Ipswich Trip-switch! Audio Show East

Ooo Naim forum Royalty gathering. Have fun gentlemen, many pics and reports please. 

Have a coffee or two for me 

tonym posted:

Thanks guys. I've tried Imgur, but when I try to post a photo on here, all I get is a little blank rectangle. I've loaded the photos onto Flickr now, but it's not the most intuitive bit of software, is it? Off to the show now so I'll persist later.

Tony, I have recently moved to Imgur and agree that it's very easy to use.  You need to ensure that you copy the Direct Image URL (Second one down IIRC), then paste it into the 'Source' box of the Insert/edit Image dialog box.  Then, as soon as you click on say, 'image description', it should show you a preview of the image in the dialog box.  Then just click on OK and it should then be seen within your post.  Then just click Post Reply.

Well, I thought I could squeeze a few minutes away from work this weekend (new company and all that...), so thought that Alastair's & Andy's Audio Show East would be a lovely place to spend a few minutes.  A few minutes only, mind.

Thank you Signals team for laying on the nicest of Shows.  The equipment is superb, the building has plenty of space for each exhibitor, everyone's relaxed and happy, then we all arrive by lunchtime and it's like a grand reunion.

My 60-90 minutes quick drop in was going well.  First a chat with Maurice of Chord fame about DAVE the DAC and his soon to be released up-sampling twin CD transport (only £8k + another £8k to you, Sir).  This led to a proper briefing about Melco's 3 digital music ripper/server/renderer/re-clocker thingies.  Apparently, they are a good thing to have upstream of either a DAC or a streamer.

Kudos laid on the excellent Naim passive versus active demonstration with an NDS/555PS, Naim's snaxo tailored to suit the Kudos Titan 707 and a pair of NAP300DR active versus a NAP500DR passive.  Others have already written so well about this and I have little to add, other than that I preferred the passive due to the more involving sound of singers' voices, even though basslines were faster and tidier in the active system.  Then Tony M and I had some catching up to do, after which Nick from Suffolk and I finally had a chance to sit down & talk about our history of Touraj's Roksan & Vertere turntables (over a much needed chilli con carne lunch). 

 J.N. arrived after his 24 hour illness induced delay (good to see you recovered John) and clearly needed teasing about the importance of driving Kudos Titan 707 speakers actively with a pair of 500DR amps.  Go on John, you know you want to... One is simply not enough.

Next, the new Uniti Nova playing through £7k of the new Focal speakers (an acquired aesthetic taste).  Still, Phil was revelling in the bass torture track that he so loves playing at 250dBA or louder.  I rather enjoyed it too, if only in small bursts.  What that anti-social drum & bass demo did do was to show just how very capable indeed the new Uniti Nova really is.  Yes, I'm a fan.

By way of contrast, I sought refuge in the exquisite musical tranquil haven of Russell Kauffman's demonstration of his lovely 150 floor standers, driven by a Melco+272/XPS/250DR.  I really, really liked the unforced, natural and involving way this system produces music.  I need to find a room that requires this system one day.  At this point, Alastair patiently explains the basics of streaming and how there are many ways to do it.  Thank you Alastair; I'll need to come back for a demo to compare and try to understand it at the shop.

Back to the main building to meet that wonderful Paul Darwin of Rega, an involved conversation about the merits and eye watering cost of Quadraspire's more exotic offerings, then surely that would be it.

Nope.  A much needed catch up with Karen & Polarbear about Touraj's turntables, ART's speakers, Kudos Titans, a New Year's music session chez nous, life and other such matters of national importance. 

Finally, Chris Harris lured me over to his vinyl record stall for a gossip, browse and purchase of a few albums.  Well, it would be wrong not to... 

All done in 60 minutes? Err, no.  A delightful 4 and a half hours just flew by.

Thanks again Signals team for going to the trouble of laying on such a marvellous event.

Best regards, FT

Let me add my comments to FT - I agree a great show as always - and thanks to all the demonstrators, Andy, Alastair and family.

