North West Audio Show, Cranage

[antonio66]

I just wish I didn't keep reading "Cranage" as "Carnage".

Will Jammy be there ?

If he's not in the middle of the North Sea he might make the long journey from Scotland.

Jammy, gone but not forgotten!

[NSNO2021]

Good to see NVA delivering by some distance the best £ for £ value at the whole event. Shows are strange at the best of times. You have well established companies with 40/50/60 and occasionally over £100k of kit with zero acoustic treatment for the rooms. To his credit Paul had lugged along a fair bit of portable acoustic treatment and that definitely paid dividends in what I heard.
The star of the show for me were the Node Hylixa futuristic looking speakers. I had never heard of the company, apparently they based in Cambridge. They sounded to my ears stunning, proper stop you in your track good BUT and there is always a but --- they cost an equally stunning £30k a pair 🫣. Quite how you arrive at that price point is beyond me but here's a link if you're interested
https://www.node-audio.com/

[Lindsayt]

Good to see NVA delivering by some distance the best £ for £ value at the whole event. Shows are strange at the best of times. You have well established companies with 40/50/60 and occasionally over £100k of kit with zero acoustic treatment for the rooms. To his credit Paul had lugged along a fair bit of portable acoustic treatment and that definitely paid dividends in what I heard.
The star of the show for me were the Node Hylixa futuristic looking speakers. I had never heard of the company, apparently they based in Cambridge. They sounded to my ears stunning, proper stop you in your track good BUT and there is always a but --- they cost an equally stunning £30k a pair 🫣. Quite how you arrive at that price point is beyond me but here's a link if you're interested
https://www.node-audio.com/

My extremely provisional impression was that the Node speakers didn't do it for me from a sonic point of view.

The 3D printing construction method (from a glass, plastic powder mixture) for the cabinet was interesting. One of those that left me thinking "Why hasn't someone thought of that before?"
Maybe someone has (Devialet Phantoms?) but it hasn't been brought to my attention before.

I noticed that the Node speakers used an iron cored 4.7mH inductor in the crossover. For £30k I'd be wanting air cored inductors.
It's a reminder that with DIY / used you can get a cost to own to component cost of 1 or less. Vs the 7 to 10 that you get with new dealer retailed hi-fi.

One theme of the show for me is that the world of hi-fi is a desert when it comes to people that have a good understanding of the principles of getting great sounding hi-fi for reasonable money. There are a few, here and there, like oases.
There were quite a few statements that I heard today that I fundamentally disagree with.

[NSNO2021]

Interesting to get your take on it. I wonder whether it was the music that was being played that clicked with me ?
I think you are probably a bit more technically experienced than me but my degree and early years were in engineering so I am okish with the bulk of the principles and I am in total agreement with you, there's more bollox talked about audio/HiFi than any other subject I know of. According to one of guys I know we'll, one of the exhibitors was boasting he had just started selling some speaker cables at £32k a pair. God only knows who would pay that but I can only assume someone will

[NSNO2021]

Other honourable mentions from my perspective go to the Grimm Audio LS1A speakers with the SB1 sub woofers, regrettably another sky high (to me) price of £22k and the Neat Classics at a much more sensible £2k, a lot of controlled sound from such a small enclosure.

[CN211276]

We'll be posting images to our Facebook page today and tomorrow....

Looking forward to seeing you.

Too far away for me, unlike Bristol which is not as good and more corporate with an entrance fee. The main thing I learned was that quality does not go hand in hand with price.
The pictures on Facebook look good. Certainly more appealing than the 30K Node speakers which look like something out of War of the worlds.

[Lindsayt]

I enjoyed the 5.1.2 Atmos AV system demo.

It was interesting how other visitors seemed to be impressed by the demo.

Whilst I had a culture shock at how small the screen was. And how soft, unfocused and diverse the sound was.

I suspect that the £6900 main front speakers were the main cause of this, along with the (£2k+?) centre speaker and (£2.4k?) sub.
The host told us that the main speakers are THX certified.

A quick look at the THX Certification website gives the following:
"THX engineers perform hundreds of tests to ensure sound and picture reproduction in the industry’s top entertainment equipment is fully preserved. Only the very best products with uncompromising quality, performance, and consistency become THX Certified, making your next home entertainment purchase an easy decision."

It's funny how I regard my AV system as something I knocked together that's nothing particularly special at all. And yet...

[George Hincapie]

Other honourable mentions from my perspective go to the Grimm Audio LS1A speakers with the SB1 sub woofers, regrettably another sky high (to me) price of £22k and the Neat Classics at a much more sensible £2k, a lot of controlled sound from such a small enclosure.

I'd love to listen to their streamer.

[NSNO2021]

The streamer was the source and yes it's rather good, I have no idea how much it cost but I guess it's not cheap

[George Hincapie]

The streamer was the source and yes it's rather good, I have no idea how much it cost but I guess it's not cheap

£10K.