[cunny678]

Just received this email for those thta are interested in attending:-


Manchester Show gets BIGGER!

17th - 18th October 2009
Dear Show Visitor

As a previous visitor to the Home Entertainment Show we’d like to introduce you to some changes to this year's Show.

Last year Practical Hi-Fi merged with Audio T and Audio Excellence and so the Home Entertainment Show has been renamed “Sound & Vision – The Manchester Show” to tie in with our “Bristol Show” - the UK's largest hi-fi and home cinema Show which we have run for the last 22 years.

So, what can you expect from the NEW Manchester Show?

First off, the Show has grown in size. We’ve added extra stand space to the ground floor and added another bedroom exhibition floor. This means that the Show is now the biggest it has ever been and so far we have over 84 brands to display (with more booking weekly).

Then, for the first time at Manchester, What Hi-Fi? Sound and Vision magazine will be in attendance. Their expert editorial staff will be on hand to answer any technical questions and offer unbiased advice.

Even more excitingly, they will be announcing the results of their What Hi-Fi? Sound and Vision Awards 2009 at the Show - prior to the Awards issue that comes out the following week. So be the first to see their 2009 winners, most of which will be on demonstration at the Show!!!

The Show is now the place to see and hear all the latest products. There are also several new product launches that will see new products revealed to the public (and press!) for the first time. Here is just a taster of some of the exciting items that we already know will be on show:

Alphason - launch a new range of furniture by Conran. Arcam - premiere the new AVR500 home cinema receiver. B&W - showing the EISA award winning CM9 loudspeakers. Chord Company - showing several new cables. Cyrus – planning on launching a top secret new product. Denon - new hi-fi stereo separates, a new two-piece mini system as well as a full line up of AV models for 2009-10. Electrocompaniet - planning to introduce new models! Focal - updated Electra Be range. JVC - showcasing the new LT-32WX50 LED slim monitor. Marantz - unveil its ‘Pearls’, for their first UK showing! Monitor Audio - first outing for the new SilverRX range. NAD - see the new stereo amplifiers. Onkyo - see the full line up of home cinema receivers. Samsung - showing the next generation of LED TVs. Sonos - see the new CR200 touch screen controller. Wharfedale - see the new Diamond 10 Series.

If that wasn’t enough to tempt you - then how about this?

• The admission price has been kept at it’s 2008 level (£6 per adult)
• There will be special deals on most purchases at the Show
• A great new Show competition with the chance to win some superb prizes
• It’s easy to get too – right in the heart of Manchester and it’s shopping district

OK, thanks for reading, we’ll be back in October with another update (just in case this hasn’t tempted you enough), but for the very latest news don’t forget to check out the website.

See you in Manchester…

Regards,

Sound & Vision – The Manchester Show

---

[mwjdavies]

I'll be there

[neal666]

will there be projectors on demo there?

[Gboardman1959]

Originally Posted by neal666

will there be projectors on demo there?

There will be projectors on show but unfortunatly Sim2 won't be there

[Suave]

Hi All,

Is anyone or a group from London planning to go to the show? I would like to but for health reasons, I cannot drive long distances anymore as I am taking meds which make me feel tired.

I would love to hook up with anyone who is going and would be happy to contribute towards fuel costs - I could do with a day out drooling over stuff I most probably can't afford!

Suave!

[MUZRIK]

Will be there also & it's my first time at the show looking forward to it

[Cunniffe66_]

I'm looking forward to this too, haven't been to an AV show before and since I've become accustomed to a proper setup (as opposed to the typical argos home theatre in a box stuff) it will be cool to compare/contrast my speakers to some even more expensive ones

Steven.

[xbox1138]

Really looking forward to this, I'm going tomorrow and taking my Dad along. Most interested in the speakers on show, wouln't mind a new stereo pair and a new 5.1 set up so who knows, I might do some spending if the prices are right!

[cunny678]

Originally Posted by xbox1138

I might do some spending if the prices are right!

I find Sundays the best day for bargains. Demonstrators often dont want to package thinks up again and quite often sell some stuff as ex-dem after the show.

Year before last I picked to a Atacama Hi Fi unit for £100 which was listed at £240!! Things like stands are difficult to take appart and so often go quite cheap at the end of the show if you ask!!

