Phil
You have to feel for Paul Miller, the head of AV Tech Media which publishes HiFi News and Stereophile. His first UK HiFi Show Live event in 2019 was a breath of fresh air. The main concourse of Ascot Racecourse proved to be a superb venue. Roll on 2020 for which everything would be bigger and better. Except, of course, the pandemic hit, putting paid to both 2020 and 2021 events. No worries, the 2022 event would be epic. But in another cruel circumstantial twist, Queen Elizabeth II passed away two days before the show was due to start, forcing Ascot to cancel (as it’s a royal estate).
Deep breath and on to 2023, which ran across the last weekend in September. Thankfully, everything went off without a hitch. As it was in 2019, the overall atmosphere was relaxed. Plus, there were more great-sounding systems than I usually find at a show. I counted 11 versus my normal 3 or 4. And I fell hard for two megabuck loudspeakers, which rarely happens.
My brief was to pick out five products or systems. I filed them according to the criteria below but most would fit into two or more categories.
Most Future-Fi system – Kii Audio
Say hello to the Kii Seven, a scaled-down Kii Three – similar functionality, a smaller box and a sound you’ll recognise. Yours for £7000/pair, half the price of the Three.
The Seven’s visual lineage is obvious. At 20 x 31 x 31 cm (WHD) they’re also not that much smaller than the Three (20 x 40 x 40 cm), yet they appear to be. The Three would dominate my son’s small 4 x 3m lounge but the Seven would blend in just fine. And they are a beautiful speaker, the fit and finish being exactly what you’d expect for the money.
The driver compliment is two 6.5” woofers, a 5” midrange and a 1” custom waveguide tweeter. 600wpc of amplification is built in, and there’s extensive DSP to tailor the sound to your room. Like the Three, the Seven also use cardioid dispersion to minimise room interaction.
Unlike the Three, the Seven internalise streaming support for Bluetooth and Airplay 2 (but not Google Chromecast). Spotify Connect and Tidal Connect are also offered — and Qobuz Connect (when released) will follow. Roon Ready certification is on the roadmap, although whether that will land in time for the Seven’s early 2024 release isn’t yet known. Alternatively, use the Kii Home app to control multiple Sevens. Both digital and analogue inputs extend functionality further.
In a relatively small room the sound was full and sumptuous, the bass delightfully punchy where appropriate. There was no appreciable bloom or smearing of the sound, suggesting the Seven wasn’t interacting with the room too much. The sound also had soul which ran against my expectations of a strong focus on clarity and detail, both of which were very good. Music also had a degree of warmth and texture though. Overall I left wanting to hear more, the sign of a good speaker.
Acoustically what I heard was the finished article. Further work on the streaming board is apparently required. Overall the Seven feels like a real-world speaker. They are Future-Fi personified.
Most interesting system – Klipsch & Musical Fidelity
I have a soft spot for Klipsch Heritage speakers, hence my excitement seeing the mighty Klipschorn AK6 (£22,000 – 100 kg each) in UK distributor Henley Audio’s suite. With 105dB sensitivity in tow, a flea-watt amplifier could drive them to insane volumes; Henley used a 300wpc Musical Fidelity Nu-Vista PRE/PAS pre-amplifier and stereo power amplifier combination, each with its own similarly large outboard power supply.
By high-end standards, where £100k+ amplifiers are common, £43k for the Nu-Vista combo is vaguely sane. It’s all relative. A weight of 114 kg is eye-watering though. Particularly as that’s without accounting for the Musical Fidelity Nu-Vista Phono, Musical Fidelity Nu-Vista DAC, Pro-ject Signature 12 turntable (with Ortofon Verismo cartridge) and HiFi Rose RS130 streamer. A reinforced stand (I forgot to check who made it) was built just for this event. It obscured much of the system’s bulk remarkably well. Note: the fledgling Musical Fidelity Nu-Vista DAC isn’t available yet. Expect a price of around £10k; the spec looks interesting (including switchable upsampling).
The latest Klipschorn is fully enclosed, negating the corner placement that used to be mandatory. Close-to-the-wall positioning – as at Ascot – still works well though. Bass comes via a 15” fibre-composite cone in a folded horn. Midrange is a 2″ phenolic diaphragm compression driver, firing into an exponential horn. The tweeter is a 1” polyimide diaphragm compression driver with an agricultural-looking 90 x 40 tractrix horn.
The sound was classic Klipsch but dialled up to 11 – huge and effortless, with the trademark ‘live’ sound. Dynamics were strong but despite the power on tap this was no muscle-bro sound; the Klipschorn did nimble when called upon. Indeed, refinement was strong with ‘honky-horn’ syndrome completely banished.
Mating a 70-year-old speaker design with state-of-the-art modern amplification was fascinating. You might argue Nu-Vista valves running in Class A are outdated too. The sound said otherwise; this was one special system.
Most surprising system – Soul Note & Fink Team
Picture two silver boxes with slightly fussy looks, driving speakers on low-sprung metal-frame stands. The speakers were slightly reclined, adding to the laid-back vibe. Visually it was an understated scene.
The electronics were Soul Note’s D-2 DAC (£7,700) feeding its stablemate A-3 integrated amplifier (£17,000 TBC). Speakers were Fink Team Kim (£10,700) with Tellurium Q Statement cables connecting everything. The source was an older Melco N1ZH server.
