Denom's take on What Hi-Fi Show 2013

[denom]

Yes, will try to share as much as possible with regard to what I experienced at the What Hi-Fi show 2013, in as much detail as possible hyeah:

Starting off with a couple of nice & positive experiences that I had during the days I attended @ the Trident Hotel, BKC, Mumbai.

I have to start off by posting some pics, rather gems!

The first 2 pics are of demo rooms no.1 & 2, which were part of Room Nos. 1055 & 1056. To say that these 'demo rooms' were a massive 'Hit' would be an understatement as I was witness to seeing maximum 'action' in these 2 rooms at any point of the day or night
In addition to this, 1 can safely expect these 2 demo rooms to be the stars of the what hi-fi show 2013 hyeah: Haymarket team (What Hi-Fi Gang) will be in agreement as their presence was seen quite a bit in these rooms

These rooms were chillingly satisfying!!! :lol:

 

[vnmathur57]

S..t! I should have gone to the toilet during my 20 minutes stay there ( I was visiting Mumbai and had a quicky peep at the show).

 

[docd]

What's the use of posting these pics after the whole show is over! Or was it the worst kept secret of the show?

 

[denom]

A pic of one of the many 'Happy Visitors' who insisted I click his pic for posterity & fond memories of attending What Hi-Fi 2013 :lol:

 

[denom]

Docd,

You were in a hurry to attend the show & so unfortunately could not partake the benefits of the 'perks'.
Next time, remember to be patient

 

[bhagwan]

A pic of one of the many 'Happy Visitors' who insisted I click his pic for posterity & fond memories of attending What Hi-Fi 2013 :lol:

Great Pic - Denom.

This is Mr. Bobby - I think.
Commercial.
Dealer from Trivandrum - Kerela [I am not sure]
Music lover - excellent knowledge on software [music i.e.]

It was nice to meet him in the KEI Room with the Paradigm Ref Speakers.

 

[denom]

Great Pic - Denom.

This is Mr. Bobby - I think.
Commercial.
Dealer from Trivandrum - Kerela [I am not sure]
Music lover - excellent knowledge on software [music i.e.]

It was nice to meet him in the KEI Room with the Paradigm Ref Speakers.

Spot on! Nice person to boot

Commercial or not, he knew his music well & appreciated good sound, which in todays world is becoming a rarity

 

[hemantwaghe]

I was there on Sunday. Before going Denom told me 2-3 times to visit demo room No 1 - without giving idea what it was!!!

When Khushroo Jilla -after demo asked me if I must visit demo room no 1 I thought it is some "special " room for "V.I.P" customers - and man I was shocked!!

Khurshroo and Jigneshbhai keep the good work up! In fact we are planning a meet with Demo Material of these rooms!!

This is me with Jigneshbhai ,Sid trehan , Jignesh's Partner and some "audiophile golden liquid" in hand!

Uploaded with ImageShack.com

 

[bhagwan]

appreciated good sound, which in todays world is becoming a rarity

Interesting point of view;

 

[bhagwan]

This is me with Jigneshbhai ,Sid trehan , Jignesh's Partner and some "audiophile golden liquid" in hand!

Uploaded with ImageShack.com

It may have been KK / ST / JK / HW - I think;;;
KK & JK are 'brothers' & therefore are also 'partners' [Surat based]

 

[heliumflight]

Denom while you were taking notes of the sound quality of various music systems, I'm sure it goes without saying that you must have laid off the booze

 

[denom]

Alrite, coming to the actual experience of the show, a few observations:

1) Show pulled off well, right from the organisers getting the rooms allotted to the exhibitors on time. People worked in unison, exhibitors had access to the organisers for quick consultations/requirements & overall quite smooth goings for all involved.

2) Hotel facilities quite good, a little detached location wise, but then maybe it was the only place that was open to take the call wrt security issues etc.

3) Rooms were a 'problem child' for all, but a couple of exhibitors managed well, whilst the majority really struggled & had serious issues.

4) Attendance quite average, but expected as the market is a niche one to begin with. However saw quite a few 'jokers in the pack', making me wonder how did they manage to find the location in the first place.