[BarryK]

I will be going along on Sunday. Was hoping to see the Panasonic projectors but not sure if they are going to have them set up there. Looks like they are going to be showing their Plasma TV`s instead.

[Jules]

This was extremely busy this year... much more so than previous years, probably because WhatHifi had their own demo room.

Anyway, a few short notes from me:

JVC
For me, best picture of the show was the JVC HD990 projector, and by quite some distance. I also like the rep from JVC as he comes across as a nice, friendly, normal guy (not too smooth and creepy like some of the others).
They were showing the dark scenes from the Dark Knight and it looked breathtaking. Very smooth motion, black as seemingly black as is possible, the colours looked perfect, and an overall contrast that left others looking drab.

Sony
Sony disappointed me this year... don't get me wrong the VW85 projector looked pretty good but their demo did not contain any live action. It only consisted of the animated film 'Bolt'. mmm, how can you realistically judge picture quality from that?

Also I think their usual guy running the demo (Eric Kingdon I think it is) needs a little feedback. He really didn't give me the impression he wanted to be there.

- They were running late and he blamed people coming in early as the cause.
- He mentioned 3 times that somebody had borrowed their screen and it came back creased. He sounded like a right grumpy git.
- He did not talk about any of the equipment being used... just chucked on Bolt and when it finished said pretty much 'That's it'.

I can understand he may well be sick of doing these shows, but it really shouldn't come accross to those who have paid to be there.

On the upside, I was very impressed with the B&W speakers they were using, and it was probably the best cinematic audio demo I heard.


Overall
I thought this was a bigger and better show than previous years and worth the trip.
You could get a 15% discount on lots of things, including KEF speakers.

I had to queue for 20 minutes to get in the What-Hifi demo, but it was a very slick presentation and they showed clips from the new Terminator movie which looked great.

Overall, better than previous years...although the only thing I bought was some Chord Odyssey 4 speaker cable.
Some nice looking girls on duty there too which is always a bonus.

[xbox1138]

Bit of a mixed bag for me this year, probably the biggest suprise for me were the Wharfedale Diamond 10.1's which for £200 sounded amazing and put kit a lot more expensive to shame. The What hi-fi demo room was a disappointment, surely they have better clips to show than Wolverine on Blu-ray? I had hoped they would be showing off some of the award winners that were announced but nothing. Its still worth going, just skip the Sony and What hi-fi demo rooms....

[patton]

i was at the show today stayed for around 4 and a half hours was a good show the what hi-fi room was poor the projector screen was dark and the guy was like look at the difference between blu ray and normal dvd, i know there is a difference but because the screen was crap i couldn't see any difference at the booth...? got a good deal on what hi-fi subscription though £24 for 6 months and a pair of free IGrado Headphones, Awards Issue and 3-d glassed for nothing.

i put my ears to all the rooms, the kef egg cinema room sounded awsome!!

and by a massive shock to me the best music i heard was easily the Yamaha room with the Yamaha amp, cd and speaker set up did anyone else hear this it sounded utterly fantastic!!

at the end of the day well worth the £6 fee enjoyed it all (appart from the nut case guy in the Dali room where he kept putting dance music on and dancing in the corner)???

Yes the Whardedale 10.1 were fantastic put alot of speakers many many times the price to shame!!

[pixelpidgeon]

@patton "at the end of the day well worth the £6 fee enjoyed it all (appart from the nut case guy in the Dali room where he kept putting dance music on and dancing in the corner)???" hehe FUNNY

do you know what model no. etc the yamaha amp(s) were? thanks p

[patton]

Not sure i think the amp wasnt out for another few weeks along with the cd player they retailed for about £1000 for the cd and £1500 amp the speakers were 3 grand i think but the sound put my hairs on the back of my neck up it was that good alot of other people were making the same comments..

[pixelpidgeon]

thanks. Was hoping they would be cheaper ...and £3000 speakers, out of my league at the moment unfortunately

Its always nice to hear you can get more than what you pay for though.

Originally Posted by patton

Not sure i think the amp wasnt out for another few weeks along with the cd player they retailed for about £1000 for the cd and £1500 amp the speakers were 3 grand i think but the sound put my hairs on the back of my neck up it was that good alot of other people were making the same comments..

[Avi]

Originally Posted by Jules

T
JVC
For me, best picture of the show was the JVC HD990 projector

Are you sure it was the HD990 and not the HD950 ?

