On Friday I went to Bristol Sound and Vision 2018, the annual industry bash that is always a highlight of the year. With clear bright skies and a cut in the air Bristol is a great city that has changed much since I lived there many years ago. Bristol Sound and Vision 2018 hasn’t changed much (apart from the 2018 bit) with deafening AV rooms, crowded corridors and always the thump of a sub-woofer lurking around the corner.
My highlights this year were the more understated rooms, for example the Totem room had a preview (or launch, not sure) of their new Sky Towers, beautiful smaller floor standers driven by the superb Rega Elicit-R. Another highlight was seeing the Cyrus Signature system with the still amazing looking (and sounding) KEF Blades although the room was, as always, packed with chatty dudes rather than silent monks , thus slightly impairing the wonderful sound.
I was particularly keen on seeing the PMC ‘cor’ integrated amplifier as I have not had the chance to see it since its launch last year, I neglected to ask why it is called ‘cor’ which is very annoying. As you can see in the main picture, it is big and looks amazingly impressive with tones controls too (from the recording studio). A real treat for me, I’m really hoping I can get my hands on this amplifier.
Other nicer rooms included the Kog Audio room with a pair of Russel K speaker driven by the superb T+A R Series electronics that I reviewed a long time ago. Also spotted were the amazing Larsen speakers which are side ported to enable closer wall placement.
Finally, as last year, the Auralic room with Spendor speakers, this year driven by their own Merak power amps, was a very nice room, the new Auralic G2 really does look nice with a single machined casing and clear wide display that exudes quality. In the same room I spotted the fabulous looking Spendor D9s in battleship grey, just the £7,000 or so.
Bristol Sound and Vision 2018 is still on this weekend, including today.