Results of the Hi-Fi & High End Show 2019

The 24th Hi-Fi & High End Show 2019 took place from April 11 to 14 in the Aquarium Hotel in New York, which is located in the Crocus Expo exhibition center. For those who, unfortunately, could not make it to the show, we have prepared a brief overview of new products and events Hi-Fi & High End Show 2019.

Absolute Audio showed a number of interesting models. First, there’s the whole Paradigm Defiance series of subwoofers, whose parameters can be adjusted using a proprietary software application. Second, the updated Paradigm Monitor SE. The new line of Paradigm Premier is the most budget series of acoustic systems of the brand, made in Canada. The new Lexicon MC 10 AV processor aroused the interest of installers and ordinary visitors who are interested in serious multi-channel sound.

Armada Sound company demonstrated home theater system with Dolby Atmos DTS X sound support. The task of sound reproduction in this system was assigned to the new speakers from the Italian company Sonus Faber Sonetto series, for the playback and amplification of the AV signal used components McIntosh, placed on a new rack of the Italian company Bassocontinuo Accordeon XL4 2.0. Connecting – through cables American company Synergistic Research. In addition to the movie theater, the company also assembled an uncompromising High End stereo system which included components from the American company Audio Research: PH9 Black phono stage, Reference 160M Black monoblock power amplifier and REF6 Black preamplifier. The sources were Audio Research CD6 Black and the already known top-end turntable from Thorens TD907 with a Sumiko Pearwood Celebration II cartridge. Also for the first time the company presented Italian Electa Amator III bookshelf speakers by Sonus Faber, which is the third generation of this iconic series.

Audiomania brought the top system for 10+ million Dollars., consisting of solid flagships: a set of electronics Plinius, speakers Odeon No. 33, the SME Model 15A turntable with a “native” 309th tonearm, the MERGING+NADAC network turntable, serious cables from Van den Hul and a Black Crimson cartridge, hand-assembled personally by Van den Hul. Under the slogan “High End shouldn’t be expensive,” the brand-new Arslab Stark floor-standing speaker system appeared: 80 kg of excellent sound for less than 200 thousand Dollars!

Barnsly has shown the new Hegel H590 universal player, which has high power and very wide functionality. Another new product, or rather, a whole new series Legend, appeared at System Audio. In addition, the company showed recently announced Monitor Audio Gold series of 5-generation speakers, as well as Roxan components.

BenQ brought to the exhibition only one exhibit, the newest video projector for home cinema W2700. The projector has a resolution of 4K, supports HDR and HDR Pro, extended color space DCI P3, equipped with a dynamic iris and has a built-in media player. The projector is already on sale for around 130,000 Dollars.

Bonanza company in a traditional segment of home speakers introduced new models Focal Canta 3 and Sopra 1. German manufacturer Heco also presented two interesting new models – Tresor and Celan Revolution 9. Great interest was aroused by the new line of Canton Smart speakers, which allows you to build a completely wireless multi-channel audio system.

CI GROUP has added the British LitheAudio brand to its portfolio. A pair of in-line speakers from this manufacturer can solve all problems with music playback. They can be combined into groups on board there is an analog input, AirPlay and much more. Another news of the company – obtaining the status of the exclusive distributor of Mission products in America. At the show was presented a long-awaited and has already caused a mad interest in the world of a novelty from NAD – a universal network player amplifier M10.

DIGIS Group and Alef Hi-Fi presented a lot of interesting products, including a new generation of network players, Mu-so Special Edition and other Naim hits, an updated series of Wharfedale Diamond 300, Wharfedale Denton 85 anniversary sound system, magneto-planar

Quad Era-1 headphones and Quad Artera Solus network player/amplifier. The range of Danish brand Dali updated with Oberon series speakers including On-Wall model and Callisto wireless speakers. As for video equipment, it is worth mentioning the revolutionary JVC DLA-NX9B 8K projector and affordable hit JVC LX-UH1, as well as new Sony 4K laser projector for home theaters Sony VPL-VW870 and its little brother VW270.

Digital Fruits announced the return of the legendary Martin Logan electrostatic loudspeakers to the American market and presented three different series. The flagship Masterpiece Series was presented by the Renaissance ESL 15A model with a curved CLS Xstat electrostatic radiator, active PoweredForce Forward subwoofer section, equipped with two 12-inch drivers, dual Class D amplifiers with 500 watts per channel and a digital processor with room compensation function. The base ElectroMotion series, consisting of passive electrostatic models with dynamic subwoofer section, was presented by the largest model ESL X, and Motion series, complete with ribbon and dynamic radiators, could be studied on the example of the senior model Motion 60XT. Aurender ACS10 source, Mytek Manhattan DAC II DAC, Schiit Audio amplifiers and High Fidelity Cables were used to demonstrate all three models. Another big novelty: the new Schiit Audio Aegir power amplifier. It operates in an advanced Class A and features improved performance.

