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REPORT

 

Audio and video equipment exhibition
AUDIO VIDEO SHOW 2015

Venue:
Radisson Blu Sobieski Hotel
Golden Tulip Hotel
The National Stadium (PGE Narodowy) in Warsaw

Organized between 6th and 8th November 2015

Organizer:
ADAM MOKRZYCKI SERVICES
info@audioshow.pl

www.audioshow.pl

POLAND


Selecting photographs for this year’s coverage of the Audio Video Show exhibition resembled the Massacre of the Innocents – I have chosen fewer than 150 from almost 1000 pictures that I took during the two days that I spent in the Radisson Blu Sobieski Hotel, Golden Tulip Hotel and at the National Stadium. Then, I had to eliminate even more photographs to make the report sensible and prevent it from becoming a garbage heap.

It is because what the organizer of the event (the Adam Mokrzycki Services company) had claimed before the AVS started came true. They informed the public that “the Audio Video Show has been growing exponentially. Although it is hard to believe, we have just broken the hardly beatable last year’s record of over 110 conference and demo rooms booked by our exhibitors. At this organizational stage, 141 rooms have already been booked and the number is still growing. This result only strengthens the Audio Video Show’s position as the second largest hi-fi exhibition in Europe.”

The organizer’s opinion was commonly confirmed by visitors, exhibitors and foreign guests experienced in visiting different shows of this type, often spending weeks and months travelling from one exhibition venue to another. Raveen Bawa, a representative of the dCS company, said that although Munich (which would be ‘the largest’ exhibition implied by the organizer) is still the most recognizable audio exhibition in Europe, the one in Warsaw is not inferior to it, but even more attractive in some respects. Gabi van der Kley, the CEO of Crystal Cable, had the same opinion. She smothered me with kisses, saying that the event was fantastic and that organizing it at the Stadium was a great idea.

I think I am not the only one who thinks that moving the event from the Brystol Hotel and organizing the opening ceremony at the National Stadium (I will call it ‘the Stadium’ from now on) has made the whole exhibition reach a completely new, very high level. Choosing this location had seemed to be a mistake to many exhibitors before the event. The pointed out bad room acoustics, large distance from the main event (Radisson Blu Sobieski Hotel which I will refer to as ‘Sobieski’), to the “incompatibility” of the place with the character of the exhibition, etc. I understand their doubts and objections – after so many years in hotels it was hard to imagine such a drastic change of the venue.

However, it was the most important and at the same time the best decision since it was decided that the Audio Show (the predecessor of the AVS) would start to be organized. To demonstrate the meaning of the “apology”, let me just describe the reaction of Gabi van der Kley who declared that she would lobby for organizing Dutch audio and video fairs at the ultra-modern Philips Stadium (built in 1913 and recently renovated), the seat of the PSV Eindhoven sport’s club.

The character that the event assumed at the new location is of the greatest importance here. Broad corridors, access to toilets, cleanliness and breathing space are the basic distinguishing characteristics of the venue. Then, it is important to mention the comfortable atmosphere of the place. We owe it to crowds of ordinary people who came with their whole families, young people who would spend hours in headphone sections, the presence of many record companies, as well as the aesthetics of the venue. Coming back to Sobieski, I felt claustrophobic – not only due to a lack of space, but also owing to a completely different atmosphere. I think it was the first time I had realized so clearly what opinion people from outside the audiophile industry have of us: we are concentrated on our problems and do not see anything else apart from them. However, there is a whole big world around us! The Stadium opened up our audio world and let fresh air enter it. That may be the best possible gift for the Polish audio market.

THE BEST OF THE BEST

High attendance rates, both with reference to visitors and exhibitors, have a specific impact on such events. For a journalist, the result is the excess of almost everything – places to visit, people to meet, systems to test and devices to describe. The two past years were already marked by cutting it fine, being on the run and hardly managing to do it all. This time I simply had too little time and energy to do everything that I had wanted. I think it is necessary to accept that I won’t be everywhere and won’t see everything on such occasions.