5) Majority of the exhibitors were good people to interact with, had no airs/attitude problems, sadly a few were still there who were just plain opposite. Jokers

6) What Hi-fi team were pretty chatty, what with them frequenting the Demo Room No.1 but the man in the hot seat did not do so & remained 'aloof'

7) Lots of scope for improvement as well. What are the areas they need to improve upon, well let haymarket personnel scratch their heads on this, after all they get paid to do so, so no freebies from me

 

[denom]

Denom while you were taking notes of the sound quality of various music systems, I'm sure it goes without saying that you must have laid off the booze

Let the other FM's who met up with me answer that on my behalf :lol:

 

[hemantwaghe]

Denom while you were taking notes of the sound quality of various music systems, I'm sure it goes without saying that you must have laid off the booze

Denom -laid off by paltry light beer .....ha ha ha .............buddy he knows his drinks and knows what to handle .... he is the person who can take a patiala peg of single malt "neat"....hyeah:hyeah:hyeah:

 

[denom]

I've decided to cover most of the set-ups barring a few, because of various reasons, so I may intentionally leave out a few which the others have covered elsewhere.

Here goes:

PRO FX:

Cabasse Speakers:

Had their mid level speakers on display/demo alongside some polk RTi's as well.

I heard the following:

Cabasse Java

Not bad sounding, decent across the freq range but their price is not justified, for sure. Heard them strictly in 2 channel mode, but they would surely make a good HT package along with matching centre & sub. Was told that the HT pkg would work out to 4.5L

Next I went to the 2 channel room of PRO FX which had the following:

POLK AUDIO LSiM705 / KEF R900 Passive Speakers paired to
CHORD PRE/POWER/CDP & CABLING + / CABASSE PACIFIC 3SA Active Speakers

They had attached a speaker switch for the Polk & KEF speakers to switch on the fly.

CHORD GEARS: Looked fantastic, solid chunks of aluminium finished in a brushed matt finish, lovely/exotic to look at. Their price was anything but nice :lol:
Prices were as follows:
CPA3200 PRE - 3.5L
SPM650 POWER - 5.5L
CHORD CD - 2.5L

Heard the Polk LSiM705's first & yes they sounded nothing like the rest of the polk series, which is good as these are the flagship model of polk audio. A sense of balance was felt across the freq range, none of the ear bleeding brightness that 1 associates with polk speakers found in them :thumbsup:
Good tonality as well. Priced reasonably at 1.98L, they were a good pair of speakers no doubt. Would love to hear them more in the near future.

Asked the sales rep to switch to the KEF R900's & suddenly felt that the same music played was now pretty much un listenable. The sound was smeared & recessed, a complete put down. Heard them very briefly but that brief period was enough for me to dislike them pretty much instantly. Price of the R900 is 3.15L (Not worth at all)

Now was looking forward to hear the imposing Cabasse 3 SA Actives & whoa, an attacking sound that just hits you, period! The room & poor placement really affected them the most, but the potential I saw in them was very much there. They have a very lively sound signature, something that will be likeable to most listeners, am pretty sure of. Definitely would love to hear them again, as they have got that sparkle that I connected with instantly.
Unfortunately their price is an astronomic 11L Desirable but pretty much unaffordable for me

And that covers the PRO FX Rooms as far as am concerned. Will be covering another room in the next post.

 

[heliumflight]

Bravo Denom!

Also keen to hear your voice on any BS you may have listened to.

 

[bhagwan]

Denom while you were taking notes of the sound quality of various music systems, I'm sure it goes without saying that you must have laid off the booze

Sir,
Denom does not drink.
I never saw him with a beer in his hand when ever I visited the room.
He was always there - on all 4 days I was there [Wednesday to Saturday]
& I do not recollect him having any beer on any of the days.
Maybe, when I was not in the room - a few may have been had; I cannot say for certain.
He was like a part of Nexus Audio Video - sure must have been an asset to KJ during the show....well done !

 

[arhantd]

Yay!

Denom sir well written! I am looking forward to all your reviews and pictures to further understand the stuff we heard.
Only attributes i could give a system was whether it sounded good to me or off, whether it looked nice or not.
But you can explain them so much more.

Denom was there on all the days i presume. He really listens carefully, takes down notes, clicks pictures, explains to people
around him what its all about and also engages the dealer in a discussion about the product. He's really good at doing this. Its a treat to learn that from him.

Moreover he was always smiling and encouraging and most people around were known to him.
All of which made it a really enjoyable show. Thanks.

About the beer, he did not drink till i was there. Hopefully he had some afterwards!

 

[Ozzstriker]

Denom,

As usual, reading your reviews is always such a pleasure.

Keep up the good job. And when u have some time, come home for the good stuff:lol:, NOT beer.........+ help set up my system pls with your expert ears.

Ozz

 

[docd]

Docd,

You were in a hurry to attend the show & so unfortunately could not partake the benefits of the 'perks'.
Next time, remember to be patient

Denom
unfortunately thursday was the only day I was free to attend, otherwise I would have kept you in sight throughout the show! well, as you said, better luck next time!:yahoo: