Heathrow HiFi Show

"however, Linn equipment is unaffected by such trifles."

True. Over the last few years they have always managed to consistently sound dire.

Linn equipment has previously been affected by the exhibitors setting up the kit very very badly.

... like placing the LP12 on a heavy sideboard, which twonk did that?

Andrew

Andrew Randle
Linn Binn Sinner

A linn Twonk.

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Originally posted by Andrew Randle:
Linn equipment has previously been affected by the exhibitors setting up the kit very very badly.

... like placing the LP12 on a heavy sideboard, which twonk did that?

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Well, Linn says you can do that with the Trampolin base fitted. Maybe the Trampolin isn't quite es effective as Linn claims?

quote:

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be aware that the hotel environment (poor electricity, acoustics and crowds) often dramatically drops the sound quality standard.

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TRoo right - I heard a Naim setup at Heathrow one year that was absolutely awful! Really terribly horrible bad...

Paul Rowlands

quote:

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Originally posted by prowla:
TRoo right - I heard a Naim setup at Heathrow one year that was absolutely awful! Really terribly horrible bad...

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They had a mid-range SBL setup in a cardboard cubicle. You would not believe how awful that was (or maybe you would).

But the Linn Komris (£25k a pair), on 4xKlimax stereo active (£40k-ish of power amps) was just the pits.

I know this isn't a one-off because a previous year I had wandered into a Linn room with a pair of 1k speakers which I think had had several reasonable write-ups on the forum here. I thought "that's not vey good for a £3-4k system", then realised it was being driven by over £60k of amps.

Martin

E-mail:- MartinPayne at Dial.Pipex.com

As anyone else noticed that the better sounding demos at shows tend to be ones using solo and small ensemble and voice recordings as opposed to all out orchestral pieces and a full on rock mayhem. I think that the latter just shows that the sistems just have'nt had the time to gel properly in respect of warm up time or positioning. It took me months to get the Briks right in my living room so I must be difficult for Naim, or for any company to do it in under two days or whatever before the doors open.

Yours in Music

Syd

Where is the car park for the Heathrow Show
and which hotel has the Naim extravaganza in it.

Thanks for any info

Derek

<<Have you checked your PTs today>>

Derek , the naim kit is in Le Meridien which is just as you go into Heathrow on the left .
Cheers
Glenda

No tuner, sub or Dvd players and no closed demos either! You do get to see a new nait and cd5 however and there is a new small speaker. Be prepared for a shock, ...silver facias!

Glenda

Thanks

Derek

<<Have you checked your PTs today>>

John3, could you elaborate on "small speaker"? Like, smaller than a bread box? Stand mount? Floor stander? Tweeters aimed every which way? Ported?

A speaker with a silver facia? hmmmm

connon

Connon, see my photos.

Andrew

Andrew Randle
Linn Binn Sinner

No tuner, sub or Dvd players

Are you sure about the lack of Dvd? Richard seemed to promise us a Dvd player at this show. Quite a few of us have been putting off a Dvd purchase for over 6 months. A bit of a let-down to say the least if this is true......

Cheers

Don

Hi
Just back from the Heathrow show. New CD and amp have silver fronts, the speakers are floorstanders with sloping fronts.

Colin

Hi Tom

Yes I think they are chasing Arcams market but won't catch them with these boxes.

Colin

Reg,

What did the DVD player look like?

Chris Bell

The silver fronts are an option not the norm.

I went on Saturday and what really surprised me was how duff so much of the kit on demo sounded. To my ears so much of it sounded so harsh that I would wander into a romm and then straight out again, not bothering to see sometimes what was actually on show.

I asked myself why some bother, yet the rooms were always full of people, often nodding appreciably while the demonstrator explained how you could tell how good it was because you could hear the bass player pluck the string! (Even if the string was on a tin can by the sound of it to me.)

The good stuff though included:

Both Naim rooms. OK, I'm biased, becasue this is what I've been listening to for 6 years now, but to my ears they both sounded musical and involving and the 'budget' gear sounded a cut above most in my opinion.

The Steinhardt(?) room. I heard this last year and thought it was marvellous then. Same again this time, very musical but without being too warm like so much valve stuff.

The Cambridge Azur gear through some Gale speakers. OK, way down the budget range from most of what we have but it seemed absolutely stonking value for the money. Proper HiFi.

The Usher room. I've seen the ads in the HiFi mags but never heard it. Fantastic stuff, although they were playing largely Far Eastern (and thereby unfamiliar) music most of the time but whether it was the music, kit or both it sounded fab and always sourced from a £300 CD player!! (They had a range of speakers from £600 to £6000 and a pre-power combo too).

The new Avid Diva deck sounded sweet, natural and thoroughly nice and I want one.

Eleanor McEvoy played live and sounded sweet, natural and thoroughly nice and I want one.

Enjoy if your going.

