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NORTHERN EXPOSURE
Listed under: Show News
Published: Friday, October 08, 2010
The weekend of October 16th/17th saw Manchester basking in fresh sunshine, defying its image in the popular imagination (or rather the minds of Southerners who should know better) as a perpetually rain-sodden metropolis. The unseasonable weather was rather lost on SVI, however – our business was very much indoors within the confines of the Renaissance Hotel.
Across several floors, a number of function rooms and a series of hotel rooms was huge array of AV products looking to snare the attention of visitors to Home Entertainment – The Manchester Show, organised Audio T in association with Sevenoaks Sound & Vision and What Hi-Fi? magazine.
The doors opened at 9.30am on the Saturday, and it wasn’t long before the show floor exhibits, corridors and demo rooms rapidly filled up with members of the public that were eager to see the very latest in home technology hardware and those drawn by promises of bargains to be had. As a crude measure of general interest in consumer electronics during This Challenging Economic Climate™, the size of the crowds certainly seemed encouraging – but we digress. There was much to see and get excited about, so without any further ado, let’s dig in to the highlights of what was on show…
screen dreams
It’s always tempting to kick off pieces like this by pointing to the overarching ‘themes’ or ‘trends’ that dominated proceedings. Well, 3D displays and source components were very much in evidence as one would expect, but there also seemed to be no shortage of streaming audio devices and applications.
In terms of the first, there were 3D-enabled sets and accompanying Blu-ray players from several of the industry’s biggest hitters. Samsung was exhibiting its ultra-slim 8000 Series LED sets, Panasonic was showcasing its plasma range – with the flagship VT20 notably playing a 3D version of Avatar by way of demo material – and there was a public demo of Philips’ 46PFL9705. The latter’s Amblight-equipped set was showing off the smoothness granted by its 400Hz refresh rate to full effect, and in 3D to boot.
Donning the accompanying active shutter glasses (two pairs and an IR transmitter will be bundled with the set until December 31st, after which said items will be sold separately as an optional £249 package), the demo material of various aircraft in flight indeed managed to produce the occasional ‘wing coming out of screen’ moment. On this evidence at least, Philips’ continuing efforts at targeting the higher end of the market seem to be proceeding nicely.
Also worth catching was the UK debut of Pioneer’s first 3D-enabled Blu-ray players, the BDP-430 and BDP-LX54 – projected prices £299 and £399 respectively – viewed on a Sharp Quattron 3DTV. If the butter-smooth movement and brilliantly colourful visuals of the upcoming movie trailers they had playing on it are any indication, the manufacturer would appear to be off to a strong start.
The largest 3D showcases took place behind closed doors, however, in the form of projection exhibits from JVC and Sony. JVC brought with them this month’s cover star, the True Black D-ILA X7, and a six-seater viewing room to show it off in, prompting a lengthy line of expectant attendees to assemble outside. After a brief 2D viewing of Iron Man 2 to show off its black levels, the 3D demo consisted of undersea documentary footage – and to these eyes at least, it looked like impressive stuff, with potato codfish looming out of the screen and the play of light and colours still looking appealingly vibrant in spite of the slightly reduced brightness. The demo was brief, but enough to suggest that JVC could well have a hit on its hands.
Inside the Renaissance’s Raphael room, Sony’s VPL-VW90 projector was receiving its first UK showing ahead of its November launch. 3D Demo disc du jour Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs was on content duty, which made for a viewing that might have lacked the ‘pointing at you’ showiness of JVC’s exhibit, but one definitely on a par with the 3D experience currently available at your local multiplex with similar amounts of depth, judder-free motion and a decent showing in the colour department – all from what we were told was a relatively modest source rig consisting of a Sony BDP-S570 Blu-ray player and an STR-DH810 AV receiver. If nothing else, both companies’ demos gave a clear indication that home theatre projection is likely to be 3D’s most natural home. And if this is the sort of quality we can expect now, we could be in for some stirring stuff next year, assuming content producers have more in the way of 3D material on their release schedules by then...
turn it up
There was more home cinema kit to drool over in room 309, where Yamaha was showing off its BD-S667 and BD-S1067 Blu-ray players, alongside its latest trio of midrange to top-end AV receivers – the RX-V367, RX-V667 and RX-V3067. Visitors also got to catch a good look at its multifunctional YSP-4100 Digital Sound Projector intended to accompany 50-inch+ screens, which manages to combine digital signal processing, a surround-emulating speaker array and digital amplifier in one super-slim, 103cm-wide unit, along with HD Audio decoding, 1080p upscaling from four HDMI inputs and a built-in tuner.
