, Korato amplification and Dali speakers. In that room they also had an AudioNote CDT Zero transport driving an AN DAC 1.1x as a digital front end and for all the slagging off I've given AudioNote DACs on AudioAsylum :JPS: I have to say it sounded pretty damned good .

The McIntosh room also very impressive. McIntosh DVD-A player and integrated driving some Dali speakers. First time listening to John Zorn but Ian was kind and played something that wasn't "extreme noise terror" and I actually really liked

I thought the Beauhorn's were quite underwhelming. They were playing Mars from Holst's Planets from the same recording I have (Dutoit, Montreal Symphony) so I know it well and I thought it sounded very thin and lacking any kind of body.

I took a few pics but won't be able to post them until next weekend when I get back home to Portugal.

Michael.

 

It was a track from this:

http://www.tzadik.com/CDSections/BirthdaySeries/masada_string.html

The Masada String Trio, recorded live in NYC, part of Zorn's massive and diverse Masada project (ranging from free jazz to extreme noise terror, via chamber music and guitar solos). This is the first release in a series from Zorn's 50th birthday celebrations last year, which was commemorated with a month of concerts of Zorn with a bewildering array of different groups and collaborators. I think the plan is to release virtually all of this stuff on CD, hooray!

-- Ian

 

Hi,

An interesting day out. A change of plan meant I had time to pop in.

Good to meet again, Steve M, Big Tone, Ian, Chris, Henry, Julian, Dev, Michael (Merlin) & Graham. Good to meet Martin C for the first time but didn't get to speak to him. I saw Isaac as he was leaving. I'm sorry to have missed Michealab, Timbo, A0S & any others who were there.

I must admit that the size of some of the rooms was good. A lot were quite well spaced out so noise from other rooms wasn't a major problem. It was good to see (& hear) no major AV stuff at the show.

I like the Beauhorn stuff as it had a enjoyable sound. It would have been nice if there was a turntable to hand. It think they used a Philips SACD player & the Beauhorn single ended amp.

The Audionote room was also enjoyable. The speakers, Audionote Es were placed in the corner. These are rear ported speakers not horn loaded. I think they worked due to the lean bass quality of the amps. I used to use a pair of Snell J & Audionote Js & I had these well away from the back wall.

The McIntosh room was sounding good as well. Nice looking gear. I can see why Merlin is a fan.

I agree about the Tact room. This was underwhelming. Massive room.

The Townshend room had some interesting looking stuff. Good to see a new Townshend Rock on display & in action.

I liked the look of the funky looking speakers in the GT Audio room. Not too sure about the sound quality overall.


The open baffle speakers looked interesting as did the Shandling cd players & amps. A better room may give better results. I also spied a passive transformer pre amp in action.


The 7th veil was packed with an array of goodies on offer including the 7th Veil speakers, Tweaked Wadia 850, Michell Orbe/SME V/Koetsu Red, Michell phono stage & power supplies, Border Patrol P20 amp & Bel Canto amp. All wired up with Omega cables + Voodoo platforms. This produced the best sounds overall. It also had the best music.

I suppose the highlight was the Zerogain members club party at the end of the show, where Ian & I entertained people with a selection of our tunes. Steve was the perfect host, show he has not lost his touch on the dance floor. Nice moves! It was good to hear Pluto 12" single, 'Your honour'. Corking tune.

One thing I did notice was the lack of people at times. It was so empty in some rooms that you were expecting tumbleweed to be blown past. Some people (exhibitors) were just glad to see anyone walk through their doors.

I 'scored' some vinyl for £26 from a bloke who had a table in the corridor. I picked up 14 albums. A very good result as some of these were not too common & have book prices of over £10. All were excellent to mint condition.

For the record, I played the following.

Scritti Politti - Songs to Remember LP

Johnny Adams - Johnny Adams sings Doc Pomus, The real me. LP

Howard Tate - Rediscovered. CD

Solomon Burke - Don't give up on me. CD ( This is the one Chris)

Various Artists - Rough & Tough, The Story of Ska 1960 -1966. CD

SCIDB

 

Thanks for that Ian. I have to say I really enjoyed that too

As ever, it was fun to meet up with you all and get to listen to some good music at a show for once.

I enjoyed the Audionote room, although the music chosen was, shall we say, unchallenging.

Nothing else really grabbed, although I thought the Towsend rig showed great potential ( I suspect the power amp is going to be a killer), and of course the McIntosh setup was everything a hifi should be - aestetically pleasing

My highlight was listening to the Sam Cooke remaster on the big Mac whilst hypnotised by the blue eyes

Managed to pick up some great SACD's so have enjoyed the rest of the weekend listening to some wonderful old classics and some great sounding modern stuff. Well worth the trip, if only to see WM doing his Motorhead Roadie impression and Steve skanking "Suwwey Stylee".

Was it just me, or did anyone hear anything with real dynamics and bass?

 

Yes, I'm thinking that standmounts will be the way to go on the Nonsuch 2s.

Thanks for all your comments so far, guys (about my dancing). It was great fun to have a ZeroGain 'listen in' at the end of the day. It's becoming a regular show occurrence.

Soundwise I was quite pleased. The room was much better than at Bristol and it was a good decision to drop the concept of using the same amps for bass and full-range. This time we chose more specialist amps for each and it payed off. I don't believe that there was much touble with integrating the bass with the full-range, either.

We actually achieved a better sound on Sunday than Saturday. The equipment was more warmed up and we did some juggling with Stillpoints and superballs.

