As the vibrant autumn leaves crunched beneath our feet in Warsaw, the Soundnews.net team armed with enough enthusiasm to blow eardrums, embarked on an epic adventure at the Audio Video Show 2024. This event is quite a rockstar among audio expos, and it promised to be a tour of innovation, art, and auditory delight.
Where old charm meets futuristic flair, Warsaw welcomed us with open arms and open soundscapes. Here, amidst the cobblestones and skyscrapers, we discovered a city that sings its own tune. We feasted on pierogi that could make your grandma rethink her recipe and explored the city’s vibrant neighborhoods, each corner having its own story to tell.
The Audio Video Show 2024 unfolded like the most intricate of playlists. For three exhilarating days, we were bombarded by audio gadgets that made us question if we’d ever really heard music before. Each room was an auditory playground where high-end gear invited us to rediscover the soundtracks of our lives and after hearing a speaker setup worth more than a hypercar, one of our team members is now reconsidering his transportation choices.
Beyond the high-tech stereo systems and futuristic headphones, the real headliner was the community. Passionate audiophiles and witty tech geeks, much like ourselves, filled the halls with banter that was as lively as it was enlightening. In this melting pot of innovation and creativity, we found not just fellow attendees, but kindred spirits, united by the pursuit of the perfect pitch and the age-old debate of vinyl versus digital.
With our hearts full and ears pleasantly ringing, Warsaw’s nightlife became our evening gig. The city, bursting with youthful energy and classic allure, offered daily jazz sessions and nightlife that seemed to start just as the workshops ended. We danced the night away, proving definitively that journalists can, indeed, have two left feet.
We are finally back from the Audio Video Show 2024 and what a show it was! I’ve been traveling with my colleagues Catalin and Silviu, and since our plane touched down at 1:00 P.M. just a day before the show, we had plenty of time to hang around the city, try the local cuisine and all the craft beers we could sniff from a mile away. The show organizers welcomed us with cozy rooms and enough coffee to wake up an elephant and our sleeping beauty faces on the event day (post-hangover syndrome). We liked the vibe of the city so much, that we are 110% sure we’ll be coming next year and, in the years to follow. In the end, show reports are our specialty.
This is our second visit to the Audio Video Show and let me tell you that we have never felt as good. We eat and breathe HiFi daily, but you already know that. Above all else, the camaraderie was now stronger than ever before. We met familiar faces and reconnected hours later with craft beers and Pinot Noirs after the show. We laughed so much in three days, fully charging our batteries along the way that we already want to go back and relive the moments.
It isn’t a surprise to anyone that the Audio Video Show isn’t as business-oriented as the High End Show in Munich. The show’s demographic is younger and that revitalized us for three days straight. We were genuinely excited for the next door that would showcase something new, extraordinary, or something we never saw or heard about. People were genuinely excited to show their stuff and talk about them in a language that we all understand: music. We had plenty of surprises and a few WOW moments along the way and since three people will be sharing this report with you, grab a drink, settle in, and get ready for a three-part show report.
I. Best Of Show Awards
Ø Audio Room (Ø Audio loudspeakers, Ansuz and Electrocompaniet electronics)
Since we were accommodated at the Radisson Blu Sobieski Hotel, we decided to see and hear everything at the hotel on the first day. However, chatty, curious, and hungry for knowledge as we are, at 6 P.M. in the evening, we were able to visit only five floors. We visited the PGE Narodowy Stadium on the second day, checking all of the audio and video experiences it had to offer. On the third biblical day, we decided to visit the Golden Tulip Hotel and the remaining floors at the Sobieski Hotel. After three days of non-stop head-banging and toe-tapping, nothing could impress us anymore we thought, but oh boy, how wrong we were!
