Lisbon's Audio Show, 2008

This year’s Lisbon’s audio Show was a little different than two years ago when I went with hifi nut (Jorge). This year I went alone because Jorge had another compromise.
This year the show rooms were smaller and for that matter big names like Wilson or Avalon speakers and big power amps from Chord and Krell don’t have the space and the headroom enough to shine their brilliants capabilities. Instead, small setups like Classé, Cambridge Audio, Mordaunt Short, Fatman and class D amps from Pro-Ject were imho the best in the show.

Here’s some pics:

First, the ticket



When i saw Quad i felt great.



An i-pod stup from B&W. Incredible sound from such a little thing:



A comp. setup from Harmon Kardon with an original design:



A cdp and amp from Classé with B&W speakers:



A Fatman Valve amp:



Tomorrow i'll put some more pics.

This post has been edited by clint e. on March 10, 2008 04:43 pm

Pro-Ject TT with carbon fiber arm:



Pro-Ject TT, Fatman Valve amp and Fatman Speakers : A small setup with a great sound.



Pro-Ject class D setup: Pre box & two mono powers Amp box class D, and Q Acoustics speakers plus cdp Cambridge Audio Azur 540C :



Q Acoustics insides :

very nice gear. so far i am drawn to the Pro-Ject gear more than the others, though that Fatman valve amp looks very good too.

i have never been to and audio show, i need to fix that.

Tanx amigo. It is always great to see and listen to some of the gear present in these audio shows, other wise i never had the experience to listen to Krell stuff or Sonus Faber Stradivari - like the pics below - or made contact with some new gear like Pro-Ject or the new Mordaunt Short line of speakers.

Two years ago was more fun because i met anothet ST member and we had lots of fun talking about a lot of stuff concerning music and music gear and of course Sound Thinking. Anyway, it was fun.

Some Krell:



Sonus Faber:



Sonus Faber Stradivari, AVAC, McIntosh:



Another thing that bugs me is the big speakers and the big amps. I mean, if you have a big set of speaker you need a lot of power to excite them, but if have big power and big speakers you need a big room to enjoy all that power. But, if you have a big room you need to make some big room treatments...otherwise why bother to have all that power if you can't enjoy it...
That's imo is the reason why small setups have always great sound in these events. They don't bother to make almost any room treatment to have big sound impact between listeners.

This post has been edited by clint e. on March 10, 2008 01:56 pm

I dont know much about sound treatments and the like, but there is a certain "wow", "cool" factor that if you have the money to spend on something like that, that is pretty cool.

elroy

Alvaro,

I can see you´re still a sucker for small speakers.

Nice coverage. Sorry I couldn´t be there at the last minute with you leaving all the hard work for you.

I hear there will be a second show in lisbon this year. let´s keep that in our agenda.

Jorge

Yeah, i'm a sucker for small speakers, like this new model from Mordaunt Short:



But, the big boys were quite appealing, too. New Chord amp and cdp:






And, of course Focal and McIntosh:




Hey Jorge, i hope we meet next time this year.

Yeah, i saw and listen to a lot of good stuff...

Quad:





Pathos:

the cool factor at that show, is just frieken cool

elroy

That's my opinion also.
Not like two years ago, in a wide open pavillion. This time was in a Hotel witch every brand(s) have a small room for themselves and where they creat their own atmosphere with lights, colors and even plants and furniture.

The ambiance were indeed very calm and quite...at least 'till i came with my own speed and cameras and when someone asks if i were a reporter - because i was interferer with the music momemtum - i lie and said " Yeah i'm reporter for an American hi-fi forum called Sound Thinking"... I saw some of them taking notes about the name's forum.
It was fun.

thats not a lie, its the truth!

thats not a lie, its the truth!

Yes, it is the truth, and he did that two years ago at the Dart Zeel stand too.

The agent was so impressed that Sound-Thinking would send both a Spanish and a Portuguese reporter to cover the show, he spent quite some time providing Alvaro with details of their admittedly gorgeous gear, explaining about the unique serial numbers for each piece which could have engraved the owners name, etc., etc. We had a good laugh on account of that.

thats not a lie, its the truth!

Yes, it is the truth, and he did that two years ago at the Dart Zeel stand too.

The agent was so impressed that Sound-Thinking would send both a Spanish and a Portuguese reporter to cover the show, he spent quite some time providing Alvaro with details of their admittedly gorgeous gear, explaining about the unique serial numbers for each piece which could have engraved the owners name, etc., etc. We had a good laugh on account of that.

Jorge, you have elephant memory.
Now that you mention it, i remember that little story quite well.

You guys are probably right. The thing is, this time i had little time to listen and for that matter it's almost a photo review of the show. Sunday was election day in Spain, i went there in the mornibg to vote and only at 17,30 in the afternoon i started to see the audio show in Lisbon. I took a couple of expressos and than some photo shooting.

Last pics of some neat audio stuff:






Tanx for the input Elroy, Dingus and hifi nut.

I love it!

Great pics, Alvaro!

Tanx amigo.
The only thing i regret was not able to find the Kef room. That was my first sound thinking when i came to this event, and simply because they were introduced for the first time in the world - after Las Vegas, of course - the new beast of Kef, the Kef Muon... and also, the new small speakers Kef Reference 201/2... Anyway, maybe next time...