LETTER OF THE MONTH - DECEMBER 2007
BBC SNITCH
I have been stirred to write by Steven Green’s piece in the October issue of Hi-Fi World concerning the BBC’s disastrous choice, and misuse, of DAB. Lately here in Bedford, analogue VHF has been suffering random discontinuous 'snitches' in their signals, at least on Radio 2, 3 and 4, and possibly on other BBC channels. These sound somewhat like a tape with occasional random bad splices, very short and sharp, and they are absolutely irritating. We had a previous episode of this a year or two ago, since corrected.
Concerning the latest episode, at the moment things seem to have improved, for reasons likely not connected to my complaints to the Beeb, however. Considering the extent to which the maintenance of quality seems to have become a tertiary consideration for the BBC, I have been wondering whether these occurrences might not be intentional. In any case I would very much like to know how widespread they are and what is the cause. I suppose that digital techniques permeate throughout the BBC’s broadcasting, not a bad thing if done properly, but it is really quite impossible to listen to analogue VHF on a decent set with a background of these random snitches.
Tom Smith
Steve Green replies:
I recognise what you describe because I heard it myself briefly, and it was the result of the failure of the BBC’s national distribution network on 5th August, which affected all of the BBC’s national FM and AM stations across the whole of the UK, including Radio 1 being completely off-air in Birmingham for about an hour. The problem was caused by the air-conditioning in an equipment room failing, which led to the equipment that was carrying the BBC’s distribution streams overheating and malfunctioning. However, this shouldn’t have caused a problem, because the distribution network uses two duplicated paths that are meant to take different routes on their way to the transmitter sites in order to specifically avoid a single problem like this bringing down the whole network. But on this occasion both paths had been routed through this same equipment room, so the equipment carrying both paths failed due to them overheating! So there wasn’t anything sinister going on here, just plain old incompetence.
Unfortunately, the BBC sold off BBC Technology (which used to look after these things) to Siemens in 2004, which led to 1,400 people who used to work for the BBC becoming Siemens employees, and Siemens has a ten year contract to carry out the BBC’s IT and engineering work. The broadcasting union, BECTU, accused the BBC at the time of “handing its central nervous system over to the private sector”, and considering that this was the fourth major failure of the BBC’s FM/AM distribution network in the last year (twice in Scotland, once in the South West, then this recent UK-wide failure), it looks like their concerns were well-founded. The BBC Controller of Operations & Technology described the recent events as follows: “In my twenty five years in the BBC I have never seen both the quantity and high duration of such major faults that we are experiencing currently (in the last year)”.
The BBC still makes the high level decisions, such as what level of quality to use and what equipment to purchase and so on, but it is Siemens staff that look after the implementation side of things, so the audio quality of BBC Radio is now to a large extent in the hands of the commercial sector...
The BBC has done something similar to this in the past when it sold off its transmitter business to Crown Castle for £233m in 1997, and the BBC then contracted Crown Castle to do their transmitter work for them. Crown Castle then sold the transmitter business on to National Grid Transco for £1.13bn in 2004. It must be to do with the unique way the BBC is funded. SG
DECEMBER 2007 - LETTERS & EMAILS
VIRGIN VALVES
I wonder if you could possibly give me a helping hand regarding hi-fi on a budget? I am very interested in entering the world of valve amplification and what I wish to do is purchase a World Designs WDKEL84 kit, augmenting this with suitable loudspeaker upgrade. Could you suggest a good modern pair of loudspeakers, either floorstanding or standmount that would match this unit, used along with a Goldring GR1/Electra turntable with budget interconnects, and give the lovely, warm sound that I aspire to, please? At present my loudspeakers are a pair of old Celestion Dittons, with a quoted impedance of 4-8 Ohms and a sensitivity of 84dB or thereabouts! They have been recently serviced however, and the crossovers were given a tweak.