Therefore, the choice of systems that I present below, the sound of which, in my opinion, deserved special attention, is even more arbitrary. It was all very simple: I have chosen the systems in which everything was “all right” when I entered a given room and had time to sit in it for a while. It might have been different a moment after or before, with different music. However, at that given moment it was what it was and I want to emphasise the very specific moments that gave me most pleasure.

BEST OF THE BEST AUDIO VIDEO SHOW 2015

I. Studer + Chord + Cabasse + Pro-Ject + Cardas + Rogoz Audio

However, what I have written above does not apply to the three main awards. The Voice system with a copy of a master tape played with the Studer 807 tape recorder was a revelation. While listening to the Beatles, it was possible to understand why some people complain about digital technology – so far, the same effect has not been achieved in the domain of digital records.

It is one of the “sounds of the exhibition” – a system created by the Voice company, based on Chord products that we have tested, including the CD RED Reference One MkIII player (to be tested in December). Speakers – Cabasse Pacific 3 SA. Source: three devices – the Pro-Ject RPM 9 Carbon turntable, DAC Chord DAVE and the Studer 807 tape recorder. It was all placed on a Rogoz Audio table.

II. Ayon Audio + Lumen White + Siltech + Transrotor

This is the absolute forefront of the “sounds of the exhibition” – the Lumen White “White Light Anniversary” speakers with Ayon Audio electronics and a Transrotor turntable, the test of which you were given in a printed form with catalogues at the entrance to the exhibition venue. Music was played from a file player.

It does not mean that you cannot play music on a very high level from a file – for another year in a row, we could hear magic in the Nautilus company room, in a system prepared in cooperation with Gerhard Hirt. Demonstrations took place in a room in which concerts were organized in the previous years (because of that this year’s concert was cancelled by the organizer of the exhibition), which is very difficult when it comes to acoustics. People from Nautilus put a lot of effort to alleviate the problems. The “canopy” over listeners looked strange but fulfilled its role.

Master of the ceremony – Gerhard Hirt, the owner of Ayon Audio.

III. Destination Audio + Entreq

However, it was not the only flawless system with files in the main role – Destination Audio is a tiny Polish “boutique” company. The sound that I heard from its horn speakers was outstanding. Niemen’s voice that I know inside out was incredibly natural. Additionally loaded low midrange did not spoil anything, but added realism to the whole thing. That was incredible pleasure!

Horn speakers with a wooden Destination Audio midrange horn. It was possible to achieve this effect thanks to company electronics with 45 tube power amps (1.5 W per channel!), and also – perhaps above everything else – Entreq cables and conditioners. A lot of wood, tubes and a fantastic effect.

BEST SOUND 2015 AUDIO VIDEO SHOW 2015

TAD + Naim + Wireword + Chord

One of the best-sounding systems of the exhibition – TAD Compact Evolution One speakers with Naim electronics, including, among others, the NAC-N272 streaming preamplifier and the NAP250 DR power amplifier.

Melodika + Indiana Line

An excellent-sounding inexpensive system placed in the corner of a room, based on Melodika speakers (prototype), with the company’s Brown Sugar cables (our Award of the Year 2015) and Indiana Line Puro electronics. Bravo!

Audiomachina + Einstein Audio + SME + RCM Audio + CEC

Just like many other visitors, I was looking for a subwoofer or large speakers when I entered the RCM room, but I saw tiny Audiomachina CRM II standmount speakers. A test of the Pure NSE model will be carried out in HF in December. The system was based on Einstein Audio electronics, the SME Model 15 turntable and the CEC CD5 CD player. Most of these brands have been given the HF Award of the Year 2015.

Amare Audio + Harpia Acoustics + JR Audio

The Amare Audio room with Harpia Acoustics speakers. Among novelties, you could see an unusual DAC – upsampling all signals to DSD and then just an analogue filter, i.e. a DAC without a classic digital-to-analogue converter. A test soon in “High Fidelity”.

