Hi James,
I normally attend on a Sunday, so I was expecting Saturday to be quieter. It was not. Foot traffic aside it was another great Bristol show.
There wasn't so much in the way of high end releases this year. I noticed a fair number of new speakers.
The new Spendor floor standers confused me, in that they didn't have their traditional sound. They were actually quite cold & harsh.
Rega had a set of transmission lines, which were warm & lovely.
Usher had a super sounding set of diamond tweetered floor standers.
There was a great deal of Naim amplification around. I counted at least 5 rooms. One of which was the Focal room.
Again, not impressive at all. The sound was very muddy. Every room in which I heard Naim equipment (Spendor included) sounded different, of course. But none of them sounded quite right. I don't know if it is a partnering issue, because I have heard each manufacturer in isolation and enjoyed the sound. Very strange.
Focal did have their first set of headphones there. At £200 I thought they presented a great buy. Beautifully finished and the great sound quality I know can come from Focal.
Leema always impress me & this year had the lower end components. A very dry and punchy presentation. Thankfully they are not the kind of company whose sound has huge disparity between price points. Their signature sound is easily noticeable, whether one is listening to their top end equipment or their entry level DAC.
I didn't manage to get into the What Hi-Fi room, to hear the 11 speaker PMC/Bryston set up. I did, however, sit in the SP3/PMC twenty series room. Stunning!
What really impressed me, above and beyond the soundstage and the dynamics, was the quality and effortless cohesion to the sound. It was by far the best AV set up I heard on the day. It was quite likely the most expensive, though.
In the 2 channel PMC/Bryston rooms the BHA-1 sat in one and the twenty series/BDP-1/BDA-1/BP26 & 4B SST2 in the other.
They begun with the twenty 21. Initially I thought they were OK. But another track or two and Woah!
They are small, but a speaker that small has no right sounding so large. The dynamics came from no where, too.
I had a good chat (as always) with Keith and Tom. Informative & friendly they always are. I wanted to hear the twenty 24s, so Tom told me he would set them up for me nearer the end of the day. Back I ran with 15 minutes to the end & I had the room to myself. Immediately I could hear how much smoother and more cohesive this series is compared to the i series. They do have a more dry bass, but it is just as extended. The big plus for me is the far greater midrange warmth & clarity and......timing! Boy are they great here. My ears were astounded with their transient attack and the way in which they dealt with dynamics.
In terms of where they sit in the PMC range, sound quality wise, I think they are far closer to the fact range than they are to the i series. In fact(excuse the pun), I think they are a superb integration of the two. Timing, smoothness & cohesion of the fact range, along with the most of the bass warmth & extension of the i series.
Kyri
