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After another refreshing sleep then cherry-picking the generous breakfast buffet at the Sobieski hotel, we were ready for the last part of our hifi concourse through the corridors and hallways of the Audio Show 2017. Audioform are a Polish company that built their reputation over the years for their Adventure loudspeakers. This year the smallest Adventure debuted. Like all Audioform loudspeakers, it is too designed around a proprietary tweeter. Next to the new speaker, the room boasted a wide array of vintage tape decks like the spinning Technics from the RS series. Amplification was in the hands of Sky.
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Though their credo is "we restore natural sound", communicating with the people of Polish Wile brand is a bit problematic due to the language barrier. Every year we visit, there's a crowd paying close attention to a presentation on the wares in the room. Those are "high power" hybrid electronics and furniture. We were intrigued by the rack which the electronics sat on. The table's front legs hovered above the floor the while a pair of automotive-type shock absorbers took over decoupling duty. An innovative concept.
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Arcam presented a few samples from their various ranges like the CDS27 CD player and matching A49 amplifier. Our attention was directly drawn to the footers under a pair of Audiovector SR2 Avantgarde. These isolators...
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...are made by Canadian isoAcoustics and named Gaia. This was the first time we encountered them and the A/B demo was instantly convincing. Playing the speakers sitting on the Gaia demonstrated a far more open sound. As we used to live on the 32nd floor of a skinny highrise, we know lateral movement and its effects. Translate that to a tallish speaker with its tweeter high up and you can imagine how the slightest movement is noticeable in the sound. Food for thought at least.
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Audiostereo demoed with a mix of modern, vintage and DIY equipment with positive results.
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Pure DIY is a show staple gathering a wide range of projects with their proud hobbyist owners. You name it and these solder slingers can build it with great-sounding results. If you look at the price tags and realize that 4 Zloty make one €, you start wondering where all those galactic price tags from the famous brands come from - outer space where nobody hears you scream?
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Megalith Audio are Polish and manufacture loudspeakers. At the show they premiered their latest design with ScanSpeak drivers from the top Ellipticor series. The stand-mount monitors weigh no less than 50 kilograms each and add another 40kg for the stand. Also interesting was the Tentogra Oscar turntable named after the famous Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer. The turntable's motor is a battery which should have 30 hours of playtime before 8 hours recharge it. Its weight of 70kg is due in part to the 3-way anti-vibration measures like "magnetic cushions in the feet, a pneumatic base under the turntable made of specially glued wooden layers with 130 "pneumatic elements" and finished with natural leather; and lastly the internal construction and large volume of the turntable and the casing of multiple varnished or veneered and lacquered high-gloss MDF." Indeed it was a fairly uncommon wide and big turntable that operates at 33.33, 45 and 78rpm and can support multiple arms. In the extended left side of the turntable sits a Faraday cage for all its electronics including the battery charger. Finds like these make a show worthwhile.
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German Genuin demonstrated with their Drive turntable, Tars music server, Nimbus power amp and Pulse loudspeakers.
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A small system had Pylon's Pearl 20 loudspeaker on Polish Fezz Audio tube electronics.
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Buchardt Audio from Denmark showcased their new s400 monitor and quite an interesting loudspeaker it was not only for its 0.74" small soft-dome tweeter in its aluminium wave guide. The mid/woofer is a 6" aluminium cone augmented in the lowest frequencies not by a port but a 5x8" long-throw passive radiator. The 2-way crossover point sits at 2kHz and efficiency is around 88dB.
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Graham Audio and Soul Note are always a nice match and were again.
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What about the combination of Sound Project and Soul Note? Not bad but the previous room was more to our personal liking. Here the Polish speakers just did not nail it.
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A creatively set-up room always adds points in our books. Here the analog sources were diagonally placed which not only looked pleasant but better used the available floor space. That plus lots of wood, tubes and pleasant lightning communicated "welcome" when we entered. Jacek Grodecki is the man behind the speaker brand Closer Acoustics and this year his loudspeaker Vigo EX with field-coil full range drivers debuted. Also a premiere was the Provocateur 300B amplifier. Vinyl spun on a nice Thorens TD124 with Schick tone arm and Denon DL103/Midas cart. Phono amplification was by Closer Audio's Stelvio. As an alternative to vinyl, tapes could be played on an AEG Telefunken M15A.
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A group of Polish brands joined forces under the Polski Klaster Audio umbrella. In this room a Shape of Sound turntable combined with Egg-Shell amplification and Avcon Nortes Mk3 loudspeakers.
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The same cluster outfitted also the next room but here with Zeta Zero loudspeakers, J.Sikora turntable, Egg-Shell phono stage, Elins Audio monoblocks and AudioMica Labs cables. Yayuma contributed the sound processor. |
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Aida Acoustics presented their Taisis loudspeakers. Masterful woodwork and Polish origins go hand in hand and here was another fine example that sounded great, too. Analog source was again a Tentogra Oscar turntable now in blue. In the Taisis with its beautiful wood front, simpler back panel and leather-clad sides, a 12" driver covers everything below 1'700Hz. Above that a horn-loaded tweeter holds court.
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Talking about craftsmanship, enter Alpin. You want a rack, stand or isolator? Check out these guys. We were stunned by what they offered in their little room. In the photos you see their racks but their catalog showed many more wonderful stands in various shapes, styles and models. No doubt they will make a rack or stand to your specifications for a great price.
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Haiku amplification with Bodnar loudspeakers showed in the next room. Another show premiere was the ultralinear "Hommage A Williamson" 6CA7 amplifier as this Polish manufacturer's first step into the tube domain. Bodnar debuted their Basshorn 2 loudspeaker. In this model the Polish company combined their signature widebander with an active woofer whose volume control on the built-in 300W class D amplifier affords the owner control over its relative contributions.
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