Scottish Hifi & Home Cinema Show

Thanks for all the trouble ditton, youngish well 37 but look younger, fat well a bit overweight, but certainly not bald, thanks for trying anyway and sorry I missed you guys, the kitchen is a bit more than a coupla units though, complete remodeling would be better description, moving walls and doors and such, not to mention plumbing heating and electrics, oh well theres always next year, and of course the next embra S/O bake off.

Cheers

Paul

 

Its not that I don't like heavy rock, on the contrary Led Zep and others frequently fill in between symphonies at beeb hall, however I simply do not want it so loud. A far as I am concerned, there should be no need to play music at like live levels before it can be enjoyable!

 

A bit of a last minute descision for me but i popped down for a look-see, only a 120 mile round trip so worth a jolly.

Luckily I don't think that there was a single system that I couldn't live with, the organisers did a pretty good good job of setting up, etc, impo.

First room enetered was the Krell/Sonus Faber demo. Very dynamic and crisp sound, bags of power and it was needed as they where filling a large room hith very high ceilings. I did notice that there was a large sub left of centre and it made its presence , sometimes a little too much for my liking.

I also saw the Macintosh - Dali(?) demo , again very impressed. I thought the OPUS 3 linear tracking record player was the star of the demo though. The guy did a few demo's with back to back tracks on both CD and Vinyl, the vinyl completely wiped the floor with the wee silver discs...
The CD/DVD player was very good , don't get me wrong,and it wasn't a shabby inferior model either, it's just that the Record player was just that little bit better. Apparently the guy said that an awful lot of people had said that during the weekend. These are my words not his though....

Good to see that my ols fave brand of Louspeaker, System Audio were still trooping along and producing the goods. They where used by the Nordost people coupled to Primare CDP and Amp , and again I would have no problem whatsoever living with that little set up. I never got to see any A-B comparisons with the speaker, IC and power wires, which i suppose defeated the purpose of going to the Nordost room. The guy did do a before and after type demo using some kind of Anti-Static type cleaning spray. I have to be honest here and say that i thought i could detect a difference, I put this down to psyco accoustics with having a decent salesman in the room and left shortly afterwards.

Agree about the Totem/Rega room. I never got a look at the Rega P7 standing still as it was playing, does it come with a frilly white skirt under the platter , thats what it looked like to me, most distracting. All in All not too impressed, but I'm sure carefull set up and tweaking would soon get it singing for my ears.

The surprising star of the show for me and the system that I would have liked to take home with me was......

Audio Note. I'm really surprised about this but I've got to give my credit where it is due. I just loved this system. It used a Record player that looked remarkably like my old Systemdek iiX a Massive 8 watt integrated amplifier ( massive in physical size and sound that is ) and a pair of large 2 way loudspeakers that where crammed into a corner, (housewifes choice ). I found this system to be the most 'live withable' really very musical (sounded like instruments and people not Hi-Fi ) and extremely un-fatiguing. No hard sell salesman pitch either the guy let the equipment do the talking. It was a circa £7-8,000 system and so should sound good. I suppose i didn't really hear the system being played at ear splitting volume levels , but then again thinking about it down here on planet earth in Sids little modest world, I never really play my Hi-Fi at teenager/playground levels any more anyway, as i just don't enjoy it that way.

OH yeah and most improtantly of all, i managed to pick up a couple of new records that caught my eye. Radio 4's second album 'Stealing of a Nation' the first mini LP was brilliant and constantly 'in use' so I'm hoping for good things and i also got '22-20s' which seems to be sell titled. It came highly recommended by the Diverse Vinyl chap. I just wish i had more spare cash to spend as i could of bought armfulls of records, but Christmas is coming - 3 x teenagers, etc, etc, I'm sure you know the score.

Right off to play me new records.

PS
Naim Audio.
One day i will go to a Hi-Fi show and this brand will blow my socks off, i went to the show with a very open mind, and even put on some old socks just in case. Maybe next year......

