THE WAM HIFI SHOW 2023, AN ENTHUSIASTS’ HIFI SHOW IN BARNSLEY

The WAM Show was held last Sunday at the Holiday Inn, Barnsley and we sent a representative along from HiFi PiG to take a look around what looks to have been a brilliant enthusiasts’ HiFi show.

Unfortunately, Lin and I weren’t able to attend the Wam Show that took place on Sunday 29th October, despite it being in our old hometown of Barnsley and in a venue we (or at least Stu) has known for decades from when it was The Brooklands Motel. Now the venue is known as the Holiday Inn, Barnsley and is located just off the M1 at Junction 37 in an area of the town called Dodworth. This seems to be an excellent location for a show of this kind.

Despite not being able to attend ourselves we did send along a HiFi PiG representative to take some photographs of the show.

The WAM HiFi Show is very much a HiFi event for the enthusiasts and is a showcase for those enthusiasts and their own kit. As such I firmly believe that the WAM HiFi show is an important date in the UK audio calendar and all credit must go to the organisers and to the people who make the time and effort to get their audio systems to the venue, set them up, and host their rooms. 

The show had a raffle with prizes donated by members of the forum and with proceeds going to the Barnsley Hospice Charity. They also had a charity auction, with items ranging from a whole new system from NVA (very generous, guys), interconnects from Audio Note (likewise), and a record player and vinyl cleaner from Guildford Audio (and again, likewise) among the items up for grabs. This is an excellent idea and proved to be a massive hit with visitors to the show. I do remember years ago when the show was at Scalford Hall that a raffle was run then and I won a huge pair of (iirc) back-loaded horns speakers that were a tad cumbersome to fit into my carry-on luggage and so got put back into the auction.  

Our thanks go out to Stuart of the Wam for helping us pull this together and for sorting out a couple of press passes at the last minute. 

Here’s the supplied list of all the rooms and what each of the WAM Forum members (along with their WAM handle) were exhibiting in their rooms and then we’ve put together a gallery of images including images from each room and some more general images taken at the event to give HiFi PiG readers a feel for this show.

You can click on each of the images and they will enlarge for you.

Craig & Theo (Sony Craig)

DIGITAL: Sony CDP A50ES – TAPE: Sony TC K950ES – AMPS: Sony TA 1000ESD / TA N55ES – SPEAKERS: Sony APM141ES / Ruark Crusader MK1

Mark & Micky (DiveDeepDog & Mickyricky)

DIGITAL: Linn CD12 – TURNTABLE: Sony TTS8000 / Garrard 301 – AMPS: Avondale Grad1 pre / Avondale Voyager – SPEAKERS: Linn Sara

Michael (Takka244)

DIGITAL: Melco CD100 / N100 – AMPS: Benchmark3 Dac/pre / NadC286 – SPEAKERS: Living Voice

Richard (Rabski)

DIGITAL: Audiolab CD transport / DIY AD1865 valve DAC – AMPS: DIY valve pre / modified Leak Stereo 20 / modified WAD EL34 – SPEAKERS: Mission 700

Julian (Bigrod)

DIGITAL: Arcam SACD player – TURNTABLE: Technics – AMPS: Sonus Faber Musica / Pioneer SA 706 – SPEAKERS: Gale 401

Adam (Wenge1)

DIGITAL: dCS Puccini CD + Scarlatti Clock – TURNTABLE: LP12, Ekos Se, Lyra Atlas – AMPS: Linn KK1 PRE / Linn Klimax Twin – SPEAKERS: Kudos S20A

Adam (Beobloke)

DIGITAL: Beogram CD50 – TURNTABLE: Beogram 5000 – TAPE: Beocord 5000 – AMPS: B&0 Beomaster 5000 / Beocentre 9500 – SPEAKERS: Beolab Penta / Beovox RL140

Adrian (Ady)

TURNTABLE: LP12, Audio Origami PU7, Dynavector Te Kiatora Rua – AMPS: Icon PS3Mk2 / Icon 300B pp with WE valves – SPEAKERS: Klipsch Cornwall 4. / BK P12-300 sub

