A few relevant points for music during Audio shows

[sidvee]

Audio Show Demos - Two Schools of Thought

Audio: Listen to this article. As I gather all my photos and notes from High End Munich 2025, and collect my thoughts, I’m thinking about a dichotomy that exists between how exhibitors demonstrate their products. One group of exhibitors controls the demonstrations very tightly, using a predefined...

audiophilestyle.com

Cheers,
Sid

 

[sidvee]

And BTW, I am of the further opinion, that even the right music played at an Audio Show, will not really tell you how said system/music will sound in your room. For that you need an in house/room demo, which frankly in India is almost next to impossible. Anyways I guess listening at an audio show is really the very first step in judging the equipment. A lot more steps are required before you pull out your wallet.
Cheers,
Sid

 

[Fiftyfifty]

Audio Show Demos - Two Schools of Thought

Audio: Listen to this article. As I gather all my photos and notes from High End Munich 2025, and collect my thoughts, I’m thinking about a dichotomy that exists between how exhibitors demonstrate their products. One group of exhibitors controls the demonstrations very tightly, using a predefined...

audiophilestyle.com

Cheers,
Sid

I guess that if the demo is private then the brand should play the music/media that the visitor wishes to hear. But if there are other listeners, it would be unfair to make them suffer through one's personal choice. In the latter case, it is more than fair for the brand to stick to its playlist

 

[Nikhil]

And BTW, I am of the further opinion, that even the right music played at an Audio Show, will not really tell you how said system/music will sound in your room. For that you need an in house/room demo, which frankly in India is almost next to impossible. Anyways I guess listening at an audio show is really the very first step in judging the equipment. A lot more steps are required before you pull out your wallet.
Cheers,
Sid

Sid, even at Munich many of the setups sounded very different as the week progressed. Quite naturally it takes some time for the exhibitors to crack the room and fine tune their systems to that. Very often listening to a system just once doesn't give you a full appreciation of the setup. You need to listen to a setup several times.

I would say that an audio show can only be taken as a data set which can guide you towards a purchase. But definitely you need to have more information especially if you go higher up the chain. Mistakes can be quite costly. In that sense, I agree with Chris (the author of the article you shared) in that you need to listen to the setup with familiar music (digital or vinyl).

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