Also present was the company’s new and vibrantly coloured TSX-80 and AirWired TSX-W80 2.1-channel desktop audio systems featuring iPod docking, FM/DAB and - in the latter case – support for Yamaha’s proprietary wireless audio technology. Rounding out the attractions were its latest 2-channel offerings in the form of the 2 x 95W A-S300 and 2x120W A-S500 integrated amps, and the CD-S300 – powered by music indeed.
To matters audio then, and the aforementioned theme of streaming. Denon were displaying the limited edition A100 components making up its 100th anniversary collection and showcasing the brand new CEOL system – a £530 network receiver and iPod dock (£600 when supplied with a pair of matching white speakers) and one of the first consumer items in the UK to be compatible with Apple’s ‘AirPlay’ streaming system for iTunes.
On a similar note, Naim occupied two spots at the show – one opposite the main entrance devoted to its entry-level UnitiServe music sharing/networking components, and another upstairs given over to a demonstration of its high-end Naim NDX streaming network player. The corridors of floors one to three were heaving at times, with a steady stream of enthusiasts filing in and out of a series of hotel rooms that had been re-purposed as chair-filled listening spaces.
Distributor Redline had some attention-grabbing goodies on show, not least Resolution Audio’s £5995 Cantata network-streaming CD-player (or ‘renderer’, as RA prefer to put it) hooked up to the recently released £3995 Cantata C50 amplifier, both looking resplendent in their white metal enclosures and busy voicing uncompressed music files playing off a PC situated in the (firmly closed) ensuite bathroom. As you might have gathered, given that it hails from the same people that brought you the Opus 21, it served to ably illustrate just good streaming audio can be made to sound and definitely made quite an impact on a fair few ears.
One floor up, the room occupied by distributor Henley Designs was packed with enough sonic toys to give audiophiles the vapours, soundtracked by Kraftwerk’s Tour De France Soundtracks playing on vinyl atop a mighty stack of Roksan hardware. Your correspondent’s attention was particularly drawn towards the Olive 3HD digital music server – a more affordable counterpart to the super-slick Olive 4HD, it offers less in the way of local storage (500GB) and sports just the one analogue output, but still packs a 24-bit/192kHz DAC, plus the integrated CD drive, built-in touchscreen control and knockout looks of its bigger brother.
Moving on to loudspeakers, Spendor brought along the latest addition to its ‘A’ Series, the three-way A9. Hooked up to a Naim streaming system and blasting out a high-res FLAC version of that classic standard Hotel California through its array of four drivers, they sounded tight and muscular. One of the attendant Spendor staff noted that the company has enthusiastically embraced the shift to digitally stored audio, to the point where its wares are now developed with 24-bit/96kHz streaming performance in mind.
On the other side of the corridor, PMC was putting a pair of its limited edition TB2i Signature loudspeakers through their paces with a little help from Bryston – namely the latter’s BCD1 CD-player, BP26 preamp and 4B SST2 power amp. Clad in a very fetching Palissandre Rose veneer and carefully engineered to excel in the midrange, the TB2i and its FB1i sibling both feature matched crossover networks that are tuned by hand – and judging by the former’s performance within the surroundings of room 203 at least, a tantalisingly wide soundstage. Visitors also had the chance to get up close with PMC’s fact.3 – a two-way, advanced transmission line loudspeaker in a compact form factor that allows those short on space to get the most out of their source components with the aid of its precision adjustment controls.
A mention should also go to the tag team of REL Acoustics and Optoma, who put together a memorable demonstration of the former’s T5 subwoofer and the latter’s recently released £2799 HD87 projector, set up with a short-throw lens. Using no less than a trio of T5’s as part of a 5.3-channel surround system and the slow-burning ‘guitar playing and thunder’ scene from Black Snake Moan, they managed to convey a real sense of room-shaking power. Exhibitors, note - avoiding instant ‘crash, bang wallop’-style demonstrations can really help your goods stand out.
Back down on the mezzanine floor, a considerable noise was being made in the Bernini and El Greco suites courtesy of KEF, who were wowing show goers with the official launch of two all-new loudspeaker ranges. The first was the highly stylish, low profile T-Series, the larger models of which make use of a 115mm, ultra-slim bass/midrange driver and a 25mm vented tweeter and come housed within a rigid, 35mm-deep cabinet. Available in three surround configurations ranging in price from £1200 to £1700, the units on display duly delivered a punchy performance in a large space that truly belied their size.
