Show Reports

Luxman teamed up with DALI, and its Epicon 8s, to deliver some awesome sounds via its flagship C-900u/M-900u pre/power amps [HFN Jan ’17]. The D-06u SACD player/DAC and PD-171A turntable proved the ideal front-end for a very ‘disciplined’ sounding system.
www.luxman.com
www.dali-uk.co.uk

Decent Audio’s Simon Griffin unveiled the new 2.5-way Raidho C-2.2 floorstanding loudspeaker, complete with two ‘Ceramix’ mid/bass drivers and famous Raidho Ribbon tweeter. The treble was especially revealing thanks, in part, to the Ayre QX-5/KX-5/VX-5 network DAC/amp system.
www.decentaudio.co.uk

A glimpse into the future? Harman Kardon’s Mark Hockey had the entire Citation range of voice-controlled, wireless active loudspeaker systems on show, including the EISA Award-winning Citation 500. With Google Assistant and Chromecast built-in, the Citation systems will integrate with other ‘intelligent’ products, including TVs, lighting, etc.
www.harmankardon.co.uk

The Sandringham building had its own headphone haven courtesy of Electromod UK who showed off the new electrostatic Voce from MrSpeakers alongside the planar magnetic Ether 2. Another planar design, the bright blue, er, Blue from Dekoni Audio was demo’d with Schiit Audio’s Sys pre.
www.electromod.co.uk

B&W graced the Hi-Fi Show Live with the new, exquisitely finished Prestige Edition of its 802 D3 loudspeaker featuring a very distinctive Santos Rosewood veneer. B&W’s Stephen Courtney-Wheatley and Matthew Peddle of Chord (cables), plus Chord DAVE DAC and SPM 1400 mkII monos, had listeners enthralled over the weekend with a beautifully spacious and detailed sound.
www.bowers-wilkins.co.uk

Mike Valentine [inset] of Chasing The Dragon joined Symmetry’s Nigel Crump to present four new recordings, including the direct-cut Forgotten Dreams from Eleanor McEvoy. Playback via open-reel tape and Brinkmann Oasis 10th Anniversary turntable with Trilogy’s 915R tube line preamp and 995R ‘Hybrid Pure Class A’ monoblock power amps ensured the suite was packed all day long.
www.symmetry-systems.co.uk

Once again, the Hi-Fi Show Live saw whirlwind guitarist Joncan Kavlakoglu [left] performing sensational sessions on the hour in the spacious Padood room. SME finally broke cover with its fully integrated Synergy turntable [top], featuring a Nagra-designed phono stage, Crystal Cable wiring and Ortofon Windfeld Ti MC while Bel Canto’s Mike McCormick [right] was on hand to launch the e.One Stream network bridge. Biggest surprise? Germany’s Avantgarde returns to the UK, and the Duo XD, here with blue horns and active sub, sounded astonishing.
www.padood.com

Double delight from Karma AV with two systems in one suite. Seen here are JBL’s 4429 compression driver/horn-loaded ‘standmounts’ [HFN Feb ’17], and Falcon Studio 30 floorstanders, driven by Emotiva XSP-1/XPA-DR2 pre/power amps [HFN Oct ’18]. The Karma crew certainly know how to get a good sound from this room!
www.emotiva.com
www.karma-av.co.uk

Host to our USB cable Workshop with Stereo’s Matthias Böde, AudioQuest also invited its director of power products, Garth Powell [left], to talk about the range-topping Niagara 7000 mains conditioner [HFN Sep ’17] and forthcoming Mythical Creatures speaker cables. Vividly detailed sound here with Kudos Titan standmounts and Linn Exakt amps.
www.audioquest.com

Primare added to the Hi-Fi Show Live’s world premieres with its new PRE35/A35.2 pre/power amps, featuring a fully modular architecture. Its Prisma connectivity platform, including Roon and Chromecast built-in, was demo’d with slick efficiency by Karma AV’s Ian Child, with Falcon’s GC6500R Reference speaker.
www.primare.net
www.falconacoustics.co.uk

Audio Note made a real impact with the Poplar Burl-veneered version of its AN-K standmount, the speakers delivering a rich sound courtesy of the TT-One Deluxe turntable and ECC83/ECC82/EL84-based OTO Phono PP amplifier. Digital got the Audio Note treatment too with its CDT-One/II transport and DAC 1.1x/II spinning up some luscious sounds.
www.audionote.co.uk

Kog Audio’s Mark Standbridge unveiled Avalon Acoustics’ new PM1 floorstander, with Estelon’s YB model – a sonic sculpture in black – alongside by way of comparison. Chalk and cheese, to be sure, but both equally compelling as they were driven via a Melco N1ZS/2 music library, a Vitus Audio RD-101 DAC/streamer and RI-101 amplifier.
www.kogaudio.co.uk