I love acoustic-based music, particularly folk, some classical and even jazz, and this is mainly what the system will be used for, so soundstaging and depth of field are very important. I would be very grateful for any help or advice you can offer on this upgrade.
Anthony Davies
Adam Smith replies:
You do not specify your budget but, when it comes to loudspeakers for low powered valve amplifiers, we often tend to head for the Revolver range as designer Mike Jewitt nearly always endows his loudspeakers with high sensitivity. The £650 Music 3s that Noel reviewed last month are perfect examples, with their 88dB measured value or, if you can stretch to £1,000 or so and fancy some huge behemoths, the RRR FS100s reviewed in the same issue boasted a figure of no less than 92dB. Both of these models we found to be excellent in terms of stereo imagery and soundstaging, so they could well fit the bill for you.
If your budget is somewhat less, the floorstanding £300 Mordaunt Short Avant 914is boasted a very respectable sensitivity of 87dB, which would suit the WDKEL84 very nicely, and the smaller standmounting Avant 902is will work equally well for just £150.
Beware, however, that loudspeaker technology has moved on since the day of the good old Dittons and most of these old timers sound slow and blurred in comparison to modern designs. As a consequence the more insightful sound of a modern unit may take a little getting used to but do persevere - you’ll hear much more of what is on your records. AS
David Price replies:
If you can stretch higher, up to £2,000, I can heartily recommend the Yamaha Soavo 1s - they worked a treat with my World Audio K5881 (20W approx.), sounding super-fast and dynamic, and causing no stress to my tubular belle. Downmarket somewhat, the Revolver Music 3s are surely ideal, as Adam suggests. Of course if you're buying secondhand the original R45 floorstanders (about £400 a pair) from the same company work beautifully with tubes. DP
UPGRADE PROJECT
Having rediscovered the sonic and tactile joy of good quality ‘black stuff’ via the ubiquitous Pro-Ject Debut III, I now (and I suppose you hear this all the time) find I am wanting more. I have even managed to pass the ‘disease’ on to my wife and I know this because she has let loose the purse strings. Over the years, pre CD, I have been lucky enough to have lived with various vinyl spinners including models from Thorens, AR and Marantz. However, having perused various ‘classifieds’ (not eBay, I might add!) I find myself in a quandary. I have the opportunity to buy a twelve year old Linn Sondek/Ittok for not very much. Worst case scenario, what will I need to do and spend to bring this up to a reasonable standard? Would a complete rebuild be viable or should funds be diverted towards a new Michell GyroDec SE/SME IV ?
I very much enjoy your magazine’s vinyl angle and hope you can provide me with the information I need to make an informed choice, thus developing my passion and increasing the vinyl-loving numbers even further.
Terrance Cunnett
Adam Smith replies:
They say that curiosity killed the cat but I cannot help myself from wondering just how much “not very much” for that LP12 is! Ultimately, a twelve year old LP12 is still a very capable machine and, as my article from the October 2007 Issue of Hi-Fi World showed, it can be tweaked to improve its performance even further. Power supply upgrades can be had from as little as £170 for the Stamford Audio Hercules but you should also budget for a new set of springs at the very least, although a full spring/bearing/armboard ‘Cirkus’ upgrade can be had for around £400. Basically, the sky is the limit as far as LP12 upgrades are concerned.
