Up to 37% in savings when you subscribe to hi-fi+
hifi-logo-footer

Begin typing your search above and press return to search. Press Esc to cancel.

Bristol Sound & Vision 2014

Bristol Sound & Vision 2014

Following a few weeks after CES, the annual Bristol Sound & Vision show might not be the largest audiophile ‘launchpad’ for new products, but it gets more than its share. The ‘Bristol Show’ (only the organisers call it ‘Bristol Sound & Vision’ these days) takes place across Friday, Saturday and Sunday in late February and has become arguably the most important audio and video event on the UK calendar. It always draws a large crowd, with keen listeners from around the country lining up around the block every day.

Because of the Bristol Show’s proximity to CES, we are not going to concentrate too heavily on the brands that showed in both places. Naim Audio’s first UK showing of the Statement amplifiers continued the company’s campaign to deeply impress all those who hear the system (the company has also intimated new interconnects and loudspeaker cables are on the drawing board). Meanwhile, the likes of Arcam’s A49, the Cyrus Lyric and the Chord Hugo are still just as new on this side of the Atlantic.

Nevertheless, Bristol is more than a provincial show, and a number of serious UK brands actively choose the event to showcase their new products. This year was no exception. Bowers & Wilkins, Spendor, ProAc, PMC, and Q Acoustics all showed new models for the first time at the Bristol show. Beginning with Bowers & Wilkins, the company launched its new 600 Series range just a few weeks ago, but took a large room in the basement of the Bristol Marriott City Centre hotel. This range comprises two two-way standmounts (the £350 per pair 686 and the £500 per pair 685), two floorstanders (the £800 per pair 684 and the £1,150 per pair 683) and two centre channel loudspeakers. All the loudspeakers use a common Double Dome tweeter arrangement as used in the more upmarket CM10, and (where applicable) aluminium bass drivers to support the Kevlar mid/bass units. All four pairs of loudspeakers were demonstrated in a room that should be too large for all of them, but they sounded remarkably unfazed by the task in hand.

, Bristol Sound & Vision 2014

Spendor’s D1 loudspeaker is not as brand new as the Bowers & Wilkins range, having been announced in late December last year. The 30cm high £1,795 per pair bookshelf sealed box two-way is a fine little Christmas present, and is designed to replace the company’s popular SA1. As ever with Spendor designs, it uses the company’s own ‘LPZ’ tweeter and EP77 mid/bass and sounded nice and room filling running from a Devialet 110.

, Bristol Sound & Vision 2014

ProAc announced its Response D20R floorstander at Bristol. The two-way uses the company’s well-liked ribbon tweeter with an open fibre weave cone bass unit and acrylic phase plug. Prices of the loudspeaker are expected to be £2,650 per pair in standard finishes and £3,180 per pair in ebony, and are expected in April. They sounded extremely good on the end of a small Naim system, although other ProAcs (in the Nordost and Michell rooms) didn’t sound that bad either.

, Bristol Sound & Vision 2014

 

Meanwhile, PMC pulled the covers off the latest and largest model in its twenty range, the £5,750 per pair twenty.26. The first three-way and third floorstander in the five-strong line of transmission line loudspeakers, this features a midrange dome remarkably similar to the one found on the outstanding Fact 12 loudspeaker, but this design undercuts the bigger model by a significant amount. PMC played both in quick succession in its closed demonstrations and although the Fact 12 is more taut and probably more ‘right’ as a result, the differences are fairly slight and we expect huge things from the new twenty.26.

, Bristol Sound & Vision 2014

Value-driven Q Acoustics showed its £1,000 Concept 40 floorstander. This extremely clever three driver standmount uses a unique ‘Gelcore’ cabinet (more accurately, almost a cabinet within a cabinet, separated by a never-setting adhesive material that at once reduces cabinet resonance and coloration, dispursing excess energy from the drivers as heat within the two layer cabinet construction.