Equilibrum + Enerr + Atoll

I spent more time listening to this system, as it was worth it – the sound was extremely full and “analogue”, although the source was a file player. In the system, there were Equilibrum Athmos S7 speakers and Enerr Transcenda power cables. The source was an Atoll player/preamp and a power amp of the same manufacturer.

Atohm + Atoll

One of the best-sounding systems of the exhibition – Atohm GT 2.0 speakers driven by Atoll electronics: the CD400 player and the IN400 integrated amplifier. The sound was dynamic, clear and full. Fortunately, accurate and empty sound can be heard less and less often at exhibitions.

AVCON + Trafomatic + Triode

Wood, tubes and style – everything that I like. AVCON Avalanche Reference Monitor speakers on AVCON stands, with the Trafomatic SM-300B amplifier and the CD Triode TRV-CD4SE player. Beautiful, noble sound.

Sveda Audio + Jadis + Verictum + Audio Research

Yes, I enjoyed being there a lot. Excellent saturation and resolution. Sveda Audio speakers (home audio version, as Sveda Audio is a “studio” company) accompanied by the Jadis I-88 amplifier, the CD Audio Research player and Verictum accessories.

A novelty at the back – the Verictum Demiurg power cable. Its test will be published in HF in December.

Jadis + Franco Serblin + ReVox

Another system with Jadis I-88 and excellent sound again – calm, saturated and full. The source was the ReVox PR99 MkIII reel-to-reel recorder and there were Franco Serblin Ktêma speakers.

Ypsilon Electronics + Magico + Kronos Audio + Tara Labs

To be honest, the Magico company does not usually make a very good impression on me during exhibitions. They manufacture very demanding speakers that need time to adjust to a given interior. However, the S7 model delivered excellent sound, at least in my opinion. It was driven by Ypsilon Electronics, with a Kronos turntable as the source.

THE END

“High Fidelity” has been a media partner of the exhibition in Warsaw for years. This year’s edition of the exhibition was special. For the first time, it was organized not only in hotel rooms, but also in conference rooms of the national Polish football stadium. What is more, instead of two days it lasted three (on Friday it was possible to start the ‘tour’ from 4 p.m.). The promotional activity of the organizer was incredibly intensive – 150 large-format banners were put up in Warsaw. News informing about the event was shown by 9 TV stations and some of it was broadcast live on breakfast television. During the broadcasts, celebrities such as Marek Sierocki, Smolik, Hirek Wrona, Paweł Edelmann and many others encouraged viewers to attend the exhibition. On Polsat TV, the exhibition was one of the three main topics of the evening news.

This resulted in an influx of people who were looking for good sound, design and music but were not audiophiles and do not intend to become audiophiles. It was a fantastic experience – I did not feel like leaving the Stadium as all these people brought very good vibrations to the place.

However, Sobieski will remain the main venue of the Audio Video Show, as no other place has so many available rooms. Compared to the Stadium, the hotel lost a lot of its charm, but this may result in something good – it is enough to take better care of cleanliness and the aesthetics of rooms, think of good lighting and information for the press a long time before the exhibition. It is a hotel which will remain the “cave” of audiophiles, but one supplied with “young blood”.

The most intimate place, with only eight rooms, was the Golden Tulip Hotel. However, it is where I found as many as three systems that produced simply beautiful sound. Three in eight! It may be a place to talk, meet and celebrate in peace.

I kindly thank those of you who came to the 100th meeting of the Krakow Sonic Society. Let me remind you that we compared subsequent versions of records by The Beatles – a Japanese version with an older remaster, an European remaster of 2009, a Japanese version with the same remaster and finally the SHM-CD version, also with a remaster from 2015. At the end we decided to conduct a blind listening test of a song from John Lennon’s Double Fantasy album: a Japanese CD version, a SHM-CD and a Platinum SHM-CD. A report from the meeting will be published in “High Fidelity”.

