Aus Hifi Show, tunes down unda

[Big Dog RJ]

G'day maties,

The show was on this last weekend from Fri to Sun, attended on Sat. I must say it was very well organised this time round and there were plenty of exhibitors. Various gear on demo but mostly everything was streaming as a source. Those few systems that had a TT rig combined with streaming gear, DACs and so on... were quite good. However, whenever the TT rig was played, there was quite a big difference in overall quality. The digital was not too shabby, ranged from Dena Frips, PS Audio DACs, Hola May, to DAC Man. Then there were the famous Blue Sound Node to the Weiss and MSB DACs for the more serious gear.

I took a few pics as below: these were the ones we enjoyed the most, the Revel and Mark Levinson system was tops!
The Aussie brand of speakers, Hueligh was always tops, these two systems were very well balanced sound.

The mighty Dali speakers were also quite good but the amp gear was not on par. Although NAD is very respectable it's not on the same level as Dali's top of the line.

One of the most disappointing demos was the Wilson room. Comprised of the Alexia's and Gryphon amps, plus Dan D's Momentum preamp (my favourite in SS) sounded distorted! This was the first time I ever heard a Wilson distort. Something was awfully off. Not sure if it was the source, the amps or accessories but each time the chap increased volume, they couldn't handle the high performance drive.

There was another system that comprised of Raidho tower speakers, tall and skinny... sounded very hi-fi- ish. Far too bright inspite of having very thick wall to wall carpeting and thick curtains. Funny thing is, my good mate came across this huge sub woofer, which got him very excited. I told him to get one and place it in his driveway, that should provide the added depth!

These few pics were taken with permission, whereas the others were not, so bit limited. Anyway, we had a blast and a good laugh, plus it was great to meet up with the old dogs over a beer. Cheers maties, RJ

[admin]

Awesome! Must have been a blast. Interesting to hear that they are transitioning to streaming from TT setups. I wonder if that is a shift in the demands of the market or it's just a lot easier to do streaming. You can have a potential customer come in and say I want to hear "X" song on "Y" album. If that facilitates a sale, I can see the advantage vs "choose one of these 20 records."

I'm still amazed they are putting my little Bluesound Node on these "mega-systems." They have them all over my local high end store as well. It's a good unit and they just did a major update on their software. Looks like they are selling well.

What the heck is that huge thing in the last picture? Looks like the speaker from the start of Back to the Future where Marty blows the speaker and the entire room in the process!

[Big Dog RJ]

That's a stand-alone sub woofer, which can woof really loud! Or very low should I say.

Yes, streaming was used primarily for convenience and tune selections. The very few setups that had a proper TT rig did sound very good but the majority of audio gear enthusiasts wanted to choose their familiar tunes, so streaming it was!

It was quite ironic that none of the demo / show systems used CD or SACD's, not a single room! Not surprised though. It would have been nice to have demoed that top line Revel system with the Mark Levinson gear. Although the Mark Levinson digital player was good to go, unfortunately I didn't bring along any CDs! So what to do.

I think my good mate, G-man is about to purchase those Revels, he was quite impressed by them. 35grand a pair, slightly more depending on finish. Beautiful cabinetry. He uses a full array of McIntosh gear, top to bottom and sideways, I'm thinking those Revels would sound pretty tops with his Mac gear.

Cheers, RJ

[admin]

Revels are really nice. I don't see too many of them in demo rooms in the audio shops in my local area. But a very solid choice. I'm sure they would match nicely with top end tube gear like McIntosh. Maybe recommend he try them out with some champagne instead of sky colored gear.

[admin]

I just came upon this graphic. I guess this explains the choice of sources. Amazing to see that vinyl has overtaken CD. Who would have thought?

[Big Dog RJ]

Interesting graph and analysis there Admin, thanks for posting. Goes to show certain music formats have gone full circle... and are still going strong.

Just wanted to add a few more notes, after discussing with the mob;
1. Even though most of that gear at this year's show was quite pricey... I guess inflation has to be taken into account and the fact that it's the new age, 2023, so no more old prices, rather get ready for even more higher prices!
Having said that, some of the setups weren't too great. In terms of absolute sound, gear selection and room setup, this is always a challenge, especially in public shows.

2. I can proudly and very confidently say that none of those systems came close to CJ gear! Perhaps it's a personal preference or even a personal bias, whatever! There's something very special about the CJ signature sound and one that's very unique, which regardless of price, is not easy to match or surpass for that matter.

The full 3D holographic detail, and the ability to float an image right in front of you, CJ gets that part spot on! And most of all, as our very good mate Robbo says, it just sounds right! Now where have I heard that slogan before...

Anyway, as I was saying, at this point in time there's really no other make of gear I'd rather own nor any other system I'd rather own. It's mighty good enough for me and it sounds absolutely marvelous! So all us CJO's, hold onto to your CJ gear, whether it be vintage or current SOTA, it's just a beautiful thing! So, cheers to CJ!

Just gotta love it!
WOOF! RJ

[admin]

Your point about some of those amazing and expensive setups not sounding that impressive is something I have encountered often as well. I don't doubt that that the gear in itself is great, but rather I find these setups in showrooms/hotels/conventions often less than ideal. Rooms need careful setup and often acoustic treatments. My local dealers often have small rooms or half a dozen speakers all lined up to be demoed. There is one ideal position for the speaker, and it's a compromise on space, variety, ease of setup.

Hardware always seems to sound best in my room. I don't think it's because the hardware per se, but rather I am able to spend time to set everything up ideally. Great speakers won't sound good in the wrong room with poor positioning.

[Wildcat]

At the US shows, vinyl is a little more prevalent in exhibitor rooms but otherwise, nearly all of the rooms offer streaming, whether it's from their own hard drive of selections or via Qobuz (who was a sponsor at AXPONA this year).

C-J barely makes an appearance at AXPONA--the company itself has never been there, and the only way we'll see a C-J component is if a dealer happens to bring one along as part of a larger system. I guess C-J did exhibit at the recent Capital Audio Fest in Washington DC but haven't heard of them exhibiting at others.

[Big Dog RJ]

G'day maties, hope all is well at your end of the woods.

Just a quick update, thought I'd mention it for those using Wilson's. So, referring to the Wilson demo room that had some very lofty gear but the sound was distorting... apparently it was the digital set-up. The matched cables should have been perfect but was not quite so, from data cable to DACs and preamp there was something not right.

I just listened to this very same system, Alexia V driven by a full line of Dan D's Momentum preamp and Momentum monoblocks, fantastic! As it should be. Now that's more like it. However, I must point out on this occasion it wasn't streaming or anything of that sort, MSB DAC and Playback Designs transport with a separate MSB clock, that digital rig alone was a pretty penny!

So I asked the goofy why on earth did they use mediocre streaming and cables for the show? His reply was far more convenient to set up, rather than having to lug three separate boxes just for digital playback. Anyway, agreed on the fact that there was a definite mismatch on cables for the streamer and it wasn't upto par

So now we know! Phew, I was getting a bit worried there after having heard Wilson's distort for the first time ever, and these were the Alexia V's, they should be tops given the price tag. The amplification was definitely right up there.

If not for that bungle... it would have easily surpassed the Mark Levinson and Revels but they were best of show, according to our mob

Cheers, and enjoy those fine tunes!
RJ

[admin]

Ah, very interesting. Just goes to show that the weakest link in the chain determines the overall strength.

Sad to hear it was something as "simple" as mismatched cables. I'm sure a lot of people went through that room and left disappointed. Perhaps many thought it was the Wilson's or one of the units which is a shame. Let's hope they don't make that mistake again.