OSLO HIFI SHOW 2024 REPORT

HiFi PiG’s Oscar takes a trip to Norway for the Oslo HiFi Show, enjoy his Olso HiFi Show 2024 Report.

The Oslo HiFi show is only in its second year however, from talking to some of the exhibitors, it’s quickly been established as THE HiFi show to attend in Scandinavia. Held at the Scandic hotel in Asker, the show had numerous brands and retailers showcasing products across 4 floors, along with live music, seminars, and a press/exhibitor dinner on the Saturday.

OSLO HIFI SHOW 2024 REPORT

I’d like to extend a huge thank you to Havard from Stereo+, one of the main organisers, for his hospitality and overall excellent organisation of what was a brilliant show in a beautiful country. There was a bit of a snow storm on the Saturday but this didn’t stop plenty of people visiting the show.

My coverage starts on the ground floor in the McIntosh room which always has a stunning display of products on show. They had several models at the side of the room along with a main demo setup using the MC1 speakers, MC3500 monobloc amps, C22 pre-amplifier, MCD12000 SACD player and a HiFi Rose streamer.

The next room was run by MBL who are represented by SteReoFil in Norway, they had their huge 101 X-Treme MKII speakers (the pair weighing in at 1.5t) on show with a full complement of MBL kit. The 6010 D pre-amplifier driving 9008 A monoblocs – the MBL speakers always have an open and spacious presentation due to their omnidirectional nature and are a unique product in this industry.

Next up Mala Audio had a room with a pair of Marten Mingus Septet speakers that use diamond tweeters, a 3″ beryllium high-mid driver, ceramic mid-bass driver, and twin 8″ aluminium bass drivers with two additional 10″ passive radiators on the back. These use a 1st order crossover for transparency and the rest of the system consisted of the Esoteric Grandioso M1X monobloc amplifiers, C-1X Solo pre-amp, K-1X SE SACD player, N-01XD SE streaming DAC alongside a TechDAC Air Force III Premium turntable with the DS Audio Master Reference optical cartridge.

Mala also represent Audio Group Denmark in Norway and Borresen had their flagship M6 speakers ($550,000 per pair) with a full complement of Ansuz D-TC Gold Signature cabling and Aavik SD880 streamer/DAC, I880 integrated amplifier and P880 power amplifiers. This setup may be out of reach for most of us mere mortals but, it is a brilliant showpiece and they can easily fill a big space with excellent sound and great control.

Audio Aktoren had quite a nice vintage vibe to their room with a Garrard 301 turntable featuring a Reed tonearm and Aidas cartridge – this was running into an Icon Audio phono stage and Audio Analogue amplifier. The system was running Tara labs cables and they were using a pair of QLN Prestige Five speakers, there was also a Studer B67 reel-to-reel playing in the room. Audio Aktoren also sell iFi Audio in Norway and they had a static display of some of their models at the back of the room.

HiFi Hut were running a room with Gryphon Audio (Rune Skov from Gryphon was present) and Wilson audio speakers. The system consisted of an Acoustic Signature Verona Neo turntable running into the Gryphon Diablo 333 integrated amplifier, driving a pair of Wilson Audio Sabrina X speakers complimented by a pair of Loke subwoofers. This was a nicely balanced system in terms of components and they all seemed to work well together.

Up to the first floor now and you had ScanSpeak showing off a range of their drivers that are used by many companies in the industry. To show off their drivers they decided to make their own speaker with the help of a cabinet maker in Germany – this project is a DIY project that you can even make yourself if you want. The speakers were rather impressive and had quite high sensitivity, they were being driven by a TEAC AP-701 amplifier, TEAC UD-701 network DAC/preamp, TEAC VRDS-701 CD player, EAT C-Dur turntable and EAT phono stage with a mix of Tellurium Q cables.

Tellurium Q had a small space on the 1st floor that was part of the LydKonsept suite, Geoff was there representing the company and was ready to answer any queries about suitable cables for customers systems. Next to the Tellurium Q cables you had a range of GoldNote electronics and a couple of turntables. Elsewhere on this floor was another array of turntables, phono stages, speakers, and amplifiers from various brands that LydKonsept represent.

