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Post by macca on Oct 2, 2022 18:38:24 GMT
Here's a few photos I took at this show earlier today. As usual I didn't get time to go in every room and there's a few I went in where I forgot to take photos, but here's some of what I have. For those who don't know this is an enthusiast's show not a trade show, people bring their own equipment and demonstrate it. There were a couple of trade exhibitors, just to help with the costs I suppose. And there was a record stall and another stall selling all sorts of bits and pieces. Venue was the North Staffordshire Hotel in sunny Stoke On Trent. It actually was sunny today. Hotel was built in the 1840s to compliment the railway station opposite and is Grade II* listed. Inside it still retains echos of its early Victorian grandeur. I didn't take this pic, just a stock photo:  (Note - the room names are as they appear on the show's programme). So, off we go -
'Alchris Audio' was the first stop - this was a trade room, showing their V200 Domestic Monitors. A lot of speaker for £4.2K, easily filled the very large room:  'Baggawire' - Minty Yamaha NS1000M and Sony Pre-power, a good combination:  'Orbscure' - I really liked the sound in this room. Omar Skinner CR502 loudspeakers and the irresistable charm of Accuphase:  Had to take some close up pics of the Accuphase kit:   And this Technics SP10 that was the source in use when I was in there. I don't do vinyl anymore but still have a soft spot for the 70s and 80s superdecks and the SP10 is my favourite. It sounded impeccable: 
'Max The Sony Guy' -He really is and I suspect he only brought a fraction of what he has. Sony STR6120, absolutely mint, into a SQA 2030 Quadrophonic decoder and on into various models of the Sony APM speakers. I do love classic Sony and the sound quality was excellent.  picture share   upload pic upload pic
'Keith/MF1000' 'mega system' - Did what it said on the tin. Custom built subs using 18 inch Volt drivers with cabs on top using a mix of SEAS and Volt units, bass powered with Behringer amps, mid and tops are 845 Ming Da tube amps. Effortless - as you'd expect.  upload pic  upload pic'Lurch and IDS' -Big Martin Logan Summits with NordNC5000MBS monoblocs, Brinkman TT, Lector CD player. First time I have had a listen to any of the really big MLs, I can see the attraction.   upload pic'Ed Howarth' - great system this one. When I went in something was playing that I recognised but could not place, and it sounded fantastic. After a minute I realised it was 'Blowin' Free' by Wishbone Ash. Got the album but not listened to it in years. Anyway - Q Acoustics 2020i which are tiny, with an REL S3 sub, crossed over at 100Hz with a cut off so the Q Acoustics are not fed anything below 100hz. QUAD 606 power amp. And it really worked so well.  free image hosting'Jester 7 & Vinylystas'Kii3 with the bass modules - say no more. I keep having to talk myself out of getting some of these. They are expensive but they are so perfect, especially in the lower frequencies. They just start and stop like nothing else, ever: 
'Orangeart & Making Light' - Linkwitz Orions with KFF audio MA-01 amps. If there's a bad Linkwitz speaker I've not heard it yet. These could have done with a bigger room to stretch their legs a bit but still sounding faultless.  Got a few more pics I think, might put them up tomorrow. |
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Post by robbiegong on Oct 2, 2022 19:00:57 GMT
Thanks for the pics - a nice mix of stuf there Macca
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Post by macca on Oct 2, 2022 19:19:48 GMT
Yes was a lot of variety.
Last time I went was 2012 and things have moved on in a decade. A lot of people now using min-DSP and other active crossovers. And subs - quite a few systems using subs to very good effect. There were still zillions of turntables though!
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Post by stevew on Oct 2, 2022 19:33:39 GMT
Yes, thanks for taking the trouble over pics. Really interesting to see.
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Post by lurch on Oct 2, 2022 19:43:24 GMT
Enjoyed my day exhibiting, however I. D. S. who was down as my co-pilot pulled out Wed morning with a +ve test. 19.5 hr day Sat loading, driving, unloading and setting up mostly on my own. Knackered now, but elated with how things went, now in the curry house for the post show banter and chill session.
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Arke
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Post by Arke on Oct 2, 2022 19:45:36 GMT
Great summary and photos, thank you!
Sad I missed it. Was away unfortunately
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Post by jandl100 on Oct 2, 2022 20:11:28 GMT
I was there today and thoroughly enjoyed it.
I somehow managed to miss the Kii3 room, maybe it was crowded when I peeked in and never got to revisit.
Very impressed by Klipsch Cornwalls, as fast and dynamic as I'd expected but pretty much clear of the colouration I was mistakenly looking out for.
Wammer "Dave" quite blew me away with his seemingly random piles of speaker drivers and cabinets, stitched together with at least one valve crossover.
I told him he was a nut and he just nodded happily.
I think they were each made up of 2 small Yamaha active subwoofers, an Accuton ceramic midrange, and a tower of 4 Linaeum foil tweeters.