, Bristol Sound & Vision 2014

It wasn’t just UK loudspeakers companies using Bristol as a Launchpad. Dynaudio was using the show as the European launch of its three-and-a-centre-strong Confidence Platinum range. We look forward to investigating the C1 standmout soon.  The very new Latvian brand Sound of Eden has only been in existence for a couple of months, but already has four loudspeakers on its books, all based on Scanspeak drivers. No UK price or distribution as yet, but the somewhat old-fashioned looking Sound of Eden NS2 two-way bookshelf was expected to cost €3,000 per pair, while the two and a half way floorstanding NS2½ should cost €5,000 per pair, the three-way NS3 floorstander (pictured) will cost €7,000 per pair and the huge NS4 four-way will cost somewhere close to €25,000 per pair. The sound they delivered might need a little more work, but showed promise.

, Bristol Sound & Vision 2014

Alongside start-ups, there were a couple of re-starts. Those with very long memories might remember the ARC range of loudspeakers. Nothing to do with Audio Research, ARC was a small UK brand that flourished in the 1980s with a midrange-dominant loudspeaker range, often seen used with fellow middle Englander Nytech. Both companies faded from view over the years, but now both are being reborn, the electronics based in Wales, the loudspeakers from Germany. They are in the last stages of development, so prices and final voicing are still to be finalised, but expect to pay upwards of £10,000 for a full Nytech/ARC system. The sound is as ‘classic 1980s’ as the brands!

, Bristol Sound & Vision 2014

If we are heading into the past, the new Graham Audio had a demonstration room that looked straight out of the 1960s or 1970s. the company’s LS5/9 loudspeakers being fed by a Nagra open reel tape player into a Pass Labs XA100S monos and a XP20 preamp. This is the Studiophile’s dream!

, Bristol Sound & Vision 2014

 

Moving away from loudspeakers, a firm Hi-Fi+ favourite, Computer Audio Design has announced the CAT (Computer Audio Transport). Following his concepts in computer ‘tweaking’, CAD’s Scott Berry put his mind to establishing a thorough audio basis from which to work. It’s a Windows PC, but in the process redefines ‘thorough’ when it comes to modification. Computers don’t often have four power supplies (right down to four different plugs) for the appropriate stages, and few people modify their PC down to such a degree. While the choice of storage is yours, the base model transport is £3,980.

, Bristol Sound & Vision 2014

Digital streaming was very popular at the show, with hardly any CD material being played even if there were CD players in the system. Even belt-drive CD player maker BMC was more commonly running digital files. Of particular note here, was the first UK showing of the Sony HAPZ1ES and TA-A1ES high-resolution player and amp, plus the SSNA 2 speakers, made a fair impression. In addition, Lumin was showing its A-1 streamer so successfully launched last year, and Primare was showing final prototypes of its Pre60 and A60 processor amplifier package (£6,500 per unit).

, Bristol Sound & Vision 2014

But perhaps the biggest digital products were the smallest. The AudioQuest Dragonfly is already well-known, but in its 1.2 version guise, and having a significant price cut to just £129, it was proving hard to beat. The AudioQuest team were also extremely helpful and acted more like a computer audio ‘how to’ service as they were selling their own services. As a consequence, it was one of the busiest rooms in the show, regardless of whether there was music playing.

, Bristol Sound & Vision 2014

And then there is Geek. The crowdfunded Geek Out is almost ready to ship to its first investors. The rest of us might need to wait a little longer to receive this small, high performance DAC, priced between £199 for the basic 450mW model up to £299 for the 1W Geek 1000. Available in four colours, it’s up for fine-tuning prior to launch, but if the last stages sound as promising, I began to wonder why I hadn’t become an early investor about 30 seconds into listening to the device.

, Bristol Sound & Vision 2014

This wasn’t the only headphone product at the show, but the potential star of the headphone and more world was the PureDAC by BMC Audio. A magnificently-made, plays everything digital preamplifier with a balanced headphone socket, and is priced at £1,290, which on paper is about one-third what most would charge for something this good.