However, I have to say that, personally, I would go for the GyroDec SE/SME IV setup as this is still one of my favourite turntable combinations. There is still plenty of tweaking potential as you could upgrade the SME to a V at a later date, or turn the GyroDec into an Orbe, but for my ears the standard item is still a mighty fine record player and will show you just what vinyl is capable of. Don’t forget to budget for a good phono stage if you don’t have one already, and at least £300 for a good cartridge like the Ortofon Rondo Red or Audio Technica AT-OC9MLII if you fancy going MC, or the incredibly impressive Ortofon 2M Black if you’d rather stay MM for the time being. AS
David Price replies:
It's a tricky one, as the Gyro and Sondek have quite different presentations, and your question is a bit like asking, 'which is better, coffee or tea?' The Sondek (of any vintage) has a softer, smoother and more romantic presentation - a tad vague and loose for some modern tastes, although of course the various new mods and/or Keel upgrade really tighten it up. The Gyro has a more neutral (albeit still quite warm by the very latest standards) sound with far superior left to right soundstaging and projection, at the expense of a slightly less 'hypnotic' sound. You pays your money, etc. In my view, a new GyroDec SE at around £1,000 is a very good investment and is 'there or thereabouts' with, for example, the SME Model 10 at nearly three times the price in most respects. It's not the best deck in the world, but it's still superb value and a great first high end turntable (and indeed last for many people too!) DP
QUADS ON COURSE
I would really like to have a go at rebuilding my Quad 57s, but would need a lot of practical knowledge (and confidence) before embarking on the project. Are you aware of any courses for beginners that might be suitable? There is enough published information on the web to be able to do the job, but I would have to know how to switch on the soldering iron first!
Andrew Mackay
Adam Smith replies:
There appear to be a few City and Guilds courses that will give you practical experience of servicing domestic electrical and electronic equipment and I’m sure your local colleges can advice on their availability. Click on www.city-and-guilds.co.uk for more details. However, with the ‘official’ answer out of the way, I have to say that you are a braver man than I for wanting to delve straight into the deep end and rebuilding a pair of Quads. However, the very best of luck to you if you do go for it, as we have heard the sort of results that can be obtained by fettling these loudspeakers. Please be very careful, though, there are some lethal voltages lurking inside the ESL 57s and we like our readers to still be around to enjoy the fruits of their labours! AS
Noel Keywood replies:
Specifically, there is a mains power supply that is potentially lethal, and the stepped up audio voltage is also able to kill I am told (haven’t tried it for myself yet). The polarising supply sounds nasty at many kilovolts but it is, apparently, non-lethal as it is a high impedance source that delivers little current. Obtaining a suitable film and resistive coating, and working with them to get the film correctly tensioned and the coating applied consistently requires both knowledge and skill that is beyond simple DIY though. I wouldn’t underestimate this aspect of the electrostatic. NK
TWO'S COMPANY
As an audio enthusiast and regular reader (and subscriber), could I make a heartfelt request - please, please do not continue down the A/V path in the wake of Hi-Fi News (which is currently morphing into “A/V News”). After seeing your October issue with the comparison test of A/V receivers, etc. I finally felt strongly enough about this to contact you - I’m sure there are many readers out there who feel the same; we’re music fans, not action movie enthusiasts - the two are not one and the same thing. Two-channel forever!
Richard Hercus
David Price replies:
Well, the diplomatic answer is that there's a place for every magazine on the news stand, and each unto their own! I must say however, Richard, that I think the chances that we at Hi-Fi World will be reviewing £5,000 plasmas are - well, start at zero and work downwards. We could all bore for Britain on the joys of two-channel, and are dyed-in-the-grain stereo-types at heart. Still, we all have A/V systems - mine is my main hi-fi with a 37" inch Sharp LCD in between my twin NS1000Ms which occasionally gets switched on by her indoors, although she's taken to playing LP records more than DVDs these days... The reason we did the A/V receiver group test is that we feel readers (and us) should keep abreast with developments, and one thing we learned was that they're not the nasty, stinking sonic aberrations they once were. Standards are on the up, and that's surely great for music lovers of all persuasions? DP
Adam Smith replies:
Richard, I appreciate your point of view, however, the fact is that David, Noel and I all have multichannel setups in our homes in addition to our two channel systems and we all believe that there is well and truly a place for them, both in the magazine and in a quality reproduction system. Yes, we are well aware that some can be quite ear-wounding at times but the same is true of a shiny, flashy new stereo 'hi-fi' from your nearest high street digital retailer, so we all feel that it is our duty to help separate the wheat from the chaff, no matter how many channels are involved.
