AUDIO VIDEO SHOW WARSAW 2023 REPORT FROM THE GOLDEN TULIP

Warsaw Audio Video Show is split over three venues, as anyone who has been following HiFi PiG’s coverage of the event will be aware. The second of the hotels involved is the Golden Tulip, just over the way from the Sobieski where you tend to find a good number of high-end brands in large rooms.

It’s a good place to start on the Saturday morning at the Warsaw Audio Video Show. 

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No breakfast, a flooded shower, and a head that feels like…well, it doesn’t feel very good…has me thinking that I’m getting way too old for all this, and next year we will need to rethink our strategy for ensuring we get around the whole event.  On the trip to the airport, sharing a taxi with Geoff and Pam from the sponsors of our coverage of the Warsaw Audio Video Show, Tellurium Q, I made the comment that I was somewhat knackered and then realised that we actually started covering this show around ten years ago (20% of my lifetime ago) and given my advancing (but not quite ancient) years, I think I may have slowed down a tad.

Anyway, a walk over to the Golden Tulip with Lucas from Lampizator clears the Saturday morning cobwebs somewhat and it is, indeed, his room, along with the guys from SVEDA we pop into first of all. 

LAMPIZATOR, SVEDA

And what a great start to a somewhat overhung day it is. Not sure what they were thinking with regards to the musical choices, but it does sound quite splendid. And then the sweet sounds of Fink’s Trouble Is What You’re In kicks in and all of a sudden we are back in the room and realise why we’re in this crazy game. Year after year I go on about this room and what it’s always one of my favourites, And this year doesn’t disappoint. Fabulous. No more words than that. Fabulous! I’d quite happily sit in here for the remainder of the day and let the gentle waters of Lampizator and Sveda wash over my too-old-for-this body.

Lampizator’s new Poseidon DAC was making its debut in the system along with the new Sveda Audio Neon speakers.

GALERIA AUDIO

We are here in what I would consider (arguably) the best of bits of what the Warsaw Audio Video Show has to offer and as if by some stroke of genius by the Gods of High End Audio we find ourselves in Galeria Audio and listening to Kharma and Aries Cerat. Not sure why they choose to play the stuff they are playing on this kind of kit as it’s really not to my taste, but it does sound quite pleasant…if a little challenging for this time of day. The audience clearly love it as there were actual applause. 

DESTINATION AUDIO

Well, what can I say? Well, I could say play some music we know but that would be being a tad churlish as the sounds in this room were really rather splendid…indeed. But then they were always going to be with the wonderful French brand JADIS (JA170) providing the amplification into a pair of Destination Audio horn loudspeakers. 

And then there was a Destination Audio GM70mpair of Amps with a DaVinci turntable with a 60 year old AMPEX reel-to-reel playing the role of source. I didn’t know the music playing but it sounded a tad distorted to me, whereas the previous music we had listened to sounded splendid – I can only assume the distortion I was hearing was on the recording and not the amps.

NATURAL SOUNDS

Horns! Big horns!

I forgot to look at what the kit in this room was before we walked in but that’s not too bad a thing and I noted to myself that this is what bonkers audiophile kit is all about. On exiting the room and reflecting…it was NATURAL SOUND both in name and the sound of the music playing. Quite apt, really. The guys that run this company apparently came to one of my presentations in Munich but had to leave early…can’t say I blame him, to be honest…but he did tell Lin he enjoyed my passion for music and what he saw of my presentation. 

RCM

Unfortunately, there was a long (and I am sure very interesting) talk going on in this room so we never actually got chance for a listen.

AYON AUDIO

Walked into the Sound of Silence (an unknown version) and then they turned it off. 

ESTELON & ACCUPHASE

So, it would appear that The Golden Tulip is where it’s at, and I also think this is the best I’ve heard Estelon sounding. They are great loudspeakers but there’s something going on here that has them sounding really brilliant! They were the very last pair (of ten) of the Estelon Forza Anniversary, and if someone is planning to snap these up they will be very happy.

It suddenly strikes me that there are not enough hours in a day to really thoroughly give an impression of a show of this size and I think Adam who runs the show needs to consider an extra day…week…month.

Quite an incredible sounding system playing Fink’s Trouble is What You’re In and then the current fave of all HiFi Shows around the world, Make Us Stronger by Ghost Rider. And incredible looking too with the striking gold and black theme.

HOLOPHONY

Now go to our coverage from the National Stadium, here!

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.

Stuart and Linette Smith

Follow HiFi PiG’s Warsaw show coverage, news and reports here.