Next door, visitors were also able to check out a radically reworked, nine-strong Q-Series set to retail for between £380 and £1200. A redeveloped Uni-Q array consisting of specially developed low/mid frequency drivers and vented tweeters, first order crossovers, hardy Z-flex surrounds and internally-braced cabinets in a choice of easy-on-the-eye finishes are just some of the upmarket features that listeners can expect.
supporting players
There was also plenty to get acquainted with in the peripheral and furniture categories. From its prime position in the Medici Ballroom, Vogel’s were managing to attract many a curious onlooker with its recently released Mount & Cover System for iPad (as detailed in this month’s ‘What’s New), the innovative TwistDock storage unit for the PlayStation 3 plus the tilting, swinging and retracting abilities of its smartly designed and competitively priced (£99 to £249) THIN Series quartet of TV wall mounts.
Elsewhere, there were cabling solutions for what seemed like every conceivable application and price point being exhibited by QED, including a wide range of HDMI 1.4-enabled, Ethernet-compatible offerings – the £35-£50/m ‘Performance’ range capable of transporting 1080p 3D signals up to 10m being a notable standout.
On the AV furniture front, Optimum was showing off the contemporary styling and smooth finishes of BDI’s latest ‘Valera’ range of stands, designed for 37- to 65-inch screens, retailing for £499 to £599. Also present was Oakham-based family firm Hi-Fi Racks, who were using the show as a launch pad for their modular Podium Storage system for holding various types of media, as well as giving passers by a good look at rest of their solidly built, traditionally-style range of stands and shelving units.
From talking to individual exhibitors while the show was in full swing, the general consensus seemed to be that the Home Entertainment – Manchester had delivered the goods. One Panasonic representative hinted that they’d had their best UK turnout for a 3D showcase yet, those manning the Vogel’s stand seemed extremely pleased with the amount of enquires they’d had and several of the high-end audio companies were reporting good amounts of traffic and lots of leads.
On the one hand, these were precisely the kind of responses a journalist might expect to hear when asking industry types how their show had gone, but there definitely was a palpable sense of enthusiasm among the public visitors – whether it was overhearing a Hi-Fi enthusiast asking learned questions of an on-hand ‘tech guy’, witnessing the sight of families thrilling to 3D onscreen exploits of the Na’avi or the two gentlemen I spent time chatting with in the JVC queue. Public shows remain vital from a promotional point of view, and also serve a hugely important educational purpose for those needing to be brought up to speed with all the rapid changes taking place in this most dynamic industries. Hats off to the organisers, then – and roll on their next annual get-together, Sound & Vision - The Bristol Show on the 25th to 27th February…
Contact: www.manchestershow.co.uk
The doors opened at 9.30am on the Saturday, and it wasn’t long before the show floor exhibits, corridors and demo rooms rapidly filled up with members of the public that were eager to see the very latest in home technology hardware and those drawn by promises of bargains to be had. As a crude measure of general interest in consumer electronics during This Challenging Economic Climate™, the size of the crowds certainly seemed encouraging – but we digress. There was much to see and get excited about, so without any further ado, let’s dig in to the highlights of what was on show…
screen dreams
It’s always tempting to kick off pieces like this by pointing to the overarching ‘themes’ or ‘trends’ that dominated proceedings. Well, 3D displays and source components were very much in evidence as one would expect, but there also seemed to be no shortage of streaming audio devices and applications.
In terms of the first, there were 3D-enabled sets and accompanying Blu-ray players from several of the industry’s biggest hitters. Samsung was exhibiting its ultra-slim 8000 Series LED sets, Panasonic was showcasing its plasma range – with the flagship VT20 notably playing a 3D version of Avatar by way of demo material – and there was a public demo of Philips’ 46PFL9705. The latter’s Amblight-equipped set was showing off the smoothness granted by its 400Hz refresh rate to full effect, and in 3D to boot.
Donning the accompanying active shutter glasses (two pairs and an IR transmitter will be bundled with the set until December 31st, after which said items will be sold separately as an optional £249 package), the demo material of various aircraft in flight indeed managed to produce the occasional ‘wing coming out of screen’ moment. On this evidence at least, Philips’ continuing efforts at targeting the higher end of the market seem to be proceeding nicely.
Also worth catching was the UK debut of Pioneer’s first 3D-enabled Blu-ray players, the BDP-430 and BDP-LX54 – projected prices £299 and £399 respectively – viewed on a Sharp Quattron 3DTV. If the butter-smooth movement and brilliantly colourful visuals of the upcoming movie trailers they had playing on it are any indication, the manufacturer would appear to be off to a strong start.
