HIFI PIG BRINGS YOU MORE COVERAGE OF THE WARSAW HIFI SHOW AT THE SOBIESKI HOTEL

Stu and Lin investigate further in the rooms of the Sobieski Hotel on the Saturday of the show.

Please note, all content and photos are the copyright of HiFi Pig Magazine/Big Pig Media LLP and must not be copied or reproduced in any way without the prior, written consent of HiFi Pig/Big Pig Media.

Saturday at the Audio Video Show warsaw was busy, very busy, we heard from the organisers that over 10,000 tickets had been presold for that day alone, so the Sobieski was really packed, but the atmosphere was incredible and we saw and heard some amazing gear…read on to find out what…

MANRON

Playing Robben Ford and Bill Evans this was a very nice way to start the day. The Polish brand, Manron’s Lambda 120 (€13K) and 80s €7K) were sounding very nice using the Manron PP20 amplifier. Not much more information was forthcoming from the guys in the room but we were told the information is on their website.

AUDIOLENS

The room was closed at 10:09 am …you snooze, you lose.

THE FUNK FIRM

Nice to see Arthur keeping the British End up. Arthur was keen to show off the new turntable that has a resin insert in the platter that you can chose the colour of…and the name changes with the colour  – this one is the Blue Danube and costs £8400. The concept is a “lab standard” turntable for the home.

Also of interest was the AKUTRAK MM-only phonostage which is the “Only response correcting phono stage.”

Interesting that the speakers were a pair of €387 pair of Phillips loudspeakers. That may be but it sounded really rather splendid.

FORUM DIYAUDIO

DIY Audio has a massive following in Poland and the standard is very high…it is often hard to tell their rooms from the professional ones.

WILE / SOUNDART

WILE were using a pair of Triangle Magellan speakers powered by their own JAZZ hybrid tube amplifier and ELLA preamplifier. Each of the components costs €6400.

The kit looks really cool with the round VU meters.

This Polish brand has been going for 25 years.

RUSH SPEAKERS / SOUND DESIGN ATELIER

Ukrainian manufacturer Rush was showing off their speakers and valve amplifiers. To show their support to Ukraine, the show gave this brand a free of charge room to exhibit, which was matched by the hotel with free accommodation for the exhibitor.

The speakers are the Model RS-II a passive 2.5 way 92dB sensitive loudspeakers (€2,400) whilst the amplifiers were the SE-33 Solos ($2,900). The amps are based on the 6C33C output tubes to output 18Watts.

Played Tequila Sunrise by the Eagles (Live) and it was a very nice sounding system! And fittingly the preamplifier was the Eldorado TP-0 1 ($3,500)

This could well be a boutique brand to keep an eye on and it really did sound excellent!

FORUM AUDIOSTEREO.PL

Another of the HiFi and DIY forums who exhibited.

MUZG AUDIO

DAC reference audio dac- 01s along with their own brand PSUs and Charles Martin Violin loudspeakers (€3,700) and Audio Phase cables. Amps were 20 year old Meridians.

Another good sounding room with a good deal of control and poise for such a little (and untreated) room. Really good imaging on the speakers. I was given the price of the speakers at the end of the dem’ and was pretty surprised they were so reasonably priced. I liked this roo A LOT!

HI-END DISTRIBUTION

Mytek streamer/pre and Sophia Electric amplifiers (about €20K a pair) playing through a pair of Alta Audio Titanium Hestia II loudspeakers from the US and costing €53K and which were making their European debut.

The ribbon tweeter on the speakers really made for a wide and interesting soundstage with the hats on Oscar Peterson Trio’s You Look Good to Me coming from well left of the soundstage.

AUDIO ATELIER

Another Audio Atelier room. The amplifier playing whilst we were in this room was the Swedish Bladelius ASK integrated with built in streamer and DAC costing around €15K and delivering 225W into 8Ohms.

Speakers were from Finnish brand Gradient in the form of their Model g5 at around €10K. These are an interesting loudspeaker having a bipolar 2 bass module. The spherical head is a coaxial paper cone and aluminium magnesium tweeter that can twist for placement.