Jonathan Magnus Cook – The face of the brand is a true Viking in flesh and bone, dwarfing all of us with his posture. However, deep down, he was as humble, passionate, and chatty as we were. After firing up three tracks, I even asked if he somehow stole our playlist, as the music we heard collided with our daily driver playlist. How curious. They were demoing the newest addition to the family – the Frigg 02 standfloor speakers, which so far, are their smallest and most affordable speakers coming at €13.000. The Frigg 02 are slightly smaller than the ones I’m using at home (Raidho TD 2.2), but the sound that came out wasn’t in any way smaller, shier, or less impactful. On the contrary! The sound pounded our chests with a higher force compared to what we heard the day before at the Stadium. Dynamics roamed wild around us and so was the depth and soundstage. I closed my eyes for a few moments and the sound expanded in all directions, I then looked around, and sure enough, we were still sitting in a tiny 2m by 3m room, yet the sound was defying the laws of physics. Two of the biggest standouts were their life-like tonality that covers a wide variety of music and their impressive fun factor, awakening sub-bass notes even from such a compact standfloor speaker. The full Electrocompaniet rig powered by an Ansuz D3 power distributor gave them a massive boost in dynamics, making them visceral and engaging, but let’s not forget that all of the magic was done by none other than the little Frigg 02. Staying for more than 15 minutes in a single room…is A Lot of time, considering that we usually stay for less than 5 minutes in such cozy places, otherwise, we couldn’t digest everything the show had to provide. The sound wasn’t embellished, nor was it artificially colored, yet it was undeniably thrilling, vibrant, and incredibly impactful! The best part? Even if they’re hand-crafted in faraway Norway – these won’t cost you an arm and a leg. I hope to hear them again in the comfort of my home and who knows, maybe Odin already listened to my prayers. Our Best of Show award goes to Ø Audio, my heartfelt appreciation goes to Jonathan Magnus Cook, Sveinung, and Glenn, and I eagerly look forward to our next encounter.
Dynaudio Room (Dynaudio loudspeakers, Ayon Audio electronics)
At the High End Show Munich 2024 (our full report can be found here), Dynaudio unveiled a tiny little prototype speaker, calling it Confidence 20A. Right from the get-go, we knew that these would be part of their high-end Confidence line-up and that their best drivers would be powering them. We knew these would be small bookshelf speakers as their naming convention goes, and the “A” at the end suggested that these would be active speakers. And that’s all we have known in advance. Little did we know at Munich that there was so much more than met the eye. For example, the metallic stands accommodated some truly impressive dual-mono amplifiers, an impressive DSP/Room correction software, and a surprise: a fabulous DAC section. The only thing they needed to kick some eardrums would be a good streamer and an old drink to go with the flow. The little Confidence 20A won our full confidence this year at Munich, winning an honorable mention in our show report. This year however, after coming back two times to hear them again in two days, experiencing a colorful audiophile salad composed of classical, orchestral, soprano…and even electronic tunes, I was 100% sure that there isn’t a musical genre the Confidence 20A won’t play with flying colors. I knew these would impress a dynamics junkie I see in the mirror every day, I still have the chills only thinking about the bass massaging sessions I had at the Munich Show, but this time around they impressed us with their scale. You need to have some balls of steel to rent the biggest room at the Golden Tulip Hotel and showcase the smallest bookshelf speakers from your entire portfolio. It didn’t make any sense, stop for a moment and think about this. The Dynaudio staff, however, knew exactly why such a small bookshelf speaker was placed in such a huge auditorium…because they were easily pushing the sounds in all directions in an effortless way. After coming back and hearing them again the next day, I knew exactly why I needed a small cabin in the woods. If I were to start all over again with this hobby, I would get a good streamer, a stash of old smoked drinks, a pair of Confidence 20A, and quit the searching expedition. These were absolutely stunning in every meaning of the word; I even caught a few speaker manufacturers sneaking into the Dynaudio room for a listen. This is how good these speakers sounded to us, and to the rest of the visitors. We don’t want to offend the other active loudspeaker manufacturer present at the show, but the HiFi wars suddenly stop once you hear these. It’s our pleasure to award the Silver Best of Show award to Dynaudio! Our heartfelt appreciation goes to their team and I hope to hear them someday again.
