The year was quickly around and November is reserved for the Audio Video Show Poland 2017. It's no doubt one of my favorite high-end audio shows for many of the reasons and they are pin-pointing towards the organizer Adam Mokrzycki. The room's prices are starting at 599 EUR and this alone allows many of the small brands to exhibit. Adam is reinvesting each year into the show and try to improve show organization where's possible.
This year AVS 2017 attendance counts 14116 vs 11993 from the previous year with 173 rooms 167 exhibitors. Adam and his team surely didn't expect such peek and they had to do an overnight digital print and use wristbands that were left from Saturday and Friday on Sunday!
To say, that this is impressive attendance would be a huge understatement. AVS became an international show, that cannot be overlooked.
To say, that this is impressive attendance would be a huge understatement. AVS became an international show, that cannot be overlooked.
There were few official world premiers of the loudspeakers being launched at the show with Sonus faber Aida, Gauder Akustik Dark 5, SoulSonic Hologramm-x and Sigma Acoustics Maat speakers taking the hotspots!
I've enjoyed all of the show's venues, but surprisingly I've found more than dozen interesting things across seven floors of Sobiseki Hotel this year. Sobieski is also sort of the ode to the Polish manufactures, where they can manifest their creations not only to domestic but also rapidly growing international visitors.
It was great to see again many of the manufacturers, media colleagues and friends. There is a certain friendly mood at the AVS, that is missed elsewhere and I highly appreciate it.
Its impossible to sum up everything, but let me dig into it...
I've been in contact with the owner of German Genuin Audio before the show, but it was great to see and hear his products in person. I was particularly inspired by the the Geniun Audio turntable.
We exchanged few words with the designer Thomas Wendt and he asked me if I have time to listen to few tracks. I'm glad I did. This modular turntable price starts at around 8000 EUR and the demoed model with the tonearm, cartridge, and internal phono stage, that offer wide variety of setting via the multiple dip switches on the back of the turntable summed up at around 15K. I'll certainly explore more in depth this interesting turntable in not so far future.
I'm still figuring out the exact purpose of the 1.6 million EUR Pivetta Opera Only amplifier, that runs over 2000 transistors in pure Class A. It's certainly tour de force, but would be nice to have it connected to the speakers and hear the mighty 120K Watts at some point.
Unstoppable Vincent Luke from i-Fi. Yes, the hard-working guys of our industry, that are bringing trickle down high-tech to the masses. Respect!
The wittiest look from the show!
I've already reported about Sigma Acoustics flagship MAAT speakers and wrote the first part of the review here. These are for sure no ordinary speakers with over 100 dB at 8 ohms and custom made mid and woofer composite carbon fiber drivers accompanied by the Mundorf top ribbon tweeter model. In the Golden Tulip hotel room, MAATs actually didn't look so huge and they nicely disappear into space. MAAT speakers were partnered by Sound By Hari (FM Acoustics, Vertere Acoustics) and Faber's Cables. The smallest FM Acoustics monoblocks were deliberately chosen to show, that complex array of drivers is possible to be driven with FM 108's 70 W into 8 Ohms. Certainly one of the systems, that brought many returned listeners...
Alway energic Eryk Smólski from Eryk S Concept presented his flagship 20K EUR Wind and Fire speaker system. Speakers implement single side-mounted 12" woofer and unique labyrinth internal structure.
It was great to see people from Audio Hungary and their Qualion electronics. I've been among the first (if not first) to review their electronics and I was more then happy to see them on the AVS. Audio Hungary offers a lot for the money with their highly potent and musical electronics.
Max from Grandinote is an avid exhibitor at the European high-end audio shows. His Mach aluminum speakers can handle tremendous power, which he proudly exhibited with an impressive drum track. The room was full of Entreq products and I've had a pleasure of meeting Sven Bilén from EntreqEurope with whom we set some of the future plans...
You can find Ktema speakers always in the same room at the Golden Tulip hotel. This year Franco Serblin flagships were partnered with Jadis electronics and massive Da Vinci Audio Labs Gabriel turntable.
Mini monitors and aluminum... How it all started? With Magico Mini Qs? Well, the Metaxas Macrophones are developing their very own story with the extravagant solid aluminum creations and trendily Accuton drivers. I've been told that review sample is coming to Mono & Stereo, so more to follow. Kostas Metaxas also revealed his all new speaker's cables...