AVI

[Nabs]

What was the Cyrus new launch like - what was secret product?

Also any new surprisingly good power amps demo'd, always looking for ways to improve my 2 channel?

Would have loved to go, but I am sitting at home at the moment at the tail end of a week of flu and thought it wiser to not infect everybody!. Cannot wait to read opinions as they come in.

[scrapbook]

Originally Posted by patton

i was at the show today stayed for around 4 and a half hours was a good show the what hi-fi room was poor the projector screen was dark and the guy was like look at the difference between blu ray and normal dvd, i know there is a difference but because the screen was crap i couldn't see any difference at the booth...? got a good deal on what hi-fi subscription though £24 for 6 months and a pair of free IGrado Headphones, Awards Issue and 3-d glassed for nothing.

i put my ears to all the rooms, the kef egg cinema room sounded awsome!!

and by a massive shock to me the best music i heard was easily the Yamaha room with the Yamaha amp, cd and speaker set up did anyone else hear this it sounded utterly fantastic!!

at the end of the day well worth the £6 fee enjoyed it all (appart from the nut case guy in the Dali room where he kept putting dance music on and dancing in the corner)???

Yes the Whardedale 10.1 were fantastic put alot of speakers many many times the price to shame!!

What did yamaha have on demo?

[patton]

Soavo-1 speakers
CD-S2000 - cd player
A-S2000 - amp

these 3 things were harmony i tell ya...

[namuk]

That arcam sounds very good AVR600 , also was surprised how good samsung LED screens looked but there edge lite , this switch's off when running Hd films,
panasonic screens (can not remember the model numbers) but they were the 2 top end models the Pq i was told the Pioneer tech team (Kuro) worked on them and future release screens ..
also Panasonic when they release a LED screen there saying Back lite .

good show mostly stereo though , pioneer did not have there Massive demo room this year . and was Packed i think due to 2 day event and Trade guys were there .

[ani4ani]

Originally Posted by Jules

Sony
Sony disappointed me this year... don't get me wrong the VW85 projector looked pretty good but their demo did not contain any live action. It only consisted of the animated film 'Bolt'. mmm, how can you realistically judge picture quality from that?

Also I think their usual guy running the demo (Eric Kingdon I think it is) needs a little feedback. He really didn't give me the impression he wanted to be there.

- They were running late and he blamed people coming in early as the cause.
- He mentioned 3 times that somebody had borrowed their screen and it came back creased. He sounded like a right grumpy git.
- He did not talk about any of the equipment being used... just chucked on Bolt and when it finished said pretty much 'That's it'.

I can understand he may well be sick of doing these shows, but it really shouldn't come accross to those who have paid to be there.

On the upside, I was very impressed with the B&W speakers they were using, and it was probably the best cinematic audio demo I heard.

It is amusing how people leave these shows with entirely different perceptions. I actually think I was in the same showing as you, i.e. were you the guy asking for "live action" presentation at around 3:00 PM? If you were, then I felt the guy did discuss the equipment being used, in fact to the point I was thinking "get on with it!"...and didn't you get your own personal live action presentation straight afterwards?

I was really impressed with the Sony projector, and I actually think showing computer animation really shows the shortcomings of a projector, i.e. very vibrant colours, very fast action [e.g. bolt]. Anyhow, the main reason for my post was the state how disappointed I was with the audio in that presentation. No doubt the B&W ["Sony speakers if you cover the badge" as the presenter said] were awesome and they were coupled to a 5400 amp, however I definately was not in the "sweet spot" for the setup and didn't work at all for me.... and for that reason alone felt the presentation was poor.

In general, I enjoyed the show and for me the highlights,

Off-the-wall AV stands
Marantz set-up
Wharfedale set-up
JVC
Yamaha

..and the low lights

Sony
What Hifi - I wonder how many shows in a row they will "show" us the difference between SD & HD...and they not quite leave you convinced

but £6 well spent

[Avi]

Originally Posted by namuk

That arcam sounds very good AVR600 , also was surprised how good samsung LED screens looked but there edge lite , this switch's off when running Hd films,
panasonic screens (can not remember the model numbers) but they were the 2 top end models the Pq i was told the Pioneer tech team (Kuro) worked on them and future release screens ..
also Panasonic when they release a LED screen there saying Back lite .

good show mostly stereo though , pioneer did not have there Massive demo room this year . and was Packed i think due to 2 day event and Trade guys were there .