II. Editor’s Choice
Sandu’s Picks
KMD Engineering ORCHESTALLS (ORCHESTALLS KMD 600 R speakers)
I remember seeing them at the High End Munich this year, but for reasons unknown, I didn’t sit down for a listen. As I was casually doing a photo shoot at the Sobieski Hotel, a member of our team grabbed my hand and brought me to the ORCHESTALLS room. You need to hear these. Alright buddy, why not, I reply back. The South Korean team was exhibiting in a tight room, with just a streamer, DAC, and amplifier piled on top of each other. Unprofessional I thought, but later realized there wasn’t enough space to accommodate a proper HiFi rack. A few visitors came over and started joking about their boxy look and weird design, I turned my head and tried explaining that the standing waves wouldn’t be an issue in such a design, but I’m not sure they got my message. Then Suksoo Kim – the man behind the speakers comes over, looks at me, and smiles: “Yes, the internal standing waves were dealt with”. In the next second, some loud electronic vibes start emerging. The low-end extension was…flawless, I know Symbolico quite well and sure enough, the 25 Hz notes were moping the floor with my body. Tightly controlled and fun, I mumbled to my colleague. We started toe-tapping and banging our heads as these were indeed tuned towards a fun listening experience. I can’t say much about the technology behind these speakers, but we surely had some fun while listening to them. We were told they were extremely heavy which helped nullify internal resonance and improve driver control, and they indeed sounded tight even at ear-damaging sound pressure levels. I was impressed.
Kii Audio Room (Kii Audio Seven Wireless Music System)
Making jokes about small things…is something we do on a regular basis, but when discussing HiFi speakers that are as tiny as Kii Seven, I try to contain my laughter. Immediately after getting in there, I was already living. The size, the weight, the zero electronics room, there was nothing that would impress a seasoned audiophile. My colleagues again came to the rescue and asked me to stay. Making things even saltier we asked if they could play some heavy dynamic range tracks. Hey You by Pink Floyd starts playing and right there, the timbre felt right! These were clean but not clinical, agile but not ethereal sounding. Every note had some weight to it and to my surprise, the low-end rumble was still there…in the room with me. I rubbed my eyes three times, but no, the same tiny speakers were putting on display so much rumble and depth. It’s indeed a lifestyle speaker system, but they do have a good deal of technicalities and an impressive low-end delivery, considering their weight and size. Amazing sonics in tiny packages usually cost a pretty penny, but these aren’t as expensive as I had envisioned. A pair will cost you €8.699 – a fair price considering their impressive sonics and feature set.
DALI Room (DALI EPIKORE 9 speakers & Classé Audio electronics)
I clearly remember the day when in November of 2012 I needed to cover a news article in my mother tongue about the newest DALI Epicon 8 release. I met their Danish representatives, we talked a lot and then we commenced listening to music. As a self-proclaimed Danish loudspeaker aficionado, I had a feeling they would hit me in the Corazon, and they did it. Hard. The Epicons were silky smooth in comparison to the Raidho and Dynaudio speakers we had in their vicinity. The sound was effortless and completely free. Twelve years later I’m again seeing a new DALI release, but this time around I’m experiencing higher-grade loudspeakers, with a thicker high-end flair attached. On a close inspection, they looked dead gorgeous, the lacquer finish was intricate and beautiful and the sheer size of their cabinets impressed me right away. Once they started playing, I immediately remembered their silky-smooth nature. The are plenty of Danish speakers that can be a bit clinical or flat-sounding with the wrong equipment, but these were always full-bodied and thick-sounding. The midrange presence was overwhelming and everything with air instruments and vocals in it sounded divine. The bass was easily reaching the lowest octaves and the upper treble was never bothering. I could listen to these for hours and if you like to be carried away by music, the EPIKORE series is doing it so gracefully. I wish I could spend more time with these.
The Headphone Zone (Ferrum Audio, HiFiMan & Feliks Audio booths)
I must confess, I didn’t walk in there to try the newest Ferrum WANDLA release with headphone outputs, the HiFiMan Susvara Unveiled, the HE1000 Unveiled which apparently are only 5 pairs on the Eurasian continent or the Feliks Audio Envy 25th Anniversary Edition. I walked in there to chat with my old pals & friends, with the Ferrum Audio team, with the funky HiFiMan dudes, with the Feliks Audio tube heads, and with everyone else hanging around these parts. I am still a headphone listener even if I dedicate more time to my stereo and although I really wanted to try the new Unveiled releases (including a third one, which I’m not allowed to mention), chatting with these guys was simply more rewarding to me. Seeing the faces behind the products is more important to me than just listening to music. My team wasn’t as chatty and immediately started grooving along and comparing headphones, so maybe they can share more stories with you on this matter.
