Remind me then never to share a drink with anyone carrying one…
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Bear Grylls would be proud of us.
(Only on this forum could we divert from a hifi show to drinking one’s own urine!)
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I’ll be going on Friday, last went two years ago
I’ve been to the Ascot show as well and to me , Bristol was far better organised and much more enjoyable
I went to Ascot last year…
You English gentleman really are polite.
…here in the states we just pull over to the side of the road, get out of the car, and then relieve ourselves on the side of the road. It really helps to keep the interior of the car spotless… no spillage that way when your driving and then hit a bump.
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Not moi! havent been for a decade or more don’t miss the corridors wedged like a tube train,paper thin walled bedrooms the rip off car parking charges and mustn’t forget the ‘cheap’ food and drink,
Give me the Ascot high end or Munich show (now THATs) a hi fi show!
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I agree. I’ve been 4-5 times in the last decade, but won’t be going again. Surroundings are hardy conducive to serious auditioning of products and in some rooms the exhibitors barely engage with the ‘punters’ - little info about the products and the music being played. Some just stand around looking bored!
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Yes, despite some other issues, I found the demonstrators quite happy to engage at Ascot. And, to be fair, last year’s was a big improvement on 2023. And you’re anything but ‘wedged in’ there!
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I would love a matching streamer for the Nait50 , maybe Naim think it will compete with the ND5XS2 . It is possible I may downsize, from my house to a flat .
The audio system may get downsized as well
I hope to be there on Friday. I missed last year, but enjoyed the 2023 show. If nothing else I’m looking forward to meeting the Diverse Vinyl crew that I’ve been spending loadsamoney with for quite a while!
I Suspect I might spend a bit more with them on Friday too…
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It always surprises me to read some negativity on here. I agree that shows are never a definitive demonstration of what products sound like at their best, but I do think you can draw some broad conclusions and identify which brands/sounds/design philosophies might be worth investigating further. Normally there are a few systems that really impress.
For me though it’s about more than that, it’s really about seeing this industry that we all love so much out in force - the manufacturers, dealers and distributors are in my experience a passionate lot and they’re not in this game for the money, they’re in it for the love of music. Doug Graham formerly of this parish and latterly at Chord Electronics is a prime example. The man has the most extensive and impressive knowledge of music I think I have ever come across and never ceases to play me something I have never heard, but which surprises and delights me. Similarly I love getting the opportunity to hear a big gun Naim system which even as a reviewer isn’t something I get to do that often.
Finally we audiophiles are by and large people who don’t often get to share our hobby amongst like minded souls. If you fly model aircraft, play football or enjoy classic cars or car racing you end up being part of a gang who participate in those things together regularly, but Hi-Fi isn’t like that. For most of us our wives don’t necessarily share the same level of passion, our friends who do may be 200 miles away (I know mine are) so it’s the coming together of people with common interests that I enjoy the most and the feeling of belonging it engenders. For three days every February I am no longer weird, but the norm, for three days in February I belong to a throng of people that’s like being a Liverpool supporter at Anfield on Cup Final day and I love that!
I return to my sense that when you are young music is a shared experience most of the time and as you age which most of us have on this forum - well apart from Richard Dane (who clearly keeps a portrait in the attic and never ages!) it becomes a more solitary activity most of the time in middle age… At Bristol and similar shows it becomes a shared experience again.
To me Bristol has always been the most sociable show. Sure the rooms are packed, the corridors are busy and that’s the opposite of Ascot, but I don’t really go there for serious listening, more to gain some broad perspectives. But that bar on the Friday night is absolutely humming and it’s glorious to be savouring a beer and rubbing shoulders and chatting with key people from some of the very best hi-fi firms in the world…
I’ve said it before and I will say it again Britain punches far above its weight in audio and I don’t know whether that’s because of the BBC or WW2 and all the demobbed engineers afterwards or just the sheer spirit of invention that permeates the country. We don’t triumph in many industries nowadays, but this is one of them, and I always delight in seeing what my most loved brands have up their sleeves!
Perhaps I’m just a sentimental old fool! But I’ve been coming to Bristol for I suspect more than 30 years now as both a punter and a journalist and it remains one of my favourite weekends in the calendar. It’s got friendship, camaraderie, great music and some wonderful audio - what’s not to like? I still miss those top floor suite ticketed demos that Naim used to do away from the throngs with DBL’s and 52’s and active six packs or NAP 500’s which always blew me away, but even without those there’s a whole world of audio and music to explore.
It’s become something of a tradition for my little gang of old schoomates to make Bristol one of the few weekends we get together and have a lads weekend. We all book into a hotel for the weekend, we each bring a bottle of single malt and we traipse around together savouring the delights before going out for a meal, beers and returning to somebody’s room for a nightcap. Of course I’m the only one actually working, so I have to stay a bit more focused than they do. This year a couple of the guys can’t make it, so it won’t be quite as sociable, but it’s still a great excuse for the rest of us to get together…
JonathanG
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Sounds fun, Jonathan.