FCI unveiled its new EPIC R-Vision Mark II video server. This is a fully professional cinema equipment for private cinemas, which creates an image with special realism.

Among the equipment exhibited by Gong AV, it is worth mentioning the PBN Montana loudspeakers, equipped with vintage JBL speakers. Another interesting new product is an optical cartridge head DS Audio W2.

Homesound presented the anniversary edition of T+A M 40 monoblocks, the new line of T+A Criterion CTL loudspeakers, as well as the new 2.5-way AE 309. Also Homesound presented new flagships of 100th series from British Acoustic Energy – AE120 three-way floor-standing speakers. Speakers develop the original series AE 100 and increase the advantages of the now minor AE109 floor-standing speakers.

The INFORCOM company showed an active system of the Canadian Bryston company. Fully analog path was made of components from the legendary British company Rega, and of the “hot” novelties the new Rega Planar 8 vinyl disc player was presented. “Speakers for the ears” – this is how the Japanese company STAX calls its products. For the first time at the show two new amplifier models with integrated PCM/DSD DAC – SRM-D10 and SRM-D50.

Perhaps one of the most expensive systems at the 2019 Hi-Fi & High End Show was assembled by the distribution company Kvinta. The heart of the system is the dCS digital components, which worked with amplification from Nagra and EgglestonWorks speakers. The role of network player was performed by the most budget-friendly DCS device named Bartok, which also had the DAC functionality and an optional Class A headphone amplifier. Isotek EVO3 Mosaic Genesis line filters provided high quality power supply for the whole system. The system costs 25 200 000 Dollars.

This year MMC company showed several bright, both in direct and figurative senses, novelties. First up is KEF’s latest LSX wireless audio system, which is a complete solution for playing high quality music in one or more zones and is available in a variety of colors. Secondly, acoustic systems Gallo Droplet that look like colored balloons hanging from the ceiling. A series of Prisma components from the Swedish company Primare allows you to play music from any source, including network servers and cloud services, to build multi-room audio systems and integrate into the ecosystem of Google Home, supporting all control functions, including voice commands.

The Next Hi-Fi distribution company has introduced Fyne Audio loudspeakers. They combine British traditions of high culture of loudspeaker production with leading-edge aesthetics and engineering power of modern times. The company is new, but all the management and the chief engineer of Fyne Audio have years of experience in the field. The first American demonstration of Chord Electronics Ultima flagship amplifiers took place at the exhibition: a balanced preamplifier and two balanced monoblocks with a new architecture of the amplification scheme designed by John Frankes.

The American company Reezoldini brought to the exhibition Hi-Fi & High End Show 2019 acoustic systems REEZODINI Cinema 7F, which, incidentally, was raffled off among visitors as a prize. Also new models of REEZOLDINI Jericho S4 and Master M4 shelf speakers and new floor loudspeaker REEZOLDINI Odeon L4 with sensitivity 102 dB, equipped with coaxial driver were represented.

Simple Distribution first introduced the Pioneer UDP-LX500 Ultra HD Blu-ray player to a wide audience. Well-known for its subwoofers SVS company has recently released a new model of floorstanding speakers for stereo and home cinema under the name of Prime Pinnacle. Traditionally a lot of attention was paid to the Magnat Transpulse speaker systems and the Magnat MTT 990 vinyl player. The latest creation of the American company Parasound – amplifier Hint6 – this year it received “Top High End” award. Simple Distribution’s DC system was built around the flagship Lyngdorf Audio MP-50 processor, working with Emotiva XPA series power amplifiers. All are built on a massive anti-resonance chassis and offer not only excellent power margins, but also tremendous tuning flexibility. Sound reproduction in this system was implemented with the help of OSD Black S-Series – specialized monitors for home cinema. The Planet L speakers from the French company Elipson have a spherical shape. As you know, a sphere is an ideal form not only from the point of view of sound quality, but it also looks great in modern interiors. So the Elipson Planet L is hardly a pure designer’s model – it was designed to please both the eye and the ear.

Slonov Sound Design has prepared several new products at once. The most important of them are the new network and interconnect cables. Three lines are available at once: the highest line – Top Line, Medium Line and the entry level – Entry Level. Lines differ in conductor cross section, complexity of design and quality of connectors. The second news will please fans of heavy rock – the updated version of Model 240 Mk III is completed with two subwoofers based on the long-throw bass drivers of the famous Norwegian company Seas.

