Having enjoyed last year’s trip to Whittlebury Hall we decided to re-visit the show, the second year in it’s new guise, The Audio Show Deluxe.
A nice tree lined drive up to the Country Hotel and Spa, it always seems very calm with plenty of parking and zero stress. With “VIP tickets” we walked straight in… simples.
Upon arriving we were greeted by Guillaume Boyer, a pure fluke that he happened to be in the hallway and subsequently he jumped in on a picture with Graeme and Ben on the red carpet.
As expected we were immediately frogmarched to Boyer Audio’s room with Guillaume desperate for us to hear the system he’d curated. Last year he stole the show debuting the Engström and Kroma combination and this year was a case of rinse and repeat. A stunning introduction to the show to set us up for a great day!
The first system on show was the Engström Monika Pre-Amplifier into the flagship Eric Mono’s being fed by a crazy multi-box Wadax DAC/Streamer. This was the first UK showing for the new Matilde speakers from Kroma Atelier and they proved a huge hit. We’ll be returning later to hear a more affordable system… (if we forget the Wadax for a minute!)
Linn & ATC
Next along the corridor we had a quick listen to ATC SCM100SE’s, rarely seen in passive form but it allowed “House of Linn” to showcase the new Glaswegian Klimax Solo 800 Mono Block Amplifiers. The Klimax DSM and LP12 provided the tunes with Dual ATC subs providing the welly.
KEF
KEF bought along their MUON speakers, a colossal loudspeaker I saw many moons ago at their factory in Maidstone, Kent. They’re not a new speaker by any means but their sheer size and weight gives me the impression they don’t venture out too much in the UK. A very impressive sculptured piece but I do fear for the finger prints!
Wilson Benesch
Next along was a room we were very excited to see, our love for Wilson Benesch is not exactly a secret! The Omnium speakers are a sight to behold, I could stare at them all day… We had a great chat with Luke Milnes of WB and regret missing a photo opportunity but they’ll always be next time! Innuos and dCS provided the source into Audio Research amplification driving the Omnium and IGx Infrasonic Generator (read subwoofer). The room sounded delicate, natural and had that typical air, space and holographic imaging only a Wilson Benesch speaker can portray.
Decent Audio
Next along was Decent Audio’s room with Raidho speakers, famous for their ribbon tweeter. Unfortunately they were playing rather quietly when we entered and seemed to be in limbo between changing things around. What we did hear was very pleasant through Audio Analogue amplification and filled the room easier than expected for a compact speaker.
Absolute Sounds
Next along the corridor was Absolute Sounds, they seem to have managed to bag a whole corner of the show with four rooms, not to mention the presence they have in other rooms with loaned kit. They certainly know how to run a show so no wonder everyone leans on their experience and expertise. Gavin couldn’t resist a break from the demonstrations to have a catch up in the hallway.
Before setting off for the show one of my main attractions was to see the Helmut Thiele TT-01 Turntable with that incredible TA-01 Zero Tracking Error tonearm. I have always been fascinated by parallel tracking tonearms but have found them to be tricky to set up and maintain, it’s great to finally have something more conventional in appearance that can behave in such a way it stays totally linear when it tracks the groove. A masterpiece if you ask me and the engineering was incredible to see, such a tactile tonearm that was smooth as silk to queue. Pedro give us a great tutorial, pointing out the benefits of the TA-01, how you can set up the VTA up on the fly and how it counteracts issues that occur with regular tonearms. Whilst we were at it, he also introduced us to their new cartridge range, Analog Relax starting at just £2698.
The next Absolute Sounds room had the Dan D’agostino Momentum Integrated amplifier with Wilson Audio speakers. D’agostino has quickly become a fan favourite at The Audiobarn and it’s great to see more High End Integrated amplifiers be introduced… not everyone has the space for 17 boxes!
Whilst being in the same room I wanted to show the Dohmann Helix One Mk3 separately. It’s more than a little bit special, we were privileged enough to have it in store for an open day in 2023 and it was great to hear it once more. As you can see another Analog Relax cartridge was in play as well as a very clever laser guided Reed tonearm. One of those products you could lose hours just staring it, just imagine how much time you’d lose when you start playing records!
Perlisten Audio
Away from Absolute and onto something different… breaking the mould at the “Hifi show” were Karma AV. Like last year they bought along another full AV set up to captivate the audience with a break from music and a bit of “crash, bang, wallop!”. We were treated to a scene from Ford vs Ferrari and it didn’t disappoint through the Perlisten R7T Freestanding speakers and multiple sub AV set-up. We have the Perlisten in-wall S Series at the Barn so we know exactly what they’re capable of, I’d have liked to have heard music too as I think people would be surprised by the speakers in this regard. We find them to be the perfect crossover for Music and AV systems!
The Million Pound Hi-Fi
The next room had caused quite a stir before the show as it was billed as “How does a million pounds sound?”. The million pound system was made up of Aavik electronics and Borresen speakers wired with Ansus cabling courtesy of “Audio Group Denmark”. The room itself was massive so the speakers were already up against it, I was particularly impressed with the backdrop of Denmark which was very calming and a great setting for the room. I wasn’t a big fan of the music being played so planned to return later had time permitted.
Audio Note
Make no bones about it, Audio Note are my personal favourite. The only criticism we have is the mood lighting, it plays havoc with the pictures! Saying that I’d never change it, they have such a great ambience in what is one of the smaller rooms at the show. The AN-E Limited Field Coil speaker was on show once again and shining away in the corners of the room, the Meishu Konzertmeister amplifier was once again at the heart of the system and has made it’s way to the top of the Audiobarn’s shopping list! Just pure musical bliss, never does a system sound so right, so quickly. Well done Micky!