Boenicke Audio W5 speakers are surely little wonders, that surprised many of the music lovers (including me ) and audiophiles with the highly-involving sound they can produce even in the bigger rooms. At AVS they were partnered with the E2 integrated amplifier.
Rarely one can see/hear Dewore Fidelity speakers in Europe and I've grabbed the great opportunity to spend some quality time in this particular room. They were in a great company of Air Tight! I can surely understand, why they've been highly appreciated by many music lovers. Like with many products, the sercret is in the pudding, or better to say in voicing...
RD Acoustics revealed their new high-end audio rack system, DAC and amplifier. The sound is always familiarly captivating and I've really liked the design of the new rack (around 3500 EUR).
One of the rooms, that was crowded for a reason. With the brands like Wilson Audio, Dan D'Agosttino and dCS there's no doubt why all the visitor's interest. Somehow, I've missed The Bespoke Audio Company in this particular setup...
And look! My favorite and personal reference preamplifier. The one and only The Bespoke Audio Company mighty passive preamp performing the active duties...
The importance of the AVS Poland surely hit the stars with Sonus faber choosing to make a world debut of their all new Aida speakers at the show. There is more then it meets the eye under the "hood" of refreshed Aida like STEALTH Ultraflex System (patented system that allows a big reduction of the THD), Tuned Mass Damper (used in the biggest world’s skyscrapers), Zero Vibration Transmission (unique decoupling of the loudspeaker system from the ground), new custom speakers's drivers and more... I'll surely explore the new Aida more intimately very soon...
Alpin Line racks uses impressive spike system....
One of the pleasant surprises was the Pink Faun room, suggested by Frank Vermeylen of Veryfinesolutions. I've spent quite some time in the room talking with their representatives about their streamers and all the Pink Faun technology. When I was about to leave one of the guys pulled out of his pocket Pink Faun LAN ISOLATOR (RJ45), that I've taken home to try out. I was most interested and inspired by all the work and detailed design, that goes into their products. Surely a personal must dig more!
Among many people, Michael and Lucas from Audio Art Technology (Great Britain) had also invited me to audition their new Logos and Logos DB loudspeakers accompanied by Experience I subwoofers. The idea behind these series was to reproduce a fully three-dimensional sound with the help of clever usage of acoustic mirrors. The sound expands into space and is reproduced vertically in 360 degrees.
For quite some time I've been following the works of the Polish turntable manufacturer J.Sikora. I've made a special note, not to miss the premiere of their new Max Black turntable, that uses few unique approaches. The Max Black is price at 9.000 EUR without tonearms, but includes the glass mat, power supply, clamp, additional arm-base tower and the second motor. Impressively built turntable left quite an impression and I'll do my best to evaluate one of the J.Sikora creations in due time.
I've had a luxury of hearing the very first prototype of the Nagra HD preamplifier at their factory premises in Switzerland, but it was great to finally see and hear the impressive preamp in the final version. At AVS the HD line was partnered with nontypical Red House (40k) speakers producing non-boxed and detailed sound.
Gold Note never ceased to impress with their product line and how well, they can adapt to the current trends with their products. The Polish distributor room was packed with their products representing the real Italian value...
Aurelia comes from the land of the Genelec (Finland). As with many brands, Aurelia guys invited me before the show to listen to their new Cerica XL floor standers (under 10k EUR). There is a lot of going on with the Cerica and on the last day of the show, we could exchange a lot of thoughts about the speakers in general and our high-end industry. Stay tuned for more updates.
You might rember these speakers, as I've already reported about the Eco Box from Bulgaria at Mono & Stereo. Their system on the show consisted of Red Raze amplifiers and A priori speakers, that combines few different approaches. If my memory serves me well, these should eventy also come for the evaluation..
One of the pleasing duties of the attending the high-end audio shows are the personal meetings with the high-end audio designers. I've spent some time with Dr. Roland Gauder from Gauder Akustik and he explained to me in detail the technology and challenges with the premiered DARK 5 aluminum speakers. These 44K EUR loudspeakers incorporate diamond tweeter and unique construction, that uses special rubber damping between the aluminum layers. Because of our packed schedules, we failed to do anything objective in the past, but we've set the goal with Roland for 2018 and you'll read more about the brand and their products soon... As a standard companion, Gauder Akustik speakers were driven by mighty Vitus Audio electronics.