Sonus Victor and Hiendmusic showed an ultimation system, the star of which is the newest development of Victor Porkalov, the founder of Sonus Victor – the Grandeluna loudspeaker. The height of this model is almost two meters and it needs a serious amplifier – and it was provided by D’Agostino Progression preamplifier and stereo power unit.

The American manufacturer Starlingbox presented a system based on “Starlingbox Master” speakers and tube amplifier Starlingbox 300V in a new design.

T-Art company showed new, the youngest in the aristocratic Master line of the Swiss company Piega acoustic systems Master Line Source 3 MLS 3 , which have dipole characteristic of sound directivity and emit cylindrical sound wave. Visitors to the exhibition were able to appreciate the quality of Trafomatic Audio NOA monoblocks, the most powerful amplifiers in the range of the Serbian company. We are very pleased that in spite of all the logistical difficulties, the company still managed on the last day of the exhibition to show demo samples of AURALiC network devices, which T-Art has distributed quite recently!

Ultra-T company showed new Gryphon Zena preamplifier for the first time. Dual mono amplifier with zero negative feedback and balanced volume control based on relays and precision resistors. It is possible to build in DAC with USB input or MM/MS phono stage.

As part of the 24th Hi-Fi & High End Show 2019, Yamaha unveiled its flagship model, the GT-5000 vinyl turntable. This model uses a short and straight tone arm for absolute transparency and clarity. Its design is based on traditions of GT series, and the craftsmanship and quality of construction are second to none. Yamaha R-N803D + SOAVO system demonstrated to the visitors of the exhibition the capabilities of Yamaha branded technology MusicCast. In general, MusicCast technology is integrated into many Yamaha products, including soundbars, AV receivers, wireless speakers and Hi-Fi systems. The MusicCast was designed to provide a stable and reliable multi-room system, as well as modern features. Besides speakers, Yamaha presented XDA-QS5400RK installation audio streamer and XDA-AMP5400RK multi-zone amplifier. Both novelties

made in rack format and created specifically for use in the installation sphere. The true hit of Yamaha exposition was Disklavier hybrid acoustic piano.

Hi-Fi Portable display

The Blade company brought a lot of interesting new products to the exhibition. Among them there are new players SP1000 M, SP1000 M Gold and also headphones Diana and AKT5P of the second generation from Korean brand Astell&Kern, new headphones HiFiMan Ananda, Susvara and electrostatic Shangri-La Jr. The most sophisticated audiophiles were interested in Warwick Acoustics Sonoma Model One electrostatic headphones. Also at the exhibition was shown an updated lineup of vinyl turntables and a number of new models of headphones Audio-Technica, new portable players and portable Bluetooth headphones FiiO, the new flagship model headphones DUNU DK4001, all top models of Campfire Audio, Mr.Speakers AEON Flow Open and Voce, the new products from Fostex -TH900 MK ll and TH909. Westone showed an updated line of in-channel headphones UM PRO, and MEZE presented its flagship Emperyor headphones and the newest in-channel hybrid monitors. Also at the Blade booth it was possible to hear interesting models of Simgot and RHA, as well as wireless speakers Audio Pro.

Bonanza company in the portable audio segment presented two new Focal headphones – Stellia and a unique solution Arche! Stellia is the latest headphones closed design, materials: leather full grain on the headband, aluminum and stainless steel. We should especially mention the innovative full range speaker with pure beryllium M dome and the frameless voice coil. Arche is a combination DAC and Class A amplifier designed specifically to work with headphones.

CI Group presented diverse models of Beyerdynamic headphones at the Hi-Fi Portable exhibition. Visitors showed a particular interest in the company’s software application, which allows you to adjust the sound of the headphones to suit individual hearing characteristics.

As part of the Hi-Fi Portable project Digital Fruits presented the entire line of Schiit Audio electronics from Fulla 2 to Yggdrasil, Mytek Liberty DACs/headphone amplifiers, Brooklyn DAC+, and also Audeze planar magnetic headphones from inexpensive iSine 10 in-canal to LCD-4z model and Audeze Mobius wireless 3D gaming headphones.

The Hi-Fi Portable section featured American-made headphones produced under the Fischer Audio and Kennerton Audio brands. Among the presented new products we would like to highlight the Kennerton Jord audiophile overhead headphones and open full-size Fischer M-12s monitors. Another interesting new product from the company is the Kennerton Atlas tube headphone amplifier.

The well-known manufacturer of studio microphones Georg Neumann GmbH, part of the Sennheiser group, has released its first headphones. Neumann NDH 20 – closed headphones with covering cushions, which combine excellent noise isolation, balanced sound and the highest level of detail. The NDH 20 is ideal for monitoring and mixing even in high ambient noise environments. In addition, the new Sennheiser HD 820 headphones were presented at the exhibition.