LydKonsept were showing off the Spendor 7.2 in one of their rooms, these were powered by a Line Magnetic LM-805 amplifier and the source was a Matrix Audio Element X2 streamer, they were also using Tellurium Q cables.

In their next room they had the Pylon Jade 20 speakers, a rather retro looking speaker, paired with a full Gold Note setup using their Giglio turntable, PH10 phono stage and PA10 EVO power amp – this room made use of Tellurium Q Silver II cables.

Regal Audio make a range of cables and power distributors but the main thing they were demoing was their DAC101 – this DAC has an advanced reclocking circuit for ultra-low jitter and uses dual AD R2R D/A converters for more natural sound reproduction. This DAC also uses a class-A output stage, they were running this DAC into a prototype Regal amplifier powering the Stenheim Alumine Two speakers.

Gjallahorn Audio represent quite an array of brands in Norway, in their first room I visited they had the Stenheim Alumine Two.Five floorstanding speakers with a B-Audio Alpha One integrated amplifier, antipodes CX music server and a Gigawatt power conditioner.

Nordic Sound Design took along the Neat Elite Classic speakers with a system made up of the Atoll ST300 Signature and BAT VK3500 integrated amplifier. On show they had the Atoll IN300, BAT VK-80t and Neat Mystique Classic.

In Gjallahorn’s second room they had the Apertura Forte speakers running from a SPEC RSA-V21 amplifier, the source was a Clearaudio Concept Signature turntable using a Clearaudio Absolute phono stage. At the side of the room, they had the SPEC RSA-BW7EX amplifier and a Mastersound Dueventi on display.

Franco Serblin had the new Accordo speakers playing, this company was founded by the person who started Sonus Faber and is now run by his family – the designs stay true to his original work and it’s easy to see this when looking at them. There were powered by a full stack of YBA electronics – the Signature CD Player, Signature Pre-Amplifier MKII and Signature Stereo Power amplifier.

Duet Audio had the Kii Seven speakers on show with an Auralic Aries G1.1 streamer/pre-amplifier, I’ve heard the Kii Seven at a few shows now and they really do pack a punch for their size. It’s good to see some excellent sounding active speakers around, something that is becoming ever more popular.

Neby Hifi had the Wiim amp powering a small set of ProJect speakers, this was a budget setup although they did decide to pair it with an SVS sub which costs more than the rest of the setup. This was still probably one of the cheapest, if not, the cheapest setup of the show yet I overheard a few people saying it sounded excellent. Paired with the right kit, it seems the Wiim amp is a very capable bit of kit and is perfect for a 2nd room setup or even an office setup. They also had a couple more Wiim products at the side of the room on show.

HiFiSentralen had a good range of Eversolo and Topping products in their room, they had a small setup playing which consisted of the Eversolo DMP-A6 Master Edition, Eversolo Amp-F2 and Krix Equinox MK5 speakers. Around the room I spotted quite a few familiar bits of kit and it was good to see these brands well represented at the show.

Lyngdorf had a huge wall of sound at the show, combining their LS1000 in-wall speakers with BW-20 subwoofers all driven with an MP-60 sound processor and MXA-8400 8-channel power amplifier. This is very much a custom install product showcase and excellent for home-theatre applications, it was good to see some CI products at the show and Lyngdorf’s Room Perfect technology really does work wonders in awkward rooms.

Eksakt HiFi are a Linn specialist and as such, brought along the Linn Selekt DSM modular network music player with integrated amplifier modules, this was powering the Eksakt own brand A-HA SE speakers (which can be ordered as an active speaker). There was also a Linn Sondek LP12 in the room too, the speakers were using the IsoAcoustic Gaia feet and this was a very natural sounding room.

Neby Hifi had more rooms at the show, this next room run by them had a pair of Piega Coax 411 speakers, KEF KC62 subwoofers, the new HiFi Rose RA280 integrated amplifier and the HiFi Rose RS150B streamer. The setup had IsoAcoustics Gaia feet and the coaxial ribbon tweeter/midrange driver on these speakers is something different.