The largest 3D showcases took place behind closed doors, however, in the form of projection exhibits from JVC and Sony. JVC brought with them this month’s cover star, the True Black D-ILA X7, and a six-seater viewing room to show it off in, prompting a lengthy line of expectant attendees to assemble outside. After a brief 2D viewing of Iron Man 2 to show off its black levels, the 3D demo consisted of undersea documentary footage – and to these eyes at least, it looked like impressive stuff, with potato codfish looming out of the screen and the play of light and colours still looking appealingly vibrant in spite of the slightly reduced brightness. The demo was brief, but enough to suggest that JVC could well have a hit on its hands.
Inside the Renaissance’s Raphael room, Sony’s VPL-VW90 projector was receiving its first UK showing ahead of its November launch. 3D Demo disc du jour Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs was on content duty, which made for a viewing that might have lacked the ‘pointing at you’ showiness of JVC’s exhibit, but one definitely on a par with the 3D experience currently available at your local multiplex with similar amounts of depth, judder-free motion and a decent showing in the colour department – all from what we were told was a relatively modest source rig consisting of a Sony BDP-S570 Blu-ray player and an STR-DH810 AV receiver. If nothing else, both companies’ demos gave a clear indication that home theatre projection is likely to be 3D’s most natural home. And if this is the sort of quality we can expect now, we could be in for some stirring stuff next year, assuming content producers have more in the way of 3D material on their release schedules by then...
turn it up
There was more home cinema kit to drool over in room 309, where Yamaha was showing off its BD-S667 and BD-S1067 Blu-ray players, alongside its latest trio of midrange to top-end AV receivers – the RX-V367, RX-V667 and RX-V3067. Visitors also got to catch a good look at its multifunctional YSP-4100 Digital Sound Projector intended to accompany 50-inch+ screens, which manages to combine digital signal processing, a surround-emulating speaker array and digital amplifier in one super-slim, 103cm-wide unit, along with HD Audio decoding, 1080p upscaling from four HDMI inputs and a built-in tuner.
Also present was the company’s new and vibrantly coloured TSX-80 and AirWired TSX-W80 2.1-channel desktop audio systems featuring iPod docking, FM/DAB and - in the latter case – support for Yamaha’s proprietary wireless audio technology. Rounding out the attractions were its latest 2-channel offerings in the form of the 2 x 95W A-S300 and 2x120W A-S500 integrated amps, and the CD-S300 – powered by music indeed.
To matters audio then, and the aforementioned theme of streaming. Denon were displaying the limited edition A100 components making up its 100th anniversary collection and showcasing the brand new CEOL system – a £530 network receiver and iPod dock (£600 when supplied with a pair of matching white speakers) and one of the first consumer items in the UK to be compatible with Apple’s ‘AirPlay’ streaming system for iTunes.
On a similar note, Naim occupied two spots at the show – one opposite the main entrance devoted to its entry-level UnitiServe music sharing/networking components, and another upstairs given over to a demonstration of its high-end Naim NDX streaming network player. The corridors of floors one to three were heaving at times, with a steady stream of enthusiasts filing in and out of a series of hotel rooms that had been re-purposed as chair-filled listening spaces.
Distributor Redline had some attention-grabbing goodies on show, not least Resolution Audio’s £5995 Cantata network-streaming CD-player (or ‘renderer’, as RA prefer to put it) hooked up to the recently released £3995 Cantata C50 amplifier, both looking resplendent in their white metal enclosures and busy voicing uncompressed music files playing off a PC situated in the (firmly closed) ensuite bathroom. As you might have gathered, given that it hails from the same people that brought you the Opus 21, it served to ably illustrate just good streaming audio can be made to sound and definitely made quite an impact on a fair few ears.
One floor up, the room occupied by distributor Henley Designs was packed with enough sonic toys to give audiophiles the vapours, soundtracked by Kraftwerk’s Tour De France Soundtracks playing on vinyl atop a mighty stack of Roksan hardware. Your correspondent’s attention was particularly drawn towards the Olive 3HD digital music server – a more affordable counterpart to the super-slick Olive 4HD, it offers less in the way of local storage (500GB) and sports just the one analogue output, but still packs a 24-bit/192kHz DAC, plus the integrated CD drive, built-in touchscreen control and knockout looks of its bigger brother.
Moving on to loudspeakers, Spendor brought along the latest addition to its ‘A’ Series, the three-way A9. Hooked up to a Naim streaming system and blasting out a high-res FLAC version of that classic standard Hotel California through its array of four drivers, they sounded tight and muscular. One of the attendant Spendor staff noted that the company has enthusiastically embraced the shift to digitally stored audio, to the point where its wares are now developed with 24-bit/96kHz streaming performance in mind.
