Audio Show East 2014

Originally Posted by Jason:

.....was dying to wheel the PMC 26's next door and try on the end of the statement....that would be fun If not rather overkill!!

Its funny I thought the same with the Kudos Titans 

Also I can't tell a lie - but was wondering what a Hugo would sound like into the Statement.... along with the Titans - I suspect it would have been drop dead awesome...

Yes, I agree, Titans I'm sure would be fantastic with the Statement.   They are my, so far, all time favourite speaker having heard them several times and they always have impressed.   Just that sadly I'll probably never be able to afford them and they are probably a bit too big for my room.  So the PMC 26 at less than half the price, also really impressed me at its price point.  After yesterday, I hope one day I may be able to give them a try at home with a view to snapping a pair up!  

In my haste to waffle on about the 26, I neglected to mention the Kudos room which produced some mighty fine sounds

A class event from Signals! Many thanks to Alastair and Andy for a show unlike 'shows'.

In particular, the Statement was phenomenal even into speakers that were not to my taste. PMC 26's were making some really good sounds along with Kudos and their excellent Titans and Rega with a not so expensive system.

Was also nice to meet up with JN, Tony, Martin and Paul Darwin, as well as others.

Lovely event with some real enthusiasm from the exhibitors, all of which were just interested in playing some great music, as it should be.  

I was told by Naim that they were not dead, but resting.

DB.

This was probably the best HiFi show I've attended. Lots of demo space and a relaxed environment - congratulations to Signals for hosting this.

Lots of interesting new things on the way - a version of the new Naim speaker cable was on show. I attended the Statement demo yesterday and today - although yesterday was probably more impressive in HiFi terms, I actually enjoyed todays demo more with the less expensive Focals (the others resting). It was put to me that the Statement had also another day to warm-up, so that may have been a factor.

Source was NDS with two 555DR PS fed vis Ethernet from a HDX acting as Server, which in turn was accessing external hard drives via USB. So this was an isolated self-contained system not connected to the Internet. I have been told elsewhere this gives the best environment for the streaming system to perform.

Yesterday I had a few concerns about the ultimate performance, but today it was all singing nicely - I found I could immerse myself into the music better. My thanks to Naim crew for letting me try one of my own disks after ripping.

The system had an ease and confidence which helps relaxed listening for me. Vocals were portrayed very naturally with 'body' and realism which delighted me. I probably prefer the presentation of my own S800 to the Focals, but speakers are very personal - the Focal system sounded very enjoyable nonetheless, but perhaps tending a tad to coolness.

I'm hoping all of the things I enjoyed are down to the new Naim Speaker cable...but probably not.

DB.

I also forgot to mention the new Muso.  What a great little package.  It's sound certainly belies it's size and it looks great in the flesh. I know of at least one order made on the day and I didn't realise it was also going to be sold at Apple stores and John Lewis.  A very shrewd move by Naim I think.

It's on page 4 of the JL Technology booklet that came with my Guardian today.

It's due out very soon. I have mine on order.  

Many thanks to Alastair and Andy and all the exhibitors for two days of sheer fun!

Thanks also to John Dawson (ARCAM) for the A & R A60 all those years ago and the new stunningly good FMJ A49 Integrated amplifier.

Many thanks to Alistair and the crew at signals for hosting yet another great day out. We have just got back from the show and had a wonderful time. We much prefer these smaller more intimate shows, just a handful of great companies showing their best. 

It was good to catch up with some many friends and music enthusiasts, our only complaint was the day went so quickly, too much to hear, too many to catch up with. We heard some great music and I have a few more albums to add to my collection int he near future.

Looking forward to the next one already 

A pleasure to meet up with some of the noble naimites again - J.N., Polar and Darke Bears, Gary, and many thanks to JWM for popping in to see me last night on his way home from the show.

Tony, it was great to see you at the show, it was good to see you are on your feet again. Thanks for making the effort, it was really good to catch up 

Another vote of thanks to Alistair, Andy and the Signals ladies for organising such a well organised, friendly and well run show.  This was the most enjoyable show that I have had the pleasure of attending, perhaps because of the relatively small number of systems, each of which had enough room to breathe and give (almost) of its best.

John Dawson of Arcam was wonderfully interesting and knowledgeable to listen to.

The Naim Statement demo showed the awesome dynamic capability of the new amplifier.  It also showed just how capable the NDS can be with the right material and set-up.