Also in the room was an AB Tech ethernet isolator.

AUDIO ATELIER

One of four Audio Atelier rooms this one had Xavian loudspeakers, Merason DAC and Silent Angel network gubbins. The Speakers were new to me, or rather this model was, they were the Corallo Exclusivo. Cables were Luna Cables.

AUDIO ATELIER

And another Audio Atelier room, this one having Grandinote speakers and electronics. I really do like this brand a lot and whilst it is quirky, it’s excellent sounding. Amp playing in the room was the SHINAI that, like the other Grandinote designs, uses “Magnetosolid” technology.

This was the first time I’d experienced (I think) this smaller Grandinote speaker but was impressed, this model starts from 10,500€

The full system was: Speakers: Mach2, Amp: Shinai, Phono-preamp: Celio, DAC/STREAMER: Volta Cables: Via Cables

AUDIO ATELIER

The final Audio Atelier room had Westminster Labs that we first came across at Munich newcomers years ago, playing through the Trenner and Friedl PH1 loudspeakers. Turntable was by Well Tempered and the streamer was by Lumin.

AUDIOTITE / ZENSATI / IMPEX

McIntosh amp with a Kuzma front end sounded very good through the Impex

CIARRY AUDIO LOUDSPEAKERS

Ciarry KG5040 speakers are a 4 way design with  5 drivers in an open baffle dipole design made in Poland and costing €10K a pair. Amps in use are the amps are the Haiku Sensei 211. Nicely relaxed sound here.

GMG POWER / ELFTON

Czech speakers by Elfton and their Elevator costing €8000. Certainly packed a punch and went deep. Power conditioning was by GMG power.

DYRZBANSKI GENE PROJECT

This set of speakers looked straight out of a 70s disco set up with their woven golden fabric covers, though they sounded pretty good at the show playing Amnesia by Dead Can Dance.

Roman Dyrzbański and his father who were running the room told us that they built drivers for these speakers based on the original catalogs of the Goodmans company. Roman kindly sent us some technical info which is as follows: “Loudspeakers Beyma SCW12, 12M300, T2030 modified with a tube, 2x Tonsil GDWT 9/40 modified, Large midrange 12 inch old German L3511 but I also use the better Beym 12GA50G. A hybrid amplifier of my design integrated with a space for a small D / A converter. Input circuit on two Texas Instruments precision operational amplifiers, next control stage on four 6CC42 plus EF800 vacuum tubes, then Super Alfa transistor circuit controlling twelve Lateral Hitachi 2SK1529, 2SJ162 MOSFETs.
The most important parameters are defined by the frequency response of 350 kHz and the power of 2×50 Watts with a load of R = 8 Ohm and frequency of 300 Hz”.

ARETAI / MOONRIVER AUDIO / OEPHI

Pictures from this absolutely packed room that we managed to squeeze into. Sounded nice at the back of the room.

GMG POWER / ELFTON

REMTON AUDIO / FONOLAB

The new models featured in this room were the LCR phono amp that is balanced and comes in three boxes. Price is €13,000. The new QVATTVOR 2° MC Step-Up Transformer features advanced switching capabilities while maintaining fully balanced circuitry. It has the ability to connect two independent sources with load selection from the front panel. The transformer is equipped with a demagnetization function and costs €3800.

ARETAI / VIABLUE

My first focus in this room was the LAB 12 KT150 amp that I reviewed and we ended up buying. Source was a NAIM UNITI. These little speakers, the Contra 100s are7500€ (Plus VAT) per pair and absolutely belted out the bass. The horn-loaded tweeter is an interesting addition on a standmount but seemed to work well in this room.

ASC ZAORSKI

Very little information about this room other than the owner Jan Zaorski makes it all himself and it is not for sale.

I absolutely love this kind of stuff. Pure passion for the sake of it!

DLS / LG / SUPREMA SCREEN

SOUND SOURCE

Elins Audio electronics with a Technics SL 1000R front end playing Daft Punks RAM sounded great through the huge Magnepan 3.7i panel speakers.