Catalin’s Take on AVS Warsaw 2024
Well, a new year has passed with incredible speed. It seems like it’s going faster and faster, year after year. If we stop for a second and look back, we gain a different perspective, as a lot has happened. We grew up, and we did so many things. We traveled a lot, wrote like crazy, and shot as if the world was ending. But mostly, we listened to a ton of music and enjoyed many products, regardless of the price. We have a new colleague, and we like him very much, not just because he is such an intelligent guy and a true melomaniac but because he has such a huge, warm heart. We could not have dreamed of someone more passionate and knowledgeable and not have hoped for a better friend. We feel complete and very grateful to the universe.
I am also grateful for the chance to be in Warsaw for the second year in a row. There is always something unique, emotional, honest, warm, soul-healing, and beautiful about Audio Video Shows in Warsaw. It is always about the people, their passion and achievements, as well as art and music. It is a joy to be there, being part of that wonderful emotion of discovery and sharing.
It was tough to pick my stake in rooms or products, as sometimes the people I met and talked to left a stronger impression than the rooms. But I tried to be as objective as possible, and that may not be my strong suit; you are warned about it, so take it with a grain of salt.
LampizatOr
If you remember from last year’s show report, we were floored by the LampizatOr room. We left the room in such emotional distress that after a few steps, we just took a corner to sit down and looked at each other in disbelief. It was that good! So good that one year later, I am the proud owner of a LampizatOr Poseidon DAC, the crown jewel of last year’s show. So, I am all in! Pragmatic Americans have a saying: “Put your money where your mouth is.” And that is what I did. No, my Poseidon is not a review unit; it was not sent with a dedication card and half-price from Łukasz Fikus. It was the first unit sold in my country by a very competent, young, and dedicated team from eAudio (www.eaudio.ro), who also put their money, intuition, souls, love for music, and high hopes into bringing such an exquisite brand to their showroom and to the music lovers of Romania.
This year, Łukasz of LampizatOr stopped at nothing. The new LampizatOr Horizon360 played on the majestic Clarisys Audio Atrium electrostats, overwhelming in size and sound. You can see from the pictures it was as if Łukasz brought all his heart into the room, all his dreams, and all his passion. But it is not just about getting all the best on the same table. It is a little more complicated than that. Creating a repeatable and consistent quality, reliable service for a high-class sound product that preserves its value conquers more people, and spreads the name like fire in a hot summer without wind is not something that many have achieved. Putting on a good show might be doable. Doing it consistently at such a high level is a different thing. Showing what is possible to be achieved in today’s audio world every year, better and better, is an accomplishment in itself. But Łukasz is sailing in its own ship, and you know how they say… calm waters can not forge skilled sailors. That is why he constantly challenges himself. It was a real show, a fantastic and skillful concert.
Łukasz is not alone in this endeavor. The room was built with Carisys Audio’s flagship (1,600 kilos of aviation-grade aluminum in a continuous piece of metal), a beautiful J Sikora Reference TT turntable, and the best KBL Sound EXtrema cables and CAT amplification. Additionally, the new Neptune line preamplifier was used with the Horizon360 DAC and the analog counterpart, the VP4 Silver phono stage. Michael Fremer joined the party with exquisite music on vinyl. It was definitely a show of performance, emotion, and true realism. Standing by my words were the crowds of patient people constantly waiting in line to join the room.
Cube Audio and Qualio rooms
I am back home now, eager to enjoy my “humble” Poseidon, waiting in line for the next of Łukasz’s incredible shows. Sometimes, believing he can go even further is pretty hard. However, he consistently proves that anything is possible through innovation and pure passion. How this majestic representation can be even more powerful—on a bigger scale, still more accurate, with more nuances and subtleties, and more emotion—remains to be seen and mostly heard. Until then, this was The Reference of what is possible, at least for me.