They looked totally random but sounded quite excellent imo.
Killer bass from Keith MF 1000's mega system. I really could feel my innards vibrating.
Loads of other excellent sounds.
Anyway, top effort all round and a great day out.
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Post by antonio on Oct 3, 2022 4:01:00 GMT
macca Thanks for the pics and write-up, much appreciated.
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optical
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Post by optical on Oct 3, 2022 6:54:39 GMT
Well donw macca thanks for that. Appreciate the efforts taken. When are you getting some Kii3's?? |
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Post by antonio on Oct 3, 2022 7:05:26 GMT
I can't remember whether I've said this before on here, we demo'ed some speakers a few weeks ago, the Kii3's were the worst, unrefined is how I would describe them, don't go and buy any until you have compared with a few others a similar price.
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Bigman80
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Post by Bigman80 on Oct 3, 2022 7:06:46 GMT
Well donw macca thanks for that. Appreciate the efforts taken. When are you getting some Kii3's?? Haha, that's what I was gonna say! Lol |
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Post by Bigman80 on Oct 3, 2022 7:10:36 GMT
You're a good un' macca I appreciate the blow by blow account of the rooms you visited. Looks like some decent kit was on show. I'd have like to hear those Kii speakers. |
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Post by Arke on Oct 3, 2022 7:50:22 GMT
I can't remember whether I've said this before on here, we demo'ed some speakers a few weeks ago, the Kii3's were the worst, unrefined is how I would describe them, don't go and buy any until you have compared with a few others a similar price. I heard the Kii3's at Cranage and they weren't for me. Lots of BANG for your buck, but not much refinement to my ears. As always, it could've just been a bad demo or bad room/setup. |
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Post by antonio on Oct 3, 2022 8:05:11 GMT
@arke I will assume your BANG meant BANG rather than value  They were not originally made for audio, and it shows. |
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Bigman80
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Post by Bigman80 on Oct 3, 2022 8:09:41 GMT
@arke I will assume your BANG meant BANG rather than value They were not originally made for audio, and it shows. What were they made for? |
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Post by antonio on Oct 3, 2022 8:15:54 GMT
@bigman I believe studios, although I would be usure about the bass cabinet, it may have just been added for 'audiophiles'.
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Post by Arke on Oct 3, 2022 9:06:16 GMT
@arke I will assume your BANG meant BANG rather than value They were not originally made for audio, and it shows. Yep! A lot of BANG. I didn't think they were good value, but that is the beauty of HiFi - we all like different stuff! |
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Post by Bigman80 on Oct 3, 2022 11:09:27 GMT
@bigman I believe studios, although I would be usure about the bass cabinet, it may have just been added for 'audiophiles'. Oh, ok...I see now. |
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Post by antonio on Oct 3, 2022 12:49:34 GMT
In my above post, I meant to say wouldn't be sure and not would.
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Post by hifinutt on Oct 3, 2022 13:28:32 GMT
sounds like they had a brilliant show apart frrom the beer ran out !!!!
couldnt make it this year but lovely to see the pics . amazing commitment from folks to get this organised and lug all that gear
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Post by hifinutt on Oct 3, 2022 13:31:03 GMT
Enjoyed my day exhibiting, however I. D. S. who was down as my co-pilot pulled out Wed morning with a +ve test. 19.5 hr day Sat loading, driving, unloading and setting up mostly on my own. Knackered now, but elated with how things went, now in the curry house for the post show banter and chill session. cant believe you got those summits there !!!!! wow they are big to lug about |
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Post by Pigmy Pony on Oct 3, 2022 16:47:26 GMT
Enjoyed my day exhibiting, however I. D. S. who was down as my co-pilot pulled out Wed morning with a +ve test. 19.5 hr day Sat loading, driving, unloading and setting up mostly on my own. Knackered now, but elated with how things went, now in the curry house for the post show banter and chill session. cant believe you got those summits there !!!!! wow they are big to lug about He's a big feller, probably just tucked one under each arm  Never heard MLs before, they impressed me with their mix of clarity and power. I don't know what the floor was made of, but I could feel the bass coming through my feet. And were surprisingly wife-friendly for such big 'uns - I could probably get them past Mrs. Pony. |
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Post by antonio on Oct 3, 2022 16:57:34 GMT
@pigmypony "I could probably get them past Mrs.Pony." Don't make me laugh, you're living in dreamland |
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Post by Pigmy Pony on Oct 3, 2022 17:07:22 GMT
I can't remember whether I've said this before on here, we demo'ed some speakers a few weeks ago, the Kii3's were the worst, unrefined is how I would describe them, don't go and buy any until you have compared with a few others a similar price. I heard the Kii3's at Cranage and they weren't for me. Lots of BANG for your buck, but not much refinement to my ears. As always, it could've just been a bad demo or bad room/setup. I think it may well have been. I didn't think they sounded unrefined, just very fast, particularly in the bass. Which may sometimes shine an unsympathetic light on less than ideal recordings. The polar opposite of 'euphonic' I suppose. But... it's a lot of money. And perhaps lower cost actives with dsp could get you most of the way there. |