AUREA / SONY / SUPREMA SCREEN

SOUND SOURCE

Mola Mola, Vivid Kayas, AudioNET were all getting an airing in this room at one point or another but whilst we were in there there were the excellent Kii Three BXT speakers playing. I genuinely do believe that you could put this in pretty much any room and they would sound excellent, and today was no exception. This room was playing some Dire Straits at a relatively low volume and whilst there were a good number of folk in the room there was still loads of bass and detail from the system. Not sure the young lad next to me agreed as he was playing a racing game on his phone – there is no hope!

AUDIO GE

I’ve been following Gediminas Racevicius and his Audio GE loudspeaker brand from pretty much its inception and it’s been great to see him grow from a fledgling brand to one that now has representation in many markets around the world. However, this is the first time I have personally sat in front of a pair of his loudspeakers. The speakers are the TEDDY at €2950 and they do seem to be a lot of speaker, that are also well finished, for what, in the grand scheme of things, is not a lot of money.

They are a handsome loudspeaker standing 900mm high and with ScanSpeak 25mm tweeter and a ScanSpeak  260mm classic paper cone. They are 89dB sensitive and offer a claimed response down to 34Hz, which judging by the response in the room is not unbelievable playing Madness by Muse.

These speakers aren’t ground-breaking from a technology perspective and what they offer is an honest and down-to-earth design that delivers in spades if their performance today, and in less than ideal surroundings is anything to go by.

Very good and a brand that will become bigger and bigger over the next few years in my opinion.

SOYATON / AUDIOFORM /J. SIKORA

Soyaton premiered the brand new Benchmark series power cable and new versions of speaker cables as well as the Benchmark mk2 RCA interconnect. Audioform from Poland showed off new speakers from their Adventure series.

The front end of this system was fronted by the wonderful Sikora turntable and 12” tonearm. This was an excellent sounding system with sounds coming from all around the room from two relatively modest standmounters, though I have no idea what the music playing was. I actually did look around to find the sub, but there wasn’t one!  The art in the room was by Małgorzata Karp-Soja which added to the warm and inviting ambiance.

EXCELLENT!

MOZZAIK AUDIO / EUPHONY AUDIO

Mozzaik Audio had a few banners around their room that said “ EMBRACE DISTORTION” which I thought was an interesting advertising slogan.

Mozzaik Audio power amp mozzaik 1was playing when we were in the room it costs €10K and is CLASS D, though a borrowed Allnic amplifier was being used as a preamplifier. Mozzaik upsampler is a software solution that claims to turn any MAC or PC into “THE ULTIMATE MUSIC SERVER” for 4€ a month. This is an interesting concept from this Croatian company!

The DAC used was a very affordable €150 DAC from an unknown brand, but through the Audio Solutions Figaro M speakers this punched well above its asking price playing Daft Punk’s Giorgio,

KAIZEN ART AUDIO

Too busy to get into the room Which was a shame for this new-to-me brand that is handmade in Poland.

CUBE AUDIO 

Another brand I’ve been following for a long time is Cube Audio and I have had the pleasure of reviewing their Jazz speakers here, which were playing at the show with the juice being provided by a Tektron 211 amp from Italy and a Lampizator Amber DAC.

These wideband speakers are a very natural sounding speaker that somehow seems to overcome many of the disadvantages of wideband speakers but still manage to keep the positive attributes; speed, clarity, and truth to the signal they are fed.

4 HIFI

The show was beginning to get VERY busy at this point but we pushed our way to the front of this room that was playing a Cocktail Audio N25 streamer, a Yaqin CD-35A CD player through a Denafrips Ares II R2R DAC and a Yaqin MS -6508ampifier and YAqin MS-90M speakers. The speakers have a horn-loaded tweeter and forward-firing bass reflex port. I’d never come across Yaqin speakers before but this system was making nice noises.

SONAR AUDIO

Playing Tool’s Jambi the Sonar speakers are an interesting speaker range with one speaker being made in the shape of an electric guitar. However, what I liked about this room over and above the dynamic punch of the Sonar Audio Inocente 1.0 speakers was that they played real-world music and not the usual audiophile guff! Well done Sonar!!!

