Welcome to Ascot – and the sun shone for us – but it was a Sunday!
The venue has quite some prestige


I looked underdressed. They were emptying the bins in bowler hats and fitted suits….
This is the first thing we saw once inside
The KEF Blade – what a beauty
Catching up with friends is what it is all about – author Takeanidea meets Mark Goldie, AKA Pedalhead
Yours truly gazing adoringly at Mark Ramos, our very own UK branch of Team HiFiMan, with Mark Goldie testing the new Ananda Bluetooth, which I forgot to listen to! Doh!
The HiFiMan Shangri La. €50,000 Headphone System. The Sennheiser HE1 matches this as the most expensive headphone system in the World
I am a man of restraint. But I was absolutely overwhelmed with this. You will understand when you hear it.
Our French friend, Joss of team HiFiMan, aware he was being snapped but as cool and sophisticated as ever
Said to reduce interference simply by plugging into your source and then your usb cable into this device, Dillan was very kindly given one of these to experiment with. Hopefully we can update you with our findings. At £35, surely the cheapest item in the show!
S Booster’s linear power supply. As recommended for several manufacturers; Rega, M2Tech to name a couple of many more pieces of audio gear that would benefit from an improved power supply. At £339, this was very much on the budget side, but looks to be pretty solidly built.
A Rupert Neve Dac/PreAmp/Headphone Amp. More to follow on this possibly. Had a listen for 15 minutes and was suitably impressed, possible loaner heading to Subjective Reviews subject to certifications for this product, which has not yet come to the market.
Focal Stellia – closed back, wide expansive sound. Almost on a par with my own ATH W1000Z for the finest sound I’ve ever heard from a closed back, but the W1000Z still wins! Sorry Focal!
This is the inside on an upstairs floor, the rooms were spaced apart, better for sound but a long old walk…..
At the end of another long corridor, Mark and your intrepid reporter catch up with Paul Clark of HiFi Lounge, my favourite audio store.
Main Concourse looking down at the show entrance
A pity there weren’t more eatery and drink outlets open at Ascot. The queues were off putting, especially given how many companies there were to see
PS Audio sources feeding the HiFiMan Shangri – La Electrostatic Valve System
It’s $8000 customer, the Shangri – La Jr
Wilson Audio Alexx Loudspeakers £109,000
D’Agostino Relentless Dual Monoblock Amplifiers – £200,000
D’Agostino Relentless Monoblocks and Audio Research Amplifier
The iFi Stack was the only amplifier we found that could play an electrostatic and a planar headphone at the same time
The Beast
The beauty