Shenzhen Audio Show III

Letter from Shenzhen (23-6): Shenzhen Audio Show, Part III

Roll down or click links for Part I and Part II.

Note: Coverage of the show follows no particular logic: Very good is Green; Good is Yellow; and Average is Red. Believe me, I'm very lenient! More so towards others than myself!

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Raidho CH Precision HK distributor Roksan (no relationship with the UK brand) showcased a large Danish Raidho with Swiss CH Precision. Smooth and balanced sound that I recognize as CH. What’s better than their showing previously in HK is that Raidho blended in completely whereas before a bit of disjoint could always be detected (common problem of ribboned loudspeakers).

 

Simaudio Scansonic Also Roksan offerings. The Danish Scansonic were driven by Canadian Simaudio. While the sound was good, it was not quite as smooth as the Raidho room. A trace of grain was evident. What’s with these Danes’ obsession with ribbons? Don’t forget, there is Borrensen too (formerly with Raidho).

Showfeel 宿优 This is a bigger soundbar, and the sound was surprisingly enticing. There is a down-firing woofer, and the sound was coherent. Like the popular Tivoli, there is also a model that is a stereo pair. Much cheaper than Western rivals, like B&W and Meridian, it deserves to be better known.

rossofiorentino Hegel Gold Note HK distributor Changye showcased the striking rosso looking rossofiorentino with Hegel (which has a reputation of easily matching most gear). Sound was quite balanced and easy to like. If you look at the pic, the Gold Note CDP (or transport) shows total time, so it was not playing. Sound then had to have come from the Hegel Streamer that displays Roon (yellow paper star) as I don’t see a Hegel CDP. Not sure if GN DAC was used. At the other end of the room, on silent display were French Atoll electroniques and Finnish Penaudio loudspeakers.

German Physiks In HK this brand has a small presence, and at shows we usually see a small room and a smaller model, so I was pretty happy to have encountered this pair of much larger ones (not even close to flagship I was told). Due to the size, it was understandably placed along the long wall in this room of limited width. Driven by its own massive electronics (and Esoteric CDP) sound was quite good, but with piano recordings the bass was not the most focused. Given the short distance of listener to setup, I still rate it a good effort. As a good friend had a pair, I know the sound quite well (and quite like it), and so I chatted with the 2 salespeople, who were ultra friendly and perhaps happy to talk to people (this was not one of the more popular rooms). Of course, we talked about its omni-directional rival MBL. I told them how much I disliked the MBL electronics, and they laughed and told me an anecdote about how MBL self-destructed its tweeters at a show. Funny guys!

Xuyingge Audio 许英谔 Named after the designer, who is quite old now and a veteran of electronic designs. They make everything in this room, from Digital front ends to amps to loudspeakers. All with reasonable price tags. IMHO just too many loudspeaker models, and the finish were not very good. A larger floorstander (last row, second from right, with a black sign placed on top) was playing. Sound was not bad, good bass but a kind of grainy on top.

Jolida Neat I was surprised to see Jolida here in China. It had had a long presence in the West, well known for their budget offerings, but not much seen in HK. From 2017, it had morphed into Black Ice (pricier). In this room I was disappointed that no Black Ice (or Glass) could be found. Sound with the small Neat bookshelf was decent, but I wished I had heard the iconic IOTA on silent display.

Soundaware 享声Amphion Soundaware is from Nanjing. Outside of my radar but likely fairly well known in the west and in Singapore (where the “US” website is based). In the small room the streaming and amplification gear did a good job with the Finnish Amphion loudspeakers.

Franco Serblin Prima Luna Although Franco Serblin had long passed, his company (as well as his former one) is still going on, but the smaller products on silent display are getting even weirder in looks. Man, are we paddling or playing lacrosse here? The large floorstander driven by Prima Luna tube amps sounded good, but not exceptional. For me, there are many Chinese amps more interesting than Prima Luna, like those from Analog Sound and Line Magnetic in Part I. Mind you, Prima Luna is made in China too, 

LALS Kinki LALS is a Taiwanese company with Shenzhen base, sold in Europe too. The Taiwanese proprietor told me the factory used to make JBL drivers. They have kind of a professional, or TAD-like look, and are horn based. Some higher models have alnico magnets and silver coils. Sound with Kinki electronics and a Chinese tube amp was only so-so. I think not enough power. We heard the smaller model unfortunately. I'd like to hear these again under better circumstances. I told his wife the negative connotations of “kinky” and she was really surprised. What's in a name? Plenty!

Audes Audio Analogue Estonian loudspeakers Audes (with AMT) looked very nice. I was really surprised that Italian Audio Analogue had really gone upmarket! Long ago, I had their Puccini integrated for a little while. Not the most controlled but musical. At the time the Bellini/Donizetti separates were the next step up (not that expensive). Forward to now, the last 2 named opera composers are in Anniversary editions, with much heftier build and price tag. Sound was, as expected, on the warm side, and quite decent.

Quested Mymei 艾美 Mymei is a company that specialized in digital streaming. Through the UK Quested active monitors the sound was not bad.

Humble Offerings from Elac and Musical Fidelity. Did not stay.

Silent Display of Kreisel and Starke, unknown to me

Not Acapella, I assure you (not that it matters). Chinese loudspeakers and amps.

Didn't like the looks and sound when I peeked in, so left.

***End of Show Report***

Notes: 1) There were quite a few rooms of Chinese Cables and Power Conditioners, which I just skipped; 2) I scanned through the top floor of AV, nothing much of interest; 3) I also did not cover the many rooms that sold LPs and CDs, though I bought 3 bargain LPs @rmb 15 each, and I don't even have a TT here - it's kinda like Dr. Strangelove's arm, which hasn't completely lost its memory.

Postscript: 1) This being a show that is manageable in size and not very crowded, I actually got to sit down and appreciate some of the stuff. So, I get to report more in detail. Thumbs up; 2) average sound is definitely superior to that of the large HK AV Show in August. It's not a coincidence as HK exhibitors Roksan and Changye had better sounds here than in HK; in HK I often do not stay for more than a minute because of subpar sound; 3） There are a lot more of interesting Central and Eastern European Hifi here than in HK, but then I haven't really been in a HK show for a few years. My last coverage of the HK show was in 2015! 4) Almost no German presence here! That's just fine with me. No time wasted with MBL (electronics), Burmester, Symphonic Line, Einstein, Clearaudio, etc. More than 90% of the German Fi are not good sounding nor interesting to me. Ditto US and UK Fi. No Naim, Audio Note, Wilson, McIntosh, furnaces like VAC, VTL etc. We all need a change of scenery, but some of the brands I mentioned may perhaps show up in the large Guangzhou show in May, which I may or may not attend.