The DAC uses four ES9038PRO chips and supports non-over-sampling. The use of a TI LMX2594 synthesiser for the Master Clock signal is a first in audio apparently but an external clock can also be applied. Inputs include two AES/EBU, two coax and USB, which goes up to 768kHz PCM and DSD512.
The amplifier looks like a beast, a bulky power supply contributing to its 31 kg weight. Inputs comprise 3 x RCA and 3 x XLR connections, one of each bypassable (for AV use). Resistor-switching volume control is used – only one resistor in the circuit for any given volume level – with high-quality RSR custom relays and naked-foil resistors used throughout. Much of the internal circuitry is internally suspended to control vibration. The A-3’s power output of 120wpc into 4 Ohms is relatively modest, but in itself, that’s no indicator of quality.
The Fink Team Kim mates a 110mm AMT tweeter with an 8” mid/bass unit. Rear-mounted controls allow both treble output and speaker damping to be varied. The latter allows close matching to your amplifier, a feature I haven’t seen before. Fit and finish are impeccable; this is one good-looker.
Sonically the systems’ delicacy and refinement stood out for me. Soundstaging was also realistic. Both features were highlighted by the exhibitor’s choice of music — but the low-end didn’t really get a workout. Overall, anyone wanting a high-quality but discrete system should check out the Fink Team / Soul Note combination. I was very pleasantly surprised by the sound coming from such an unassuming setup.
Most aesthetically pleasing product – Monitor Audio
This category was a toss-up between the Strattons (see below) and Monitor Audio’s magnificent Hyphn, both statement speakers in every sense of the word.
Michael Johnson of Monitor Audio said the Hyphn’s form was dictated by engineering needs. I reckon the industrial designers had equal billing – such style doesn’t happen by accident. Yes, the looks are outlandish, for some reason Jean-Paul Gaultier’s costumes used in The Fifth Element came to mind. The Hyphns work visually though – tasteful and refined – with lovely detailing when you get up close and personal with them. Even at £70k a pair, the pride of ownership should be high.
The two side towers house four 8” force-cancelled bass drivers that gift the Hyphn a -6dB at 18 Hz spec. Bridging the acrylic-stone towers is an M-Array enclosure, with six 2” midrange units surrounding a single 1” tweeter. That’s 11 drivers a side; convention just flew out of the window.
All would be for nought if they didn’t sound good. Fed by a Kalista Dreamplay X into Vitus Audio amplification (£150k+ total) the sound was memorable. Muscular and punchy when required, the original mix of Noir’s ‘Reste’ had real substance.
The other standout was the Hyphn’s huge soundstage, which completely escaped the speakers. It was fantastic, even at the back of the room, 6-7m away. Depth in particular was portrayed superbly.
As part of a £250k system, they should be good. The Hyphns went further though, exciting listeners with an exotic sound that put price considerations to one side. Had I not encountered the Strattons below it would have scooped Best Sound.
Most outrageous product – Stratton Acoustics
Nothing prepares you for Stratton’s Elipsys 1512 speaker in the flesh. It is sideboard-huge, yet beautifully finished. The fascia is fascinating, the individual elements seemingly thrown at it randomly. Yet it works visually. And as for those feet, they’re like sculptures. Let’s just say the Stratton’s aesthetics will be a talking point. As will the £75k asking price.
Never have two 15” bass drivers fitted so elegantly into a baffle. The single 12” midrange is bigger than most woofers. And the tweeter is a 1.2” dome driver, below which sits four ports. The fascia-mounted mid/treble EQ controls are in a unit that houses half the crossover. The other half sits deeper within the cabinet. Vital stats are 1100 x 1200 x 600mm (WHD with stands), each speaker weighing 140 kg.
Frankly, they’re both physically and financially excessive, usually a turn-off for me. Had I the room and the money I’d give them serious consideration though. Aural memory is fickle, emotional memory less so. I can’t ever remember connecting to a sound so quickly and so deeply.
With Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of The Moon, I heard fresh nuances from an album that I’ve been listening to for fifty years. Russian choral music played with the power and beauty needed to convert the most hardened skeptic. Whatever genre was playing, the impact was the same – you focused on the music rather than the system — more than any other room at the show.
Tellurium Q Statement cables hooked everything together. Two sets of electronics drove the speakers. I preferred the digital option – a ‘humble’ Technics SU-G700M2 amplifier (£2,500) fronted by an Innuos server. The £30k+ alternative of EAR electronics & Vertere turntable softened things slightly.
Overall, the Monitor Audio Hyphn came close on sound quality. The emotional impact of the Stratton is one I won’t forget for a while though. It’s one heck of a speaker.
Final thoughts
A lot of this show’s success comes down to the venue, a world away from hotel-based events, many of which still have one foot in the last century. Ascot is stylish. There’s a frisson of excitement as you approach the main concourse. And once inside you realise just how large it is, the rooms spread out over a huge area. This all contributes to an easy going experience. The venue’s size also means it can accommodate growth, one of the reasons (I believe) Paul Miller chose it in the first place. Fingers crossed that we get an uninterrupted run of shows, allowing momentum to build. I’m certainly looking forward to the UK HiFi Show Live 2024.
Further information: The UK Hi-Fi Show Live