 

Hmm, you guys have reminded me that I never got to see either the Audio Note or the Dali systems - the doors were locked both times I went by so I assumed the guys were out to lunch or something. If I'd rememebered that might've been reason enough to go again... d'oh... I still think the Living Voice system was the best I heard but I remember the AN system being enjoyable last time and the Dali was really something. Oh well, next time...

Oh, and the Rega TT didn't impress me as much as I thought it would (should!) either. I thought at the time it was the P9 rather than the P7, so I suppose my expectations were inappropriate, the P9 being a good chunk more expensive than the 7... As for the frilly skirt, well: http://www.rega.co.uk/product_images/P7 web.jpg

Dunc

Dunc

 

Forgot about Audio Note room - he was palying some nice chamber music at decent volume when I came in, sounded very nice and was enjoying it.... very surprised how well those big speakers work in the corners.
Then he changed it to some Jazz Lite (rhymes with *****).... time for a swift exit. retreated back to Living Voice room for another fix of real music, and good hosting by Kevin whatsisname.

 

WELL...heres my views from the day.

McIntosh/Dali system was my star of the day.. enthusiastic guy doing the demoing.. knew his stuff and some good music... really wiped the floor with the CD player though.

Some good panpipe music was being played and i was amazed at the bass power and depth from what seemed like speaker cable thin enough to wire a turntable arm with.


Next was the Audio Note system with the TT1 (sid and coke the TT1 is a direct replacement for the old systemdek and uses most of the same parts.. hence the similarity) and the valve amp... another great system sounded clean crisp and realistic.

There was also another system using tiny little monitor speakers and two subwoofers i cant remember what it was called but the logo was a triangle made up of two latters... something acoutics i think... anyways the little monitors imaged beautifully and the sub integration was very well done.. cant help but feel that they deserved better than an arcam AV amp.

Hugest let down of the day was the NAIM system.. sounded harsh and shallow... and the krell/sonus faber system i couldnt really eveluate because they played it SOOO loud that it was heard from 2 floors down and along the corridor... it was just too loud to be enjoyable in any kind of way. good bass though.

The martin logan/copland system was enjoyable at the end of the day (i heard it just at closing time by myself with just the loud and clear guy) and it was very enjoyable.. the speakers dissapeared completely and just the music was left. The AR valve amp did struggle with upper bass on the rock tracks though.

Generally a good day hampered by a few let downs... but credit to the McIntosh guy again for keeping his room very busy all day... was by far one of the busier ones for its size.

And thanks to all the guys at loud and clear for all their unbiased advice and help througout the day.

 

Leema Accoustics. They told me they didn't have the subs switched on... if that was really the case then the mini monitors were doing a fine job by themselves.

 

He played quite a varied selection when i was there, i enjoyed some of the Jazz and classical stuff surprisingly , probably because it is music i don't normally listen to and it was being played very well.

Yeah it was a good demo and a nice chap doing the honours. Given the fact that both the Krell and the Macintosh systems sounded so good it makes me wonder if American Hi-Fi systems get rubbished by Brits just because it seems fashionable to do so. I had almost got to the stage where i figured that 'yank tanks' weren't even worth considering, at least visiting this hi-Fi show has dispelled that myth for me , they sounded fab !

As someone has mentioned Naim I suppose i should add a little. The system itself looked absolutely top dolllar, i could see that it is very well made gear and has a very appealing minimilist look to it, it is better in the flesh than any picure in a Hi-Fi mag. The Fraim Hi-Fi support also looked to be very well made and quite stylish. I really wanted to be impressed by this brand and was hoping this would happen. Basically it didn't. The room was quite small which suited n me fine as thats all that i've got at home, The speakers where positioned close upto the rear wall and spaced at a sensible distance , another big plus point. The music being played was dire, really plinky plonky jazz that i just will not ever enjoy listening to. I don't get it, never will and am no longer going to bother trying, period. The music was also being played at an unreasonably low volume, this was for a reason. I was going to ask the guy to crank it up a little, however he seemed to be constantly plagued by a stream of affluent looking , grey haired old gentlemen that where obviously in total anguish with which direction they should be going in next. All i heard from behind me (over the music ) where numbers being crunched. "what if add a Hi-Cap to my XXX will it sound like a YYY, or should i add a ZZZ and a flat cap". My overriding thought as i left the room for the second time in 2 hours was "F**K me , this sh*t carries some baggage !" I will say that the (Low volume- talked over ) Music that i did hear sounded pretty good , no doubt if i was ever serious about this brand then a Dealer Demo would be de-rigeur, as a Hi-Fi show 'snap shot' though It was bettered by others, and they where all in the same rooms, using the same electric, so no excuses.