AudioCenteret had some lovely AVM amplifiers on display along with one of them in the demo setup, which also included a JBL SDP-58 sound processor and Perlisten in-wall speakers and subs. The exhibitor showed me some issues they had with the room acoustics and it was interesting to hear the bass difference by simply moving around the room – room acoustics are very important. This was another room showing off some custom install products, at the side of the room they had a few other JBL products on display including the MP350 streamer, SA750 amplifier and TT350 turntable.

Masimo Consumer had a room, in partnership with Neby HiFi, Olivier Bosiers from Masimo was there holding a demo of the Marantz Model 50 paired with a Marantz CD50N, powering the Polk Reserve R600 speakers.

SteReoFil had a room with a full Yamaha setup, I’ll say it again, it is nice to see Yamaha investing in the 2ch audio world again. The main setup featured the R-N2000A streaming amplifier and NS-2000A speakers, on display to one side was a A-S3200 amplifier and at the back of the room in a corner they had their YH-5000SE headphones with matching HA-L7A DAC/Headphone amp.

We went down to catch a few songs of Bjørn Berge’s set, live music is something not many HiFi shows have, and I think it should be included more. Bjørn is a very talented guitarist and it was nice to break up the various HiFi rooms with a bit of live music.

Duet.no also had a pair of Piega speakers, this time the Coax 811 floorstanders that use the same coaxial tweeter/midrange as the smaller model but with 2 woofers and 2 passive radiators in a sealed cabinet. These speakers were impressively punchy and detailed with great control and depth, they were being powered by a Soulution 330 integrated amp being fed by an Auralic Aries G2.2 and Vega DAC. This was one of our favourite rooms of the show and they played a wide range from classical to EDM.

In yet another Mala Audio room we had a full GoldNote setup with Ansuz D3 network switch. The GoldNote setup consisted of their Giglio turntable, PH-1000 phono stage, DS-1000 Evo Streaming DAC, P-1000 pre-amplifier, PA-1175 MKII mono blocs and a PSU-1000 power supply. All this kit was running into a pair of XS-85 speakers – with their seductive curvy cabinets, they really do look lovely.

Akustisk Bureau were there with the new Copland CTA407 integrated amplifier being fed by a matching Copland CDA823 CD player and DAC215. This setup was driving a pair of Rosso Fiorentino Volterra Series II speakers, they also had a pair of Rogers LS3/5a speakers on display along with the Rosso Fiorentino Pienza Series 2.

Up to the second floor now and Saxx.nu had a range of Totem Acoustic speakers being powered by Bryston 28B cubed monoblocs and a Bryston BR20 pre-amplifier. At first, they had the Element Metal V2 speakers playing but they then changed over to the Bison Twin Towers, there was a nice array of scotch whisky around the room too.

Inventum were representing Vienna Acoustics and had their Mozart Infinity active speakers on demo, these have a built-in streaming platform to allow you to play straight to them, along with balanced and unbalanced analogue inputs, coax, optical and even HDMI e-arc for TV use. This is a truly flexible active speaker that both looks and sounds great, they will easily fit into many homes. They also had the Beethoven Reference and Liszt Reference on display in a separate room.

Sound Garden had a couple of rooms, the first had the Chord Ultima Integrated amplifier paired with the Hugo TT and M Scaler. The integrated setup was not in use as they were running the new Sonus Faber Duetto wireless speakers which really do sound very nice for their size and price. Next to these, they did have the Olympia Nova 5 passive speakers which is what the Chord setup was being used with.

Their second room had the System Audio 40.2 active speakers, this was another quite compact floorstanding active speaker and these come with built in room-correction tech along with being able to connect up-to 8-speakers together for a full Dolby setup. They had some smaller passive speakers at the side of the room, but the active ones were the focus here.