It was nice to meet you, that was a very positive experience! Congratulations to all the exhibitors – the amount of work put in the event is unimaginable – my back starts to hurt me when I think about it – respect to you all. In December we will publish more accounts of the exhibition, also written by our readers. See you next year!

  • We start with the Radisson Blue Sobieski hotel. The very impressive Triangle Magellan Grand Concert speakers were driven by McIntosh electronics.
  • A novelty from Arcam – Solo in one, or actually two new versions – stereo and muti-channel all-in-one systems with a Blu-ray drive. The Arcam Solo soundbar presented above.
  • A view from above of the record stand of the Naim Label company – vinyl records were the most popular.
  • The Samsung company with its new 4K/UHD TV line and a curved screen – at the moment, it is one of the most interesting market offers of this type.
  • One of the most important components of the Voice system was a Rogoz Audio table. It was designed and manufactured by Mr Janusz Rogoż (in the photo).
  • Mr Milan Weber, the CEO of Voice, holding a BBC case which contains a priceless first copy of the master tape with “Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band” of The Beatles. In a moment we will listen to it and fly away.
  • The host of the meeting, Piotr Metz, is showing one of many records of The Beatles that he has. He has probably collected all of them.
  • I am not sure, but this is most probably the DIY room of the audiostereo.pl forum. The sound was incredible! Unfortunately, I did not note down what the system components were. Nevertheless, congratulations!
  • The crew of the HiFi Station salon – Grzegorz (to the right) and Patryk (to the left). Behind them, the wonderful Karis II speakers of the Italian company Diapason – wooden casing and excellent sound.
  • The dyaudio.pl room, also very interesting. On the floor, in red lacquer, MariuszElektro GM70 tube amplifiers and speakers on the sides (starting from the inside): Hermes, Pteterycz, Marian.
  • Diapason speakers, the Astera model on the company’s stands. The source (transport) used was a tube Triode CD player, the signal amplifier was the tube Ars Sarum Gran Filarmonia and the converter was Aqua La Voce. The cables had been supplied by Albedo and the power supply by the Ansae company, celebrating its 10-year presence at the exhibition.
  • That was really cool – an operating (moving) speaker of the Polish STX company. As it can be seen, it is an advanced and a very elegant construction.
  • Mr Jacek Hrynkiewicz-Struss, the owner of the speaker company Rebel HiFi. He is standing next to Classic 10 speakers that cost only 3200 PLN, although they have cool Scan Speak transducers.
  • CubeAudio Bliss speakers with the company’s 8-inch F201 full range driver.
  • The Egg-Shell Prestige 12 WKT tube amplifier which not only looks beautiful, but also has original volume control: a wooden ball on the side is the gyroscope-based remote control.
  • This room smelt beautifully of fresh air. The stands and the casing of the power amplifier were made of it. The cables: Sulek Audio company. The speakers: a licence version of the Stirling Audio BBC 3/5a speakers. A very pleasant place.
  • A broad offer of the Fonica company – different shapes, designs and sound. The products shown during the AVS were just exhibits.
  • A very nicely made and surprisingly inexpensive Fezz Audio Silver Luna amplifier. Even the regular price of 3999 PLN seems to be a bargain price.
  • An extremely good-looking “vintage” system: Phase Style tube amplifiers (integrated amp, preamp and monoblock) – straight from Lvov. An Ad Fontes turntable on the platform.
  • Silver cables – Sound Y.P. Laboratorium.
  • The room of the GigaWatt company and Q21 audio salon: Boenicke speakers, Wile Louis tube amplifier, Wile Sarah CD player (Philips TDA 1543 D/A), GigaWatt PC-4 EVO conditioner (our Award of the Year 2015).
  • AudioCave is a distribution company which is apparently starting to develop. During the exhibition, it showed Pathos and Audia Flight electronics as well as German Physiks omnipolar speakers.
  • Mr Kazuo Kiuchi was the host in the Combak Corporation room. Apart from its two-piece CD player, pre-amplifier and power amplifier (we have tested all these products), one could listen to Trenner & Friedl speakers that we also tested.
