Thoughts from the show?

[URL]

Well folks, I have just got home from the show!

To say I was dissapointed with the show would be an understatement. This is the poorest show I have ever seen.

I appreciate its the first time (to my knowledge) it has been run in the "Wild West" but it was not a patch on the Edinburgh shows in the Posthouse or latterly the Royal Scott.

I was looking for more than just hifi - there were very few AV setups of note, and those that were there were nominal in quality and quantity. I am sure many of the original exibitors ducked out - there seemed to be a few missing.

The only exibitor worth seeing was Gordon & Joe - Gordons pitches were really good - he really illustrated many issues to those who had a more lightweight interest in home cinema - well done (and thanks for the cool pen)


I was really looking for more products around convergence, and possibly home automation. I sadly could have been at a show from the 1980's!!

I guess most sane folks have sat at home and watched the footy....

DJ

 

[kmhtkmhtkmht]

My thoughts exactly. Gordon and Joe's setup was the only really good one there.

Gordon's Projector show and tell prove to be quite informative and interesting to see the difference bewtween a 3,000 quid projetor and the other 17,000 quid one.

I would've been mad if I was put in a room on the 2nd floor, the rooms were TINY with people struggling to get in and just milling about in the entrance halls of each room.

Linn's setup was pretty decent too, so it seems the two best setups were right next to each other.

Also, why did anyone have to buy a ticket or pay the five pounds? You could just walk up the stairs like everyone else and look at all the products exactly the same as the people that paid or not. So I guess the five quid I paid was for the magazines and the bag.

The rest of the exhibition was poor, nothing really going on at all and it seemed like most people were squeezed into pretty small rooms!

Conclusion, A wasted morning and afternoon asides from seeing Joe and Gordon's setup. A tenner down for 2 tickets, another 16 quid wasted on the train!

 

[jwramsay]

I paid in!

Got a freebie Linn SACD.

Gordon's demo was ace, that awards ceremony in 1080i superb. And where did he get the DVD player that plays the HiDef .ts files for 200 quid??

Spent ages in the Pioneer room demoing the 436. Black is black or what. Major difference to the 434. Also like the fact that the XDE's remote can control DVD, etc. The bezel is much smaller than my 434's too, being only about 1 inch top and bottom, probably 1.5 inches at the side.

Didn't have 30mins to take in the Linn demo, but it looked as though it'd have been worth a visit.

Apart from that ..... nothing to talk about I'm afraid.

Good luck to Gordon with his move down South!

 

[URL]

But did you all get a trick DLP pen!?!!???

Also, the free linn SACD is actually pretty good....


DJ

 

[kmhtkmhtkmht]

YES!

I got that pen, it flashes and stays on light blue, UBER cool.

I didn't get the Linn CD, could've but forgot.

The Calibration stuff that Joe and Piers had was pretty cool also.

 

[URL]

...I was wanting to buy a SpyderTV thingy... but I asked and they said they did not have any - I thought that the AVForums offer Joe was running might have been promoted.

DJ

 

[URL]

...meant to add... did you see big rainbows during Gordons pitch?

During the scene with the baseball scores crossing the screen they were really bad - plus the Men in Black scene too.... I would have thought that high price DLP projectors would have got rid of rainbows by now... guess I will need to stay with LCD...

DJ

 

[mjcairney]

Also disappointed - came away thinking that I had been to a high-brow hi-fi show with a little bit of AV thrown in - not what I was expecting.

Cheers,

Martin.

 

[kmhtkmhtkmht]

I am gonna write to them and ask for a refund.

 

[URL]

...glad to see I am not alone in my feelings!

I wonder what will happen when a bunch of us write and compain!?!

DJ

 

[kmhtkmhtkmht]

Refund. And A Bit.