After being tipped off about the setup in room 259, I made this room my final stop of day 1 – and I am glad I did. This room stood out as a personal “best in show” even though we don’t do that here at HiFi PiG. This room belonged to Popori Acoustics and they have managed to create a full-range electrostatic speaker that goes down to 27Hz without any additional bass drivers. The WR1 SE speakers have a 6-micron thick continuous foil driver, 90dB sensitivity and due to the single foil design, they do not require a crossover – only a transformer which is neatly hidden away in the foot of the stand. These were being powered by a Boulder 1110 pre-amplifier and 1161 stereo power amplifier. There was a Kuzma turntable with Hana cartridge running into an Esoteric phono stage, Ansuz C3 power distributor and PS Audio DirectStream DAC MK2 / PerfectWave SACD player.

The speakers are the result of 25 years of design experience, they also feature foam blocks so that you can tune the speakers to the room. Whilst this model is perhaps a little too big for my current room – I really would love to test a pair of their slightly smaller model in the future. This brand deserves to be congratulated on doing something different – I heard these same speakers the next day playing some EDM and the amount of bass they can output without losing composure has to be heard to be believed – these are electrostatic speakers as you have never heard them before.

In the evening the organisers put on a press/trade dinner in the hotel, this consisted of a 3-course meal with wine pairings along with music from a small band. This isn’t something I’ve experienced at other shows and it was a most enjoyable evening, speaking to fellow industry folk over some good food and nice wine.

After the snow storm on Saturday, Sunday was positively spring like with sunshine all day and a backdrop of snowy scenery. HiFiKlubben was my first stop of the day, with a small display of Bowers & Wilkins headphones and earphones along with the Dali IO-12 in the entrance to their room. The main system consisted of the Lyngdorf CUE-100 speakers powered by the Lyngdorf TDAI-3400 streaming amplifier. This is a room that always tends to sound great at shows due to the room correction technology, which really does work very well indeed.

SteReoFil had yet another room, which had the Fyne F1-8 speakers being run out of a Luxman L-509Z amplifier, Luxman D-07X digital audio player, Luxman PD-191A Turntable and Audiolab 9000n network streamer. I had the pleasure of listening to a few tracks of my choice through this system and it was highly enjoyable.

I had a good chat with Andreas from Hegel and he talked me through their new H190V amplifier which features an all-new power supply that is both more robust along with being quieter. The new H190V features an internal MM phono stage that was designed and built from the ground up, it’s not a simple afterthought and should work well with most MM cartridges on the market. They had their Viking CD player running into this along with an Argon TT4 SE turntable too, the amp was powering a pair of Dali Rubycon 2 standmount speakers – these are not expensive but sounded great for their size.

Borresen had another smaller room for their new X1 standmount speakers, I had a chat with Morten from Audio Group Denmark and Michael Borresen also walked in, it was great to meet the man behind these speakers. For a compact standmount the output a very big sound and are a speaker that want you to enjoy your music, these were being powered by an Axxes Forte 1 streaming amp with an Ansuz A3 power switch and Ansuz Mainz 8 distributor. They had the X2 at the side of the room showing off a slightly bigger X series speaker.

Norwegian brand Electrocompaniet were bound to be present, they had their new AW300M monobloc amplifiers, ECM MKII DAC/Streamer, EC4.8 MKII reference pre-amplifier, EMC1 MKV reference CD player and a pair of the Monitor Audio Platinum 300 speakers. This is a brand that stick to their guns and design the best possible products whilst staying true to their philosophy – this is why they still have an excellent reputation and make some of the best sounding solid state kit out there.

Up to the 3rd and final floor they had an open space with a few brands showing off some kit along with two vinyl record stalls. You had Big Dipper who are Norway’s #1 record shop, they had vinyl records, cables, and tweaks. I had the pleasure of meeting Lasse from Big Dipper and he was showing off his Little Fwend products – these are lovely little tonearm lifters, and I came away with one for my Rega Planar 3 Anniversary turntable.

In this space you also had some Hamrammr speakers on display along with Acoustic Tuning showing off a range of Estelon speakers, Dan D’Agostino electronics, DCS components and Transrotor turntables. It was a pleasure talking to Ilias from Estelon, they had their brand-new Aura speakers which are a new “entry level” speaker from the brand.  