I really enjoyed catching up and chatting with Rob Watts - however Alastair/Andy perhaps next year you can arrange a breakout room with a whiteboard  

I also enjoyed the Kudos demonstration going between active and passive - really interesting and fascinating changes in presentation..

Regards

Simon

Another enjoyable day today, a chance to catch up with more folks wot weren't there yesterday. I'm pleased to note Mr Foot Tapper's fully mastered of streaming, and has become an instant fan!

I finally got to hear the Mark Levinson JBLs, but I guess I've got different ears to some; a bit-one-note and slow in the bass and a rather chesty sound to vocals. I've decided I'm more a fan of unported speakers. My friend J.N. was working out the likely cost of going active. Gosh... I finally succumbed to Chris Harris and his lovely vinyl collection so I didn't leave empty-handed.

Anyway, some photos from yesterday -

I too had a great day today, the only downside is that, although I must have seen all of you, I didn't get to meet anyone as I simply did not know what you all looked like.

Next year we should ask Signals to organise some name badges.

The room of the show was of course the Kudos room, although it was as much a Naim room as Kudos. DB has described perfectly the differences I heard between the passive and active options. It is very difficult to say one was better than the other, just a rather different presentaion. In fact I heard two demonstrations and changed my mind on which I preferred. After the first demo, I just preferred the passive but by a small margin. Although the active was more visceral and had a larger soundstage, Chris Jones' vocals sounded a little too chesty, passive sounding a little more natural.

I want back a couple of hours later and heard the same demo, the first track being the same Chris Jones song. Things seemed a little different, possibly because the 300DRs had warmed up a bit. I certainly appreciated the incisive nature of the active 300s over the smoother, slightly more masterful nature of the 500 passive. I spoke to one of the Kudos guys after the second demo and told him I still noted a slight chestiness in the vocals of the Chris Jones track and I should add here that when this was recorded (Roadhouses and Automobiles) Chris was dying of lung disease and indeed the track played was an attack on the tobacco industry. So, understandably Chris's voice was indeed very chesty and the Kudos guy saw him live at this time and confirmed that is how his voice sounded towards the end of his life.

So on balance the active 300s just, and I mean just, nudged it for me. This aligns with my view when I heard the same speakers demoed with active 250DRs vs passive 300DR at the Audiobarn a few weeks ago but then it was a clear preference for the active option. Today things are much closer and I can see why many would prefer the passive 500DR option. Mind you there is a bigger gulf between 300 and 500, so the active 300 seriously challenging a passive 500 is remarkable.

Other rooms of note were Chord, not least the very informative talk on DAC design by Rob Watts, Russel K and the amazing Nova which appeared to be thrashing the new Focal speakers. Phil towards the end was turning the wick up on the Nova which was huge fun and what an amazing bit of kit considering everything is squeezed into one box.

Very enjoyable day, thanks to all those at Signals and the folk who demonstrated the kit. It was very professional and relaxing. I certainly intend to return next year.

My only regret is I didn't get to meet any forumites.

Karen & I are just back from a long day out. For us, its been a great day out, a chance to meet friends both old and new. Far to many good friends to mention and if I failed to catch up with someone, there is always next time.

A big thank you to Alistair, his family and staff who put on a great show. Its nice to support these dealer events, they are so much better than the bigger national shows. A small hand full of quality rooms, rather than masses of ordinary kit. For me, it was a chance to get an extended listen to the new Kudos 707's and 808's, something I am very interested in. It was interesting to hear the passive v active demonstration but for me it was great to get the chance to just sit and listen to some music being played on them.

The surprise of the show, for me, was just how good the PMC system was, the PMC Cor seems to be a cracker of an amp and the Uniti Nova also played some great music .