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Post by Pigmy Pony on Oct 3, 2022 17:25:21 GMT
@pigmypony "I could probably get them past Mrs.Pony." Don't make me laugh, you're living in dreamland No, honestly... They're the right colour, and only about a foot taller than what I have now. For her the look is more important than the sound - she likes my current speakers more than I do. And to illustrate my point I'll tell you about a visit to Cranage a few years ago, when she (reluctantly) came with me. Of some Audio Note speakers there, sporting a kind of mottled wood finish: "they look like Spongebob Squarepants". And some nice Kralk TDB12s: "they had speakers like that at my mum's Labour Club". There were also some horn speakers that reminded her of Mick Jagger. You've no idea what I'm up against, guys with a dedicated listening room don't know they're born! |
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Post by macca on Oct 3, 2022 18:45:17 GMT
I can't remember whether I've said this before on here, we demo'ed some speakers a few weeks ago, the Kii3's were the worst, unrefined is how I would describe them, don't go and buy any until you have compared with a few others a similar price. I heard the Kii3's at Cranage and they weren't for me. Lots of BANG for your buck, but not much refinement to my ears. As always, it could've just been a bad demo or bad room/setup. Have to say I have not heard that, in fact the opposite, their refinement is one of the things I like. However I've not listened to anything like enough variety of music on them to be able to say for certain but nothing I have heard on them showed up any issues. There is this The treble seemed a bit sharp at times to me and this is what prompted me to adjust the tonality of the high frequency down by 2dB. Anecdotally, I have read a few other reviewers who made passing mention of this. With the Kii’s wide radiation pattern I attribute this more to additional room interaction in the 3-5kHz area. You can get an idea of this by simply looking at the Estimated In-Room Response. A simple PEQ filter at 4kHz would likely remedy this issue but I didn’t take the time to test this theory.www.erinsaudiocorner.com/loudspeakers/kii_three/The sperate BXT unit allows for higher SPLs in very large rooms. Even without the BXT units bass response is still -3dB at 20Hz. The speaker was designed for domestic and professional use, there are two versions, but the only difference is the finish applied to the cabs. The big advantage they have over every other speaker there is (except a handful that use the same principle) is that they have cardioid dispersion which minimizes the effects of the room - any room - with the speakers in pretty much any position. Hence the stupidly good performance in the bass frequencies. There's a few things that put me off getting some. 1) Being amp, DAC and speaker all in one, if just one thing fails you have no system until it is fixed, and they would have to go back to the manufacturer to be fixed. I can't just drop them off in the pro shop down the street and get the bloke to run his soldering iron over them. 2) I already have a system that is more than good enough for me. 3) It's a lot of money to be spending on toys. |
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Post by Pigmy Pony on Oct 3, 2022 18:58:11 GMT
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Post by macca on Oct 3, 2022 19:07:01 GMT
As per yesterday's conversation, adding a top notch sub to your set up may be all you need to make an already great system perfect for you. For a fraction of the cost. You could try out my REL T9i, but I think your speakers would warrant something better, like the one that bloke had with the little Q Acoustics standmounts. It would be a lot cheaper. Yes, I reckon I could make what I have better with a sub, but it still isn't going to have that stop-start control as good as those Kii3. I mean just nothing else I have ever heard does that so well. |
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Post by Arke on Oct 3, 2022 19:20:22 GMT
As per yesterday's conversation, adding a top notch sub to your set up may be all you need to make an already great system perfect for you. For a fraction of the cost. You could try out my REL T9i, but I think your speakers would warrant something better, like the one that bloke had with the little Q Acoustics standmounts. It would be a lot cheaper. Yes, I reckon I could make what I have better with a sub, but it still isn't going to have that stop-start control as good as those Kii3. I mean just nothing else I have ever heard does that so well. I think you're right, a sub will not give you that stop/start control in the bass. I hope to finish my big Arke Vaders later this year. I'd be very happy to bring them over if you fancy a listen. I'd be very grateful to get your opinion on them. |
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Post by macca on Oct 3, 2022 19:41:26 GMT
It would be a lot cheaper. Yes, I reckon I could make what I have better with a sub, but it still isn't going to have that stop-start control as good as those Kii3. I mean just nothing else I have ever heard does that so well. I think you're right, a sub will not give you that stop/start control in the bass. I hope to finish my big Arke Vaders later this year. I'd be very happy to bring them over if you fancy a listen. I'd be very grateful to get your opinion on them. Yes I would love to, or I could come to you when they are done. |
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