Hi all,
a short report from HE 2013:
I was listening to a lot of systems yesterday. And it was a lot because I didn't listened very long to each system. I was looking for a system which sounds good to me at once, without adjusting to the sound. So doing, I left the most show rooms after a few minutes. I am aware that in that way, I was surely doing wrong to a lot of systems but I was willing to make that sacrifice to find something I realy can enjoy. I will not write what systems were disappointing, that would be not justified considering my approach but there were a hand full of systems that were special and worth mentioning.
One of them was the MBL radial speakers. I entered the crowded presentation room and couldn't see the speakers because of the people. My first thought was, where are the musicians playing this music? Well, after a "closer" listening I could hear it was a reproduction but it really had something of a live concert (classik music was playing). Not a "true to the record" system but I can understand why people would like to buy a system like this, if they can afford it.
The Trio from Avantgarde sounded better than the last time I heard them at the "HE on tour" in Darmstadt. This time there was a bigger room and that is what they need. Interesting new small speakers are available from Avantgarde Acoustics but I couldn't made it to a presentation of them.
The speakers I would buy if I hade to choose from the speakers I have heard at the HE yesterday, independent of the price, would be the Manger Reference Active. They have a very natural sound and you can easily follow the sound of the instruments. Also they are not oversized and over engineered like a lot of the top speakers that were presented.
A set of speakers I would buy my girlfriend are the Manufaktur Kierschke L1 speakers. Small, good quality parts and a nice sound. From their appearence (and I only mean their look), they would match a tube amp nicely. Electrically probably a transistor would be better for them.
The new HV series from T+A in combination with the T+A solitaire speakers had the most accurate sound I heard. This systems was clean and musical too.
A discovery was the music label "MA Recordings". They have interesting artists and a one point recording system. This CD was played at the Manger presentation:
http://www.marecordings.com/main/product_info.php?cPath=43&products_id=144Greetings
Adrian
