Bristol Sound & Vision '07 – what piqued my interest
Well, it would’ve been a heck of a lot more, had I not seen all of it already at this year’s CES. Those Americans, moving too fast for us Brits. Still, from what I gathered from walking around the endless corridors of Bristol’s Marriott hotel for most of last Friday, is that people care a lot more about their home audio system than I ever could’ve imagined. I guess that’s what’s meant by the term ‘audiophile‘. However, it was rather interesting taking a closer look at things like Sennheiser’s PXC 450 NoiseGard 2.0 headphones, without worrying about missing out on happy hour at whatever random Las Vegas bar we would be frequenting that day. We’ve written about all the products already over the last few months, but here are the home audio and cinema items which really took my fancy last Friday.
1.) Denon’s AH-D5000 headphones – scraping in at a pence under £500, this top of the line model offers superior acoustic characteristics, due to its outer casing being made from quince wood. These are absolutely without a doubt the best looking pair of headphones I’ve ever laid eyes on, and the acme of my Sound & Vision show experience.
2.) Jamo’s R909 ‘Reference’ speakers – initially it was the brightly coloured casings which attracted me to these speakers, but on finding out they were designed by Henrik Mortensen, a former professional footballer, I was sold. Kitted out with twin 15″ woofers, 5.5 inch Seas misrange, and customised one-inch Scanspeak Revelator tweeter, they’re pure audio bliss.
3.) Arcam’s Solo Movie 5.1 – this home cinema system not only looks extremely stylish, but it upscales your standard-def DVDs to either 720p or 1080i – bonus! It may cost £2,000, but gosh the audio sounds great.
4.) Denon’s CX3 luxury Hi-fi – not just a CD player, it can also be connected to your iPod or MP3 player, and sounds brilliant. Not just because when I was checking it out, Dire Straits were being played. Ahh, the memories. It may cost £2,700, but I think your ears would thank you for years (if they could talk).
5.) Sennheiser’s PXC 450 NoiseGard 2.0 headphones – they may not be available until late April this year, but if you’re serious about getting some noise-cancelling headphones, they’re perfect due to their NoiseGard Advance 2.0 technology, which removes 90% of noise, for £299.99
