This weekend, there was an excellent HiFi Show at The de Vera Cranage Hotel in Cheshire. Here are some of the highlights; we have a walkthrough video here. The venue is easy to get to and has good parking; it is just 5 minutes off the M6 near Crewe. The rooms are well spaced out, too, with a central catering area with food near the bar. Here are some of the many North West Audio Show 2024 highlights.
Kudos Audio Sigao
The new Sigao external crossover was on display to stunning effect by Acoustica HiFi (below), which was using Naim 300 Series monoblocks, and Kudos themselves in their Room with the awesome 707s and Chord Electronics’ amplifiers (above).
KEF
As always, KEF put on a great show with the KEF Blades this year, supported by an array of KEF KC92 subwoofers.
Tannoy x Symphony Distribution
Symphony Distribution presented the new range of Tannoy loudspeakers in an understated room, which featured their Stirling III LZ Special Edition loudspeaker. The loudspeaker has a front-mounted control panel with high-frequency adjustment options to compensate for a range of rooms, partnering equipment, and musical genres.
Node Audio
The wonderful Node Audio was here, with Valvet pre and power amplification and a sweet-sounding room featuring the Hylixa loudspeakers placed on the SS-1 supports. They were recently reviewed here; they work!
Dali x Yorkshire AV
Yorkshire AV had an excellent room, too, featuring the DALI EPICON 6 loudspeakers (I think; put a comment below if I’m wrong). It sounded great anyway; the Lyngdorf streaming amplifier was quite special, too.
Auden Distribution
Auden always has a good room, and their ‘Other Room’ featured an H190V Hegal amplifier, Amphion loudspeakers and a super cool turntable from Luphonic. It was understated and clean and one of the best sounds at the NWAS. The Amphion Argon 3S is a special loudspeaker with a passive radiator at the rear to augment the low end (above).
Moor Amps
HF&MS favourites Moor Amps were here again with the beautiful Ascalon-8 loudspeakers, which pack a serious low end and look great. The Ascalon is a local, sustainable affair, with the Volt Drivers coming from just 20 miles away and the cabinets built locally by a craftsman. The tweeter, however, is from SEAS’s Excel range. The overall package is compelling.
Mian Distribution
Mian had a great room, too, with HF&MS favourites Serhan Swift loudspeakers driven by the newest Leema Electronics from the Quantum range.
Auralic x ATC
As always, Auralic had a lovely, understated room with the new ‘entry-level’ S1 range, reviewed here last month, connected to a pair of active ATC loudspeakers. Less is loads more with Auralic.
Saltwood Sounds
Of course, there is a shock just as we leave, hot and exhausted. The Saltwood Sounds room pulled me in with a long draft of low-end bass. Their Finisterre loudspeaker is something to behold, with a beryllium tweeter and an 8-inch extended woofer that delivers a fulsome sound. The cabinet is made from walnut and beautifully hand-finished by Craig, who was very engaging, like the loudspeakers. Saltwood was driving the loudspeaker with a New Zealand JAVA amplifier full of Class D GaN FET over the top muscle. Wonderful.
iFi Audio
We are big fans of iFi Audio here; the GO Bar was fantastic recently, as was the hip dac 3, and this show debuted the ZEN Phono V3 in a very musical room. The setup was a Linn turntable with the ZEN Phono V3 and the iFi iCAN PHANTOM as a stereo preamplifier (it is a headphone amplifier as well). The output went to the beautiful active ATC loudspeakers.
Playlist
As I wandered around the venue, I noticed that my Pixel smartphone picked up these tracks; it is always interesting to hear what people use in their demos. I noted a lack of Dylan and Pink Floyd this year, although the first track, inevitably, is Shine on You Crazy Diamond!
Here’s the Playlist on Qobuz.
Thank you Simon, DALI Rubikore 6.