North West Audio Show

[simon]

The speakers in situ first thing this morning with a Sony something TT, Music First Audio pre, Nick's phono and amps. No shots of the gang as they were still a bit green in the gills after last night...
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[IslandPink]

Very good.
I somehow missed you and Steve.
I spent a lot of time in the room, from 1pm onwards. Just got back after a late dinner , plenty of entertainment and a lot of good music.
Nick's system and Colin's speakers sounded superb.

Andrew was talkative and animated as usual, but fell asleep while listening to 'Rage against the machine' at high volume. One of many highlights from the day.

[Ali Tait]

Andrew says he was “Intently listening” and you’re a cheeky monkey.

[Cressy Snr]

…'Rage against the machine' at high volume.

I’d have fled the room

[simon]

That's a shame Mark, we went in Nick's room three times I think but it's such a large venue with so much to see and hear. We only scratched the surface I think.

It's a long time since I've seen commercial kit and some of the price tags were a bit of a shock.

[IslandPink]

Yes, i agree.

I had a go round and visited a selection of rooms but not everything. I have been around in more detail in the past and established some likes/dislikes, though.
Audio Note did not sound good this time, normally there's something engaging, but the tone wasn't there, and the bass was beset by an obvious resonance when they were trying to play 'School Days' by Stanley Clarke.
Kerr Acoustics sounded excellent apart from the sub which was doing the usual sub things. The speakers, with those Scan Speak sliced-cone mids and ribbon tweeter, were full of tone and high-res in the treble.

One other room that was a pleasure was the smaller Auden Distribution room, where they had a modest vinyl front-end and solid state amps driving a pair of the smaller Eggleston Works speakers. This had a very natural and balanced sound to it, could be listenable in the long-term.

[gninnam]

I went on the Saturday and enjoyed it apart from a few rooms were playing too load for what the room could take and also I missed a good many rooms as they were full to the brim with bodies.
The little PMC speakers caught my attention - seemed to be very full bodied and enjoyable in such a tiny package!
Nicks room was very good although the speakers required a change of cable due to them being a bit bright when I heard them in the morning, sounded a lot more natural when I heard them agin in the afternoon!

A few pics of some of the other rooms - didn't note the kit etc but gives those who couldn't make it :

[simon]

I thought the Kerr Acoustics room was pretty good too, though I found the sound uncomfortably bright for me. Those speakers are £20k I think.

Gninnam's photos proved how big a show it was - we never saw most of those rooms! You could easily spend a full weekend if you were so inclined, and had the listening stamina.

5th down - Audio Note. We poked our heads in but they were playing metal - AC/DC perhaps can't remember and it was just loud and a bit thuddy in the bass. We were at the back as it was busy so probably not the best place to listen.

7th down. We walked past looking for lunch and poked our heads in. Such a large room and speakers promised much but it was very underwhelming.

16th down - Audion. Don't remember what I thought of that now. That may or may not tell the tale. Think the speakers were impressive for the small size driver IIRC. Not cheap though.

19th down - Malvern Audio. This looked a bit like our stuff. PX25 PP monos and Lowthers in the speakers. There was bass but it couldn't keep up with the Lowthers, which were rather bright. Think there was a bit of a hole between mid and bass too IIRC. The PX25 amps were £16k, they had GM70 monos for £12k maybe.

18th down - Music First Audio. They were handicapped a little as Technics were next door and the bass they were pumping out wasn't very nice. It was a bit like watching a quiet bit of the film in a cinema when the screen next door is showing the full on war scene, subs turned up to 11. They seemed to struggle for volume to me, the speakers might be a little demanding of power. What it did do was very nice though, open and boxless as you'd expect of planers.

19th down - aforementioned Technics.

20th down - Dave did try to relieve us of readies but we manfully resisted .
Someone else no doubt would have heard things quite differently.

What did strike me was how many rooms used acoustic room treatment. The cynic in me wonders if it's something else that can be sold to punters but I suspect there are good reasons why there were so many. Something to look into for a DIY project.

But on that note respect must go to every exhibitor that rocks up at a show like this in a hotel and tries to get good sound in a hotel room to let their kit shine. Bloody difficult I reckon.

[vinylnvalves]

My visit was cut short, as Dave was getting fatigued.

I reserve judgement on Colin’s speakers, as I don’t think the room was big enough to get the MTM configuration to properly shine.
It’s the first commercial show since the Heathrow shows in the 90’s.

I only critique speakers, as anything else is very difficult to do in this environment. I think the rooms unfairly affected a fair few. I think those with deeper pockets faired best in bigger rooms. A good example was the room with the TAD speakers, they sounded superb.

Audionote room, very playing reggae when we popped in, was unlistenable maybe only spent 30 seconds in the room.

Dave and I discussed on the way back, whilst stuck on the A500, our highlights. In no particular order

Klipsch Forte , again big room.

Grimm LS1’s. Sounded very good in a very small room. (Wish I had bought a pair when they were £9k - no £40k if you have the subs)

Kii 3 speakers - commanded your attention even when playing at lower volumes than most. Bet its DSP was contoured for the room, no sound absorption panels or bass traps.

Dave liked the big ATC’s in chasing the dragon’s room.

Phonia Pacto 200 studio monitor - sounded too good for its simple design, Their leaflet allows you to reverse engineer their speaker.

The TAD speakers in Coherent’s room - for over a £100k of equipment they should.

Finally I really liked the Etude speaker, in Super Natural Audios room, it took me 3 attempts to find it a second time. This was a Bipolar speaker with 16 85mm diameter BMR drivers per channel, 8 firing forward and 8 backwards in a line array. 32 drivers in total. This was the smallest room at the show. They had these close to the back wall, Very open and engaging sound, demonstrating the bipolar speakers are good at dealing room modes.

[IslandPink]

Good that you got a picture of the Auden room.
They had a nice sofa in there as well.

[Michael L]

Great venue and lots of nice folk inc that Mr Gorham, Colin and another fella I'm trying to recall the name of - Andrew?
I enjoyed the Funk Firm room too next door - well I am a PT fan.

I enjoyed the diminuitive 3 Square Audio Ayal loudspeakers powered by NVA amps (bi-amped). Speakers have first order crossover and reminded me of my Ref3A De Capos both having set back tweeters. First time I've heard NVA amps and made me wonder how well they would work with my speakers. Rather well I suspect.
So many rooms!
It was good to have the lad come with me on Father's Day. Had to remind him the speakers he suggested I had given him were actually loaners

[brig001]

Had a good day, but loads of really underwhelming sounds. Unfair to judge on bass, but mid range should be doable in most rooms. A few stood out link Nick and Colin’s setup, Cyrus and a couple of others. The worst was this one

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Schuko plug pins are bigger than the pins on a 13A plug and tend to stretch the sockets. Gave them a bollocking for it

Brian

[IslandPink]

Nick et al, did David eventually finish poking the largest steak in Cheshire into his face, after I left ?

[Ali Tait]

He manfully plowed through to the bitter end.

[Andrew]

He manfully plowed through to the bitter end.

I don't think any one of us witnessed the true bitter *end* of that monster, I for one am glad I didn't.