Enjoy!
G
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That is the thing I most dislike about hi-fi shows. I don’t particularly like laddish culture, which I know is a personal thing and I am likely in a minority here and those who attend shows. But more importantly, I think Hi-Fi via shows and in general needs to attract more women and be openly working to attract a more diverse customer base, attending shows and becoming motivated in buying systems. Looking at the music industry and how over the last few decades it has become much more diverse, whilst Hi-Fi has lagged behind the music industry in this change, more women are making music now and more women are attending gigs now, small venues especially are working hard to helping women feel welcome and hi-fi needs to be following suit.
On the other hand, I know many love the shows and I agree there are many good things about shows, they do give people a chance to listen to music via products they wouldn’t normally be able to hear and I applaud this. A chance to see the range of excellent equipment out there and it is for many an important social and a chance for industry insiders to meet up, so there is a lot that is good about shows, they just need to find ways to make the work better for a more diverse and representative selection of the population, which is easier said than done.
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Totally agree Paul with hi-fi needing to broaden its demographic both into the youth and into the female population…
The biggest issue as I see it is that women and young people love music and gigs and records and playing guitar just as much or even more than the grey haired men in seedy raincoats (lol) who frequent the shows… The problem is (and this is a sweeping generalisation) that young people have less money and women might love music but they don’t love black boxes and cables…
That’s one of the reasons why I bang on about the need for an entry level Naim shoebox range (less money) and why I think “Future Fi” (active speakers with streaming built in) are so important (no black boxes).
As for me I rather like my racks of gear and the ability it affords to upgrade and develop over the decades and to explore differences. I still love walking into a room full of Naim or Gryphon or whatever…
But I suspect a lot of females might react with “You’re not bringing that in 'ere!!”
To be honest it has shocked me how many people I know have had to get rid of their systems or vinyl because of pressure from the lady in their life. I was in the supermarket one night with Mrs G and we bumped into a Mum from the school who proudly proclaimed that she had that very day been clearing out all of her husbands vinyl and getting rid of it while he was away on business… My wife was laughing at my reaction which was that is a divorcable offence!!! I looked at her apparently as if she had just told me she had slaughtered her first-born!! I heard a few months later that her husband left her a note saying he didn’t love her anymore and he went off with an old university girlfriend, who I hope is sitting listening to vinyl with him to this very day!!
Frankly I just couldn’t live with or marry somebody who didn’t understand that this is one of the greatest passions of my life. It’s surely about give and take, I don’t object to the missus having her hobbies - horses, dog, health club, eyebrow sculpting or the largest collection of handbags in the known universe, just leave my NAC82 alone… And don’t get rid of my vintage collection of ELP albums even though I never listen to that garbage anymore and frankly it isn’t worthy of a skip!! 
(Hopefully people realise this is a somewhat tongue in cheek post full of sweeping generalisations, but I do think it highlights an issue for the industry)
JonathanG
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I totally agree with you about the need for a shoe box range from Naim. I remember back in the 80s, lots of male friends were dismissive of the small 42/110 boxes whilst female friends thought they looked much better. Both sexes were surprised at the SQ of the classic LP12/42/110/Kan system compared to the SQ of their big boxes brought from Lasky, Comet or Dixons.
Your anecdote about the woman bragging about getting rid of her ex, I suspect showed an underlying issue in the relationship but does illustrate an important point about hi-fi needing to be lounge-friendly. My system whilst wonderful is rather large and I can think of only a couple of ex-girlfriends who would have welcomed it and only one who actively encouraged me. She campaigned to get rid of the Kans for bigger speakers once she moved in, for domestic harmony I did but regretted exchanging better bass for all the bits about the small Kans I loved. After we split I soon downsized and got a pair of Ela’s.
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Once again referring back to Ascot, there seemed a higher proportion of women and younger people being actively interested in the stuff on show than at others I’ve been to in the past. I suspect the choice of venue had something to do with it.
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My then girlfriend and I went to the Bristol show in 1984. We wandered into a room with a Sondek front end and Isobariks back end (can’t remember what the amp was).
She listened for some minutes before commenting, “I want those speakers!”.
So I married her four weeks later. The Briks are in the conservatory.
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(OK, so we were engaged at the time, but saying that would have ruined the punchline)
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Get good stereo…then get mrs!LOL
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When I bought my Focals I started the audition alone and my wife joined us later. The look of terror on the salesman’s face when she arrived showed how many sales he’d lost once the wife got involved. But he needn’t have worried and we bought the speakers!
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