Another important aspect to consider is that the new multichannel formats such as Blu-ray should, in theory, allow digital reproduction to scale previously unheard-of heights, with up to seven channels of 24bit/192kHz material comfortably eclipsing the performance offered by CD. This will obviously impact stereo replay but, given that you’ll most likely have to buy a multichannel player to play the material, it seems a shame not to make use of the other software available and stick on a nice action-fest featuring inappropriately scantily-clad ladies, car chases and the odd exploding helicopter now and then...
Consequently, we do feel that such items have their place in Hi-Fi World, but please rest assured that we do not intend to start unplugging our soldering irons, lugging all our LPs to the car boot sale and spending all our time reviewing plasma TVs. Speaking personally, I greatly enjoy using my surround sound system, but it is set up, left alone and used every now and then when I feel the need. I gain much more enjoyment from fiddling with turntables than exploring the world of centre channel volume and frequency cutoff settings, and I certainly also never intend to ditch my precious turntable collection in favour of a pile of “classic” DVD players! AS
Noel Keywood replies:
Surround-sound systems can deliver high quality audio, but for some reason I don’t quite get, the A/V brigade seem to feel it is too tweaky to talk about, whilst the “audiophile” brigade are convinced A/V is all about shoot-em-ups. There is a lot going on in A/V to raise sound quality standards and, I am afraid to say, this is where the future lies whether we like it or not. But that is not to say Hi-Fi World will be careering off into plasmas, projectors and what have you. NK
THE LONG RUN!
Help please! My problem is that I just seem to be unable to adjust my system so that stereo music sound, principally from the main front speakers has me riveted in my chair enough that I just have to put another CD in the tray. The stereo sound seems distant and uninvolving with little projection or soundstage. I am confused as to whether the weak link in my system is either, or a combination of, the main front speakers, the A/V receiver, connections between the components, mismatching or me?
If you folks can kindly sort me out so that I can quit fretting then that would make me happy. My current system comprises Celestion A1 main speakers (Bi-wired to A/V receiver), Celestion centre/rear speakers, a Panasonic TH-42PX60B television, Panasonic DMR-EH60DEB DVD Recorder, Mordant Short MS309W subwoofer, Cambridge Audio DVD86 DVD player, Pioneer VSX-1016 A/V receiver and a Pioneer iPod dock. Cables are QED Silver cable to the main loudspeakers and a mixture of Chord and Ixos interconnects.
My previous system consisted of the above speakers and NAD L77/L55 set-up, until the L77 died. A review of the VSX-1016 made it sound very promising and I actually ended up getting this unit instead of my preferred one which was the VSX-2016, due to its unavailability. Setting it up was confusing, however, since there appeared to be so many conflicting ways to connect. Please don’t ask why I had the microphone perched on my head at one time, will you?
One more thing that caught my eye was a section in the review, I quote; “The VSX-1016 carries HDMI video but digital audio must be connected separately”. Uh, er, what was that? I hadn’t a clue then - and looked front to back in the manual at home, to no avail - and still don’t. Have I in my ignorance failed to carry out a necessary, but vital, install procedure/connection as a consequence, bearing in mind that I took a lot of care in making the connections between the components as few and as simple as possible. Is there any room for improvement on connectivity that you advise me on?
Anyhow, my system is connected, it does operate and I really must say that the DVD86 is a little gem. It is perfectly behaved and responds to the remote wonderfully. The VSX-1016 also pleases too. It starts and responds very well and using the 5.1/surround sound when viewing a DVD is very pleasurable and in that respect I am content.
It’s back to the sound that I get from the two main front speakers when playing two channel stereo. There is something lacking - the listening experience is simply not there for me. The sound IS there but there seems to be no projection from the front of the speakers INTO the room. The stereo image is right there, between the speakers, but on the same plane as the front of the speakers themselves, They are on spikes on pads and Blu-Tack between speaker and stand. I have even cut out and placed circular sponge pads in the rear ports, all to no avail. If my sound problem lies with how these speakers are required to be positioned in order to bring out their best then I confess to being stumped.