I went on saturday and it was quite good fun. I took along a copy of "Thievery Corporation" DJ Kicks and got to hear it in three separate rooms. In the neat Acoustics room on a Ultimatum MF9 where it sounded fantastic. The bass on "Reign Dub" was so good and pure but also had the affect of rattling the ceiling tiles in the room - we thought they were going to all fy off. An addictive and tuneful(v.expensive) speaker in a good system. In the Naim room it just sounded rubbish. On top notch equipment as well. I was quite surprised. Boomy, no rythm and not musical at all. Quite a disappointment really as I was expecting it to sound brilliant. Especially as I had just come from the Neat room next door. Both manufacturers having similar environments in which to setup their equipment but one succeeding better than the other. Also, had a listen to Lotus Elite Alon speakers and they were half the price of the SL2s and twice as good. Musical, tuneful and decent bass.

The friendlist manufacturers were definitley Nottingham Audio who answered all my niave turntable questions. Especially as I asked about the problems of having a turntable on a stand on a wooden floor with creaky floorboards. The guy I was talking to then proceeded to get a record dust remover and tapped on the side of the Spacedeck to demonstrate its stability! I half imagined it to go flying across the room...instead it just played on.

The most aesthetic object of desire was the EAR Yoshino Valve amps. Simply beautiful with a very compelling sound.

So quite a good show, my first. i thought the smaller manufacturers tried harder and came across as enthusiasts who enjoyed their work and wanted their customers to do the same. While the bigger ones were more corporate and slighlty anonymous.

Enjoy today if your going

"Dogs have owners but Cats have staff"

Just a few quick thoughts on the show. The rooms in the Renaissance were just so so small and pathetic that practically all of the manufacturers using these are doing temselves no favours whatsoever - better not to bother.

My friend and I were hugely dissapointed by Naim, especially the CDS3/252/super/300/SL2, which sounded astonishingly uninvolving, especially given the price. We brought a few disks along and the results were pretty unremarkable to say the least. Like all hi-fi, it sounds OK on small jazz quartet stuff, female vocal and the ubiquitous Antonio Forcionne (?sp) but the non-audiphile (ie real music?) disks were truly uninspiring.

High point, and I must agree with Jamie here, was the Steinhardt room. These were good last year and superb this (probably because the competition had vanished) - valve amps with PRaT. Very, very impressive. Only real downer was a very tight 'sweet-spot', perhaps a consequence of the Vienna acoustics speakers. I got the chap to play some Platypus in the hope that some block-rocking metal would unhinge his beautiful valves - no chance; they ate it for breakfast. Must get a proper dem of these.

Totem were superb (again). No big hi-fi super-system pretensions, just honest-to-goodness music at an affordable price. The rega p9 and amps were real ear-openers.

Neat - reliable as ever, if lacking a little PRaT. Missed the dynavectors of last year but a chance to hear the Densen 400xs.

Most of the rest was truly appalling.

Steve

Hi ebirah

I must agree with your comments on the Naim and Totem. The large demo Linn,Briston and PMC was impressive considering the room and where you sat. The front PMC speakers where so big they made DBL's look like bookshelf speakers, you could feel the bass.

Colin

Hi folks...I almost went, then thoughts of 4 hours travelling, expensive coffee, predominance of A/V, and the dreadful sound that is the norm for shows, put me off, even though I have a free ticket.

I never cease to be amazed at those who salivate over sounds heard at the show.....in my experience, it varies between bad and dreadful.

I wonder what sort of sound these people are listening to at home........

Furthermore, most exhibitors seem to insist on playing "sounds" about as far removed from real music as it is possible to get. Does anyone actually sit and listen to that stuff for pleasure?

Trying to interpret what I have read above, does this mean that Naim have fallen into line with other "box-shifters" by having a new range for each season?



Laurie S

Sounds like the Naim's VS1 for the AV2 was not included for "active display" or even available for a preview? Can anyone confirm?

Assume this means that the VS1 is still under "development"?

Thanks to everyone who posted their thoughts on the show.

No Dvd player at Heathrow. Not even, as far as I could tell, a mock-up.

The working Dvd player was at the Olympia AV exhibition. Available early 2004.

It was noticable that a lot of exhibitors had abandoned AV demos and returned to hifi. There were a few AVs but not many.

Its not sensible IMHO to make expensive purchase decisions at hifi shows. This also means I wouldn't eliminate too many products either. But I would be more inclined to follow up products from Naim, Totem, Absolute Sounds. The new 5i cd, amp and speakers sounded good and for anyone starting out would be worth a visit to a dealers.

There seemed to be a fair number of cable suppliers doing a/b demos. One actually knocking the competition next door!!!

And nice to put faces to JN and Martin Payne and Richard.

Cheers

Don

[This message was edited by Don Atkinson on SUNDAY 28 September 2003 at 21:24.]