  • The beautiful 440 Audio turntable in one room together with Brodmann speakers, ZenSati cables and Electrocompaniet electronics.
  • The wonderfully-looking interior of the Wiener Lautsprecher Manufaktur Anton preamplifier. Apart from line outputs there is also Bluetooth, a phono stage and a headphone amplifier.
  • Retro Audio is a company which specializes in servicing and renovating vintage audio equipment.
  • One cannot question the Chinese position on the audio market – the balanced Audio-gd headphone amplifier. It is standing on the all-in-one NovaFidelity X40 system (amplifier, streamer, CD drive/riper) – yes, Nova Fidelity is the new name of Coctail Audio products.
  • Infado is a Polish company which offers active Boson speakers corrected in DSP Sharc circuits, in a closed housing. The designer wanted to achieve the best possible phase compensation between transducers. The system only needs a source with a digital input.
  • Tiny devices of the Taga Harmony company – HTA-700B V.2 headphone amplifiers and speakers, and very nice figurines of jazz musicians standing on the speakers.
  • The ASC Pentoda company (ASC Dyrzbański Zaorski) with horn speakers and the company’s amplifiers. The company exhibited A and B line amplifiers. The source was a Unitra turntable.
  • The Polish Radion Audio company was set up in 1992. It offers technologically and mechanically advanced systems: a CD player, a preamplifier/DAC, monoblocks and three-way speakers.
  • Pylon Audio showed its representative speakers from the Diamond series – 20 and 25. Really cool sound indeed.
  • Modestly placed in a corner, there is a premiere product – prototypes of Emerald speakers that we have been preparing from scratch with Pylon. Just for this purpose, the company started producing its own transducers.
  • More valuable than gold – professionals specializing in products manufactured before 1989. They work for the Nomos company.
  • And this is the crew of the Nomos company – they are inviting everyone who would like to experience the charms of vintage systems. To the right – Ms Olga Nowińska whose columns you can sometimes read in HF.
  • Vintage, but a novelty – Graham Audio 5/8 speakers (to the right) and smaller ones (5/9) that we use in our HF B System.
  • Classic sound and style again: the Systymdek 3D Signature turntable, ART Audio amplifier and ART Loudspeakers from the Signature series. Natural, pleasant, engaging sound, to be listened to for hours.
  • The electronics and speakers of the Russian company Auris Audio – leather, wood, tubes, i.e. luxury. In the photo, the integrated amplifier Fortino 655 and new speakers based on Davis drivers.
  • InAudio speakers with full range drivers, driven by a tube amplifier.
  • Perhaps, finally, GoldenNote company products will return to the Polish market – these are fantastic devices, such as the Mediterraneo turntable presented in the photo.
  • It was the first time I had seen the electronics of the Dutch company Van Medevoort. In two series, we will find integrated amplifiers, preamplifiers, DACs and also a CD transport.
  • This year, Ancient Audio is celebrating its 20th anniversary. It is developing a series initiated by the P-3 processor, offering the A-1 integrated transistor (!) amplifier and a headphone amplifier with the P-1 sound processor.
  • Bryston electronics from Canada and Larson speakers from Sweden. The latter have an untypical design, which allows them to be placed directly next to a wall. It is something like a mini version of Paul Voight’s Voight Domestic Corner Horn speakers (1932).
  • Genuine, cool sound from speakers that we have just given the Award of the Year 2015 – the Dynaudio Contour S 5.4 LE. Here with an Octave integrated amplifier, a SACD Accuphase player and a Transrotor turntable. Delicious!
  • Officially distributed in Poland for the first time – the electronics of the Italian company Norma Audio Electronics, accompanied by Xavian speakers and Isol-8 power conditioner.
  • Long time no see! Studio 16 Hertz speakers, here with the Amplifon SET 42 tube (NOS GM70) amplifier. The single-ended design output as many as 42 W per channel.
  • Audio Academy is preparing to celebrate its round anniversary next year. Right now, we get a new Rhea model – it is a two-way design with Scan-Speak and Seas speakers.