I heard a lot from Poland about Cube Audio and their full-range, high-sensitivity loudspeakers. This time around, I got the chance to listen. It was intriguing, at least. Cube Audio speakers are all about the magic of a solo, full-range driver that can be moved to perfection with only 3W of power. Sounds interesting? With a fantastic tonal balance, the coherence of a single source of sound, no crossover in the signal path to degrade the sound, and a sensitivity that allows you to use the purest SET amplification, Cubes will show you exceptional micro and macro dynamics with lifelike voices and an incredible soundstage. If you also consider the prices, which are in the more human territory, it seems like a dream and not something you can achieve. In the 10″ range – the entry-level Jazzon v2, not by sound but only by dimensions, starts from under 10K, followed by Nenuphar v2 at 18K and the new 10″ flagship Lotus 10, topping at 21K. To me, this is something that I would love to hear at my place. It is a recipe of pure musicality, soundstage, and coherence that is impossible to beat at this price range.
Qualio is the younger sister of Cube Audio Company. Because accessible sound performance at this level did not seem enough, the Polish manufacturer branched out to another brand with even more unique and revolutionary high-end speakers. Qualio features an open baffle design with a Satori driver that can be considered full-range since it offers great extension up to 15kHz, accompanied by a Mundorf AMT driver used as a super-tweeter that covers frequencies up to 31 kHz. Amazing deep and fast bass is delivered by a 9.5″ Satori driver capable of reaching down to 28Hz. The AMT and the high Satori are positioned outside the main cabinet in an open baffle design that eliminates all resonances and possible cabinet distortion. Impressive? Well… there is more… All that comes at a starting price of 6.9K. How about that?
There is also a new Qualio IQ Ultra version available for below $10K. Featuring Mundorf Angelique Copper-Silver-Gold internal cables, Isoacoustics Gaia2 footers, Evo Oil caps, Jantzen coils, and Bi-Amping capabilities, the Ultra edition offers exceptional value for the price. Add to all this the included shipping cost and personalized finishing, and I think there is nothing more to say. Bravo to Cube Audio for this remarkable performance for the buck and for the sweet sound that I heard!
Arya Audio Labs
A few days before embarking on the Warsaw show, I received a sample pack of RevOpod damping footers from Arya Audio Labs — a young UK-established company, impressed by the quality of the research involved in their products. You may think less of equipment footers, maybe just from an aesthetic perspective and not necessarily from the sound improvement angle. I was one of these newbies to the party. I deserved to be shocked, after all.
I tried the four-pack RevOpods under my LampizatOr Poseidon DAC. I must tell you that finding the perfect adaptors in the box and the 5-minute mount procedure were incredible experiences. I did not expect that. I was pretty afraid to replace the footers of my beloved Poseidon. Arthur and Dominika made this an easy procedure, as everything fitted in place instantly. All I had to do was provide the equipment model. That’s it.
The shock came a little later. Starting to play again with the new footers became an incredible experience. The sound changed so much for the better that I just started to laugh to myself. I listened in awe, track after track, never wanting to skip anything. After a while, I had to call my friend Sandu, the one and only host here at SoundNews. I told him, without interruption for a few minutes, in one breath, how astonishing the sound improvement was by using the RevOpods footers. I am not joking; all Sandu could say was “OK,” “Aha,” or “Really, mate?” from time to time. I did not give him any chance to debate 🙂 I repeatedly told him that this magnitude of sound improvement cannot be achieved with a cable change or tube rolling. And I meant every word!
In short—because if I am starting again, I cannot stop—the level of detail was incredible. I had no clue that this was even possible. The bass became not only better controlled but also tighter and more powerful, and even the stage… the stage was pinpoint accurate and so much bigger. Absolutely incredible. I can really recommend this for any sensitive equipment or loudspeaker; the magnitude of change is mind-blowing.
I met the owners in Warsaw, and everything felt in place. Now I understand why the effect is of such a dimension. The level of precision engineering of their product, the research involved, and the dedication of these two young entrepreneurs to care for the product and the customer are the only ways they could have achieved it. I am really, really impressed. I learned about their high-performance tweeter – AirBlade, and the level of research and development spent is outstanding.
