National Audio Show 2011
The modern but trying-to-look-traditional Whittlebury Hall is not the most inspiring of places in which to put a hi-fi show, but it has some good-sized rooms and is well placed -- being pretty much in the middle of England. It’s a maze though, albeit quite a popular one over a sunny weekend in September. Most of the industry attendees I spoke to were pleased with the numbers, which is encouraging in these tough times. The balance of exhibitors was shifted toward the more obscure end of the spectrum, although there were a reasonable number of familiar brands, courtesy of dealers rather than distributors or manufacturers. The trend for computer audio continues apace, but the retro scene is also clearly flourishing. I suspect there were more horn-loaded speakers here than at any previous UK event. There was no shortage of new products, however, and I’ve cherry-picked for coverage the components that are either pushing the technological envelope or offer excellent value for money. A note on prices:
I've endeavored to quote US dollars, but as this was a UK-based show, the pound was more
conspicuous |
