The Indulgence and Headroom Show - Show Report

14-16  October  2016, Hammersmith, LONDON

On the Friday it was a bit quiet in the morning, but it began to pickup later, while there was a good Press and Dealer turnout as there were several new product and new range launches allocated to this show. And not to forget that this Hi Fi show was allied to the well supported Headroom show, while on the second floor ‘Champagne Suite’ there were literally hundreds of headphones and earphones to try out. There were live music events throughout, plus a whole series of seminars, presentations and demonstrations. There was also a gallery of famous rock star and rock band photographs by top rated photographer Ross Halfin .

​NAIM brought a working example of their new UNITI range the UNITI STAR, £3,000 worth of ripping storage, streaming, control and amplification in one tidy and ultra modern casing, distinguished by a cool, full colour 5 inch display and topped by the impressive rotary volume control wheel first found on the Statement and then fitted to the iconic Muso series.

These new Unities now have advanced programming loaded onto on custom IC chips and this offer improved facilities and versatility. As the name suggests, they offer one stop packages for a complete, modern audio system, save your chosen speakers and cable. Naim also introduced a new anti-vibration mains cable based on the Powerline, called Powerline Lite but at much less cost, available in a few months at an expected £100, but also supplied as standard with the Unities.

NAIM UNITISERVE STAR

Jack Oklee–Brown, Head of Acoustics at Kef explaining the many virtues of the LS50 Wireless

Kef LS 50 Wireless

​KEF launched a fully active version of the LS 50, called the LS 50 Wireless fully equipped, bi- amped, even with 200W on the bass to ensure freedom from clipping when various eq. settings are invoked.  Wireless and wired inputs at up to 24 bit 192 kHz, Bluetooth 4.0 wireless using aptX and 2.4GHz/5Ghz Dual-band Wi-Fi,  plus App control, the setting even include phase alignment of the crossover for a more accurate square wave, plus  a number of intelligent user equalisation settings for fine  tuning the sound reproduction in the room. As for the LS50 the UniQ concentric design remains as do many other valued features of the preceding passive model. It will be available in Titanium grey/Red, Gloss Black/Blue, and Gloss White/Copper finishes from November at a list price of £2,000 a pair.

​PMC showed off their latest range of 20.5 Series speakers with new glass fibre weave cones, and a higher velocity laminar flow port for their established ATL bass loading. Improvements in coloration and bass extension are to be expected. The line up includes a centre channel and a compact yet powerful sub.

Vertere, in conjunction with FM Acoustics demonstrated a £200,000 system which included the big PMC studio monitors, and live music sessions.  Vertere made great sounds, launching their Vertere record label, releasing The Prayer by Caezar, mastered by Abbey Road at 45rpm. The player itself is a delight in polished acrylic, here founded on a superb anti vibration platform.

The Vertere analogue turntable, LP enthusiasts delight...........

​VP Unity Two turntable, a beautiful and near total rebuild of an LP12, also with a highly customised Rega tonearm. 

Shown above here with SE valve amplification, including a neat nuvisitor equipped phono stage from Malvern Audio Research/Ming Da partnering Alacrity loudspeakers.

I much enjoyed the massive cast polymer PNOE full range horn speakers from AER. Directly on axis the was a touch of brittleness and zing , but if I was suitable located , a very direct sounding dynamic and well timed result was heard powered by / valve amplification and sourced from the flagship Origin Live turntable and arm. The acrylic sub baffle has greatly improved the timbre for this ultra sensitive 100dB/W loudspeaker. The drivers alone are several thousand Euros each. Valve amplification was by Audiopax, cables by Zensati, the whole shebang hosted by Audio Reference

AER PNOE

Nordost demonstrated their Sort Lifts seen here supporting Nordost speaker cables feeding YG Acoustics Carmel II, all alloy floor standers. Allowing me to take control of the demo, and sounding notably detailed, this system, powered by Moon electronics, quickly revealed significant improvements in focus, spatiality and dynamics with the lifts installed. We used four sets of lifts here, at about two grand (Sterling).  

Dali worked hard to control difficult room acoustics, including installing the Townsend vibration isolation platforms. Audio electronics were by Meridian. There was some stunning artwork to add interest. 

QUAD demonstrated their new Artera ( £1,400) all-in-one streamer amplifier (with front panel slot CD ripping) here with the electrostatic panel speakers. 

For those not in the know, these speakers are superbly natural, but do not drive a thumping bass into the corridor to attract visitors. The DAC chip is the fashionable multi format compatible ESS Sabre, there is an app for control (of course), plus analogue and digital inputs and even a headphone output.

With press launches to attend, I finally ran out of time, my apologies to those I could not fit in.    Martin Colloms

Download this show report as a PDF.