I am so excited about RevOpods that I promise a review will follow. In the meantime, you can learn more from their website – https://www.arya-audio.com. All I can say is Congratulations, Arya! Developing something as ubiquitous as a damping foot with such incredible audible results in a highly saturated market like high-end audio, full of BS and questionable value for colossal amounts of money, seems almost impossible. Well, you guys really did it! That is why I can wholeheartedly recommend learning more and trying their products.
Sonus Faber Suprema
I left this in the end, not because it is less impressive… but because I really do not know what there is to tell more. You have to experience it, see it, and hear it in wood and metal, in all those four sculpted cabinets, perfectly finished with such finesse and allure that even Michelangelo will probably look closer.
It was an overwhelming experience, one in which all the senses were touched and tingled with pure beauty. It is very rare to have the chance to see closely and listen to such higher states. Sonus Faber created something unique from the magnitude perspective, a truly state-of-the-art product. Rivers of words will probably pour into the high-end media, and this product will remain a reference for years to come. It is a cost-no-object type of demonstration, and I am grateful I had the chance to listen to it, even for a few minutes.
Beyond the apparition, it was a spectacle from a pure sound perspective. This time around, Sonus Faber Suprema was powered by Classe monoblocks instead of the usual Mcintosh amplifiers. I had never heard it before, so this is the first impression and probably the last one for a while. And it is an impression that will last. Everything sounded exceptional, incredibly dynamic, fabulously detailed, and smooth at the same time. The words are just not meant to describe the event. So imposing by the look and sound, Suprema must be heard and looked at to understand it.
In the end, I would say that Sonus Faber made me curious to listen to their human-accessible products from the lineup. And there are a lot of beautiful speakers in their portfolio.
Silviu’s Take on AVS Warsaw 2024
Dear reader, I’ve just joined the SoundNews team, and the first show to attend together was the Warsaw Audio Video Show 2024. This trip was a heartwarming surprise for me as I departed from Bucharest with two colleagues, but I returned home with two good friends. You see, when you have a big passion for audio as we have, it is impossible to share this as colleagues only, the passion for audio made us friends for life, and this is unexpectedly wonderful. And, how not to become mates when you enter an exhibition room in Warsaw and the music is playing, the speakers are roaring, and you just look in your colleagues’ eyes and you see the same feeling as you have – happiness and bliss. That is the moment when three colleagues sharing the same passion become friends. So, here it goes, here are the rooms that impressed me the most at the Warsaw Audio Video Show 2024, the rooms I have chosen to grant my Editor’s Choice Award.
EPO SOUND
As the name suggests, these speakers are made from Epoxy mixed with high-quality wood. I am also a very passionate woodworker myself and immediately as I stepped into this room, I noticed how special these speakers are. Also, especially because I worked myself with high-quality wood and epoxy, I know how difficult it is to make such perfect enclosures, to make the epoxy and wood grain match perfectly, and to give them this “monolith” look. At the entrance to the EPO room, we met Adam, the owner of EPO SOUND and the builder of these speakers, a great and friendly guy ready to share with us the passion he puts into the construction of each pair of speakers. If Adam is the builder, then you must know that the designer of the speakers is Agnieszka, she has over 12 years of experience in the construction and designing of speaker enclosures. I am giving this first Editor’s Choice Award to EPO SOUND for their amazing looks, uniqueness, and, nevertheless, great surprising sound!
