It’s always a delight to set foot at the Hi-Fi Show Live in Ascot’s sprawling stadium, which really sets the standard as a luxury events space.
What also makes this show unique is the amount of hi-end global brands it attracts, meaning access to some of the most finessed and refined audio gear on earth.
As soon as I was through the door I made a beeline for these, MoFi’s mighty V10 loudspeaker, which was making its UK debut. Want to know more? Watch our exclusive interview with the man behind them, Andrew Jones (below).
And next door was another UK exclusive, Primare’s Allt-i-Et all-in-one system. The amount of tech Primare has managed to pack into this is astounding – watch out for a future review.
One of my favourite shots of the Show – Karma-AV‘s Ian Severs and Primare’s Terry Medalen who were on hand all weekend giving visitors a warm welcome with excellent demonstrations.
Need some bass with that? Here’s the insides of SVS’s PB17-Ultra with its whopping 17″ driver and Class D amp, weighing in at a cool 74kg.
SVS was partnering its subs with its instantly recognisable loudspeakers. Above are the Ultra Evolution Pinnacle, being fed by a Unison Research Unico CD Uno valve player and S6 Black Edition valve amp.
Also in the room was this stunning Unison Research 25th Anniversary Absolute 845 dual mono integrated tube amp, being closely guarded by Unison Research’s Bartolomeo Nasta.
Perlisten partnered with Primare and with excellent results. Here’s the brand’s affordable A Series being presented by CTO Erik Wiederholtz with the A3t floostander, A3m compact (that can be used horizontally or vertically) and the A2s wall/ceiling speaker. There’s also a larger floostander as part of the range, the A4t, with three bass drivers.
AVID’s Conrad Mas, looking as cool as the recently released Relveo deck he’s stood with (feeding YG Acoustics’ Vantage 3 Live system). Also on display was AVID’s new Celsus preamp, which boasts a reengineered volume control with remote operation.
UK Distributor Heritage Hi-Fi was keeping it reel, with this gorgeous retro styled stack driving KLH Model Five acoustic suspension loudspeakers. Just lovely.
And sticking with the vintage vibe, it’s always a delight to see and hear a London Decca pick-up. This Super Gold was mounted on a periphery driven Sota deck for sounds to sink into.
Look familiar? Your eyes don’t deceive you, as this is an all new Kraken integrated amp by Audio Resurgence, that’s more than heavily influenced by the Alchemist model of decades past, and that’s because it is the real deal. There were matching power and pre amps too, with more products in the pipeline.
And here’s the Audio Resurgence team, formed by the two founding members of Alchemist Products, with Andy Light (above left) on casework and styling duties with Glen Gayle (right) crafting the internals. I’ve wanted to meet these guys for years and it was such a delight to chat and hear about all they’ve got planned.
Revival Audio has to be one of the hottest loudspeaker brands of the moment, and here’s its Atalante Grande Reserve flanking a pair of AudioSolutions Figaro M2 with electronics by Electrocompaniet, XACT and Aqua. Simply superb.
Don’t be baffled, as the Sprint 3 standmount loudspeakers by Revival has a removable magnetic front grille, should you want a modern or classic wood look. These were being driven by Lindemann’s petite Woodnote all-in-one, making for an ideal compact system.
Henley Audio rolled out the branded carpet for its many brands on demo, and with Rotel being the most recent guest to its distribution list, it was great to see examples from the full range from entry level half widths through to the magnificent Michi flagships.
Node’s loudspeakers stand out from the crowd, thanks to their top-flight tech married to superb style and build. Here’s the Atom 525, which houses no less than 1.6m of tailored transmission line in its compact cabinet.
At the other end of the speaker size spectrum was JBL with its Summit series, with the imposing Makalu and its beefy 12in bass driver, looking on to Ama standmounts, being powered by Mark Levinson 600 Series electronics – all UK exclusives.
Who doesn’t love a classic looking Thorens? Feast your eyes on this TD124 Direct Drive with SPU pick-up and balanced outputs.
I’m not sure what the plural is for a wall of Canton speakers…a Cancan? Either way, here’s a bunch of them looking splendid.
This was a first for me, seeing Aavik Acoustics’ hardware in their Danish flesh – which looked and sounded stunning.
The view from the rear, with Atlas Cables showcasing its very latest mains, interconnect and digital connections.
Looking ten-on and personally curated by Absolute Sounds’ Ricardo Franssovici, the Ten collection on demo courtesy of Audio Lounge.
Another turntable that caught our eye, this is Argon Audio’s suspended TT deck, sporting carbon arm and walnut plinth for a very attractive £1,699.
These went so well together, Bowers & Wilkins 803 D4 and Marantz 10 Series linked by Chord Cables. What more could you want?
Headphones, records and perhaps surprisingly, CDs were also drawing the crowds with loads to chose from.
A huge thanks to Paul Miller, the AV Tech team and Ascot folks for another weekend to remember, with hifi so good even superheros and Ghostbusters couldn’t resist.