 

Elsewhere though, there was a distinct lack of headphone makers at the show. Yes, brands like Focal, KEF and Musical Fidelity were showing headphone lines alongside the brand’s core audio products, but where last year the show was dominated by brands such as Sennheiser, the only headphone brand covered extensively at the event was Audeze, which was on display in several rooms and stands, as well as in the distributor (Decent Audio) room. Perhaps the largest single collection of headphones was on the Astell & Kern stand, where the company was inviting people to play the new AK240 on a range of models (including the Audeze range), but this is a marked change in direction for this important show on the UK audio calendar.

, Bristol Sound & Vision 2014

Tubes, as ever at this show, were thin on the ground. Ming Da being the regular exception, bringing every valve amp the company could fit into a truck and playing a fantastic, but bewildering array of tubular electronics. Elsewhere, Unison Research replaced its long running Simply 4 integrated amp with the new Triode 25 £2,350. As ever full of Italian charm, this EL34-based push-pull/triode amplifier can even be supplied with a DAC to bring the elegant 1950s wooden coffee machine looks right up to date on the inside.

, Bristol Sound & Vision 2014

The solid-state amplifier market was well covered, with few new launches that weren’t covered at CES. But there were a few newcomers, even here. Quad chose to launch the new Vena integrated amplifier at the show. Quad’s cheapest amplifier to date, the 45W design also features AptX Bluetooth connectivity, USB input, analogue connections and a range of finishes, starting at £600.

, Bristol Sound & Vision 2014

When it comes to subwoofers, we have a lot of time for REL. The company’s presence at Bristol shows why. Where most sub companies were booming away and making a loud bark around the hotel, REL was going for subtlety in two and five channel sound. A chance to show off its new range of Serie S subwoofers, John Hunter of Sumiko had flown in from the US to give demonstrations on what a subwoofer does for audio, and why. In the process, he fell for the excellent Harbeth Super HL5 loudspeakers (on very tall stands), telling everyone how good they are. A true enthusiast, John is able to heap praise on products when it is richly deserved (even if the picture is not my finest photographic hour). 

, Bristol Sound & Vision 2014

Finally, turntables. As might be expected given the vinyl revival still going on, there was renued interest in all things LP. But two big British names spring to mind here: Rega was showing its RP10 turntable (seen at CES) in a modest, but nice sounding all-Rega system, and Michell Engineeing played its prototype Orbe SE.ex (perhaps not the best working title around). This integrates the plinth of the Orbe into the stand itself, to lower the profile of the deck and improve performance in the process.

, Bristol Sound & Vision 2014

And, although not necessarily new, we have to give full marks to Wilson Benesch for making an all-white version of its Circle turntable, which looked especially striking playing the white-vinyl version of the Nirvana Unplugged album. The Circle 25 is not simply a nice colour scheme, it replaces the MDF plinth with white Delrin:

, Bristol Sound & Vision 2014

There was a lot more, as ever. Of special note was the excellent sounding Antelope DAC (now with Atomic Clock!) driving Amphion loudspeakers, the Michell-Johnson range of very low cost electronics that have a striking resemblance to Sansui. The new £425 USB cable from CAD and Atlas’ new Asimi Ultima with better plugs and a new look for £2,750/m. The new Heed Thesus range of upper end amps behind the curtain. And of course, A J van den Hul bringing his lab to the hotel and building vdH Crimson cartridges in the room.

, Bristol Sound & Vision 2014

, Bristol Sound & Vision 2014

For what could be mistaken as a provincial show, Bristol Sound & Vision has become and remains the strongest event on the UK show calendar. 

Tags: FEATURED

Adblocker Detected

"Neque porro quisquam est qui dolorem ipsum quia dolor sit amet, consectetur, adipisci velit..."

"There is no one who loves pain itself, who seeks after it and wants to have it, simply because it is pain..."