Yet another great Audio East show and Pam and I send our thanks to Alastair and Andy and all the contributors for making it such a success. So great to catch up with so many friends too and discuss the merits of active v passive et al. Name badges would be a great idea, there were many forum members there I would like to to have put a face to a name and chatted to, but simply didn't know who you were!! J.N. going active with a pair of 500's and his 707s now that would be something!!!!

Did anyone ask the naim representatives when the crossover for kudos speakers is likely to be launched and available to buy.

the crossover seems to have been demonstrated at hi fi shows for several months now but still no indication of when they will be officially launched,

has anyone noticed that in 2017 naim have not announced a single new product?

My bet is the crossover will be announced in January at the big American electronics fair.

I asked about production of the 606 and the active crossover for that. I was told that the final tweaks on the cabinet (port) design on the 606 had been finalised and materials for cabinet production were on order with the first 606s due end Nov with the crossover due by the end of the year. The crossover for the 707 should I believe be available before the 606 crossover (they use different components). I must admit, I am not sure if this is the definitive answer though. Kudos and Naim should have the answers.

It was good to meet up with so many (in)famous forumites, known only vaguely through usernames. 3 attendees with a history of the (vastly superior) Roksan decks....

It is a great venue for a show and with a sensible number of visitors there is no queueing for spaces to sit down, making for much more relaxed listening sessions and a greater opportunity to talk to manufacturers.

Rob Watts' (unscripted?) talk on digital developments was interesting. Indeed interesting enough that I need to go and find out what is available in the open literature to explain the mathematics behind it all.

Active Crossovers for 707

Someone who should know told me that a number (8-15) ready before Christmas and the same after, so it seems Naim have realised that this makes business sense to sell more Naim boxes to Kudos owners.

Another trip to the show today was interesting - great event.

DB.

sounds like this was a superb event from the reports. too bad i couldn't make it -- hopefully next year...

enjoy

ken

Any word about a possible Ovator 600 vs 707 comparison ?

Also what about a future Focal Sopra activation ?

Regards

Roberto

Gazza posted:

Just to finish off whilst being nosy in the PMC room I was  struggling to make out which speaker cables they were using, as it sounded so good. Nice chap explained they had their cables made up for them by a cable company in boreham wood, they are on the web. They cost about £2 a metre, looked and sounded good..........

Good old PMC 

Nice updates chaps - sounds like a excellent show with some interesting kit on demonstration. 

tonym posted:

Another enjoyable day today, a chance to catch up with more folks wot weren't there yesterday. I'm pleased to note Mr Foot Tapper's fully mastered of streaming, and has become an instant fan!

I finally got to hear the Mark Levinson JBLs, but I guess I've got different ears to some; a bit-one-note and slow in the bass and a rather chesty sound to vocals. I've decided I'm more a fan of unported speakers. My friend J.N. was working out the likely cost of going active. Gosh... I finally succumbed to Chris Harris and his lovely vinyl collection so I didn't leave empty-handed.

Anyway, some photos from yesterday -

 

Is this Naim Audio demonstrating an LP12 with an Ekos arm? What, no Aro?!

correction: I've just spotted the Kudos pictures and logo on his shirt. 

Have to agree Tony, I was looking forward to listening to the Mark Levinson amps and I would hope that the speakers were a mismatch. For me it was the big disappointment of the show. Still that was only one room out of many very nice sessions in other rooms.

sorry i couldnt make it -- i'd love to hear active 808s with naim amps. It could be a route forward from DBLs when the time comes

Crikey., looks like it went OK, then!

Huge thanks to all the suppliers who really do go the extra mile in supporting our events and those of other dealers too. These guys are a special breed. Without visitors, it would be pointless, of course, so thanks to all of you for coming.  This is a business where warm, friendly and ‘open’ people are the norm at both ends of the retail chain. This becomes very evident when they all come together in a pleasant environment such as we have access to at Trinity Park.