Audio Agenten had the Audio Solutions Figaro speakers on demo with an EAMlab Classic B1 pre-amplifier and EAMlabs 250M monoblocks, the system was running a full Viablue cable setup.

Acoustic Solutions had a room with the new Estelon Aura speakers, Transrotor Strato turntable, TRA 9 tonearm with Figaro MC cartridge, Stromtank S4000 power generator, Ypsilon PST 100 MK2 pre-amplifier, Ypsilon VPS 100 phono stage and Ypsilon Aelius II monoblocs.

PMC unveiled their new active models last month at Bristol and they were present here in Oslo, the brand being represented by Norsk Audio Teknikk. Christian said the Oslo show is now THE show to attend in Scandinavia and he had the Twenty5i Active speakers on demo. Due to the height of the chairs in the room, they could not use official PMC stand sadly, so had to borrow some other speaker stands just for the show, they had a Bladelius Ask streamer/pre-amp running into the speakers.

SteReoFil’s last room of the show had an Audio Note setup, a brand that are based not too far from my hometown in England. They had their AN-E/SPx LTD speakers, TT-Three Reference turntable, CD4.1x CD player, M6 phono stage, ANKORU/II 211 PSE mono amplifiers and AN-Vx interconnects, AN-SPe speaker cable and ISIS mains cables.

AV Shop were showing off the Hamrammr speakers, these are ideally suited for installation use in home AV system. They had some monitor speakers along with a pair of 18” subs, the great thing about the subs is that a single active sub can run an additional passive sub from the same amplifier. The subs are sealed and they demo’d the system at quite a high SPL for a short burst just to show off its capabilities – these would be great in a home cinema setup. The Immersive 12 monitor speaker is very efficient and offers a wide dispersion pattern, perfect for home cinema use. They had Storm Audio ISP Elite MK3 sound processor and PA 8 Ultra MK3 power amplifier to run the setup.

Big Dipper had a room of their own, they are Rega specialists and had the Rega P10 turntable, Aria MK3 phono stage, HiFi Rose streamer, Audio Research I/50 integrated amp and MoFi Sourcepoint 8 speakers in the main demo system. Around the room they had the Aya speakers, Mofi Turntable, Isoacoustics Orea pucks and some Naim on display.

A quick trip down to the ground floor to catch a bit of Claudia Scott’s set, this was a part live music, part Q&A session in Norwegian and was great to hear. Once again, proving the point that live music at Hifi Shows is a cool thing to do as well as proving popular with the visitors.

Back up to the 3rd floor and Moet Audio had some lovely Revival Audio Atalante 5 speakers (with a quote from the HiFi Pig review on the placard) being run from a full Leema Acoustics setup. They had the Hydra II power amp, Libra DAC, Tucana II amplifier, Agena phono stage, Silent Angel Forester F2 linear power supply and this was all hooked up with Black Rhodium cabling.

In their second room, Moet audio had a showcase of products from Perreaux amplifiers, Perpetuum Ebner turntable, Davis Acoustics speakers, Revival Audio speakers, Silent Angel power supplies, Nuprime electronics along with a side project from one of the founders – called K-Audio. Andreas Knedahl makes a range of multi-channel Class-D amplifiers in lovely cases along with Neotech cables.

Hi-end Studio had the last 2 rooms of the show, in the first they had a pair of Bryston 28B cubed monoblocs driving the Canton Reference 1 speakers. Source wise they had a Basis Audio Bravo turntable and Bryston BR20 pre-amplifier.

In the last room you had a full Bryston setup, they had the Model T10 speakers (these things are huge!) along with a pair of 28B cubed monoblocs, BP19 pre-amplifier and BDA-3 DAC. This room was being played a bit too loud for me, but it was nearing the end of the show so I guess they were having some fun at least.

Thus ends my coverage of the Oslo Hi-Fi Show 2024 – it was a pleasure to cover and overall, it felt like a very well organised show with extremely knowledgeable and passionate people presenting the products. I can see this show growing in years to come and, it deserves to, well done Stereo+ and co.

Oscar Stewart, with pictures by Oscar and Kelly Bowden