  • The Polish Muarah Audio company prepared an exceptional presentation – using its turntable and amplifiers, it invited us to enter the world of the SQ quadraphonic records. Also the decoder in this system is the company’s own design.
  • A very successful demonstration of the top Canton speakers (the Reference 1 K model), accompanied by Audio Research electronics.
  • We move to the Golden Tulip Hotel. Here we have Polish Avatar Audio Holophony speakers No. 4 accompanied by the company cables and a file player.
  • Enormous Gauder Akustik Berlina RC9 speakers and the equally big power amplifier Vitus Audio Masterpiece. The sources were the TechDAS Air Force One turntable and the CD CEC TL0 V3.0 transport.
  • The wall of fame – this year’s “High Fidelity” awards for RCM products. Below, the company’s phono stages – Sensor 2 and THERIAA.
  • The most expensive system of the exhibition, with the Living Voice Vox Olimpian speakers and Kondo electronics. The total cost: 7 million PLN.
  • It is an absolute surprise for me – a prototype of the Ayon Audio Conquistador preamplifier. It even aims to beat my Spheris III – we will see! Volume control has not been changed, but the tubes are completely different.
  • Already next year, Forza Audioworks is going to offer new products – at the moment I am still using Noir Hybrid HPC headphone cables (to the right).
  • More products that have been given the Award of the Year 2015 by “High Fidelity” – Mogami cables.
  • Welcome to Paradise! The main exhibition entrance at the Stadium.
  • Monster headphones with Cristiano Ronaldo’s signature – the Roc Freedom (to the left) and Roc Black Platinum models. Contrary to what we may expect, they are sold at an affordable price.
  • One of the most important changes in a large speaker company, which brings a certain (Kevlar) era to an end: new Continuum membranes of midrange speakers, accompanying diamond domes in the 800 Diamond series of the Bowers & Wilkins company.
  • My beauties! Analogue Tivoli radios (without digital synthesis!), One model. My radio is the brown-cream one, in the upper row in the middle. They have a stereophonic output – you can connect headphones to the radio.
  • The headphone zone prepared by MP3Store.pl, with premiere products such as SoundMAGIC P55, HP150 and Phiaton MS500.
  • Omnipolar Zeta Zero Orbital360 band speakers in an atmospheric setting. Power of up to 2400 W, frequency response from 14 Hz to 100 kHz. Made in Poland.
  • The central “figure” of Krakow Sonic Society presentations – the dCS Rossini player/streamer standing on a Rossini clock.
  • A new version of Hansen Audio speakers, The Dragon Legend E model in leather. Power amplifiers and the Tenor Audio preamplifier with the most powerful version of 350M HP monoblocks, as well as a SACD player – the Soulution 741.
  • From behind, the power amplifier Boulder 2110 looks just as good (or maybe even better) as at the front. The element that is especially worth thinking about is the heavy-working power cable socket.
  • The KBL Sound Reference Power Distributor that we use in the HF reference system, with Furutech sockets and a wooden stand.
  • A stand with Ultrasone headphones and Asus amplifiers/DACs.
  • This is still the old, not the new Sennheiser Orpheus, but tickets for the listening test were distributed very quickly. The source was the two-piece DC901/DP900 Accuphase SACD player.
  • One of the best prepared presentations – Pass Audio electronics and Elac speakers. The latter benefit from the experience of Andrew Jones who came up with the idea of TAD speakers and developed them. The speakers look brilliant and produce excellent sound. It seems that we will hear a lot of good things about Elac soon.
  • The AKG N90Q headphones that cost almost 6000 PLN. We pay for sound, the logotype of Quincy Jones and also for the possibility of controlling the sound stage. There are three available modes: “Standard”, “2.1 Studio” and “5.1 Surround sound”.
  • Philips is one of the founding companies of the contemporary audio industry. Now it is focusing on lifestyle products, but with a technological backup. The photo presents unique speakers from the Fidelio series.
  • A display of Pro-Ject turntables prepared by the Voice company.