 

[kmhtkmhtkmht]

[Personal details of the organiser removed by admin. Very bad form to post those ]

 

[Spooky]

yeh the 2 best parts for me were the Linn demo room and Gordon's room with the projectors. Upstairs was a bit of a joke to be fair and if I had been displaying I would defo have words about that, looks very unprofessional.
Gordons demo was imformative and I gotta say I was impressed with the oscars in 1080i but preferred men in black in the " cheaper" projector after seeing the 2 of them for a bit. Even Gordon wasnt convinced he prefered the more expensive version I think.
Still good way to waste a Saturday so aint complaining too much
Spooks

 

[Joe Fernand]

Hello all

Sorry to hear the Show hasn't met with expectations - I've not been out of our room as yet (pretty much the norm for most exhibitions I find) so don't have a clue what's going on elsewhere in the hotel.

I'm sure Gordon, Piers and the rest of our team will be happy to hear their efforts have been appreciated - build up was pretty slow on Friday as access into the hotel is a bit of a nightmare.

djblack - the folk at Datacolor have not delivered any stock of the UK/PAL SpyderTV as yet and I'm not for taking orders that may take an age to fulfil.

We had planned on doing a demo using a Panasonic 32" LCD but unfortunately a botch up at Panasonic UK means the Display we require is sitting in Bracknell not Glasgow.

PDP-434HDE - the 'HD' player is a SnaZio SZ1350 'Digital Home Cinema HD'. We shipped a sample in last week and will be placing an order with the factory on Monday - still to finalise the price; need to get the exhibition finished before I work my way through the factory price list.

See http://www.snazio.com

Best regards

Joe

PS The ThemeScene 'DLP' flashing pens do seem to be very popular

 

[cmcg55]

I would echo what everyone else is saying - the emphasis really seemed to be on Hi-Fi rather than AV, which was a bit disappointing. Nice to meet Stuart & Lee also, finally put faces to the names.

Show-wise... I enjoyed Gordon's demo, very informative, and again, the Linn session was well worth sitting through... wasn't overly taken by the multi-channel segment, but the 2-channel stereo presentation was superb.

Also liked the Tannoy room (although the Prestige speakers they were using looked like dwarf-sized antique Grandfather clocks and probably had price tags to match), and SIM2's demo was also very nice looking (Star Wars in HD... I could have watched that one a few more times over...).

Very impressed also with Monitor Audio - the Silver R8s are extremely nice stereo speakers with tons of depth, excellent VFM at only 800 quid RRP - I could see a pair of those making their way into the living room for a music-only setup at some point. Best speaker/amp combo of the day though was the McIntosh setup in the Shadow Audio room... I went back there a couple of times and got more impressed each time. Fantastic presence, and as good a 3D soundstage as I would imagine a 2.0 setup can throw.

Ooo... and the Shadow Audio girls...

 

[Adrenochrome]

Gutted at not being able to get there today just too busy at work to get away Still hoping to get there tomorrow but it's looking unlikely

Adrenochrome.

 

[Gordon @ Convergent AV]

Just got in. Thanks to everyone for the positive feedback. It's alway shard trying to judge where to pitch the "talk" at something like this as I have no idea whether the audience has any knowledge of the technology we're demoing.

I'm going to change things slightly tomorrow. There will still be the eductional bit but I'm going to miss out stuff about 48Hz playaback....although you'll still see it....and we'll stick in longer audio demo instead.

Please do say hello and drop in if you are coming. We're in a weird location on first floor...follow signs for Optoma and BEAMAX.

Gordon

 

[AD Roser]

Hello All,

As with Joe & Gordon, I am sorry that the show has fallen short of your expectations - it is always difficult when you relocate a show to a new venue to get everyone of your chosen exhibitors on board.

I agree that AV is a little on the light side here but if you are heading over on Sunday please come in and see us in Mega Room 1 and of course Joe and Co

Regards

Alan Roser
SIM2 UK

 

[kmhtkmhtkmht]

You had a pretty big room Sim2!