Paul (Paul55)

TURNTABLE: LP12, Ekos / SP10, RB330 – AMPS: NAP12, Snaps / NAP250 – SPEAKERS: Quad ESL57

Terry (Terryg1)

DIGITAL: Bluesound Node 2i / Mission PCM valve – AMPS: Quad22/303 / Net Audio MBA monoblocks – SPEAKERS: Richard Alan Pavane

Paul (YESPSB)

DIETAL: Audiola TepS/ Denafips Pontus MK2 – TURNTABLE: Wax Engine MK2/ Rega Apheta3 / Longdog -AMPS: Schit Freya / NAD M23 – SPEAKERS: Sehran Swift MUZ

Mike (Jack Hawk)

TURNTABLES: Thorens TD125 Mk1, Audiomods6, AT art9 – AMPS: Pioneer SA-7800 / Primaluna Evo 400i – SPEAKERS: Kralk Audio TBD12

Peter & lan (orbscure & Baggawire)

DIGITAL: EAR Acute / Korus / Topping D90 / Mutec MC3 – TURNTABLE: Tech SP10 / PMAt 1010 / Ortofon Windfeld / Auro Vida – AMPS: Yamaha / Accuphase – SPEAKERS: Yamaha NS2000M

Henry (Cable Monkey)

DIGITAL: Eversolo DMP-A6 / Holo Spring 3 – AMPS: Purify Eigentakt Eval – SPEAKERS: Tannoy

David (Trumpton Riots)

DIGITAL: Denafrips Pontus || – TURNTABLE: Technics SL 1210GR, Ortoon Bronze – AMPS: Musical Fidelity M5si – SPEAKERS: CSS Audio Criton 1TDX

John & Neil (Willardfan & Sunbeamgls)

DIGITAL: Linn DS streamer / Linn Organic DAC – AMPS: Linn Klimax Kontrol / Cyrus X300 Signature monoblocks – SPEAKERS: Vienna Acoustics Baby Beethoven

Mike & Colin (Mike2000 & bornin50)

TURNTABLE: Collaro 4TR200 / Goldring Lenco GL70 – AMPS: 1950s Rogers valve monoblocks / Quad 99 pre – SPEAKERS: Castle Warwick

Des (Haphazard)

DIGITAL: Sony XB920E / Chevron ddDAC1794 – TURNTABLE: Inspire Force10, AudioMods6, DynavectorDV20x2L, Trichord Dino – AMPS: Canary Audio 608 – SPEAKERS: Living Voice Avatar

Stewart (Vinyl4Eever)

DIGITAL: Marantz CD8005 – TURNTABLE: Denon DP59L, 2M Blue – AMPS: Pioneer 5900ii – SPEAKERS: PMC DB1

Harwant & Alpa (Harv)

DIGITAL: Nagra CDP – AMPS: Krell 400xi integrated / Sony Vet – SPEAKERS: Focal 927be / Yamaha NS1000m

Clive (Zim)

DIGITAL: Denon SACD/DVD / Chiurutu NOS R2R DAC – AMPS: Korg Nutube B1 / World Audio 300B PP – SPEAKERS: DIY Standmounts with Focal and Morel drive unit

Steve (VinylnValves)

DIGITAL: Dalphile – AMPS: Nadja DSP Pre / Anaview AMS – SPEAKERS: Horn loaded three-way

Chris (rab1991)

DIGITAL: XTC-CDP1 / Benchmark Dac 1 – AMPS: Armstrong 730 / XTC Power 2 – SPEAKERS: Fostex Studio / Proac Studio 3

Brendan (Jailbreaker)

DIGITAL: Marantz CD5000 / Mac Audirvana – TURNTABLE: Linn LP12, Ekos, Ortofon MC30 Supreme – AMPS: Audionote M Zero / MingDa – SPEAKERS: Revel Performa 3

Dom (DomT)

DIGITAL: Benchmark DAC2 HGC – AMPS: Avondale Quad44 / Audion Silver Knight 2 – SPEAKERS: Snell K/ Harbeth P3ESR

Robin & Brook (Wizmax & Speedracer)