  • Let us get used to new headphone brands – at the moment, this is the most important product of all manufacturers. The photo shows the Master&Dynamic MH40 model. The price is not too high (€399).
  • Technics is powerfully entering the market, offering products such as an all-in-one system with the wonderful SU-C501 CD top-loader. A good comeback.
  • The “Polish room” from the High End 2015 exhibition in Munich: hORNS speakers by Auto-Tech with beryllium membranes, My Sound tube amplifiers (with a preamplifier) and the JR Audio turntable.
  • And everything is clear :) Let me add that there is a white Mummy speaker in the middle (hORNS by Auto-Tech).
  • Crystal Cable Minissimo Arabesque – great speakers driven by an Accuphase system.
  • Tonsil speakers with many different types of finish – they received a lot of interest.
  • A view of the two floors of the hall – the headphone zone is on the lower floor and the vinyl zone on the upper.
  • The latest version of active Goldmund Logos 1N-2N speakers corrected in a DSP circuit, making use of solutions applied in a much more expensive Logos Anatta model. Not that the 1N-2N are cheap – they cost €107 000 per pair.
  • Our friend – Mr Jacek Gawłowski with his son. Apart from a Grammy award, remasters of Niemen’s and other Polskie Nagrania artists’ catalogues, Jacek has also made speakers that he uses in his studio. He may show them at the Stadium next year and then we will organize some presentation together – please get ready!
  • I saw them in Poland for the first time, my dreamt of JBL-e Everest DD67000.
  • And everything is clear again – the Loewe room. At the back – the Stadium stands.
  • Keith Monks DiscOveryOne – the precision vinyl record cleaner. Next to it there is John Monks, the son of the company founder – Keith Monks, aka “The Record Doctor”. As he told me, he is going to hire a nurse to accompany him and in January he is going to present a brand new product that I will get for tests in February, perhaps even with the nurse :)
  • Radek Pasternak from the Nautilus company, carrying a printed version of the Transrotor Zet3 Infinity test for you – respect!
  • One of the vinyl stands – here we have Robert Nowak with Harry Bellafonte’s and Makeby’s record.
  • Mr Sikora standing behind his own (AllMet Audio), immaculately designed and refined J. Sikora turntables.
  • The J. Sikora Basic Special Edition turntable with bronze elements and an absolute premiere – the 14-inch Kuzma 4Point arm. The top turntable with a table will soon be brought for tests to my place (the turntable itself weighs over 100 kg).
  • The Cessario Chopin speakers that have recently been tested by Marek Dyba, driven by KR Audio amplifiers. The Kronzilla SXI integrated amplifier in the middle with the powerful VA200 power amplifiers on the sides. The source was the CD Accustic Arts player.
  • It is a complete PS Audio system, consisting of the PerfectWave/DirectStream CD/file player and the BHX Signature 250 power amplifier. In this system, power supply was the domain of the P5 Power Plant conditioner. All of it is constructed in Boulder, Colorado.
  • It was in this room, prepared by the Ostapowicz Audio Consulting company, where Smolik stayed for a while. The system included the brilliant Kaiser Acoustics Kavero! Chiara speakers. There were also Auralic amplifiers and a DAC – signal was transmitted from an Auralic Aries file transport.
  • When we changed the source from a really good file player to a turntable (an old direct-drive Luxman model), the sound was incredible! The system included Bodnar Audio Sandglass Piano Edition speakers and active SSC-10 subwoofers. The electronics are “workshop” Bodnar Audio products.
  • One of the most beautiful pieces of audio furniture on the market – the Bassocontinuo, here in leather finish, sewn manually. It is beautiful!
  • At 12 on Sunday, in the room of the distribution company Natural Sound, a comparison of a master tape from a Studer tape recorder with live singing of Andrea Celeste took place – unfortunately, at the same time I had a presentation of the Krakow Sonic Society – what a pity! The material, played by Mr Robert Vigo, the head of the Analogy Records recording studio and company, sounded fantastic through the FM Acoustic system. The black version of the Zontek turntable also delivered very good sound.