If not the speakers is the A/V receiver the weak link? I am eager to hear recommendations if this is the case (like the new Onkyo A/V receivers). Are the connections to it and between it and the other components optimal? Am I the weak link? Don’t say that I am as I really don’t know how I would go about replacing myself. I probably wouldn’t get a fair price anyway...
If you have read through this far and are still with me [zzzz - Ed.], then I hope you will realise that all I want is riveting stereo performance with CD with great DVD viewing. I believe that I have the latter covered as I cannot complain about DVD viewing/playback. I want only improvements in my two channel stereo playing. If the speakers are the problem than I would appreciate advice on ones that will rock me once more. If the A/V receiver is itself the problem, or if I’ve cocked up the connections then please tell me where and how. I don’t mind being told off and if it is a matter of this HDMI switching mis-implementation thingy then words of one syllable - or less - to explain what I must do to bring about any possible improvement would be gratefully received!
Jon Davis
Adam Smith replies:
Well, Jon, I can see a heartfelt plea when I read one but rest assured I think I can point a finger firmly at the problem. First of all, though, let me reassure you that the steps you have taken with regards to connections and optimising your loudspeakers’ locations look fine. With regard to your HDMI query, what it means is exactly what it says - the HDMI input on the Pioneer can only carry video inputs and, unless you connect the digital audio lead as well, all you’ll get is silence! Fortunately you have done this so you need worry no further on that score. Also, I am not familiar with the Celestion A1s, but reviews when they were new were very complimentary with regards to them, so I feel it is unlikely that these are at fault. All of which leads me back to my first conclusion when reading your letter - it’s the DVD player that is the problem.
The Cambridge DVD86 is a fine DVD player, as you have found, and in true Cambridge tradition, an absolute bargain for its £150 selling price. The problem is that, like quite a few DVD players, it really isn’t a very good CD player and if you want the best from your CDs then you really need to look at investing in a separate CD player. If you like the general Cambridge sound, then £200 spent on an Azur 540Cv2 will make an astonishing improvement, but it would also be well worthwhile auditioning the NAD C521BEE and Yamaha CDX-497 which are similar prices.
However, there is another route you can take if you’d prefer to keep the box count low. You see, Cambridge Audio also make a DVD player called the Azur 540Dv2, which retails for £250. Now, not only is this a superb DVD player, it’s also a jolly fine CD player in its own right. You could use this to replace your DVD86 and you should notice a considerable improvement in two channel CD replay as well. In comparison to the 540Cv2 CD player mentioned above, the 540C is still better, but the gap is quite close and I feel that you would have to listen to the two units side by side to really notice the improvement. AS
ANOTHER COG IN THE WORKS
Regarding the August edition - I get the mag occasionally when I visit the UK from France - I read the letter from Andy Moore of Arcam offering a new cog for a reader’s Arcam CD player. I have exactly the same problem with my Marantz CD52Mk2 SE, and I wonder if it has the same mechanism, the Philips CDM9. Please, as I have been told there are no spares, can you can suggest a source, and the easy fitting instructions if possible for this? I can’t expect Mr. Moore to supply his spares to all and sundry. Perhaps this is a FAQ?
The CD52 Mk2 SE is a lovely CD player, at the moment replaced by a Marantz DV6400 multi-format player I bought at a car boot fair for a few pounds. It’s good and detailed but a bit cool and bright to my ears. Now I have started I had better outline my whole system which, me being a pensioner, has all been collected from second hand sources such as car boot fairs. The turntable is a Linn LP12, with Valhalla, Origin Live modified Rega arm and a Supex SD 900 super cartridge. I bought the deck many years ago secondhand and the cartridge mail order from Japan. It has been VdH modified, again a long time ago, but is still excellent.
