Here is my very subjective, partial and probably mostly unfair report from this year's Manchester Show
First of all, I pretty much ignored all the "Video" exhibitons. I also skipped most of the mainstream consumer brands (Samsung, Philips etc.).
Before I leave you to enjoying the pictures, I just want to say that I left the show with a few rather surprising conclusions:
- Firstly, every single system on the show had LOTS of bass, mostly of the warm and not terribly well-controlled variety. I don't know why this surprised me really. Bass sells stuff, end of story.
- Secondly, there was literally no one that I could talk to about the technical details. Only salesmen. Again, I don't know why that surprised me.
- Lastly, there was not a single system on the show that I would rather have, than my humble homemade Hi-Fi. And don't take that as boasting, my system is pretty good, but it has A LOT of room for improvement. What I mean is most exhibitions were apparently set up by people who have serious hearing problems - and that included the ultra-expensive KEF and B&W systems.
Enjoy the pictures!
A pretty interesting tube/SS hybrid system from Mistral. Very decent sound, considering its low price.
One of the very few tube amps on the show. Might have been the only one, actually (not sure).
A very pretty speaker, also from Mistral.
I think this handsome floorstander was in the Cyrus showroom.
The new, very much hyped about speaker from Kef - Blade. The sound was certainly nothing short of majestic, but I was expecting better resolution. There were very obvious shoutiness problems too. This did not discourage people from flocking into Kef showroom and trying very hard to make themselves believe that this is realistic sound reproduction.
A single word - sybilance. Lots of it. I honestly don't understand how you can put together such an expensive system (cables alone look like they cost a few grand) and still get it so badly wrong.
A reasonable effort at high fidelity from ProAc.
A rather mediocre Monitor Audio setup.
These modernistic Dali speakers did seem to have potential, but the source... an iPad.
A surprisingly pleasant performance from this understated analogue system (Neat Acoustics).
Naim had a very strong presence in the show, this is one of their showrooms. Good sound, if somewhat lacking finesse.
PMC showroom. I recall I quite liked their setup.
A very competent Quadral system. One of my favourite systems of the show actually. The red speakers were playing. It impressed me despite using an unsophisticated Blu-Ray player as a source.
This solid performance from Quadral deserves an extra shot.
Gyro-something turntable... Pretty cool looking, but was only for display during the show.
A TEAC system. Slightly dissapointing treble performance, and otherwise unremarkable sound.
This was a very well put-together system. I actually sat there for a while enjoying it. Well done Audiolab.
Another photo of this pleasant system. It well deserves its awards.
Not everywhere was glamorous lol
A reasonably-priced Tannoy setup. Despite being far from Hi-End it was well set-up and remarkably free of any major flaws.
Rel subwoofers.
Rel were probably the most anti-social of the entire show... Their setup was playing very loudly, and was easily heard over music in the neighbouring showrooms.
A nice Focal system. Unfortunately was playing from a laptop because...
...their hi-end Wadia CD player refused to open the tray
A classic-looking AudioNote setup. Unfortunately it seemed to have some sibilance problems.
Probably my favourite systems of the show, put together by... a cable manufacturer Clearer Audio. It kind of makes sense, I guess, as cables are all about the subtleties.
I can't comment on their cable performance, but Clearer Audio sure know how to set up a showroom.
Yours truly
(shot in the lift of the hotel hosting the show)
Please feel free to comment!
Manchester Audio/Video Show 2011 (pictures)
(shot in the lift of the hotel hosting the show)
Thanks
