The Hi - Fi Show Beumont House Old Windsor - November 10th -11 2018

I went to one near Winnersh a few years back, Absolute Sounds basically ran it along with Guilford Audio. Too much jazz but a friend got them to play AC/DC on a Techdas airforce two, which cleared the room so maybe jazz it what normal audiophiles want. An enjoyable afternoon was spent there none the less. There some boxes full of vinyl for sale, not all at stupid prices and I left with a few albums. I might go this time too but  sure yet.

Actually 20 quid to get in is pushing it even with the extra couple of rooms.

yeti42 posted:

I went to one near Winnersh a few years back, Absolute Sounds basically ran it along with Guilford Audio. Too much jazz but a friend got them to play AC/DC on a Techdas airforce two, which cleared the room so maybe jazz it what normal audiophiles want. An enjoyable afternoon was spent there none the less. There some boxes full of vinyl for sale, not all at stupid prices and I left with a few albums. I might go this time too but  sure yet.

 

My limited experience of such gatherings suggests a fairly even split between solo female singers (Cara Dillon, Melody Gardot, Katie Melua, Alison Krause etc......) and Miles Davis / Oscar Peterson style jazz. My guess is that these genres lend themselves to demonstrating the abilities of high end hifi? They also tend, in my experience, to be far better recorded than the average rock bands offerings.

If you are a Hi-Hi News subscriber then a daily ticket is £15. Doors open 9.30 for 10.00. Go straight to your favourite room and get timed tickets for the day.  These demos take up a lot of time what with the waiting etc. You will not see all of the show in one day!  Even two days if you have the stamina. Car parking on site is tricky. The show is moving to Ascot for 2019. It might have out growen Beaumont?

A lot of demos are too loud and some can drive the room with "impressive" bass. Absolute Sounds and Mike Valentine are always good.

Usual hotel prices for food and drink!

A great day out for audio anoraks. A fellow audio nut went to the recent Hammersmith show and pronounced it as good if not better.

Douglas.

Myself and Finkfan attended last year.... extremely disappointing event...

wenger2015 posted:

Myself and Finkfan attended last year.... extremely disappointing event...

 

Because?....

Christopher_M posted:

wenger2015 posted:

Myself and Finkfan attended last year.... extremely disappointing event...

 

Because?....

Unfortunately most of the demonstrators didn’t seem interested in any interaction. They generally seemed bored and unenthusiastic.

The ones that made a little effort were in the 50k a box category....

its a sprawling venue with minimal directions 

limited hospitality facilities 

even the venue staff seemed unhelpful 

the only highlight was the exceptionally good coffee 

Spent the Saturday here and got soaked with the rain in the afternoon. Live with that. Saturday is the less crowded day usually.

Considered  and thoughtful demos from Absolute Sounds and Synergy/Mike Valentine plus a few others.

I went with two other audio nuts and we found the background/ foreground chatter just a windup sometimes. Company guys waiting to get to the bar on expenses? Dunno! I know you can't avoid demo sound "splash" but we are listening to very pricey systems. At least the A/C is turned off in demo.

No Naim. Fair enough. They did Hammersmith? Linn no company presence as such.

Next year is Ascot Racecourse. Beaumont is a series of steps, ramps, bits that stick out of the wall, narrow corridors, too many punters. We arrived 9.15 with a full car park. So Ascot can't come soon enough for me.

Did we have a good day out? Yes. Still enjoyable with all the above niggles.

Douglas.

Douglas,

Went today Sunday and thought the amount of brands covered was a bit thin on the ground.

Thought the Absolute Sounds demos where ok but didn't give me the wow factor.The Synergy room with the big Magnaplanners  where incredible both times we went.Really enjoyed Mike Valentines recordings and very educational his talk on microphone placement and different types of mic's.We chatted for a good 15 mins and what a gent.

Wow !  those Maggies with the Trilogy amps has got to be the best sound I've heard at any show and that system was probably half the cost of the Absolute Sounds room.But the image depth,soundstage was incredible and it was so refreshing they where playing a lot of classical music.A real shut your eyes and the music is in the room...magic !

It was also good to bump into Paul Messenger and his wife and Ken Kessler.

TABBY CAT

I think the event has outgrown the venue, hence the lack of one or three major brands, and the move for 2019. Try getting a quick meal about lunchtime and you could forget it! Bring your own sarnies?

On a more positive note the Synergy/ MV room were the  highlight for the two guys with me, as well. There is an interest beyond the £ sign which is  can be rare these days.

MV's Direct Cut vinyl just hits the spot, so I bought some.

Douglas.

Hi Douglas thanks for your comments

What Vinyl did you get from MV ?

I was tempted by the Vivaldi 4 Seasons but at £40 A copy not cheap. But compared to Ken Kessler demoing the Simon and Garfunkel at £150 A  copy very reasonable.Did sound great but a lot of money for a record .

Cheers Ian 

Hello TABBY CAT,

MV LPs. Clair Teal, Tribute to Ella Fitzgerald, direct cut. Played at a high level which the recording will allow, it sounds stunning. Her voice is very "close up". The brass in the band are really punchy. Between tracks you can hear them getting ready for the next one.

Chasing the Dragon 11,  which was the demo LP at the show as you know. A good demonstration how microphone placement can vary the acoustics.

I have an LP12 which has little do with Linn these days The Tangerine Audio mods especially the Stiletto plinth take it to a new level

I paid £28.50 for Clair and £40, ouch, for the Dragon 11. So pricing a bit hap hazard.

Hi-Fi+ latest issue have a rave review of Friday night in San Francisco. I think from Amazon £70 odd. I suppose the price is reflected in small production runs.

During the morning demo there was a loud crack from the Maggies and the RH Infinity amp shut down. The demo was abandoned. It recovered and no problems in the afternoon session.

Douglas.

When on Saturday, have to say I enjoyed the Audio Show East show the week before a lot better.

Absolute Sounds demos were far too focused on trying to highlight performance of the system and as a result felt there was just a bunch of disconnected sound thrown at you. Didn't have any music to connect with and certainly no wow factor at all.

Have to say I really enjoyed listening to the Titan 505s again even with a very different front end system to that at Signals. Probably spent the most time in there for the whole trip.