AIRT
Next door Airt Audio were demonstrating their “LTNF” process, Fraser and Glen have really decided to take on the industry in this regard to help people understand how they can “Lower The Noise Floor”. Airt have some fantastic products in this regard, we use the Acustica Applicata products along with Stillpoints in-store and they’ve championed Entreq grounding for years now! We caught Fraser mid-speech and I think may have disappointed him when we had to head off so we didn’t miss the live act below.
The Lilly Dior Band
We had to have a quick break at this point as we wanted to experience some of the live music on offer in the “Audio Show Club Deluxe” suite. This time we were treated to “The Lilly Dior Band”, an Australian Jazz singer and her entourage. Graeme commented straight away “You wouldn’t get that on a Hifi” and I couldn’t agree more, it was an incredible captivating performance to remind us why we all got into this game – a love of music. Anyone that knows me will know Jazz isn’t my genre of choice but I loved it and could have stayed for hours.
PS. Graeme couldn’t resist but tuck into the free appetisers, I think he was gutted he drove to the show when he saw there was free alcohol on offer too!
Vertere
Starting upstairs we made a beeline for Vertere to hear one of our favourite products, the SG-1 and see one of our favourite people in Mike Burn. We caught him just in time queuing up Seal for a quick spin. Unfortunately the room was packed and we didn’t get a great seat but was pleased to see people giving Vertere plenty of airtime.
We have an SG-1 if you’d like to visit us too. I wasn’t familiar with the interesting looking speakers from Stratton Acoustics so would have liked a proper session but the striking looks were certainly a conversation starter!
Cyrus and Audio Physic
Seeing Cyrus and Audio Physic twice in a row at a UK show was an interesting one, good for the British Electronics brand to be more present on the scene. I was pleasantly surprised to see Guido again, once of Linn Products representing the Audio Physic speakers.
Reference Audio Distribution (RAD)
Adjacent to Cyrus were Reference Audio Distribution (RAD) who bought along some really interesting brands. The Silent Pound Audio speakers grabbed our attention and Ben and Graeme had to sit for a listen whilst I checked out the Spirit Torino headphones that have always intrigued me. Lithuanian brand Silent Pount Audio manufacture open baffle speakers that sounded incredibly natural, if I were being critical I just can’t picture them in many UK customers homes. I do appreciate something a little different however and we all enjoyed the experience.
Luxman & Dali Loudspeakers
Another great room was Luxman who had partnered with Dali and their rather attractive (rather large!) Epikore 11 Speakers. This was an excellent sounding combination, perhaps in part to be cables by Chord who are an ever present at UK Hifi shows. It was great to see Antony from Chord with Steve from IAG who important Luxman (see below).
Running out of time
Unfortunately the show had become a bit of a rush after this point as we were running out of time, desperate to see Antonio Forcione’s live performance and we’d promised a second visit to Boyer’s room. We quickly skipped through a few rooms including Technics, Auden distribution (Eggleston Works), Blackwood speakers, Connected Music Distribution and most regrettably Symmetry Systems. Sorry Nigel but we popped in but didn’t see you and think you’d practically finished up for the day!
Back to Boyer
Back at Boyer’s… what had meant to be a quick second listen with a change of system turned into a much longer session. We’d been placed front and centre to experience the Engström ARNE with the brand new Kroma Atelier Macbeth speakers. This could be the best combination experienced at a show yet, taking everything into account.
The scale and presence was phenomenal and the way it conveyed “The Sound of Silence” from The Ghost of Jonny Cash was spine tingling. I still can’t wrap my head around that being AI generated but we’ll save the subject for another day.
Continuing to be gobsmacked we were treated to more tracks and remained glued to our seats, whilst I appreciate it’s not pocket change we had heard systems at the show costing 5-10x the price and none came close to matching the weight, realism and sheer emotion from this 28 Watt 300B valve amplifier. The ARNE has won our hearts at the Barn, you can expect the Macbeth so do the same very soon. Watch this space.
It was great to finish on a high with the ARNE/Macbeth combination, next up the real thing with more live music. We have been aware of Antonio Forcione for many years having received several sampler CD’s thanks to Naim and their record label. The way he plays with such speed and verve always stood out for an acoustic guitarist. I am a lyric person, if I had to choose something that drawers me into music it would be the words and the story. To be that good that you don’t need any vocals made Antonio someone I wanted to experience in person.
As soon as we walked in we were greeted by Antonio and were straight into stories from his travels, what a great character and a natural performer, even when just talking he had the crowd engaged. Once he started playing it was captivating, the speed he played his guitar was mesmerising at times and even when he slowed it down he had the whole crowd quiet with eyes and ears glued to the stage. To be a one man band and have the audience like putty in your hands must be quite a feeling, one I couldn’t being to imagine having zero musical talent. Well played Antonio – a great end to the show!
And that was it, another show complete. Very different to Bristol which has a huge amount of exhibitors, most in smaller spaces. Whittlebury Hall has less rooms but they’re larger and with equipment many of us can only aspire to own one day. The show is very well laid out over two floors (see below) and with free coffee and tea points you don’t need to go far to be refreshed. It’s a show where you can take it easy in the spacious venue and take your time when experiencing many brands, some familiar and some new to the market (UK at least). Looking forward to next year, we may be there all weekend supporting a brand. We’ll keep you in the loop with how that one develops!
Not sure the last picture is relevant really and I don’t usually share anything food related, feel free to exit … stage left. For the second year running (as last year was so memorable) we ended the day at Prego, an independent Italian restaurant in Buckingham close to the show. It was great to share a meal with Ben and Graeme before heading home, being creatures of habit I think we chose a lot of the same food as we had last year – a sign of how much we enjoyed it. Highly recommended if you’re at a loose end after Whittlebury 2025, just don’t book too many tables as we’d like one too!
