Once again, the arrangements were done by Ataria Oy. Probably, because of the increasing number of demonstrators, the stands and rooms were even more dispersed than before. Naturally, this caused slight criticism. On the whole, the listening results were great, the best ever in the whole history of the event. All the presentators did well enough in their rooms and a couple of rooms even bettered their performance on Sunday.
Only a few flaws were noticed, most of which concerned demoing. Firstly, the music was played often too silently, and in several rooms, we had to ask more volume. Come on, analyzing the sound needs high enough levels! Secondly, not all the presentators were done carefully regarding the positioning of speakers and listening chairs. Thirdly, interoperability and performance levels of the used components were not concerned well enough in a couple of rooms. So, improvements can be still done in the future!
Conclusion
After the visits, I summarized our “team’s” observations.
The conclusion was that we all had very homogenous opinions. The very best rooms
were Ataria, Audio Pori, Hifihuone and Hifiklinikka, but actually there were
plenty of rooms which became quite close to them. Ataria bettered their already
good performance on Sunday by installing more powerful monoblocks into their
system. After this action, Ataria room delivered probably the best and smoothest
sound of the show. Audio Pori’s room delivered very well controlled and
fast sound in surprisingly large dynamic range, but suffered slightly from harshness
and emphasis of low treble and upper midrange. Hifihuone demoed very resolving
and well-balanced sound to the sweet spot and near it, but at higher volume
levels, there were some hints of restrictions. Hifiklinikka offered quite similar
sound as Audio Pori, having slightly better balance, but also a bit less speed.
Sound
Hopefully the event will have a successor, because in past years this event
has had so much good, both sonically and socially. High End Hyvinkää
trounces Hifi-Expo and other current events in Finland, that’s a fact!
Only a couple of open doors events can compete with their sonic performance
and service. So, I wish great luck for the arrangers in finding continuity!
The Very Best Rooms
The Ataria setup consisted of the massive Fischer & Fischer SL 1000 speakers driven by MBL electronics (importer Audist Oy). Big and smooth sound!
Audio Pori’s
room had Audiovector SR3 Avantgarde speakers and Project RS line electronics,
impressively demoed indeed. Plenty of speed and control!
Hifihuone demoed Marten Miles 5 speakers with MSB source and Lindemann stereo amplifier. The system seemed to be quite optimally set-up. Very resolving and nice overall sound!
Hifiklinikka played vinyls successfully through Heed amplification and Verity Audio Rienzi speakers. Very good sound, once again!