ADAMS CUSTOM AUDIO

Not a lot of information about this company but from front to back it was all by Adams Custom Audio. Beta (€4200) and Alpha amps through Breva loudspeakers (€4000). Comfortably Numb was playing whilst we were in the room and it did sound excellent.

I was particularly drawn to the absolutely gorgeous remote control. WOW! Again, what strikes me about a lot of the kit on show at this show, and particularly from Polish brands is what excellent value for money you seem to be getting – at face value, anyway.

LUXMAL / AUDIO PALACE

More Adams Custom Audio in this room and specifically the Alpha amplifier that was making its debut at the show.

LUCARTO AUDIO

Lucarto Audio were showing off the new Ferro FR100 standmount loudspeakers and the Ferro IA40 tube amplifier at the Audio Video Show Warsaw 2022. This Polish brand is obviously well known and popular with the people visiting the show, but I do wish folk would move into the room and sit down rather than crowd in the doorway. The new amp is a Class A integrated beast that kicks out a healthy 40W, and, presumably a good deal of heat. Paired with the €25K FR100 (86dB) speakers this was making a lovely sound. It’s always difficult to get a grip on a system in a show situation that is this busy but this was a good sounding room! All the Lucarto Audio kit is handmade in Poland.

QUALIO AUDIO

The QUALIO IQ speakers have an interesting open baffle mid and Mundorf AMT atop an eight inch bass reflex box. €5500 direct sales only. These were a cracking pair of loudspeakers and up there with some of the very best I have ever encountered in a show environment. Dynamics, bass and very clear and detailed.

TR AUDIO

I haven’t a clue what I was listening to in this room other than the music was Johannesburg by Hugh Masakela on tape. This system was utterly insane. Fantastically dynamic and just wonderful to listen to.

LOOK AT IT!!!

ANCIENT AUDIO

Polish brand Ancient Audio were showing off a whole new system based around the new transport, the Single Solid amplifier with DAC and digital speaker processor.

Playing Santana’S In A Silent Way (Live) and at volume the dynamics in this room were fantastic. From the full on aural assault to the more quiet bass and percussion-led passages this system conveyed a liveness that really was palpable. This was interesting because as I wrote the word live, the designer said his aim was to produce a system that sounded “Live”. He has done this wonderfully and, much like the last room we went in (TR Audio) this was a very, very good listening experience. The massive speakers based around a 15” driver and ribbon tweeter on top really moved air but managed to have loads of detail too.

PWL

The €10,400 Chimera amp in this room was the obvious point of attraction playing through a pair of ATC monitors. The amp is in its prototype phase and has a HUGE capacitor bank of 160 000uF and weighs in at 69Kg. I can’t help thinking this statement amplifier is not going to sell in any great numbers because, as stupid as this may seem, it is not expensive enough. That may well seem to be a bit f a daft statement but in the current audio world it’s a statement of fact.

ALBEDO / AUDIO-CONNECT

The first Albedo /Audio-Connect room we went in was playing through a pair of Diptyque (dp160) speakers (€13K) and a Riviera Labs Levante amp.

We use a pair of dp77 speakers from this French brand at home and they are an excellent speaker when driven well. The Riviera Labs amp did a great job of driving these and the guys in the room managed to strike an excellent balance with regards what the room could take volume-wise and what the speakers could deliver. Playing some laid-back lounge jazz this was a lovely and chilled room that, had we had time to break for lunch, would have made a lovely spot to sit and chill for a while. Cables, needless to say, were from Polish brand Albedo.

ALBEDO / AUDIO-CONNECT

Audio Connect is a Polish distributor and obviously carries a fair amount of clout in the country. The speakers are the interestingly shaped Speakers QLN ONE from Sweden 4800€ plus stand 880€ whilst the amplifier is the Ars-Sonum Filarmonia costing  4100€ and coming from Spain. The DAC is the Waversa Sytems Mini HPA (2000€) with the €1900 internet switch hub also coming from this Korean company. All cables were Albedo Silver.