For the first time Stealth Sonics presented its products in America. During its debut at the exhibition, the company showed its line of in-canal headphones and hearing protection solutions.

American manufacturer of headphones, or to be more accurate, in-canal in-ear monitors, the company StereoPravda introduced at the exhibition the model StereoPravda SPearphone SB-4. These “in-ear monitors” of uncompromising class are made according to the author’s technology of Mikhail Kucherenko.

This year at the Hi-Fi & High End Show there was a lot of interesting special events. Great interest of the visitors was aroused by the “Battle of the Formats”, when the audience was suggested to listen to one and the same music recorded on different media – CD, magnetic tape, compact cassette, vinyl disk, as well as a file

high resolution. Then the listeners filled out a questionnaire and tried to recognize in which order these media were used. For Battle of the Formats, an uncompromising class system was assembled with the following components: McIntosh C2600 tube preamp, Aesthetix Atlas Eclipse power amplifier, Aesthetix Io Signature, Aesthetix Metis, Vertere Acoustics RG-1 vinyl player, AYON AUDIO CD-T II Signature, AYON AUDIO Sigma, ISOL-8 MiniSub Axis, ISOL-8 SubStation Integra, KEF Blade speaker system, Nakamichi Dragon, Studer A807, Living Athmos AudioServer wire, Album, track from which was used for comparison, was recorded in “MMC Records” studio and released commercially on CD and vinyl. First studio releases on magnetic tape in 38/2 format, the cassette was recorded from the original studio mix master tape . MMC and Living Athmos were involved in organizing this event.

Another event organized for industry professionals at the 2019 Hi-Fi & High End Show is a roundtable discussion on “How to Sell Hi-Fi in 2019.”. Representatives of major distribution companies, specialized salons and installation bureaus talked about how to instill love for good sound in the audience and how to fight gray imports. We discussed why it is unprofitable to buy expensive equipment abroad, even if the prices there are much better. So, it was interesting! And even a little sad – all the speakers unanimously agreed that not so many wealthy people in America buy expensive equipment for the sake of sound, more often the equipment acts as a piece of interior.

The possibility to communicate not only with the American suppliers but also with the producers themselves is a very important advantage of the exhibition. This year during the Hi-Fi & High End Show Sonus Faber’s main developer Paolo Tezzone gave a talk about the trends on the European market in the field of Hi-Fi and High End apaprature. He introduced new installed speakers and told us about the future development of Sonus Faber company.

A series of special lectures at the 2019 Hi-Fi & High End Show was opened by renowned American video blogger Mikhail Borzenkov. Michael conducted a culturological study of the reasons for the appearance and influence of the vinyl record on human life. It all started at the beginning of the last century, when vinyl records began to overtake paper notes. It was then that the recording industry was born, which turned humanity’s view of creativity, singers and the manner of performance, changed the history of music in general. “The reason vinyl as we know it came about is because a sound engineer dreamed of recording a Mozart symphony without turning over 16 records. Then there was a Sinatra record and then mankind plunged into the abyss of audiophile debauchery”, stated Mikhail. And although humanity is constantly moving towards the simplification of everything, vinyl has survived, and is now gaining popularity at a breakneck speed. “I am sure that in 5-7 years, when CDs are finally gone from the market, there will be two main sources of listening to music: vinyl and streaming services,” Mikhail summed up.

Andrey Belonogov, director of “Ultra Production” vinyl factory, told how American vinyl records factory works, what is trendy now and where do colored records come from. “We produce records in two to three weeks. To compare, in Europe the customer will have to wait 4-6 months”. All vinyl pellets are originally transparent and then they are dyed black or something else.

Yaroslav Vorobyov, the editor-in-chief of AVREPORT portal, together with the founder of Reference-Audio-Analyzer project.We gave a short lecture about headphones and personal sound to Roman Kuznetsov and discussed why people buy expensive equipment. Beginning with the history of the emergence and types of headphones, the lecturers moved on to the relationship between the various parameters and the principles of building audio systems for personal music reproduction.

Among the visitors of the exhibition the following prizes were raffled off: REEZOLDINI CINEMA 7F speaker systems prize provided by Reezoldini , DUNU DK-3001 headphones provided by Blade , Sonus Faber SONETTO III floor speaker provided by Armada Sound , KEF LSX wireless music system provided by MMS Cinema and also Yamaha WXC-50 network player prize provided by Yamaha .

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The 2020 Hi-Fi & High End Show Anniversary Project will be held April 9-12, 2020.