I think the best dressed room award this year must go to Derek and the team from Kudos. It was a revelation both in appearance and demonstration quality.  Some confessions, though. One of the NAP 300s was brand new to us only a few days before the show and the NAP500 was newer still. If you thought the relative merits between active and passive were changing, you were almost certainly correct. Attempts were made to warm these amps through and the 300 was playing music constantly for all the time we had it in advance of the event but we all know that there is a bedding in process.

PMC had an unusually stark room because our revised date clashed with a pro event. It was interesting to hear the room still sound so good when stripped of all the extra panels that they normally bring along. That and cheap cables too! Mind you the amp was sitting on some remarkable little feet that Quadraspire are in the process of bringing to market. We’ve tried them and they’re amazing. Still, all it did was effectively transform the stacked Ikea tables into a better stand.

Naim’s minimalism this year was intriguing but what a big sound from a single box system and a pair of upper mid-range floor-standers. One or two people assumed that the Nova was simply a ‘front’ and there were more amps tucked out of sight. 

I ought to defend the Levinson electronics too. We have them at St Cecilia’s anyway, Gazza,  they are really rather fine with a pair of Titan 808s, or 707,  . . . or PMCs.  

 There was a suspicion that, pitched so close to other similar events, we would see interest and attendance drop. In reality, the opposite was true.  We had two very buoyant days. It’s great for the soul. Nevertheless, I think we need to work on ways to make the show interesting in greater depth. This year, we had DAC designer Rob Watts plus experts in metadata  on hand. Maybe we should develop this path further. The major hurdle is that we already use the site to its maximum potential. Ideas on a postcard, please!

Thanks again, all. Oh and thanks for starting the thread, Kevin, it was great to meet you again. Thanks for the pictures, Tony. 

I hope I’m not bending the forum rules too much, Richard.

Alastair

Clive B posted:

Is this Naim Audio demonstrating an LP12 with an Ekos arm? What, no Aro?!

Naim demonstrating with an LP12 and Kudos speakers would be interesting and entertaining 

Sorry I was 24 hours late. It was worth the wait.

Not quite sure what to make of the Naim 'minimalist' room in contrast to showing off the big stuff in the past. A sign of the times and the evolving market I suppose.

The Kudos room and 707's (no bias!) sounded wonderful and the passive/active dems were very well structured with one minute change-overs. It accurately demonstrated the relative merits of both options.

The Rega room was making lovely music at sensible prices as usual, and it's always nice to chat to the charming and musically knowledgable Paul Darwin. The Quadraspire decoupling thingies were interesting.

The 'sensible money' delight for me was the PMC room. Love that funky new £5k Cor integrated amp which sounded very nice indeed into 25/23's. The nice PMC man (sorry, I don't know his name) even treated us to a front row seat recording of a recent '02' Steely Dan gig on his iPhone. Talk about a lo-fi dem. Great to see contributors being passionate about their music.

I got chatting and forgot to go 'over the road' and see that nice Mr Russell Kaufman and his lovely loudspeakers. Damn!

Many thanks as always to Andy, Alastair, Rhea and Eleanor for their hard work and making us all feel so welcome. Ditto all the hard work put in by the exhibitors.

Great to catch up with lots of similarly afflicted souls/friends too.

Much food for thought. As ever; a good psychologist would be cheaper!

John.

I should have added that Saint Elizabeth Hospice had a used record stall with an honesty box for payments.  £353 were raised and they are exceedingly pleased. Well done all!

So, 706 records sold then? There did not look to be that many in display.

I forgot to mention - had a very fruitful chat with (IIRC) Paul Taylor, who's developed the Jaikoz and SongKong metadata editing software. For anyone who struggles with such things, I can recommend these products. Jaikoz is not very friendly to the uninitiated, but Paul was a great help in showing me the way with some issues I was having. SongKong's a simpler, more automated system - just point it at your music files & it corrects the metadata & saves it.

Well done Signals for inviting these technical folks along, it really adds to the show. 

Someone from another place asked who won the raffle. I probably ought to post it here too. The Quobuz Sublime subscription went to ticket 477. Surname is Standard.