The amplifier is an Exposure VII/VIII combo, the no tone controls version, which I picked up for about £40 in a car boot fair last year. This offers a very clear sound with superb bass extension. Along with this I have a Nakamichi BX300 cassette deck, bought for little, but expensively renovated by B&W, and a Hitachi FT5500 Mk2 tuner, again second hand some years ago, but an excellent tuner and well worth being a world classic.
The speakers are Tannoy Mercury Mk2s and another bargain that set me back £5 in a boot fair. Speaker cables are a TNT Cat5 braided DIY design. The speakers are very directional but as I am usually listening alone I just sit in the groove in the sofa!
I have also some EJ Jordan 4 unit linear array speakers with bass boxes I DIYed, but I am waiting for Ted Jordan’s holidays to be over so that I can, if possible, get damaged units mended. Then they will replace the Tannoys.
As well as this I have lots of stuff that I no longer use, so perhaps I should offer for sale. What about an A&R A60 amplifier, a Leak Troughline 3, complete but probably not working, Quad II and 22s plus tuner with decoder, dirty but complete, with two sets of GE valves? I also have a whole host of lesser stuff, but the trouble is I really need to be in the UK to sort these out.
Well I hope you can assist me with the cog, unlike the ‘usual suspects’ who say that ‘It’s too old mate’! Best wishes, and keep up the excellent magazine. I will get another in a month or so when I come back to the UK.
Chris Wigzell
Adam Smith replies:
Chris, it’s too old mate! Seriously, though, if my memory serves me correctly, the CD52Mk2 SE actually used the Philips CDM4 transport, which isn’t quite the same as the CDM9, although the drawer loading cogs may well be interchangeable. To be honest, if you’re really attached to the unit I would keep an eye out for a secondhand one from your local free paper’s classifieds or on eBay, and use this as a donor unit for spares in order to keep your soldiering on. My personal preference, however, would be to use this as an excuse to buy a newer item as, despite loving my CD94, Marantz’s more lowly models have never really floated my boat. The only exception I can think of is the CD63Mk2 KI Signature and you should be able to find one of these for around £120.
I have to say that you not only have some very nice equipment in your “no longer used” collection, but you’ve found some impressive items at your local car boot sales, particularly the Tannoys and the Exposure amplifiers. You’re going to have to tell me where these fruitful locations are, as I appear to have exhausted the car boot sale hi-fi supply in the south Hampshire region!
AS
USB LP READY
Seeing Adam Smith's comment (letters November) on a CPC brochure containing a cassette machine featuring a USB link to computer, reminded me of a similar USB turntable system in an earlier brochure. Can these be any good in the sense of audio quality? They cost peanuts compared with the low end hi-fi often complained about, so how about a short article on same. The turntable surely cannot be very good when one considers that there is a pick-up arm, presumably MM cartridge, phono stage and last but not least A-D converter! At between one and two hundred pounds how good can these be for transferring any vinyl onto digital storage and talking of digital storage how about a revised look at the various pieces of software and hardware for archiving?
Incidentally if Richard Smedley (letters November: Shell out for Shellac) hasn’t already seen it then www.restoring78s.co.uk might be worth a look. A multi page site, it even has equalisation curves and the circuit diagram for a multi-position equaliser complete with component values. I do however think that valves sound better with 78s so how about a WD multi phono equaliser! Perhaps I am being cheeky here but one has to ask!
Also the Expert Stylus Company make a range of very good styli for both 78 and LP work. Info from w.hodgson@btclick.com ,the proprietors email, as page 122 October Hi-fi World. I find his styli long lived and excellent and use a Shure SC35 for 78 as, tracking at 4-6 grams, it adds that extra bit of weight to proceedings often needed by 78s! If you can get hold of one the old Shure M3D with 78 styli these are very good although a bit of a blunderbus for vinyl! The Ortofon OM range are very good with their own 78 stylus.
