Bristol HiFi and AV Show - AV Report
Posted by: Don Atkinson on 27 February 2006
Bristol HiFi and AV Show - AV Report
I posted the following report on the hifi page, but then realised that Bristol, as with other shows, now covers AV as well. and my report was speciffically about AV screens/projectors/surround-sound/subs etc. So I thought we might justify a separate thread on this part of the forum. (its called "trolling"....)
I poped into the show this afternoon from about 2 to 4:30.
First impression was there were a lot fewer people than in the past, not nearly so crowded.
I specifically spent time looking at projection systems and screens (plasmas/lcd/rear-projection) and listening to "surround-sound" systems. I was impressed enough by the following systems that I could recommend a proper dealer demo.
Naim, with their n-Vi driven system using the n-Sat/n-Center/n-Sub speakers and a 55 inch rear projection screen from Sim2 at £4k. This rear projection system was stunning, with superb 3-D like depth to the picture. The sound was very good but not stunning.
Sim2; with their C3X (£11k) projector and their 1080 (£9k) projector rumming in adjacent rooms with hard-disc driven Hi-Def pictures from the Discovery Channel. Again, the 3-D depth was superb and the overall clarity, naturalness and vibrancy of the pictures was stunning. Their 40" LCD display (£4k) was giving Fujitsu and Pioneer plasmas a good run for their money.
REL; had launched their "R" series subs - the 505 (£1k), the 305 (£800) and the 205 (£600) with 500W/300W/200W amps respectively. Their demo included one of each sub reinforcing the Front/Center/Rear speakers respectively, ie a 5.1 system using the R505 as the LF channel, but also linking the 505 to reinforce the front speakers, plus the other two subs making it a three-sub-system!!!. Made me want to Buy all three DVDs that they had used in the demo (Behind Enemy Lines/**Perdition/Open Range?)
M&K; using an n-Vi as the driving source, a Runco CL610 projector and their own speaker package comprising 3*fronts at £400 each, 2*rears at £850 the pair and an MX 2500 sub. Playing LOTR produced magnificent colours and detail with frightenly good sound. That little n-Vi certainly drives both the A and V parts of AV, with NO COMPROMISE. The sign on the entrance door to the demo room warned those entering that the demo was standard DVD and NOT hi-def. Without the warning, you might never have realised.
Fujitsu; had an open booth stand with five screens. The large 63" (or was it 80"?) was a bit faded compared to the two 42" screens and the two 50" screens. But those 42" and 50" screens were the best plasmas on show (even better than the the famed Pioneer IMHO) and at about £2.2k and £3.5k each respectively were also excellent VFM.
If you were thinking of coughing up circa £4k for a 50" plasma, I would advise a demo of the 50" Fujitsu, the 50" Pioneer and the 55" Sim2 rear-projection screen. i would also look at the Sim2 LCD screen.
'fraid that's all I saw/can recall.
Cheers
Don
I posted the following report on the hifi page, but then realised that Bristol, as with other shows, now covers AV as well. and my report was speciffically about AV screens/projectors/surround-sound/subs etc. So I thought we might justify a separate thread on this part of the forum. (its called "trolling"....)
I poped into the show this afternoon from about 2 to 4:30.
First impression was there were a lot fewer people than in the past, not nearly so crowded.
I specifically spent time looking at projection systems and screens (plasmas/lcd/rear-projection) and listening to "surround-sound" systems. I was impressed enough by the following systems that I could recommend a proper dealer demo.
Naim, with their n-Vi driven system using the n-Sat/n-Center/n-Sub speakers and a 55 inch rear projection screen from Sim2 at £4k. This rear projection system was stunning, with superb 3-D like depth to the picture. The sound was very good but not stunning.
Sim2; with their C3X (£11k) projector and their 1080 (£9k) projector rumming in adjacent rooms with hard-disc driven Hi-Def pictures from the Discovery Channel. Again, the 3-D depth was superb and the overall clarity, naturalness and vibrancy of the pictures was stunning. Their 40" LCD display (£4k) was giving Fujitsu and Pioneer plasmas a good run for their money.
REL; had launched their "R" series subs - the 505 (£1k), the 305 (£800) and the 205 (£600) with 500W/300W/200W amps respectively. Their demo included one of each sub reinforcing the Front/Center/Rear speakers respectively, ie a 5.1 system using the R505 as the LF channel, but also linking the 505 to reinforce the front speakers, plus the other two subs making it a three-sub-system!!!. Made me want to Buy all three DVDs that they had used in the demo (Behind Enemy Lines/**Perdition/Open Range?)
M&K; using an n-Vi as the driving source, a Runco CL610 projector and their own speaker package comprising 3*fronts at £400 each, 2*rears at £850 the pair and an MX 2500 sub. Playing LOTR produced magnificent colours and detail with frightenly good sound. That little n-Vi certainly drives both the A and V parts of AV, with NO COMPROMISE. The sign on the entrance door to the demo room warned those entering that the demo was standard DVD and NOT hi-def. Without the warning, you might never have realised.
Fujitsu; had an open booth stand with five screens. The large 63" (or was it 80"?) was a bit faded compared to the two 42" screens and the two 50" screens. But those 42" and 50" screens were the best plasmas on show (even better than the the famed Pioneer IMHO) and at about £2.2k and £3.5k each respectively were also excellent VFM.
If you were thinking of coughing up circa £4k for a 50" plasma, I would advise a demo of the 50" Fujitsu, the 50" Pioneer and the 55" Sim2 rear-projection screen. i would also look at the Sim2 LCD screen.
'fraid that's all I saw/can recall.
Cheers
Don