  • The Studer 870 in the Natural Sound room. The tapes are the first copies from the Analogy Records master tape.
  • Fonnex is a Polish distributor, actually represented by a couple of professionals: Ms Agnieszka Zgoła and Mr Nobumasa Mori. They offer, among others, Final headphones – beautiful, expensive and clearly desired also by women. The Pandora Hope X model is presented in the photo.
  • A comparison of Final headphone membranes from the Sonorus X and VIII series.
  • Apart from perfect cables, the Audioquest company also offers fantastic headphones. A board in the hall with disassembled Nighthawk headphones demonstrated that these are complex, well though-out constructions. Congratulations!
  • LampizatOr and its D/A converters with headphone amplifiers. It seems that I will soon receive one of them and test it. Next to them there is the “DSD Komputer” – a file player in a completely new housing.
  • The CEO of Franc Audio Accessories has a head full of great ideas! If he only can, he puts some of them into practice. A good example is this power strip – it is integrated with an anti-vibration platform and has a natural leather finish sewn manually by a professional leatherworker.
  • And this is another version of the same platform. In the picture there are also KBL Sound Himalaya cables that were given our Award of the Year 2015, placed on KBL Sound cable stands.
  • A system prepared by the Audiofast company with a turntable in the main role – this is the top Acoustic Signature Thunder model with the TA5000 arm and Soundsmith cartridge. There is Audio Research Ref Phono 2SE and Ref 5SE electronics, as well as the new Ref 150SE power amplifier. The speakers are, of course, Wilson Audio Sabrina speakers.
  • A Zontek system with the brilliant Zontek High End turntable, as well as the company’s preamplifier and amplifier. The Berlin Reference R speakers with a wooden horn are from the dc10audio company.
  • Unusual designs of the ESA company accompanied by a complete Avid HiFi system. Here we are talking about a new representative design, operating in a Red House dipole.
  • During the exhibition I finally had an opportunity to meet Juliette Shigo, the head of exports of the Advance Acoustic company. We could listen to the top speakers of the French company – the X-L1000 Advance Paris model. The band, high effectiveness (98 dB) and high power are just their most important features.
  • The object of desire, also for me – the Queen turntable by Rega with the logo of the Queen band. The model was prepared on the occasion of publishing the whole catalogue of the band on vinyl.
  • People from ForTune are also musicians – a live trumpet is what we like!
  • In this way we invited you to the 100th meeting of the Krakow Sonic Society.
  • We will write about the meeting (or actually two meetings) in December – the 100th meeting of the Krakow Sonic Society during which we compared different CD editions of The Beatles. Even children participated in it :) The meeting at 12:00.
  • Raveen Bawa, a representative of the dCS company, is one of the most pleasant people in the audio industry. It was thanks to his help that the meeting took place.
  • The source used during the 100th meeting of the Krakow Sonic Society was the new dCS Rossini player which also has digital inputs and can be used as a file player. Below there is the Rossini clock that has been specifically designed to be used with the player, brought by Mr Raaven. We will publish a test of both these products already in December (we had been planning to do it in November, but we preferred to wait for the clock).
  • Marek Dyba, known to you not only from “High Fidelity” (to the right). He joined us during the meeting at 1 p.m.
  • Participants in the meeting at 1 p.m. One of them was also a fourteen-month-old Julia who sat with her parents and listened all the time :) As her dad writes, “that was her first audio exhibition – on Saturday she spent 8 hours at the Stadium and on Sunday she was there for a shorter time, but she was lucky and managed to listen to The Beatles even though she had no ticket. It was a very nice meeting, see you next year!” In this way, Julia becomes a honorary member of the Krakow Sonic Society – we are making a certificate for her!