The UK HiFi Show Live 2023 at Royal Ascot Report
It has been a long 5 years since I last attended a HiFi Show Live event and also at the new venue Royal Ascot compared to when the show used to be hosted at the Hotel in Windsor, this really is a step up and when you first arrive it is quite overwhelming as this place is huge with the main entrance and subsequent levels spanning across six floors and in such a beautiful setting of the race course and it's grounds.
As you enter the main entrance you are welcomed by an array of speakers and various amplifiers from the brands on show and their associated distributors just to give you a taster of what is on show it's only when you start to explore the main building do you get to see the massive rooms and stunning systems that these distributors have put together.
I really thought that I had put a good plan into action by starting on the top level and working my way down but that kind of went sideways due to so many great rooms on offer and spending far too long drooling over the incredible systems and sound that captivated us, so I have put together what I feel was the best of the show and also what they were showing.
Karma AV had so many great speakers and partnering equipment to show and I have listed them below with the highlight being the incredible new Perlisten Audio S7t Limited Edition speakers which I got to hear at length and actually met Dan Roamer although it was brief.
Perlisten Audio S7t Limited Edition
With the Carbon Fibre over HDF side panels and
hand-picked crossover and driver components, each Limited-Edition speaker pair
has been matched to 0.5dB, and numbered, signed and personalised for a truly
exclusive owner experience.
We listened to quite a few different tracks on the S7t speakers and it was noticeable that the beryllium tweeter’s extended frequency response was more revealing in the top end compared to the R7t that I just reviewed, they also had copious amounts of bass on offer and easily filled the room with a deep but tuneful response in the lower frequencies, the finish on these carbon fibre cabinets is simply stunning and if you have deep enough pockets these would be a fantastic choice of speaker and easily compete with much higher priced high end speakers, these are the ultimate Perlisten Audio speakers in both looks and sound.
MoFi MasterDeck, MasterPhono,
SourcePoint 8 & 10 speakers
UK show debut for MoFi’s new Master Deck turntable and
Master Phono phono stage and the revelatory qualities of point source
design through MoFi’s EISA award-winning SourcePoint 8 and SourcePoint
10 speakers.
Allen Perkins has created a unique 10-inch hybrid
gimbal tonearm for MasterDeck that delivers extraordinary precision, control
and tracking. Outfitted with a carbon-fibre wand as well as the patented Spiral
Groove counterweight and removable headshell, it allows for effortless
adjustments to azimuth, overhang, VTA, and more. Housed in an isolated mount,
MasterDeck’s virtually noiseless three-phase BLDC Sinusoidal motor is driven
with extreme accuracy (33.3333rpm) and consistency. Equipped with rare features
such as passive RIAA equalization and two input topologies – one voltage type
and one current-source type – MasterPhono benefits from a discrete, balanced,
wide-bandwidth, all-FET input and output stage; fully regulated and shielded
internal power supply with dedicated left and right channels; and programmable
relay-controlled loading and gain settings. A thick aluminium front panel
frames a pair of meters that provide VU information as well as calibration
points for cartridge setup.
SourcePoint 8 is created by MoFi’s Chief Speaker Designer
Andrew Jones and offers the same exceptional sound character as its larger
sibling (the SourcePoint 10), but in a more compact package that can fit into
most rooms. Its custom-made eight-inch concentric driver features MoFi’s innovative
Twin-Drive high-flux magnet structure. The paper pulp mix cone shape with its
new corrugated surround is optimised for resonant behaviour and tweeter
waveguide requirements. The 1.25-inch soft dome tweeter with large-diameter
voice coil and wide surround extends both the low and high frequency response of
the tweeter. Combined with the loading of the waveguide, its low-end efficiency
allows the tweeter to work optimally down to the low 1.6kHz crossover
frequency. The SourcePoint 8’s cabinet is made of 1.9cm-thick MDF panels for
the sides, top, bottom, and back, and boasts a sculpted, multi-faceted 3.8cm
thick baffle that reduces diffraction.
System Audio Silverback 1
Winning EISA awards 4 years running, System Audio has a new
wireless champion in the compact Silverback 1.
With enormous flair and energy, Denmark’s System Audio has
embraced the wireless speaker category with its innovative Silverback active
speakers, made for easy wireless operation with partnering WiSA-enabled stereo
and surround control hubs. And to great acclaim, with four prestigious EISA
awards in as many years. The latest for EISA’s best wireless on-wall speakers
goes to the compact Silverback 1 models. About the size of an A4 page, they’re
designed to blend with any room environment but pack an impressive sonic punch.
SVS Prime Wireless Pro SoundBase
Effortless power, dynamics and vast connectivity from the
EISA award winning SVS Prime Wireless Pro SoundBase smart amp.
300 watt stereo amplifier (150 watts x 2), Stream
High-Resolution audio via WiFi, Airplay 2 for iPhones and iOS, Chromecast for
Android phones and other devices, Spotify Connect, Bluetooth with aptX/AAC for
optimal sound quality, HDMI ARC/eARC Input for Connecting Directly to TV, Line
Level (RCA), Optical, 3.5mm AUX, Ethernet Inputs, Control via
smartphone/desktop app, front panel, IR remote and voice, 24-bit/192kHz DAC for
High-Resolution wireless streaming, 6 front panel presets for one-touch access
to music services and playlists.
Cadence Distribution
Cadence had one of the best sounding and looking rooms at the show, situated on level 2 and featured an array of high end delights with the stars being the beautiful Nagra Audio electronics partnered with the stunning Rockport Technologies Orion Speakers and SME turntable, they also had all the SME turntables on static demo to see, other systems featured ATC with Nagra and also Spendor. For the main demo with Rockport speakers Kerry St. James of Nagra Audio was spinning the vinyl and some rare recordings from the Montreux Jazz Festival which Nagra hold special access to the vaults and have some of the finest master copies for playback via their digital recorders. The Rockport’s and Nagra’s synergy was just effortless with every track played with stunning music, the top end on the Orion’s sounded very special indeed with so much detail retrieval in the vocals and instruments from the Beryllium tweeter and with the 7” midrange and 13” bass driver delivering the mids and low end there was certainly plenty on offer, this is my first listening of Rockport Technologies speakers and hopefully not my last as they really are unique in their design but they also sounded sublime and effortless in their delivery of music.
Monitor Audio and Vitus Audio
Monitor Audio were showcasing their latest technological tour de force speakers the new Hyphn, they look super futuristic and nothing like you have seen before but when you sit down and listen you suddenly understand how good they actually are and how well these speakers perform and deliver music, and boy do they deliver, bass was incredible and so was the mid-range and imaging and top end which was of the highest order and what you would expect for a speaker at this price level, the R&D into these speakers has certainly paid off and every time we returned the demo room was continually packed out proving how popular these speakers were, this technology is trickling down into the rest of the Monitor Audio range of speakers. Vitus Audio were powering the new Hyphn’s and sonically this was a perfect match and certainly made them sing.
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