Pure Acourate Sound
The second room I am choosing for the Editor’s Choice Award is the Pure Acourate Sound room. First, I will explain what I’ve heard in this room and then I will explain how they managed to obtain this. I must say that at the door we had a queue, this was the first indicator that there was something interesting inside. Then, the second detail that got my attention was that they were not permitting you to go inside if the listening seats were full, so, each person got a good listening position. Only three seats were available, so I waited a bit. Finally, I got my chance, exactly the middle seat. Then, the music started, and, boy, it sure was a treat. It was an eerie and bassy track of some sort of electronic music which, unfortunately, I do not remember the name of, but I do remember the feeling and the sensation of magic and holography, it was one of the best I’ve heard in the entire show. And boy, oh boy, the bass! The room featured two subwoofers carefully placed on the sides of the room. It was an interesting setup that formed a kind of very big sound that completely enveloped you in a magic bubble of sound. Of course, the speakers and system components were important, but, the key factor of the room was the software that Pure Acourate Sound offered, a piece of software that allows the user to measure its room and add the correction results to any Roon server, basically, they promise that anyone with access to their software and Roon will be able to have their system sound like I’ve heard in their room at Warsaw. Hmmm. Of course, I did not try that, but what I’ve heard there is worthy 100% of the Editor’s Choice Award I’m granting to Pure Acourate Sound.
Simaudio Moon & Audiovector
My third choice for these Editor’s Choice Awards is the Simaudio Moon and Audiovector room that we found in the National Stadium exhibition at the Warsaw Audio Video Show 2024. The room featured a Moon 791 streamer-DAC-preamplifier and a Moon 761 power amplifier. Also, an important novelty in the room was the new Trapeze Reimagined speakers from Audiovector. All were put together with Nordost cables and we saw also a QB8 Mk.3 Distribution Block, a QNET Network Switch, a QSource Linear Power Supply, and Sort Kone Anti-Resonance feet. The room sounded amazing, the Moons, as Moons are, were very slick and drove the Audiovector with ease and deep sound. So, for me, as a definitive Moon fan, it was very easy to grant this Editor’s Choice award to this setup. Also, the new Audiovector speakers are great, and I can’t wait to hear them again
Storgaard&Vestskov
Last but not least on my list is the Storgaard&Vestskov room, a name hard to pronounce, but easy to fall in love with when you see their speakers. Of course, we met Kim Storgaard – the founder of Storgaard&Vestskov – a Danish company that produces speakers in its in-house production facility in Denmark. My colleague Cătălin was deeply in love with the room as it featured lots of tube equipment from Monolith. So, being smitten by the great sound, Cătălin’s enthusiasm, and the great talk I had with Kim Storgaard, it was easy to grant them my last Editor’s Choice Award in these series. So, here you go dear reader, all four Editor’s Choice Awards were granted, but, if you ask me, it was a very hard choice, many of the rooms have had something special, so it was very hard to choose just four.
III. Wrapping Up
The Best of Show awards and our Editor’s Choice awards weren’t the only great-sounding rooms we experienced in there. I was finally able to see and hear my future reference DAC – the Rockna Reference Signature playing in the Audio Solutions room and I hope to get it ASAP for a world-first review. The Lucarto Audio electronics were mesmerizing to look at, fully capturing my attention when the music was doing its mojo. Their flagship Songolo P300SE preamp, MA300BSE mono amplifiers, and D300SE tubed DAC not only resembled contemporary furniture pieces but were also capable of warming even the coldest of hearts.
Audio Group Denmark brought the Big Guns. Again! The brand new C3 standfloor speakers were nothing short of spectacular. The massive auditorium dwarfed them, yet the sound didn’t lack oomph or dynamics. The super affordable Axxess L3 driven by the Axxess Forte 1 all-in-one was also impressive, especially considering their price.
Diapason speakers impressed me again with their tiny size and bold attitude. Ciarry open-baffle speakers sounded bigger than life, yet controlled and impactful. And there are many others that left a positive impression.
Now that we got through all the details that crawled into our hearts during these few days in Warsaw, our report comes to an end and we look back with melancholy over the great moments we had these past days, but we look forward to next year’s Audio Video Show – in our opinion one of the most intimate and special exhibitions out there. We will miss Warsaw’s mood, with its smiley people, slick-looking city, and great cuisine. We want to express our sincere gratitude to all of you who received us with hospitality and smiles, and, of course, we want to give our thanks to the show’s organizers, without whom all of this wouldn’t be possible. Our last idea is a shout for peace, that we hope to keep no matter what. It’s the most important thing right now, so necessary for us around this wonderful world.
Before bidding adieu, discover below a trove of several hundred pictures for your viewing pleasure. Until we meet again, folks!