4 HIFI / MEGA ACOUSTIC

I make no excuse for really loving the LAB12 brand and in this room we were treated to the Integre 4 amp and DAC1 Reference DAC. Both of which we have at home and use in our second system. Speakers are the Vermouth Audio Studio Monitor using Accuton drivers.

4HIFI / PREMIUM SOUND

The €4000 Audel Audio Magica speakers are a nice looking two-way and front-ported standmount. The cables in this room were by Tellurium Q (Silver Diamond, Ultra Black, Black Diamond)and the amp was the Line Magnetic 845ia integrated with Elrog tubes. The DAC was an Audiobyte Hydravox with a Lumin transport. Good sounding room playing at sensible levels.

HAIKU AUDIO

SOLIDELE

This was a new name to me. Solidele are a Polish brand making what they say are “reliable audiophile amplifiers”. We got to listen to the La501 a 50W an all in one integrated amplifier. This is a Class A/B amplifier costing €1600 and has an integrated DAC inside. The amp also has onboard proprietary DSP. This was the debut show for the company which started three years ago but they developed the tech whilst at university six years ago. The amp is CNC’d from pure aluminium and is coated with an oxide coating which is very resistant to scratches.

There are option slots for streaming modules which just slot in to the back of the unit and costs about €500. “Powered by maths” was the statement by one of the designers. From a design perspective, this is perhaps the product of the show for me!

GOLD NOTE / DELTA AUDIO

Another of my favourite brands but this one is from Italy. The turntable is a new one to celebrate ten year years and is called the Mediteraneo 10 with a new plinth with the upper part being made of aluminium and the platter is aluminium and an acrylic polymer. The phonostage is the new PH5, the line preamp is the DS 10 EVO and the speakers are the A3 EVO II, a lovely sounding little standmount. The power amps are the PA10 monos which we reviewed here.

4 HIFI

An Allnic Audio T-2000 25th Anniversary amplifier was at the heart of this impressive sounding system. This amp was being fed with a JAY Audio DAC 2 Signature and either a Cocktail Audio X50 or a YBA Signature CD player. The speakers were the Audio Icons.  Sveinung Djukastein Mala design the Ø AUDIO speakers has been building speakers since he was pretty young having built his first speakers when he was 12 years old.  From this first design his interest developed more and more into high-efficiency designs with horns. The speakers got larger and larger because horns need a certain size to work at lower frequencies. At the same time he was building all these speakers he was also running his own distribution company for HiFi/high-end audio and saw that there was the possibility to introduce a good horn speakers into the market. Sveinung says of the horns that were on the market “There were a few, but most of them tended to be tuned in a way that made them sound like horns (not positively). I like horn speakers when they are tuned to sound natural and homogenous in the whole frequency range. I also like speakers that have some real deep bass.” He told us when we reviewed the speakers a couple of years ago. This room had them sounding good, though I think they would have benefited from a larger room where they could have been allowed to breathe a little more.

4HIFI / SKY AUDIO

Big Tannoys and valves – what’s not to like. The amps are all by Sky Audio and its an OTL model.

NOTTE SOUNDS LABS

Notte Sounds are a new name to me and are based in Poland. We got to listen to the NLP 01  (€3500) line preamplifier and the NPA 01 (€4,600) stereo power amplifier. The amplifier is a J-Fet amp with 2 x 100W into 8 Ohms. DAC NDAC (€2500). The speakers are NSS 01 (€10,000). This is a nice and relaxed sounding system.

PREMIUM SOUND / AUDIO ATELIER

This was a very good sounding room when we walked in. Speakers were Audio Solutions Virtuoso standmounts that claim to go down to 30Hz. I don’t doubt this claim and whilst the bass could very easily have overtaken the sound, it didn’t. This was a very balanced sounding system that was right up my street.

Cables were all by Tellurium Q who generously sponsored our coverage of the Audio Video Show Warsaw 2022.

Please note, all content and photos are the copyright of HiFi Pig Magazine/Big Pig Media LLP and must not be copied or reproduced in any way without the prior, written consent of HiFi Pig/Big Pig Media.

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