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I travelled to the Bristol Hifi Show 2019 from the new Blues Audio HQ in Portreath near Redruth on the Can Am trike, and arrived on the Saturday just after lunch.

I have been to many HiFi shows, this one was busy which was a good sign and all the rooms were taken with dealers and manufacturers.

Mostly British audio was on display with some European influence.

The best sound of the show came from Audioquest.

Using Kudos speakers and a moderate integrated amp a fine sound (better than that from the Kudos room!) was produced and used to prove to the punters that kettle leads of differing metal content and design did indeed make a difference.

Nick Allen from Audioquest gave an enlightening brief and demonstration of increasingly expensive AQ leads, and a subtle improvement delivered.

Decent Audio had three rooms, these Eclipse speakers were my favourite.

Mid range and vocals were well produced and bass although not deep was realistic. These can be used with a sub woofer for TV and audio, and were priced at £4’795.

I asked the host to play some rock music to test the bass, but he put on some weird techno music instead! I think these would be an expensive option for the TV room, and are in the same market as our own Audio Pro products.

Amphion Audio from Denmark was a huge disappointment, I have hears their bookshelf speakers which are really good but these bigger siblings sounded very ordinary indeed which was a shame.

Avid Audio are a Cambridge based manufacturer who started out making some beautiful turntables and then expanded to amplifiers and then speakers.

This set up used a basic easy use turntable with the smallest Avid speakers that looked well made and retail at £17k

The sounded really punchy and a good musical reproduction was produced. the fine detail  and nuances weren’t  present, but the sound was very good.

Quadraspire played the Kane gang on a modest turntable and amp with the ubiquitous Kudos speakers. Four small disc containing bamboo and a variety of alloys got my feet tapping when they were placed beneath the turntable. These cost £800 for four and really improved the listening experience.

The best Audio systems are relaxing to listen to and can be enjoyed for hours. Mid range and vocals are pin sharp and holistic with nuances and fine detail portrayed when present. Bass is accurate and drums sound as they should in real life. Not overblown and boomy, just controlled and natural.

We have three ranges of audio systems to hear.

TV and Audio is AudioPro from Sweden costing £350 to £600

The Second system used Thivan valve amplifiers from Vietnam. These are a comparative HiFi steal at £10k and they sound amazing with the Lumin Streamer and music library (20k worth of music supplied) Avalon Idea speakers at £11.5k and a T&D record player with built in phonostage.

The HiFi room has Maxonic speakers with CSPort turntable and D’Agostino amps and Transparent cables.

This is our ultimate system and the best HiFi I have heard anywhere.

These systems have to be heard to be fully appreciated.

No obligation and we install new equipment and give a good part exchange deal on your existing components.

Stephen Reay

Blues Audio Ltd