The HiFi News Show 2018 - Report

10-11 November 2018, Windsor: The Beaumont Centre

​Held on the 10th and 11th, the latter day was unfortunate in view of the many Remembrance events on this particular Sunday. My Saturday visit was eventful including a rainstorm with some site flooding belying the stock photo above, but finding many popular exhibits from leading brands, though as an exception missing Naim and Focal. They had put in a strong appearance at the recent September Festival of Sound, the London show, in September. Note that the Hi Fi News show will be rebranded for next year and will move venue to Ascot Racecourse.

A number of international high end audio brands were present, including a highlights from Audio Research, Request, Estelon, Magico, Avalon Acoustics, Sonus Faber, Vitus, CH , D’Agostino, Wilson Audio,  and  Transparent. High end exhibits also came from KEF with the still impressive Muon, Chord Electronics with their new super power series, Clearaudio, DCS , TechDas, Constellation, Ayre, exclusive versions of the  B&W 800 Diamond Prestige Series with a superb lacquer, not to omit Bel Canto, Nagra, Mark Levison and high end JBL. 

While impossible to cover all exhibits I dipped into a number of rooms and found worthy sounds in many, including KOG Audio distribution with a system including the smaller  loudspekaer examples from Estelon and Avalon Acoustics, the former the YB and the latter the PM1. The Avalon design is under £20,000 and includes the characteristic anti diffraction enclosure shape and integral  acoustic absorption on the front panel.  

​The sound was commensurately crisp and well focused. Not be outdone the Estelon also sounded well balanced and sophisticated, and well blended in the room acoustic thanks to the smooth curvature of the costly and inert mineral composite enclosure. The system drive included the Vitus RD101 DAC Streamer and the matching R1 DAC 101

Estelon YB Three-way floor stander

The new Avalon PM1 with ring radiator tweeter, here mounted on Stillpoints

CAD put on a good show, perhaps their most ambitious yet, with Wilson Benesch Endeavour integral stand mount loudspeakers and CH Electronics, including the famed monoblocks, and the results were conspicuously detailed and informative, CAD wringing ever more detail from the venerable Philips 1543 DAC chip.

SME: the first time in 12 years, regrouped SME launched a new complete turntable, the Synergy with double isolating platforms and a separate motor power unit. The arm is familiar as it is based on the renowned Series IV with the characteristic tapered magnesium alloy tube. This is a complete player as it also includes an inbuilt Nagra phono preamp, and a selected Ortofon Windfield moving coil cartridge: ready to go!  It was playing through the smaller two way floor standing YG loudspeakers, the Carmel 2 which drove this very large room and audience surprisingly well for this Padood presentation. However I missed the demo of the new Avantgarde short horn cabinet speakers styled in a modern idiom.

Introducing the new SME turntable with YG Carmel loudspeakers

Falcon Acoustics flagship GC6500R floor stander, with graphene platelet driver cone reinforcement. There is a dome midrange and partnering ribbon tweeter. I thought the results were most promising given show conditions. Electronics was by Primare.

High end audio electronics brand Esoteric employed the KEF Reference 5 to good effect supported by Nordost cables and associated noise control devices.

SVC took a sizeable room featuring Benchmark and Questyle  headphone electronics, sharing with brands including Focal, Meze Audio and Nova Fidelity

Decent Audio featured the Raihdo C2.2 loudspeaker series, here driven by Ayre Acoustics electronics. We would like to review some of these recently revised speaker systems, never mind some Ayre!

Abbey Road Cables, now called Black Star, go from strength to strength especially in pro audio applications

Kronos Sparta turntable, contra rotating platters and eye catching as ever, here with New Zealand’s The Wand super rigid carbon fibre tonearm. 

Ken Kessler was one of several experts, here giving presentations on vinyl specials

The RAM BBC LS 3/5a, here recreated  in original 15ohm form, natural sounding; naturally........

Packed houses at Absolute Sounds for the Magico carbon fibre and graphene flagship M6, driven by Metronome and Constellation. Dynamic, punchy hyper detailed and with a massive, unstressed dynamic range. The M6 stands tall and makes a powerful impression, as it should given that the bass unit array per side is equivalent to a long throw 17 inch diameter driver. 

Magico M6 Reference (circa £200,000 a pair!) driven by a Constellation stereo block, the Centaur II 500, in theory with 1,000W/channel available into this 4ohm loudspeaker impedance! 

The second large demonstration room for Absolute Sounds was the première of the latest iteration of the Wilson Audio Watt/Puppy series, lately called Sasha and now dubbed Sasha DAW in memory of the founder, the late David A Wilson. This powerful, three-way, two box system has many adjustments for listener, the audio system and for room conditions, and was powered here by the Audio Research Corporation M150 tube monoblocks, this design graced by oversize power meters. Cables are by Transparent. Wilson brand ambassador Peter McGrath was master of ceremonies. He played that last recording from Leonard Cohen, and which was particularly arresting, absolutely holding the audience. 

Almost sliding under the wire, music store company Request (of the Beast fame) showed a mock up of a new model with many facilities at about £10,000, about a quarter that of the massive original. As before numerous options will be offered, and yes, that is a convenient CD slot at the front for loading recordings.

DCS was present in force and I took the opportunity to try out their new fine sounding Bartok DAC/headphone amplifier, courtesy of co-exhibitor Audio Lounge, the headphone specialist dealer. 

The Still mightily arresting: Clearaudio Master turntable here with the second generation light powered DS Audio photoelectric pickup cartridge, now with electronic tuning options to optimise sound quality in a system. 

B&W fielded a neat system with Chord Cables, and Chord Electronics amplification which was strangely compelling musically, a well set up system, and with an audience reluctant to leave: Here showing off the latest Diamond Prestige, pictured are the 802, these with super lacquer finishes.

Mike Valentine of Chasing the Dragon recordings was hosted by Symmetry, holding sway with his presentations between the product demonstrations. These affairs were very well attended and included master tape and direct cut replay comparisons.

The stately array of the latest statement Chords: pre ULTIMA, plus monoblock ULTIMA powers, driving the KEF Muon

Chord Company’s Martin Cobb helps out, showing off the KEF active wireless LS50W which versions were present in many colours

Above is the Theoretica acoustic holography processor also with PS Audio power amplifiers by Bascombe King. Convincing 3D image dimensionality was obtained for a single, calibrated listener location using a processor and a calibration camera and microphone unit which also tracks and adjusts for head movement.

PS Audio Direct Stream Power Plant 20, a sophisticated mains conditioning beast potentially solving difficult mains power issues.

I admired the purist lines and superb finish on this Soulines turntable available from Timestep. 

Technics SL1000R Also from Timestep, the special £14,000 version of the new Technics SL1000R, with Lustre tonearm and no lack of customers

There are two reasons for the duo of JBL loudspeakers included in this show photo, one a reminder to order for review the new L100 revival on the left, which original I remember flogging at London AudioT in the early 1970s, and the other to note the dynamic and expressive sound from the flagship of this group, the established three-way double horn S4700 high efficiency design, backed by a low compression 15inch bass driver.

Kudos exhibited with Linn on this occasion, an outing for the new generation of Linn streamers, (here a LINN SELEKT DSM)  also fed from a latest gen LP12 with on-board RIAA equalisation and digital output formats. AudioQuest cables were abundant here. The Kudos loudspeaker is a Titan 505 with double bass drivers, one internal.

Apologies to all those I was not able to visit or include.