North West Audio Show Cranage Hall pictures

[sk3lph]

First Hi-fi show I've been to since the pandemic, the last one was the Bristol Show just before everything kicked off.

Went on the Sunday and it was really good to be back - I think it was bigger than the last one, probably due to the time gap and the fact that lots of new products were on the market since before. Interesting that a great looking system didn't necessarily translate to a great sounding system to my ears anyway. Lots of amazing looking turntables and where else would you get the chance to see and listen to systems worth well north of 100 grand. We also had a demo of the Chord Powerhaus distribution blocks which is supposed to remove hi frequency noise from audio equipment to therefore improve the sound quality.

A good day was had, some pictures I took as I went round are as follows -

 

[Yaayuh!]

Some nice stuff there, love a bit of Luxman.

Interesting that a great looking system didn't necessarily translate to a great sounding system to my ears anyway.

Audiophilia 101

We also had a demo of the Chord Powerhaus distribution blocks which is supposed to remove hi frequency noise from audio equipment to therefore improve the sound quality.

 

[nst68]

Is there an issue with sound leaking between rooms with a place like this?

 

[sk3lph]

Is there an issue with sound leaking between rooms with a place like this?

Absolutely, there were a few instances where you could hear systems in other rooms as well as the one you're trying to listen to.

 

[Grimley]

Been a while since I last attended a Hi-fi Show (Bristol 2006) I got to the stage where I felt it wasnt worth the time to take to travel there & back (almost 400 mile round trip) I came to the conclusion that a small hotel room packed full of people wasnt the right place to get a personal demo of hi-fi anymore.

The demonstrators never played any music I liked or recognized, I'm of the opinion that a Hi-fi system once chosen should be there so you can enjoy the music and not be critical of the hardware that it is played on, which is what I think goes on at hi-fi shows these days.

OK, everyone has individual tastes but not everyone has ££££'s to spend. My hearing is now where I couldn't justify spending more than 4 figures to get a minor improvement in the sound.

Best sound I heard from a System was many moons ago at a show from a pair of speakers I owned at the time with a much better amplifier. I should've gone down that road but I didn't & I regret that to this day. I chose to go down the Home Cinema route instead which I have enjoyed but I have other hobbies now.

 

[-Ad-]

Nice pics.

Sooo much expensive equipment and equally expensive cables etc just plonked in rooms.

Only a handful of demo setups with any room treatments, those are the people I'd rather talk to

I also have a way of removing high frequency noise. It improves transients and "insert more buzzwords here". It's configurable for various freqency ranges and all you have to do is wave it around the room and it'll catch these stray high frequncy noises. Here's one that removes high frequency infrasonic poultry from the air:

Catching Net for Poultry

Catching Net ideal for Poultry - CHICKENS, HENS, DUCKS etc.

www.durhamhens.co.uk

 

[Mr_Sukebe]

Thanks for the photos, interesting to see what's currently in vogue.

 

[JasonM]

I was there also, some of the setups sounded amazing. However some were fatiguing / not setup correctly.

The MCRU was a stand out system, as was one of the systems from Doug Brady HiFi.

Also the Neat Acoustics 5" speakers sounded amazing, like full range floor speakers.

 

[sk3lph]

Interesting comments and agree that some of the systems just didn't sound as good as they should have. The Brian and Trevor system was an example that didn't look particularly interesting but sounded fantastic and the system with the big red horn speakers looked amazing but the sound wasn't anything to write home about. The Accoustica system looked and sounded the part, but it should as it was a seriously expensive system.

Grimley - appreciate what you're saying. My last visit to the Bristol Show make me think that I'd give it a bit of a rest for a while as it just felt I'd gone back in time to the previous years show. The Cranage show felt like the forced pandemic break had actually improved the experience compared to the last one so I'll probably give the Bristol Show another go as its a good day out for someone interested in this sort of stuff.

Also agree with -Ad- that the Chord demo just managed to convince me that spending a lot on the power distribution was not a proportional improvement - the system they had sounded great even before they started swapping the power blocks.

 

[JasonM]

I got into conversation with the person from MCRU, he said their equipment / speakers they were new, as in not switched on before, tweeters not broken in. I was at the show on Sunday, however he said on Saturday his system was embracingly poor, where Sunday it's sounding very good.

Also on the Saturday he did not have his speaker cable risers. He said static was coming in from the carpet with people walking on it, and Sunday he had his speaker risers and this combined with equipment burn in, system now sounding good. The MCRU system is the one with Brook Audio logo in centre of your picture.

 

[mid_gen]

Well, I don't need any hifi kit, but now I want a little lamp to light my TD 160!

Anyone recommend one? Needs to be a nice warm light

 

[wozzizname]

Interesting to see what's going on in the high-end world these days - haven't been to a show in over 30 years, when the Apogee Scintillas were the speakers to beat.