Like every year, RCM Audio prepared an impressive array of products. Roger Adamek is an avid analog enthusiast and connoisseur, and he's carrying some of the most sought-after turntable companies like Kronos Audio, TechDAS, Audio Union Döhmann, Dr. Feickert, Kuzma, SME etc. RCM room was packed with the renowned high-end audio products like Vitus Audio, Thrax Audio, Alluxity, SAT, Furutech etc. You can also spot on the photos Döhmann Helix 2, Thrax Audio new integrated amplifiers,
It was great to meet in person the man behind Audio Analogue creations, that I remember from two+ decades back.
The Golden tulip, the golden impact! Finally the Lampizator Pacific DAC in the shinny, gold plated finish was ready to be aurally digested. In the collaboration with the Sveda Audio from Poland, they've prepared a system, that has offered grander glimpse of Pacific potency...
Before the show the Closer Acoustics kindly invited me to visit their room to hear their Vigo EX full range speakers with EMS field coil drivers. Almost thirty years ago I've explored the full range-single-driver universe by myself and I could certainly appreciate the efforts and the sound coming from their speakers, that was driven by their own 300B amplifier. Actually this was fully enclosed Closer Acoustics system, that have included modified Thorens turntable and own phono stage.
Wile... Probably the most surprisingly looking and designed turntable on the show...
Another single driver based speakers introduced at AVS was Cube Audio. They've also invited me before the show and I made sure not to miss the presentation of the Magus speakers, that implements Magus F8 driver and comes with the 94dB sensitivity. There was something about these speakers, that left the positive, lingering impression...
Sky Audio presented their interesting and refreshingly sounding OTL monoblock power amplifiers.
Miro Krajnc certainly enjoyed quite a spotlight at the AVS. There were three speakers at the show, that he either designed completely or provided the acoustically engineered part. First and foremost was the impressive SoulSonic Hologramm-X (Miro`s own speaker company) that I've already had a pleasure to reveal at Mono & Stereo here. These three-way flagships start at 150k and represent one of the most stress-free sounding speakers among floorstading types, regardless of price. And the reason? The "skyscraper" high ribbon tweeter (one piece, 2.21m tall) and the cardioid dipole configuration of mid and bass drivers. With 95dB sensitivity, the Hologramm-X is entering the realms where even lower power solid state and tube amplifiers can be used with full satisfaction.
The other two speakers were Natural Sound Samurai and Ubiq Audio Model One speakers. The Samurai uses AMT tweeter in a distinctively designed horn and the Model One a compression driver in a wave-guide/horn. There is a certain, recognizable sonic DNA, that is associated with all of Miro`s designs and always points towards the timbral correctness and possesses the raw energy of the music.
Its always a pleasure to meet with the positive and down to earth Daniela Manger from Manger Audio. The great sounding system consisted of Rockna Audio digital, Audia Flight integrated amplifier and Manger speakers. There is something very different about the Manger speakers and you will have a chance to read more soon in my upcoming Manger P1 review.
Auris Audio from Serbia is expanding their product portfolio by each year. I've already reviewed the displayed Forte 150 monoblocks favorably here and I've complimented the design, fit and finish of new Auris Poison8 speakers. Yes, you can expect the review very soon...
Horn Acoustic revealed their all new tube monoblock tube amplifiers..
There is no Polish show without the Albedo Silver cables. Slowly drawn silver cables from Poland. All the magic happens in their own factory...
Ubiq Audio silently premiered their cost no object, ultimate Ubiqu AMP/DAC (starting from 32k EUR). This Bugatti lookalike integrated amplifier has really something to show. Like a Koenig Specials Ubiqu hides under the hood highly potent and unique proprietary technology, custom massive Duelund capacitors, MSB Technology Analog DAC, top grade audio components etc.
I don't think anyone complains when opportunity stirkes to hear and see the iconic Audio Note Japan electronics. Above the one and only Ongaku and KSL M7 preamplifier with the open innards.
Matej Isak
More to come...
Manufactuer comment:
Andrea Pivetta writes: "I answer your question……The exact purpose of the Pivetta "Opera Only" amplifier?…… simply… Opera Only is designed as an extreme engineering example of what Andrea Pivetta can realize for music lovers."
www.onlycreative.it
Manufactuer comment:
Andrea Pivetta writes: "I answer your question……The exact purpose of the Pivetta "Opera Only" amplifier?…… simply… Opera Only is designed as an extreme engineering example of what Andrea Pivetta can realize for music lovers."
www.onlycreative.it