On the other side of the corridor, PMC was putting a pair of its limited edition TB2i Signature loudspeakers through their paces with a little help from Bryston – namely the latter’s BCD1 CD-player, BP26 preamp and 4B SST2 power amp. Clad in a very fetching Palissandre Rose veneer and carefully engineered to excel in the midrange, the TB2i and its FB1i sibling both feature matched crossover networks that are tuned by hand – and judging by the former’s performance within the surroundings of room 203 at least, a tantalisingly wide soundstage. Visitors also had the chance to get up close with PMC’s fact.3 – a two-way, advanced transmission line loudspeaker in a compact form factor that allows those short on space to get the most out of their source components with the aid of its precision adjustment controls.
A mention should also go to the tag team of REL Acoustics and Optoma, who put together a memorable demonstration of the former’s T5 subwoofer and the latter’s recently released £2799 HD87 projector, set up with a short-throw lens. Using no less than a trio of T5’s as part of a 5.3-channel surround system and the slow-burning ‘guitar playing and thunder’ scene from Black Snake Moan, they managed to convey a real sense of room-shaking power. Exhibitors, note - avoiding instant ‘crash, bang wallop’-style demonstrations can really help your goods stand out.
Back down on the mezzanine floor, a considerable noise was being made in the Bernini and El Greco suites courtesy of KEF, who were wowing show goers with the official launch of two all-new loudspeaker ranges. The first was the highly stylish, low profile T-Series, the larger models of which make use of a 115mm, ultra-slim bass/midrange driver and a 25mm vented tweeter and come housed within a rigid, 35mm-deep cabinet. Available in three surround configurations ranging in price from £1200 to £1700, the units on display duly delivered a punchy performance in a large space that truly belied their size.
Next door, visitors were also able to check out a radically reworked, nine-strong Q-Series set to retail for between £380 and £1200. A redeveloped Uni-Q array consisting of specially developed low/mid frequency drivers and vented tweeters, first order crossovers, hardy Z-flex surrounds and internally-braced cabinets in a choice of easy-on-the-eye finishes are just some of the upmarket features that listeners can expect.
supporting players
There was also plenty to get acquainted with in the peripheral and furniture categories. From its prime position in the Medici Ballroom, Vogel’s were managing to attract many a curious onlooker with its recently released Mount & Cover System for iPad (as detailed in this month’s ‘What’s New), the innovative TwistDock storage unit for the PlayStation 3 plus the tilting, swinging and retracting abilities of its smartly designed and competitively priced (£99 to £249) THIN Series quartet of TV wall mounts.
Elsewhere, there were cabling solutions for what seemed like every conceivable application and price point being exhibited by QED, including a wide range of HDMI 1.4-enabled, Ethernet-compatible offerings – the £35-£50/m ‘Performance’ range capable of transporting 1080p 3D signals up to 10m being a notable standout.
On the AV furniture front, Optimum was showing off the contemporary styling and smooth finishes of BDI’s latest ‘Valera’ range of stands, designed for 37- to 65-inch screens, retailing for £499 to £599. Also present was Oakham-based family firm Hi-Fi Racks, who were using the show as a launch pad for their modular Podium Storage system for holding various types of media, as well as giving passers by a good look at rest of their solidly built, traditionally-style range of stands and shelving units.
From talking to individual exhibitors while the show was in full swing, the general consensus seemed to be that the Home Entertainment – Manchester had delivered the goods. One Panasonic representative hinted that they’d had their best UK turnout for a 3D showcase yet, those manning the Vogel’s stand seemed extremely pleased with the amount of enquires they’d had and several of the high-end audio companies were reporting good amounts of traffic and lots of leads.
On the one hand, these were precisely the kind of responses a journalist might expect to hear when asking industry types how their show had gone, but there definitely was a palpable sense of enthusiasm among the public visitors – whether it was overhearing a Hi-Fi enthusiast asking learned questions of an on-hand ‘tech guy’, witnessing the sight of families thrilling to 3D onscreen exploits of the Na’avi or the two gentlemen I spent time chatting with in the JVC queue. Public shows remain vital from a promotional point of view, and also serve a hugely important educational purpose for those needing to be brought up to speed with all the rapid changes taking place in this most dynamic industries. Hats off to the organisers, then – and roll on their next annual get-together, Sound & Vision - The Bristol Show on the 25th to 27th February…
Contact: www.manchestershow.co.uk
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