TURNTABLE: Technics SP10, Stax, Koetsu Black / NA Ace Spacedeck, Siggan 12, Koetsu Vermillion. Bigbottle 3 – AMPS: AR Ref 3, Line Magnetic LM508 S – SPEAKERS: Rogers LS5/9

John & David (Lurch & Bigfool 1956)

DIGITAL: Technics SL-PG440A – TURNTABLE: Garrard 401, R200, AT OC5, A&R P77MG – AMPS: Cambridge Audio C50 + A50 – SPEAKERS: Kef 104AB (Wilmslow crossovers)

Ken (Qin)

DIGITAL: Okto DAC8, DAC/Streamer – TURNTABLE: PTP-6 bases, Lenco GL75, Mission 774, LDAMCJ3 – AMPS: Schitt Freya+ / Pass LX12 – SPEAKERS: Opal Event + BK 10″ subs

Sharif & Jo (Audioflyer)

DIGITAL: Marantz CD600 / Bluesound Node – TURNTABLE: Phonosophie P3 / Thorens TD160 Super – AMPS: Valve Pre / Leak TL12.1 – SPEAKERS: JBL L40

Debbie & Stephen (Deb64)

TURNTABLE: Michell Focus One / SME3009 / Sumiko Blue Point – TAPE: Revox B710 / Sony WM-D6 – AMPS: Icon 20PP / Mission Cyrus 1 – SPEAKERS: Tannoy Mercury 2 (modded)

Stephen & Anthony (MVJ & Spincare)

DIGITAL: Esoteric DV50 SACD – TURNTABLE: Technics-1200G, Acromat, Audio Technica ART-9xi – SPEAKERS: active Event Opal / B&0 6000

Steve & Mike (Steve57)

DIGITAL: 1990s Technics CD player – AMPS: DIY PX4 or Mofo – SPEAKERS: CSS Audio Criton 1TDX

Rob & David (freefallrob & occasional thinker)

DIGITAL: Rega CD & DAC / Topping D50S – TURNTABLE: Rega P9 + fono MC MK4 – AMPS: NVA A60 / Aaron Millennium No3 – SPEAKERS: AOS Studio 12 XL Clone / RMB Prototype

Jessica, Jules & Chris (Jessica_k, Jules_S & technobear)

DIGITAL: Marantz SA-Kỉ Ruby – ANALOGUE: TURNTABLE: LP12, audiomods S6, ART9XA – AMPS: Alpha2delta PS1 + PSU1 phono + pre / Transcription Audio 211 – SPEAKERS: PMC CB1

Alan (SpLinnter)

DIGITAL: Project CD Box RS2 Transport – AMPS: Project Pre Box RS Digital / Amp Box RS – SPEAKERS: Alchris Audio AR2

Dean (SCIDB)

DIGITAL: Tag Transport / Auralic Altair streamer/DAC – TURNTABLE: Avid Acutus, SME V / Audio Innovations P2 – AMPS: Django TVC / Audio Innovations 800 Anniv – SPEAKERS: Snell J/11

Nial (ff1d11)

DIGITAL: Audiolab 6000CDT / Young Dac / W4S – AMPS: Townshend Alegri / Harmon Kardon PA2400 – SPEAKERS: JBL 4430 clones

Andrew (Bencat)

DIGITAL: SBT / Meridian 200 CD Transport / MiniDSP DDRC 24 / Mutec USB + / Leo Bodnar Clock – AMPS: 2 x Fidele Audio Upgraded Quad 405 – SPEAKERS: Linn Sara 9 active

We hope that gives you an idea about the WAM Show and we also hope that we didn’t miss anyone out.

By all accounts, this was a brilliant event and the passion of some of the HiFi and audio enthusiasts really does shine out from the photographs of them proudly showing off their HiFis to other HiFi enthusiasts.

Hopefully next year Lin and I will be able to make it to the show.

Again, thank you for making it possible for us to cover the WAM show, and congratulations to all involved in what looks like an absolute blast of a show…

Photos are all copyright HiFi PiG and may not be used without prior written permission…thanks for your understanding on this.