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Having visited the Audio Show Deluxe with Chris and some Home Media customers recently, Simon talks through his experience, as well as some of his favourite equipment and brands, from the trip…
One of the highlights of the show was the Auden Distribution room, featuring amplification from one of most popular brands, Hegel and loudspeakers from Egglestone Works. The P30A and H30A are the recently appointed flagship pre and power amplifiers within the Hegel family and deserving of their crown. To keep the supreme Eggleston Works Viginti loudspeakers doing what they do best, a pair of Hegel H30A’s were configured as mono amplifiers.
Bill Leigh of Auden Distribution played a broad selection of analogue and digital music via the Innuos Statement music server and Avid Actus Classic turntable, and demonstrated the sonic capabilities of the amp and speaker combo. The elegant design and beautiful finish of the Egglestone Works range of speakers are very appealing, with an open and airy sound to complement the looks.
In our experience, the popularity of the Hegel H390 and H590 integrated amplifiers have ensured the P30A and H30A will prove a popular solution for those of you seeking even greater level of musical enjoyment.
With Egglestone Works loudspeakers firmly on our radar, we look forward to a hearing some of the models at our showroom very soon.
“My favourite room by far was put together by distributor Boyer Audio, featuring an assortment of products, including the Kroma Stellia Extreme speakers. They were positioned a considerable way into the room and produced a sound stage with depth and realism that is a rare find. Kroma Atelia are a Spanish brand and have a few models in their range that have a unique design. The bass weight was immense. Clearly, I will be talking with them about adding a pair of RELs. ‘Practice what you force’ and all that…
The Swedish brand Engström preamplifier, power amplifiers and phono stage were objects of beauty, and I particularly liked the manner in which the valves were encased by the tasteful German Bent Float glass.
The Engström Eric Encore mono power amplifiers were positioned between the speakers and have a large form factor and price tag of £138,000 per pair. The speed, dynamics and musicality produced by these beautifully designed amplifiers was unlike anything I have enjoyed to date.
We’re looking forward to listening to the Engström Arne integrated amplifiers sometime soon. The Arne is the baby of the range at just £29,500!
The Engström Monica preamplifier and accompanying power supply were finished in copper ceramic paint, which pleased Chris. The third box is the M-Phono phono stage. We enjoyed a few tracks played on the Brinkmann turntable but didn’t manage to establish what cartridge was being used.
The Taiko Audio Extreme music server was put to good use during our lengthy time spent in the Boyer Audio room. The Extreme was running Qobuz throughout and partnered with a Vitus Audio Master Series DAC, the MP-D201 MK3.
Distributor Guillaume Boyer was most enthusiastic to share his experiences of using Shunyata Research cables and power conditioning. We have yet to experience these high-end cables in systems better known to us, however we certainly will and are looking forward to learning more about the brand.
I can honestly say that listening to music on this system has left a lasting impression upon me and will remain in the memory bank for the rest of my days.
David Boak, Chris and I were treated to a meal in the bar at Whittlebury Hall, courtesy of Ian from The Chord Company. Picture below from left to right: Mike from Vetere, David ‘Jollies’, our very own Chris, Ian Kemsley from The Chord Company and myself.
A good time was had by all, and it was lovely to spend some time with Mark and Angry Badger and hope you both enjoyed Saturday evening with your friends. Our final guest was a lovely gentleman called Nick who moved from Maidstone to Northampton over ten years ago.
I put my Dark Lord powers to maximum effect and Nick found himself joining us at the show, whilst David left our drop off point today with a Meitner MA3 DAC under his arm!”