Mike Bracey
David Price replies:
Hi Mike - almost every USB turntable I've seen to date is little more than a toy - they're rubbish and just don't go there. However, Pro-Ject's Debut III USB is better - it's a cracking little budget deck, and has a phono stage and USB connectivity built in. I was quite impressed with the sound - expect a full review soon. Better still, both Pro-Ject and Sonneteer have USB phono stages out very soon - this is when things start getting interesting, as we can use our existing (known quantity) hi-fi decks and just buy a small box of tricks. DP
LONDON SOUND & VISION SHOW-
A READER REPORTS...
A couple of years ago I vowed I’d never again bother to visit a hi-fi exhibition. After the traumas of the Bristol event in preceding years I had grown tired of the poor demonstration facilities, inadequate rooms and lack of customer care exhibited by those that hoped to impress with their products. As a fully signed up grumpy old man I remember similar events many years ago where decent demonstrations were given by people that clearly understood their wares. There were timed demonstrations behind closed doors (keeping as much extraneous noise out as possible), demos where information about not only which equipment was being used, but about the music too. Listeners were considerate and quiet when needed, interest was high.
In recent years much of this seems to have gone by the board – demo rooms are simply open access at all times allowing inconsiderate and noisy members of the public to ruin anyone’s listening experience. Little, if any, information is provided by the demonstrators about their equipment or their music - it’s just a case of whacking a CD on, letting it play, and hiding in a corner where, hopefully, one would not have to respond to questions or requests. I generalise of course, and there are always exceptions.
Yet I’m only human and this autumn found myself dropping into the Heathrow show once again. Overall I must say it was a pretty positive experience, but I shall elucidate...
Organisation – not that good! Following the instructions found on the exhibition’s website I duly printed out my “privilege” ticket and scurried along with it. First obstacle – the car park attendant happily informed me that the paper version I had printed could not be used for the special offer parking charge! Luckily the irritation of potentially being asked for a fee three times that advertised was abated once I’d checked in and been issued with a card parking stub. So off round the corner to – a queue.
Despite the phrase “enjoy reduced queuing” brazenly printed at the bottom right hand corner of my Internet ticket I spent a tedious forty five minutes waiting to get in and pay my hard earned pounds. Seemingly not enough cashiers had been set up and people started to get frustrated. Several things could have reduced congestion with a little thought which I won’t raise here, but are quite obvious to any event organiser worth their salt. Nevertheless, once checked in I was like the cork from a champagne bottle – so many stands, so little time!
So how did the exhibitors fare? Well, I must say I was impressed by the number and range of those present, even though a handful had either closed early on in the day or not turned up at all – shame. Rooms too, seemed a cut above the offerings normally found at similar events with more space, less noise from air conditioning and reasonable access along corridors. Drinks and snacks were available and not priced into the stratosphere to rip off a captive market – kudos to the Park Inn. So on to the stuff you all want to hear about. In these few lines I can’t report on all of the exhibitors I visited so I’ll just have to make do with a selected few. I make no apologies for focusing on a few loudspeakers as that is what I went to listen to (to me the loudspeaker is the foundation of building a system).
One of the principle reasons for my visit was to hear the Podium panel loudspeakers, demonstrated by Signature Audio. Well, here they were in all their glory in a big listening space, both the 0.5s and 1s. Initial impressions were very, very favourable – huge soundstage with depth and width, natural sounding and with decent low frequency extension if lacking a little top end sparkle. Had Podium really lived up to their advertising and managed to subvert the laws of physics that impose real world limitations on panel dipoles? Unfortunately the question wasn’t answered – all of the music I heard played was restricted to “easy listening” kind of stuff – Madeleine Peyroux anyone? – music to die by, not for, in my book. The raunchiest test I could encourage the demonstrators to try was some of Keb Mo’s quieter stuff. All in all not a real test designed to push the envelopes – I’ll need to hear more...