Was it the AVR600 or AVR500 ? I only had a brief look as the guy was deep in conversation.

On the display front I don't know if it was the material or processing but he Halo demo material being used on the Samsungs had lots of line twitter in detail during motion. Panasonic had a few displays on show.

Noticed KEF was using a Sim2 C3X 1080 (Lumis ?) PJ in their demo but the room wasn't light controlled.

JVC had the HD950 PJ on demo in a light controlled enclosure using a Sceen Excellence neutral gain AT white diffuse screen material. Apparently it was using the THX setting on low lamp.

Sony had the VW85 PJ but claimed it was "configured" (?) as a VW80 as this is what Audio-T had available to sell. The screen used was a Stewart Grayhawk grey that can boost perceived contrast/black level.

Epson also had a PJ on display but I didn't find out what model.

AVI

[VLife]

Two channel wise, I liked the £1500 Opus No2 from Olive (Naim HDX competitor). I think it is too cheap, sounded good though.

[Ian J]

Originally Posted by patton

and by a massive shock to me the best music i heard was easily the Yamaha room with the Yamaha amp, cd and speaker set up did anyone else hear this it sounded utterly fantastic!!

I heard the expensive Yamaha setup at Bristol last year and quite impressive those speakers were too playing Insomnia by Faithless amongst other things

[Docta teef]

I have to agree this years sony demo was poor a couple of minutes of watchmen a moan about the creased screen a couple of minutes of footage from a classical concert and off you go. As with last year Denon did a better demo and kef have the good sence to just have open rooms youcan just wander into for a listen

Though i was there for the cinema side of things most impressive to me where the Tannoy and Focal speaker demos i thought both sounded fantastic.

[namuk]

Originally Posted by Avi

Was it the AVR600 or AVR500 ? I only had a brief look as the guy was deep in conversation.

On the display front I don't know if it was the material or processing but he Halo demo material being used on the Samsungs had lots of line twitter in detail during motion. Panasonic had a few displays on show.

Noticed KEF was using a Sim2 C3X 1080 (Lumis ?) PJ in their demo but the room wasn't light controlled.

JVC had the HD950 PJ on demo in a light controlled enclosure using a Sceen Excellence neutral gain AT white diffuse screen material. Apparently it was using the THX setting on low lamp.

Sony had the VW85 PJ but claimed it was "configured" (?) as a VW80 as this is what Audio-T had available to sell. The screen used was a Stewart Grayhawk grey that can boost perceived contrast/black level.

Epson also had a PJ on display but I didn't find out what model.

AVI

i never asked mate and was Busy i just presumed it was the Avr600 , the room was dark , i only found out last night there is a avr500 out they both look the same.

what ever version it was the Amp sounded bloody good with the speakers attached .. we went back the second time and room was still busy .

that Epson Pj was good for Pq .. did you demo the Jvc , my mates did and they did not rate it ..

[ash23t]

not my thing...

the What hifi demo - neither me or Other half could see any difference in the back to back x-men clip played on different disc players.

other bits:

- Setup was crap as not enough equipment to listen too, each room was one major mega bucks system and the rest just display which sucked.
- no meridian
- that all in one sound system for tvs (fits behind) looked & sounded good but open room setup meant couldn't judge how good the surroud was.
- whats with the music for gods sakes, sonus played a bit of radio head but rest was dull jazz, orchestral, golden oldie, wished could have played actual music eg beatles, jackson, u2 etc etc, as hard to tell how good a system is compared to what you know when you don't know the music itself.
- now know my optoma hd-65 is good enough and amazing for its size and most of projectors were massive.
- those proac speakers were lovely


Waste of £6 for me

[Avi]

Originally Posted by namuk

that Epson Pj was good for Pq .. did you demo the Jvc , my mates did and they did not rate it ..

Yes I watched both the Epson and JVC.

AVI

[Steve Zodiac]

By far the best PQ I saw at the show was on a Panasonic 50" VX100 plasma... in fact it's probably the best PQ I've ever seen.

I also thought there wasn't that much difference in PQ between the Blu-ray player and the DVD player showing Wolverine in the What Hi-Fi demo.