SCIDM, I'm glad you enjoyed my prized 45rpm of Pluto. Just be thankful that I didn't find my 'Best of Desmond Decker' LP until after you'd gone.

Thanks are again due to Steve from Michell, Graham from Trichord, Wayne and Woody - the Voodoo Isolation boys, Gary from BP and, of course our very own Tone (w-m) - the best cable man and tweaker in the business.

The sight of Tone diligently cleaning the Koetsu with the stylus brush before each playing is one that will live in the memory. Shame I didn't bring my camera.

 

Well that was my 1st ever show, and to be honest if I had'nt been collecting a new toy from Tony I would'nt have gone.

However I'm pleased that I did make a brief visit. It was good to put a few faces to names. Cheers Steve for being such a groovy host. I did enjoy what I heard of Ians cd .

Can't say I thought that much of the other rooms, perhaps I was unlucky with what was being played in the rather large AudioSolutions room.

timbo

 

Hey guy's didn't you know Lemmy wrote 'We are the road crew just for me' (aged 14, I wanted to start early in the music biz!) Me :.
Would like to say first, a BIG thanks to allthe Z/G guys who came and said hello, your presence was great cheers.
I would like to echo Steve's sentiments, also. The sound was achieved was much better than Bristol, weather it was the room/kit, or 'Pratting about' not to sure yet, but hey it worked
The hotel was nice, great venue just needs some serious marketing and better signage about the place, minor gripes aside good weekend and amore relaxed and pleasurable atmosphere than the hustle & Bustle of Bristol
Mentions too also for Timbo, Larkin, Tom (NOS), AOS (Andy), Martin C and Andy Randle too, plus the usual band of reprobaitsm, and that side show commandering a CD Player, best not let the vinyl junkies know eh Ian ?
The Bp power amp was a better tonal match this time, more fuild and transparent, the TT was singing this time too (Thanks to MR F, who slight readjustment of the SME V paid dividends)
Today, we fine honed the sound so more, plus I think things settled in too, which helped.
I did take time out visit the show this time (Steve's, skanking amusing the crowd so I slipped away to sample some other aural delights)
No particular order, Tact room was :zzzz: , Max t's room, clean, almost open sound Bright, but not hard bass humm, not sure there, not terrible involving but as merlin said shows promise.
Steinhart room, dynamic scale ok, detail light and a bit cold, but sounded impressive on orchestral crishendon's
Beuhorn, disappointing, for a horn not much in the way of dynamics, too polite.
Audio note room , with W/B act 2 ripp offs, first impressions v.good, after 5 mins hum got a touch wearing, good dynamics and life, nice bass weight, bit too coloured, but enjoyable
Macintosh room, with the dali's, not sure about the player, amp was passable speakers showed they could do hifi and music, it had promise to yeild good results, especially with a £1k i/c on it
Henly designs ?, the AP virgo's, I've heard sound a lot better
Icon, for the typical valve sound not bad, interesting use of tables, mana boys taking notes ?
Yes good and varied weekend, we could have got more, but hey cest'le vive'
Big thanks to Gary@ B/P, Graham@Trichord, Steve@Michele, Wayne@ Voodoo and Steve@ 7th V, we achieved what we set out to do this weekend make music. thanks for your surport Wm

 

And I thought Tone-speak was based on English. Just shows how wrong a guy can be

Oh well, c'est la vie

 

Nah, it's Dell Boy lingo

It was a good day. I'm sorry I had to leave early.

My biggest disappointment of the show was the McIntosh. It was good until the guy put on REM's Losing my Religion, one of my favourite tracks and I just couldn't believe how dull it sounded. I was told that the DVDA recording wasn't a particularly good one. Some of you guys liked the McIntosh so I guess it must have been the recording.

Highlights, apart from meeting you guys and Steve's speakers , was the Steinhart room. I think I enjoyed the show because it wasn't very big, if that makes sense.

 

Yep the McIntosh system was sounding crap on the last day for some reason.

Conversely, the TacT/Dali system was bloody amazing on the Sunday. Maybe they changed the setup. First time I really heard a digital amplifier in its full glory - and I was impressed. Possibly the best technique for playing back CD. With the TacT/Dali system there was full bodied attack, dynamics, scale, control and differentiation of instruments.

The Korato system next door was impressive too, and I think it grooved more than the TacT/Dali set-up.

The 7th Veil/Omega system was definitely doing the business. Majoring on spine tingling atmospherics.

Beauhorn was an interesting experience. Not bad, but not brilliant. I wasn't keen on the large bulbous phase plug they use for the lowther driver, kind of like generating "2nd hand sound". Interesting effect none-the-less.

Sadly, exhibitors like Graves Audio and Beauhorn seemed to be using sub-standard source components.

Overall, it was a nice and relaxed show in an excellent venue, and some excellent sounds too.

Andrew

 

Totally gutted I missed this; was due to travel over with Henryt but I lost the plot on the Friday after being up for 19 hours trying to get bloody Glastonbury tickets :cry: , so I drank myself silly
:guiness: and then proceeded to :chunder: all out of the window of my mate's Mini One while driving over to pick up a mate...

So Saturday morning was a write off...

I hope Eavis gets his flippin' act together next year - Aloud.com were bad enough for trying to get Morrissey tickets from; how the HELL they "couldn't anticipate demand" for Glasters is totally beyond me!!!! Tw**s

 

Dev,

whilst I am not claiming the Mac is a worldbeater, what I suspect is that the player defaulted to the 5.1 mix, quite normal with DVDA's sadly. If that was the case then yes it would sound very dull indeed.