 

Sounds like the typical Naim show experience, bit like walking into a car showroom and wondering why the Ferrari isn't performing well . You're right Naim carry a lot of baggage but I suspect that's why they sell so well. Once you start it's very easy to buy another box and get a better sound (in theory) I spent three months off the boards and relaxed about my kit, with in a week or returning I was back to wondering if £80k on the next upgrade was that foolish after all.

Sid - If you're ever passing to the West of Perth and want to hear Naim played loudly without grey men muttering drop me a line.

And as for greymen, that reminds me. I loathe the sort of dem where we all sit in front of a high powered rig, middle aged, fat, sitting motionless & emotionleass while the music is played. FFS if it's any good we should be letting go and tapping feet, moving & grooving to the beat, but no everyone's far to embarassed. So to those who remember a certain Naim dem at Bristol last year. The "obvious plant" front & centre was me.

 

hehe is that naim demo open to any other scots might eb nice to hear naim do something properly and not be hampered by room, speaker placement and bad music choice.

 

If you're in the area. I suppose we could have little session here with like minded ZG folk.

 

Sid and Coke,

Why did you not make yourself known and ask for some music you liked played at a reasonable volume ?

I can state for a fact that I played no plinky jazz all weekend unless Miles Davis falls into that catagory for you.

Paul.

 

Thinking about this show, was very surprised when I consider who was not there. With the exception of Naim and Linn , almost all the major British HiFi companies who are houshold names:
No presence from Arcam, Cyrus, Mission, Musical Fidelity, Quad, Tannoy. Why not?
Also, no Myryad, Talk, Orelle etc.

When you consider that most of these companies have major new products just out its very surprising.

 

Not surprising to me - it was in Scotland for Christ's sake

Seriously though, they weren't at Heathrow either, although they are to be seen at lifestyle shows and will be at Bristol with plenty of bling fi.

All the companies you mentioned seem to be run by the marketing boys these days. Those at Heathrow were refreshingly old school

 

Hi Paul,
If it was in fact you who was doing the Demo then yes I suppose i should have made myself and my needs more obvious. On the two occasions that i did enter the room the guy who was doing the demos seemed to be deep in conversation with prospective customers/ users. I got the distinct impression that i would have been intruding if i'd asked the man in charge to crank it up a little, I would also have felt that i was being a bit rude to the guys asking the questions as they where there before me. There were plenty of other rooms that i wanted to have a look and listen to during the limited amount of time I had available on Sunday and so thought I'd just leave and look/listen elsewhere, I'm glad i did to as i heard some excellent sounds.

I am not familiar with Miles Davies or his work, although obviously I have heard of him. The music being played sounded both plinky and plonky to me, although we all hear things in different ways, one mans plink being another mans plonk.


I'm sure you are a very nice chap, your system certainly looked the business , as i have already stated. Just a pity i didn't get to hear it in all its glory .

My post was not menat to either offend or inflame , just telling it as i personally saw it. I look forward to meeting you and Miles next year , Perhaps make myself more obvious, bring along some of my favorite tunes and untie my shoe laces in anticipation.

 

Sid and Coke,

Thanks for that, I too look forward to you bringing in some discs next year so we can frighten the neighbours !!

Best regards,

Paul

 

I dont think the shops organising the show stock these brands.

 

Let's face it, there aren't that many high end hi-fi shops up here. Certainlt none round Perth unless you count B&O or Sony.

 

You should be thankful for that, living in a big city with tons of well-stocked stores can be a nightmare

 

if Linn, Naim, Sugden, Living Voice etc could turn up in their own right - i.e. not under a shop's display, why couldn't the others?