Audio Video Show, Warsaw
Back to the main hotel for the final day of the Audio Video show where crowds have filled every available space and the shuttle bus to/from the stadium has been overwhelmed. There is clearly huge interest still for two-channel audio in and around Warsaw at an event aimed squarely at end users rather than the trade in the form of dealers or the media. That’s so refreshing to witness.
Chord/Chord Co/Monitor Audio
For anyone who confuses Chord Company who make, well, chords, and Chord Electronics who don’t, then Warsaw was not the place to be. The two English companies were sharing the Polish launch room for the Monitor Audio’s futuristic-looking Hyphn loudspeaker. The sound was amazing and I, for one, hope the technology filters down into more mainstream products for this brand, preferably below the hefty £70,000 price tag. The bass was phenomenal but the midrange and HF just mind-blowingly superb. The heart of the Hyphn is the M-Array – a unique configuration consisting of a single tweeter surrounded by a rosette of six 2-inch midrange drivers. This is complemented by two pairs of side-firing 200mm push-pull bass transducers.
Blackwood/SB Acoustics
Blackwood from Croatia brought their Artanis model which general manager Mario Pavetić was rightly proud of. An active system, it includes preamp, streamer and DSP unit to feed an AES/EBU digital signal to the speakers. Each one has a digital crossover, then a DAC along with three Class D amplifiers, one per drive unit: bass, mid and tweeter. These are from SB Acoustics and include a beryllium-dome tweeter, and hard paper-coned mid (in compression chamber) and bass units. The vented cabinet has a downward-firing port. They sounded as good as they looked and the system comes complete with one-year’s on-site support for €40,000 (nett) and a host of finish options.
Lyngdorf
The Room Perfect room-correction system is a speciality of Danish company Lyngdorf and certainly makes light work of hotel room acoustics. The Cue 100 loudspeakers (£18,998) are intended to provide something for the gap between full audiophile separates and a designer loudspeaker such as B&O. Featuring their own AMT tweeter and Purifi drivers from Denmark, the sound was very clean, detailed and absorbing. I liked the wooden tripod stands as well. Nice touch, and very Scandanavian.
Reed
Some classic KEF 104aB speakers were perhaps a surprise choice but they were pressed into service with a high-end Reed muse 3c turntable, complete with 5T arm for a lavish analogue source which reminded me just how good these old British loudspeakers could sound.
Jadis/ Destination Audio/ Nika
Next door an Ampex tape of the Holy Grail of American Rock and Roll provided the source for a system of Jadis electronics and Destination Audio’s GM70 tube integrated amplifier and their Nika horn loudspeakers of considerable size, an example of the rather exotic systems compiled by importers and distributors of more esoteric high-end brands.
Kharma/Goldmund/ Aries Cerat
My final room of note here was that which welcomed, for the first time in Poland, Kharma loudspeakers from the Netherlands. The Exquisite Midi model, part of the top-flight Exquisite line, costs nearly PLN 450,000 (£88,600). Also making their debut were electronics from Goldmund, namely the Telos 2500NG power amplifier and Mimesis 37s preamplifier, as well as Aries Cerat tube devices, including the top model Ianus-Ithaka DAC. Altogether a remarkable experience and one I shall probably not be able to enjoy again, at least not for a while.
Göbel/ Tenor /Wadax
For the first time in Poland, loudspeakers from the German brand Göbel were presented – the Divin Marquis model, along with dedicated Divin Sovereign subwoofers. Amplification was by Tenor Audio 20th Anniversary Edition electronics, and the signal source was a Wadax Reference DAC and Reference Server transport. The crowds lapped up every single note in a room that seemed constantly crowded.
Diora Acoustics
Returning after an absence of 20 years and with the first of its own models were Diora Acoustics. The legendary brand was warmly received judging by the crowds flocking to the room. Staff were on hand to present the result of many years of work: two series of high-end products were unveiled: Perun and Chors. The designs are the work of the Diora Świdnica team and the best Polish designers. Hand-made, well-finished and sounding rather good, they claim to use only European-sourced components at their factory in Lower Silesia.
Magico/MSB/ Pink Faun
Warsaw witnessed a premiere showing of the Magico S3 loudspeakers, which use tech taken from the flagship M9 model. There is a beryllium tweeter covered with a diamond layer, a midrange speaker with an aluminium honeycomb structure enclosed between two layers of graphene-reinforced carbon fibre, and a massive aluminium cabinet. The new S3 is one of the first models designed using the Klippel measurement system. They were run with MSB Technology electronics: the S500 power amplifier and the Reference DAC converter with the Digital Director isolator and the Pink Faun 2.16 Ultra server. The constant crowds speaks volumes for the quality this set-up created.