Much keener to reflect the interest of the listener was Rountree who were demonstrating their radical, omnidirectional loudspeaker. Based around a resonating, floating cabinet driven by an inverted cone and topped with a ribbon tweeter. Reported to be rather independent of floor types due to a 30kg stainless steel plinth (speakers may be shipped without this to allow the buyer to choose their own style and save a not inconsiderable shipping charge) they pushed out another expansive soundstage with a natural and extended top end. They’ve certainly kicked off a real interest in omnidirectional speakers for me at least. Impressive as they were though, price seemed a bit steep at over £5k.
The biggest surprise though came when I walked through the doors of the Audio Note room – wow; dynamics, detail and music! All from a pair of old fashioned looking rectangular wooden boxes (AN Es) and 8 whole watts of valve power. None of your sloping-sided, polymer-loaded cabinetry here, no powerhouse amps (though the 8 watter was plenty big enough physically) and a nice selection of music from orchestral to choral, blues and rock. This kit took it all in its stride and has made me seriously question whether I need to keep my beloved Martin Logan panels.
Another surprise came from the Bosendorfer room. I’d never heard their loudspeakers before and expected this to be a shrine to classical music as might befit the legendary piano manufacturers. Surely any music with modern pulsing bass lines would just be too much for the Bosendorfer’s resonating boards to cope with. Huh, how wrong could one be – this room displayed the tightest bass heard at the show courtesy of their £6,500+ VC7 – Frankie Goes to Hollywood anyone? The rest of the audio spectrum was decently portrayed too and the speakers appeared very domestically friendly which just goes to show that size is less important when design aesthetics are nicely executed.
I didn’t pay too much attention to sources and amplification on this day – my path to audio nirvana is currently set along the road built by the little Class T amps (if you haven’t tried one yet you really ought, as long as you have loudspeakers of more than 88dB efficiency). That said the Bel Canto Class D 1000W monoblocks were a popular choice and valve amps were having a heyday with many brands on offer. Shanling demonstrated their £6,000 two box 18W offering with aplomb, driving a pair of Duevel omnis and sourced from the new CDT 1500.
Room treatment was also making inroads – one very affordable approach was being taken by Audiosmile with their wall mounted diffusers and absorbers. Add a fabric based picture to the frame and you may have a domestically acceptable way to improve room acoustics.
Disappointing was the almost complete lack of anything related to computer-based audio. Where were the Squeezeboxes, NAS servers, Linn and Sonos? Perhaps there was just too much to be feared from this quarter for the traditional behemoths. I long to hear what lossless music played over a network into a class T amp into efficient speakers can really sound like (that’s my next project and I’m half way there).
Demo of the day went to Electrocompaniet where it was all but impossible to resist the lilting Norwegian charms of their company director. Women swooned, children cried and husbands were busy plotting assassination, just in case. At last, a demo that shared some passion for the equipment and the music. Shame that, for me at least, the setup just didn’t gel – 800W amps driving huge KEF References in a small room was just hoping for too much. It sounded like the system could do so much more, but was just too constricted by the environment.
So that about it really – I stayed all day, finally getting kicked out of the Podium room again as the curtains came down. All in all a worthwhile experience with lots to follow up. I’ve unashamedly commented on just a few manufacturers and largely restricted my interest to loudspeakers. In doing so I’ve ignored or glossed over many other worthwhile concerns – DCS put on a lovely show which was absolutely stunning with female vocals. The Music First passive preamp was being used in more than one set up with excellent results, pushing stage depth to previously unheard of boundaries.
Turntables were obviously enjoying a considerable resurgence (nice to see Transcriptors back again with their idiosyncratic designs) although I can’t say any I heard on that day that really floated my boat. Audio visual stuff was limited in range, but good demos of Blu Ray vs. HD DVD and some rather appealing Pioneer plasmas were to hand. Now, if I only I had the space for that Home Theatre extension...
Stephen Judge
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