Scalford Show , I am back !!

[Marco]

I started writing a lengthy show report, and then lost most of it, after my laptop decided to hang!! Anyway, here's what I managed to save, along with the pictures of the systems (shamelessly stolen from elsewhere) I thought sounded the best. I will add more comments later...



Once again, I very much enjoyed myself at the Scalford show, which IMO, is way better than any of the commercial trade shows on a number of levels, not least of which was the sonic standard of the systems demonstrated.

This year there were more systems than ever I heard that were very good indeed; few were poor, but below are the ones I think deserve a special mention...

For me, the best sounds I heard were between those of Valvebloke:








...and Dom's Audio Note/Allnic/Mod Wright system, fronted by a superb sounding Garrard 401, with Audio Note Arm 3/Io cartridge and the utterly GORGEOUS sounding Snell Type A:











Those beautiful looking NS1000s of Valvebloke's not only were a feast for the eyes, but also the ears, fronted by a Quad CDP and vintage RCA and Leak valve amplifiers. The sound was detailed, fluid and very musically engaging. I guess that I'm just a big fan of professional monitor speakers, when done well - and here they most certainly were!

Dom's system, for me, also really ticked some major boxes, as it produced a sound that resembled that of real instruments and voices in a totally effortless and convincing manner - and those Snells are probably one of the best speakers I've heard. They're quite vintage Tannoy DC-like in their musical presentation, which of course is a sound I can relate to, and they did genuine scale, vocal and instrumental texture with aplomb and had a lovely 'big-boned', effortlessly musical presentation that really made me smile!

At a push, I'd probably nominate it for the best sound I heard at the show. It really did highlight again for me that there has been little real progress made in loudspeaker technology, since the days when the truly great, genuinely innovative speakers were born, and here I include the Snells, along with Tannoys, Altecs, JBLs, Klipschs, Quads, IMFs, etc. Every time I hear speakers of that ilk, it becomes quite obvious what is wrong with 95% of modern speakers!!

Pictures of the other systems that impressed me most:

Russ Abbott:





Cablemonkey:







Freefallrob:







Lodgesound:





Nagraboy:





Steelhull:





Steve Toy:





I'll edit-in my comments on the various systems above later!

Marco.

[Stratmangler]

This is just an educated guess, but the record looks like it could be side 1 of Made In Japan by Deep Purple.
Any chance of confirmation of that?

[Marco]

Hi Chris,

Sorry, dude. It isn't my pic, and so I wasn't there when that record was playing... However, that was a truly superb sounding system!

Incidentally, it was interesting that every system that contained an Allnic valve phono stage sounded fantastic, which confirms my already held view that they make some of the best high-end phono stages on the planet...!

Marco.

[YNWaN]

I would generally say I agree with your thoughts above Marco, both with regard to the overall quality and the systems of note (with some minor differences of opinion).

The big Snell’s sounded good on Sunday, but were appreciably better on the Saturday night when a different amp was being used (in both my, and the opinion of others, that were there).

[Audio Al]

Syndicate Room 18 !!!!!!

This was my favorite room in the show , The sound quality was outstanding

It ticked all my boxes

One of the systems components were as follows :-Technics SL1210mk2, RB300, Goldring Eroica LOMC Arkless Modified CA640P

And the second system was this :- Technics SL1200mk2, RB301, Ortofon VIGOR HOMC, Sony TAF-B940R amplifier, & EAR834P phonostages


Well done Gents I was impressed

[clap]

My first show and it was very very good. A pity its only once year. My top systems:

1) Doms 401, Allnic, Modwright and Snell As. Lou Reeds vocals sounded so breathtakingly emotional I was nearly welling up.
2) Nagraboy , dcs sacd, nagra integrated with Harbeths, the best digital sound at the show and the best I've ever heard. I listened to types of music I don't generally listen to totally enthralled.
3) RMS Shipbroker & Setting Son, LP12, Ittok, AN Oto, AN speakers, very musical, Grace Jones and Peter Gabriel sounded great. Sorry to anyone I deafened when I upped the volume. The toes were tapping though.
4) Chelsea Dave, classy sounds which I commented on.
5) Carlbkk, American muscle with Taiwanese Samurai Speakers. A tour de force, impressive.
6) Russ Abbot, nice all round sound, great music selection.
7) OB1, at first I thought the Black Swan Speakers were hideous. After about 5 mins I wanted a set.
8) Papa Lazarou. Feel the quality.

I missed the giant Tannoys :-(. I didn't hear enough of the Belvoir room to form an opinion.

[julesd68]

Sadly I wasn't there but in terms of visual aesthetics, Cable Monkey's AR / PU7 combo looks absolutely spunkalicious ...

[hoopsontoast]

I very much enjoyed it as much as previous years, and as usual missed loads of rooms on my walk round!
Highlights for me on the rooms I did hear were:
Richard's (Gromit) PL71/770ES/Q-Acoustics system
Rob's (Freefallrob) with the Techie/Sony amp/JBL's

Only got a pick of my room as I forgot my camera on the walk round!


Scalford Hall Show - 2013 by RSdesignUK, on Flickr

[MartinT]

Nice pics, Al. Glad everyone had a good time.

[Audioman]

Syndicate Room 18 !!!!!!

This was my favorite room in the show , The sound quality was outstanding

It ticked all my boxes

One of the systems components were as follows :-Technics SL1210mk2, RB300, Goldring Eroica LOMC Arkless Modified CA640P

And the second system was this :- Technics SL1200mk2, RB301, Ortofon VIGOR HOMC, Sony TAF-B940R amplifier, & EAR834P phonostages


Well done Gents I was impressed

Great sound from 'budget' gear. I think on that performance the Arkless phono stage requires furthur investigation as those SL1200s outshone the other rather lackluster sounding examples I heard. Funny thing with a couple exceptions it was the performance of systems using small fairly cheap speakers that stood out. Also not mentioned anywhere I was impressed by Take 5's Orbe / Audio Innovations / Snell system.