My personal favourite was the Rega room, primarily for being able to punch so far above its weight.  I may, by good fortune, have brought along discs that flattered the Rega system, but it certainly managed to convey all the emotion in the voices of both Rosanne Cash & Jennifer Warnes on their respective albums.

The Kudos Titans were very popular, and looked completely different in their polished black lacquer finish.  The Linn LP12 front end looked fabulous but I suspect that the system was being held back by the Linn monoblock amplifiers.  I think I'll stick with Naim...

All in all, a lovely event and all credit and thanks the Alistair, Andy, the Signals team and the manufacturers for giving up a Saturday for our collective benefit.

Best regards, FT 

Apologies for quality of photographs but it was very, very dark in the statement room.

All in all a fantastic day.  Thanks to all especially Alistair & Andy!

Nice to see some old faces from my Sevenoaks days, Nick from Henley and Rob from Rega!

Thanks allthingsanalogue - looks very 'moody' in there!

What PB said.

Congratulations, Alistair - good show, nice venue and great to catch up with so many people after being out of the hifi scene for a while. I think I may have just found out what my next loudspeaker upgrade might look like...

Just want also to mention my local dealer Tomtom Audio who, I gather, provided some vital assistance when it was most needed - well done them!

A few more for the album!

A beautiful setting for a Hi Fi show!

Inside the Statement.

Notice the custom made transistors!

Also and not forgetting a glimpse of the new speaker cable below

I would also like to tell everyone how impressed i was the the Muso, I was sceptical at first when it was announced but the build quality is excellent and the volume knob is sublime!

I'm glad you like the photos Alistair, see you soon I expect with Dad & John

Andrew

Got to say that the statement looks unbelievable from an engineering point of view.

I think I might make a trip down next year and make a weekend of it.

would have loved to listen to this years ensemble!

In the first Statement session on Friday at 1 pm Doug played a couple of jazzy tracks played predominantly on guitar and organ which I liked, does anybody know what they were?

To the Signals Team,

Well done and congratulations for creating the sort of hi-fi show that is sorely missing from the calendar. Small, but perfectly proportioned.

I was "cheeky" enough to zip down myself on Saturday afternoon to take advantage of hearing the awesome Naim Statement again, whilst getting another close-up look at the Mu-So plus having a chance to have an early opportunity to experience some new products from other brands such as Arcam.

And Thanks to Alastair & Andy for letting me through the door too. Appreciated.  

See you next time!!!

Cheers

Tony

A great day - plenty of room to meet and chat with people.

Much preferred the Statement demo to Bristol even with the smaller Focals - would loved to have shifted the Titans in to hear what they would would like with a different speaker.

And went home with bag of records.

Could someone tell me who was singing Requiem at the show?

The venue and the event itself were much bigger than I had imagined. East Anglia seemed important for once.

I liked the Titans in the Kudos room and had a nice chat with a very amicable person whom I thought was just the company representative. I later found out from Andy that I had in fact been speaking to Derek Gilligan  the founder and designer of Kudos. He persuaded me that I need to audition the Super 10s in place of my C10s. The Rega room was good too.

ATB

Ray

For two years in a row, outsiders who have helped us do our hi-fi show have commented on the unusual level of common purpose, warmth and friendliness of the various representatives of the manufacturers involved. Phil, boyfriend of daughter, Ellie, who was dumb enough to agree to look after our headphone stand in the absence of any of the manufacturers (besides Sennheiser) being available was amazed at this compared to his own cut throat world in IT.

We had twenty seven human beings, all with families and other commitments, giving up their time right through a weekend to present products in which they have great belief.  They are teamed up with others who are supposedly adversaries but somehow . . . not. The common purpose is more important. On top of that, there is the back breaking job of unpacking / lugging / aligning / optimizing and then reversing the whole process at the end. 

None of them seemed to mind either. Looking along the (terrifyingly large) table at the Indian restaurant on Saturday night it was all friendly banter and anecdotes. Next day, despite the late curry and the alcohol, visitors get a great relaxed atmosphere, happy smiling faces (excepting mine, obviously) and, thankfully perhaps, open windows.

It really is an amazing industry that I have somehow fallen into. 

Contrast this with the sharpened blades tipped with acid on some of the forums (not so much this one, since Richard has the bad ones assassinated) and you cannot help but feel that constant exposure to music must be good for the soul!

Thanks to the twenty six (I had counted myself as being ‘in'). You were bloody brilliant.

Alastair