Bristol Sound and Vision Show 2005
Bristol Sound and Vision Show Report by Colin Mackenzie.
This year's show was again held at the Marriot Hotel, Bristol and from the two days I spent there appeared to be very busy.
Where should I start? Well, let me tell you about one of the t
oys that made me smile, the new PURE Sonus-1XT digital radio. At first glance this looks just like the iconic Evoke 1 DAB radio, copied by just about every manufacturer going, however this model is different! It not only plays the radio, but it also speaks to you. It's possible to set up the radio and identifies the channel by talking you through the process. Ideal for visually impaired people. If you touch the handle it will also tell you the time. Ideal for the morning after the night before when you just can't bear to open your eyes to see how late you are for work. You can chose whether to have a man or woman to wake you up in the morning. A sex change at the touch of a button! This is not only a great piece of equipment for visually impaired but a great toy for the rest of us! PURE were also showing the Prestige range of Evoke radios (i.e. piano black and mahogany) These looked absolutely superb!
Another great toy was the Yamaha YSP-1 , called the 
digital sound projector. This is a very interesting item. Basically it is a loudspeaker with 42 drive units (the sound making parts) each driven by their own amplifier. Don't be put off by the photo shown here, this is it with its clothes off, however it comes with a metal cover which matches plasma television sets. Basically it is a loudspeaker with an amplifier built in which replaces surround sound systems. It's the depth of a plasma set. It works by focusing the sound in different directions and reflecting the sound off walls to give you a three dimensional effect. It means that it can be placed not only underneath the speakers but in a corner of the room. Previously this technology cast around £10,000 so when I was told the price was in the region of eight, I assumed it was eight thousand. I thought it a bit expensive for eight thousand, then I discovered it was eight hundred pounds - I've asked to try this at home! It really does give a three dimensional sound effect, the first I've ever heard from a single loudspeaker. Yamaha were demonstrating it with a pair of sub-woofers, so I suspect the lower bass frequencies need to be enhanced. It's not the primary sound system I would choose for my main hi-fi listening but ideal for either a secondary system or for someone not quite as fussy as me but doesn't want a room full of speakers.
Moving more into the hi-i arena, is the ARCAM Solo, this is a £1000 single box amplifier with dab/fm/am tuner and cd player. There has been a demand from Arcam owners to have a single box player suitable for kitchen or bedrooms. I feel the quality of this will be sufficient for a lot of people's primary listening unless they are very demanding. It looks a beautiful piece of kit and initial listening was very promising. It competes with the Linn Classic products, and coming from Arcam will be a tough competitor.
I was pleased to see the return of an old name I remember from t
he 70's, Scandyna. I didn't get a chance to listen to the speakers but they are certainly usual. Some of the models have previously been sold as 'Pod' speakers and you can see and hear a pair of these in our Haddington Place store. The best speakers that I heard at the show (other than the £20k Sony speakers) were the Spendor 'S' range. It's no coincidence that Hi-Fi Corner stock these products and I think they are one of the best sounds around!
Michell/Trichord rooms was another one of the other best sounds that I heard; although I was concerned that the number of wires around the room would put some people off. Trichord have new phono-preamps of exceptional sound quality.
Although it is a big show, not many things managed to capture my imagination. Maybe I'm just becoming a grumpy old man, but reps standing in the corridor, people blocking the entrance to rooms were a little annoying, however I did manage entrance to the press only discussion of HD-DVD versus Blu-ray argument. These are new formats which I'm convinced will mean the replacement in the long-term of DVD. I've bought a copy of this press discussion (recorded on a Sony HiDef portable camera) for staff training purposes. This could turn out to be a backwards compatible format war. With, in my opinion, it only being a matter of time before hi-definition television becomes the norm, there will be a requirement for hi-def playback (and eventual recoding medium). At this early stage, from the little I've heard it looks to me as if Blu-ray will be the winner. Only time will tell.