To me, that's what a show should be about, big halls with a bunch of people in it so you can float about - not dinky sized hotel rooms (small by New York City standards! - some of the rooms on floor 2 were ABSOLUTELY tiny!)

 

[zazwaldo]

Travelled down from Aberdeen for the show, hoping to get some good ideas for my forthcoming new flat and multi room AV set up. Unfortunately AV equipment was thin on the ground, especially for demo purposes, multi room equipment non existent!!!! The majority of the show seemed to be dedicated to "audiophiles" doing the knowing head nod to the next big thing in hi-fi equipment being demonstrated to them. Mucho dissapointment £80 in fuel £20 for food and £10 for tickets. Will be reluctant to go again.........

 

[mjcairney]

Gutted at not being able to get there today just too busy at work to get away Still hoping to get there tomorrow but it's looking unlikely

Adrenochrome.

Tom, no point in being gutted at not getting there - in fact, maybe you were the lucky one.

Use the fiver entrance fee you've saved and get yourself a couple of pints of Guinness and watch a good movie instead.

Cheers,

Martin.

 

[paublo]

Also very dissapointed with the show...

I thought the Sim2 setup was actually very good for a DLP (albeit a 3 chip) and definately made me reconsider my binkered approach to panel projectors. Having expereienced a Runco 510 single chip dlp, I said never again. All we need now is for it to drop from 13k, a nice 3d vidid picture with the ability to run at various refresh rates.....the future perhaps??

Always nice to chat with Joe and Gordon. Good luck with your move Gordon and dont forget to come back North sometime...

But otherwise pretty grim.

One small piece of information that Velodyne users may have missed is that they are releasing an external version of their DD parametric sub equaliser. Around the £500-£600 quid mark... Virtually turning my old HGS18 into DD HGS18, which I understand is a huge leap in performance...

1 out of 10, need to try harder. The most dissapointing HI-FI show I have ever attended.

Paul

 

[foghorn]

Hi,

In general I have to agree that this was one of the poorer shows I have attended; there was lack of AV equipment in general and for me personally a lack of projectors on show.

What I will say is that the exhibitors who did turn up can't be faulted they all made the best of a poor hotel layout and to some exhibitors restrictive room sizes, I felt particularly sorry for Monitor Audio room position.

Special thanks for the following people who made it a worth while journey, Joe and Gordon in The Media Factory rooms, Alan Roser Sim2 and Stuart Acey of Optoma(interesting conversation).

Foghorn

Ps I just remembered that i forgot to get one of the Optoma pens. (Hint)

 

[JohnnyScot]

Well to (kinda) buck the trend of the comments here.........

I had a great afternoon. Why? Well I came to see the 3CX Projector and saw it. Totally bowled over with the picture. Met Alan and he demonstrated various hi def clips (including the Tropicana Beauty Pageant just to test flesh tones ) and some standard DVD clips. I have been looking at the 30H and the HT300E but I will now shift my focus to the 3CX. (no pun intended)

Oh and the rest of the show - you are right - fairly pants. Including the numpty in the McIntosh room who seemed to think that the best way to sell was to bark, and oh yes I really do mean bark, "SIT DOWN PLEASE AND LISTEN TO THIS VALVE AMP". Eh well if it's all the same to you podgy I'd rather not. I'll just go and spend this £14k floating about in my pocket at the Sim2 stand where Alan was helpful, talkative, knowledgeable and generally intersting to talk to. Thanks Alan!

And the final score - Sim2 1 - McIntoss 0 (sorry did I spell that wrong?)

 

[cheechy]

I went along on Sunday morning and watched Gordon's demo standing at the back. This, and my purchase of an ex-demo Pioneer 868, were the highlight of the show for me. I too went for the AV and was disappointed not to see more there - indeed I was disappointed to not see the Panny panels anywhere but have to admit the Pioneer panels looked stunning IN THE DARK!

However I will admit to going round some of the HiFi rooms and was actually impressed by Mr Valve Amp's sound (Was that the Roksann stuff?)