Fram
Part of the Ancient Audio Group, Fram Audio create amazing-looking loudspeakers, reminiscent of theatre lights. The source was AA’s Lektor Joy three-piece CD player/DAC/preamplifier and digital speaker processor. The 60,000PLN (£12,000) unit is based on a CD-Pro 8 mechanism by Stream Unlimited built in a single aluminium block. Data transfer is by Tent Labs low-jitter clock, while D/A conversion is via a pair of ESS 9038 Pro chips. The optional processing can apparently cancel distortions in any speaker system, or headphones, to improve neutrality and dynamics. The results were certainly impressive.
Equilibrium
Equilibrium designers Marek Masewski and Piotr Kwiatkowski have created a loudspeaker with a dynamically-active sealed enclosure and showed their three-model Verta range. The two-way floorstander being played features a tweeter made by Bliesman (ex Morel) in Germany. It is incredibly lightweight, just 0.16g and features a waveguide. The mid/bass is based on a SEAS unit but custom-engineered. There are also two passive rear radiators. An incredible 85 per cent of the cabinet is filled with damping materials. With a staggering 2,000 finish options available this is not a model for the indecisive. The mesh grilles add to the overall styling while the sound quality was excellent with bass player Markus Philippe producing a dynamic sound, huge soundstage and quality bass. Prices start at 14,000PLN (£2,800) for the 5-inch P5 model, to 18,000PLN (£3,500) for the 8-inch P8.
Manron
Last year Manron surprised me with their luscious wooden loudspeakers complete with adjustable mid/tweeter top box. This year they unveiled a new PP70i Class A valve amplifier with 70W.ch for 70,000PLN (£14,000). I can’t wait for next year.
Tentogra
Polish turntable manufacturer Tentogra from Ksawerów are one of those manufacturers that not only creates products, but has the marketing in place as well – in English as well as Polish come to that. The Wowo model at €5,000 (without Kuzma arm(s)) was being auditioned with IDHOS amplification and Spinor cables. The fabulous brochure also covers the Oscar and Grammy models. The designs are by passionate proprietor Wojciech Samołk. For more information visit Tentogra.
Marton/NCS
The smaller Marton integrated which can also be used as a preamp or a monoblock was powering some loudspeakers from Hungarian NCS Audio. The floorstanding two-way Reference One design which has a hard-wired crossover at a very low 1kHz. Modified Dation Audio drive units are used, including a modified silk dome tweeter and aluminium main unit. Designer is Norbert Csere.
Struss
More Polish loudspeakers came courtesy of Struss; a compact at 5,250PLN (£1,050) and floorstander at 8,750PLN (£1,720). Both appear conventional in design and produced a clear, clean, transparent sound with detailed HF.
DIY Audio
Pounding bass welcomed me as I arrived at a very unusual room which I remember from last year. Few audio shows have space for DIY enthusiasts but DIY Audio Poland were here in force with a number of interesting concepts. In loudspeakers there was the variety of a concrete-covered MDF three-way infinite baffle designs with external crossover; a two-way transmission line and an active two-way using Scanspeak drivers. There were also fascinating home-conceived electronics including a streamer, streamer with DAC and a preamp with switchable tube stage. Such passion and commitment is worthy of note.
Qualio
Warsaw provided the world premier of Qualio’s Quantum floorstanding loudspeaker. The new three-way set is designed for small rooms and, as with the IQ model launched here last year, the latest design use an AMT tweeter (on an acrylic upper baffle above the main cabinet) in a €5,900 package. Sonically it was rather lovely: rich, warm and inviting.
Cube/Tektron
The latest model from Cube Audio was a one-and-a-half way loudspeaker based on its new-generation 8-inch wideband drive units supplemented with the company’s woofer in a €16,000 package. The stunning red cabinet was gorgeous, especially under the show lighting. The sound was full-bodied, detailed and highly rhythmic when driven with a rather beautiful Tektron tube amplifier with wooden surround.
Staccato/Gemstone
From Polish brand Staccato Audio, owner Jakub Honkisz brought his latest models, including the €14,000 BU-01 dual-mono single-ended Class A amplifier. In an all-Polish room it was driving the €3,990 Gemstone Libra loudspeaker, created by Grzegorz Porzuczek and housed in an eight-sided cabinet; the sound was open, revealing and detailed.
Closing time
And so, closes another Audio and Video Show in Warsaw and the exhibition areas are in darkness until next year. Whatever the feeling about the state of hi-fi sales in the UK and other parts of Europe, attendance this weekend in the Polish capital has demonstrated a continued appetite for high-quality audio systems.
Many countries, not least Britain, could learn a great deal about how show organiser Adam Mokrzycki and his experience team mount this hugely popular and well attended event each year. They do so many things right that it deserves to be the continued success that it is.