2017 Brussels - New Music Hifi Show

[bart]

Yesterday was fun!
Not only I could enjoy and experience a lot of nice toys, I could do it in the most agreeable company of a fellow AA member, Jacques, aka Jem666.
We had already met before, a couple of times with our spouses.
My wife and loyal photographer is following an intense course, and couldn't attend.

What was really pleasant and a bit surprising: our top 3 of the systems was exactly the same!
The show was not the biggest, but there were a couple of very good systems.
No uberexpensive set-ups this year, only a few in the 150-300K range.
A lot of budget solutions, and some were sounding really good.

I'm not trying to be complete.
In some rooms, we just walked in and out.

Here we go.

Naim and Neat




Nah...
I think the potential of the Naim all-in-ones is very good, I've heard them before, but this combo didn't do it for us.

[bart]

B&W 700 series + Rotel




I'd say: decent.
Quite good highs and mids.
These speakers can bear better electronics though.
The bass sounded a bit boxy.
The enclosure is much more hearable than in the 800 series.

[bart]

Large room with some large speakers with bad cross-overs:




Jacques said: the sound of the live concerts in the 80s.
Bass, mids, highs: it was all disconnected.

Driven by van den Hul, with some hocus pocus on top:




Von Schweikert:




More van den Hul components:




Nice to see a Teac tape machine in good condition:




This was not one of the good rooms.
I entered it another time, and my impression was the same.

[bart]

Marc Levinson & Wilson Audio

The Wilson Audio rooms left a good impression on me last years.
2 years ago the Sabrina, last year the Yvette.
Both were here, but only on static display.




The model that played this year was the Alexia.

[bart]

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder of course, but you can only admire the impeccable build quality of the Alexia.




The electronics weren't too shabby either:

[bart]

You can see that the prices for American gear here in Europe are not comparable to the ones you pay over the pond.




Truly grand sound.
This was a great system.
But I said: "I find it a bit cold, I'm not really moved".
Jacques: "Hmm, I guess I could live with this system".
My answer: "Yes, but... wait till you hear the YGs..."

But we both felt this room would end up in the top 5, maybe even 3.

[jdandy]

Bart.......Thank you for taking us along.

[Weirdcuba]

I enjoy the hi fi shops in the Brussels area. My friend and partner there shares our sickness and we can always find something to do on a Saturday afternoon. Lots more actual physical dealers than in many cities of similar size I’ve visited.

[cma29]

I felt like I was there, Bart.

Thanks for sharing!

Any rooms with Pass Labs, Magnepan or Esoteric gear?

[JemHadar]

Indeed, a fun day it was. It is always satisfying to give the gearhead lurking inside of us free reign for the day and share an adventure with a likeminded soul. For purposes of full disclosure (tongue in cheek), there is somewhat of a Ying-Yang dynamic going on between us; me leaning to the Dark Side and Bart definitely to the Light Side…but hey, there must be balance in the universe and I value the way we connect very much.

Before counting down the Top 3 of the Show, first some Awards.

The Award for “No Brainer If You Can Afford It” goes to the Sennheiser HE1 aka The Orpheus 2.0. It was sharing the stage with a HD800, a HD800S and HD660S (I think), all playing the same track. As I’m in the market for new cans, this was a great opportunity to compare. The 800S is absolutely more my cup of tea than the 800, but the HE1 rules them all. Yes, believe what you read about this marvel, this is not a headphone system, this a “direct brain pleasure centre stimulation dopamine release device”. I’m pretty sure there is some subliminal “euphonics” tube magic going on, but who cares, the experience is overwhelming, intoxicating and addictive. It was fun to see the anticipating looks on the faces of the Sennheiser people, brimming with pride (and rightly so), whenever someone donned the HE1 headset, as they knew what would happen next. And yes, you can add a second headphone to the amp for a measly 25.000 Euro so you can share the magic with a second person. Probably one of the more intense things you can do with your significant other…with your clothes on. Bravo Sennheiser!

The Award for “Out Of The Blue Aha-Erlebnis Unexpected Pleasant Surprise” goes to the Dynaudio Special Forty bookshelf speaker. I couldn’t believe there wasn’t some subwoofer hidden in the room. This anniversary model exploits all SOTA Dynaudio tech but forgoes a fancy cabinet, keeping the price reasonable. If you are in the market for a compact bookshelf speaker, this one surely deserves to be checked out.

The Award for “Yet Another Bubble Burst” goes to the Stenheim Alumine 2 bookshelf speaker. What a disappointment. This was so bad it was embarrassing. I hope the opportunity presents itself to audition this speaker in a different setting with different gear, for now this Brand is moving to the “all hype, overpriced no substance” purgatory.

The Award for “We Are On The Cusp Of An Audio Gear Renaissance” goes to all Brands who offer affordable integrated systems, be it powered wireless speakers to compact integrated streamers/players or the combination of the above. There is a lot of variety in the offerings and people, who grew up with streaming music on their phones, can now expand their musical escapades with systems delivering surprisingly convincing performance without breaking the bank. IMO this is a very good thing and I wouldn’t be surprised if Brands who are most responsive to this change will survive and others who are too late and cannot fall back on a sustainable niche clientele will go the way of the Dodo.

The last Award, the “Frankenstein, What Were They Thinking” award goes to the room playing Aurender, dCS, Pass Labs through Golden Ear speakers. It was loud and it vaguely resembled something called music, ‘nuff said.

Now for the Top 3 Best of Show.

On the number 3 spot: the Wilson Audio, Mark Levinson room. One cannot go wrong with this one, in this league it all comes down to personal preference. Not as much soundstage depth as one would expect (could have been the room and speaker positioning), however, delivering music on a level reserved for the truly high-end. A tad too “grandiose” and “exuberant” in its presentation for my taste, but as Bart mentioned I could be very happy with this system although European pricing relegates the Alexia 2’s to the “Unobtainium” division.

Which brings us to the number 2 spot: Vivid GIYA G4 partnered with Mola Mola Makua pre amp and Kaluga mono blocks. Mola Mola was on my short list, but in the end lost out to Analog Domain. Nevertheless, if I could swing it, I would love to own a Mola Mola system for our Man Cave / She Shed room. These are the brainchilds of Belgian Audio Designer Extraordinaire Bruno Putzeys. Power, slam, definition sans pretence or distracting bling, the whole translating into pure unadulterated joy. Mola Mola delivers very high value for the money as the Vivid speakers deliver on their promise. Starting from a blank slate this beautifully finished combo would be a main contender as it leaves many far more expensive systems in the dust.

And on the number 1 spot, the “Best of Show” by a large margin: YG Acoustics with their otherworldly Hailey speaker. I’m looking into Magico speakers (unfortunately not present at the show) and YG Acoustics seem to be their nemesis of sorts. I had never heard a Magico nor YG speaker before, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. I did read up a lot on both Brands and it would seem to boil down to “love’m or hate’m” without any middle ground; quite polarising stuff affecting both Brands.

Trying to keep an open mind, I can unequivocally say that the sound in this room was the closest to the real thing as it can get, bar none. Width, depth, timbral accuracy, resolution, slam and dynamics made these speakers disappear from the room, only the music remained. For me YG is the antithesis of Sonus Faber, and this is not meant to dismiss Sonus Faber as IMHO both Brands occupy opposite extremes of the same spectrum. I experience Sonus Faber speakers to be unobtrusive, rather polite, offering unparalleled craftsmanship in cabinet finishes, making them highly desirable objects. The YG speakers are “Form Follows Function” all out assaults on the laws of physics, pushing the envelope in engineering design and execution. All things considered, the rather small Hailey’s pressurized the big room effortlessly and provided a wide sweet spot.

“Can you handle the truth?”, because the Hailey’s are brutally honest to a fault. Their whole concept makes them demanding mistresses, once they seduce you, thou shalt listen. I can understand why people would choose not to listen to them as these black monoliths are not exactly acolytes of “easy listening”. I find them to be gateways to new levels of experience. They allowed me to connect instantly to the music on an emotional level that brought me very close to the assumed intent of the composer and performer by removing all veils that could possibly sully the experience.

It would seem, according to the distributor, that YG has hit some kind of sweet spot (no pun intended) with the Hailey. In Euro’s it is a very expensive proposition (the “last speakers I will ever buy” kind of proposition), but within the realms of the possible. Reluctantly they admitted that for most “normal” living room applications the difference with its larger sibling, the Sonja 1.2, is negligible to nonexistent. It reminded me of the McLaren 720s vs P1 conundrum; same if not better performance for less than half the price. I applaud companies that have no fear in aiming for the highest possible performance for all their products, regardless of where they are situated in the portfolio.

In the long game, for sure YG Acoustics has secured a place on my very short shortlist of speaker manufacturers up for consideration.

A big thanks to Bart for posting the pictures and for sharing a great day.