The Hong Kong High End Audio Visual Show 2012 started on Friday and ends Sunday (today). As in previous years, this annual event is held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.



For those who may have missed it, last year's show was posted here if you're interested.

Anyway, let's get on with this year's show. I was at the show on Friday, so sorry for the late post. I don't have much to say, so I'll just let the photos do most of the talking.



As you can see, the queue was pretty long and kept going like this for the most part of the morning. Easily more than 2,000 in the line, and took exactly an hour of queueing before reaching the ticket booth.



This year's ticket costs HK$80, up from last year's HK$60. As in previous years, you get a complimentary SACD, so it's not all that bad.



This is the foyer area just along the ticketing booths. The show is spread over 3 floors, the main hall on the 3rd floor and the "studio" rooms and smaller halls are spread over the 2nd and 4th floors.



The view as you enter the main hall.



Triangle's booth, occupying the same spot they did last year. JL Audio's Gotham subbie on the right.



This year though, they've done away with the mini-theatre (which at last year's event showcased the Magellan Grand Concert). Instead, they've chosen to go "mid-range" in a more homely setting.



They're not the only ones going downscale this year. Chord introduced their "baby Chord", called Chordette. These really piqued my interest .... not the least bit because the setup on the left costs HK$92,000 and the one on the right costs HK$26,000! And that's just the Chordettes and speakers. Bring your own iTunes tracks.



Mission and Audiolab's booth.



KEF's booth. The Blades were there, but just like last year, they were not on demo. The Muon was absent this year.



The new white R Series.



The star of the KEF booth this year is the new LS50 monitors. The source was an Arcam setup (CD37 SACD player, D33 DAC and A38 Integrated Amp), playing at 68db. I sat there for 20 mins listening to a variety of genre ..... truly big and rich sound from such a small box. The LS50 hardly broke a sweat. I just loved it! Being a KEF fan, maybe I'm slightly biased .... sorry htkaki's bro Ben! .... I was so taken by it that I almost pre-ordered one at a show price of HK$9,980. Fortunately, I came to my senses .... NO impulse buying! lol ... according to the KEF rep, there are no ready stocks globally as production is still catching up with existing orders ... so that was a bummer!

I'm still dreaming of the rose gold Uni-Q drivers.



This one is for Shuto. The Sonus Faber room. The rotating centrepiece is the exquisite Aida.

This post has been edited by terranova: Aug 12 2012, 07:39 PM

Going to sleep now. Will continue with the post later today.

Morning. OK, let's continue .....



The Tannoy, Def Tech, Polk and Chario room.



The Meridian area.



Dynaudio was hawking their XEO wireless high-end speakers.



Miro has always been one of the anchor exhibitors, and this year is no different. The bulk of their booth space at the back was turned into a mini-theatre. I didn't watch last year's show (when they were promoting MK systems) due to the long lines, so I made it a point to get in this year. The long queue snakes around the booth, and took me almost 45 mins get in.



Each showing lasts 30 mins. This year, they were pushing Procella Audio. The system used today were an Oppo BDP-95 playing ripped clips from hard disk, Denon AVC-A1HDA, Epson TW800 projector, 150" Visione acoustically transparent screen and 9.2 Procella Audio speakers comprising P610 bi-amp LCR, P6 surrounds, twin P18 subs and DA-2800 DSP.

Their product briefing was interspersed by 3 clips (during my screening, they showed the war scenes from War Horse and My Way and the chinese-opera fighting scene from My Kingdom). By the end of the show, it was a good body massage session.


This post has been edited by terranova: Aug 12 2012, 01:14 PM

New boys in town. German tv manufacturers Metz with their 3D TV line-up.



TV newscaster interviewing the Transrotor rep.



Focus Audio speakers and amps with PS Audio's CD player and DACs.



The K-Array, Neumann, Berlin room (all part of the Sennheiser group). They were mainly showcasing the K-Array speakers.



Some photos for the "power" kakis on this forum.



The pasar malam area. I see lots more business done this year compared to last year. Audiophile CDs and vinyls were doing a roaring business. I hear vinyls are making a comeback?



Some photos for the head-fiers on LYN, esp in the Audiophile threads. As always, Jaben was there too.



This is the Monster and Beats booth. Monster Girls ftw!

This post has been edited by terranova: Aug 12 2012, 01:45 PM

Moving upstairs to the 4th floor.



The McIntosh/Meridian/Focal/Audioaero room was really packed.



The 50th Anniversary Limited Edition McIntosh MC275 tube power amplifiers. Beautiful and classy, featuring the classic 1961 tube circuit design of the original. HK$61,800.



Meridian Reference 800 series paired with the Control 15 Sooloos system.



The innards of the Focal cabinet.



Wisdom's latest planar magnetic thin-film technology loudspeakers, the LS4.



B&W paired with Krells.



This one is for the growing Naim fans on LYN. The Naim hall has grown in size compared to last year and their products now take centerstage.



The product line-up is also wider this year and includes the latest network and digital audio products.

This post has been edited by terranova: Aug 12 2012, 02:54 PM

This setup comprises of Constellation Audio, dCS, ProAc, Audioquest and PS Audio.



This is the demo hall for Cambridge Audio, Velodyne, Norma & GoldenEar products.



EPOS speakers.



For the Mordaunt Short fans.



The Pathos system.



Thorens, an old brand ... a name I had long forgotten since my early vinyl days. Didn't I just say it .... I heard vinyls are making a comeback?



When I saw these, I immediately thought of anfieldude! Luxman making a comeback with their 2012 products which has an unmistakably retro look and feel ..... a big hit with the oldies!



Wharfedale speakers.



Dan D'Agostino's Momentum monoblocks taking centerstage, paired with Vivid Audio's Giya speakers just like last year. Bully Sound Company's pre-amps and Class A amps were also on show. Bully Sound Company belongs to Bret D'Agostino, the eldest son of Dan D'Agostino.

At the back are the Magnepan 3.7 ribbon speakers.

I noticed the Krells have had a rather muted presence at this year's show.

This post has been edited by terranova: Aug 12 2012, 05:08 PM

This year, MBL took a bigger hall compared to last year's small room to showcase their 101 X-Treme Reference System. The entire speaker system comprise of 4 towers, 2 towers featuring MBL's proprietary mirror-imaged spheroid Radialstrahler (omni-directional) driver arrays while the other 2 lacquered towers houses a stack of four 12-inch aluminium bass driver subwoofers. The Radialstrahler technique provides a 360-degree sound field.

The whole system is custom built and made to order, weights around 980 kgs and cost around HK$1.8 million.



The rest of the little brothers in the MBL family, the Noble and Corona series and the one-step down from the X-treme, the critically-acclaimed and award winning white 101E MKII.



The star of this year's show is the HK$2 million Eventus Audio's Neo speakers. These made-to-order speakers from the Italian Eventus Audio weighs in at about 300 kgs.



The Neo speakers were paired with Solution's Series 7 monoblocks, pre-amps and SACD player.

All the noise that was public chatter just minutes before the showtime started came to a total hush when the music started playing .... you could literally hear a pin drop as they listened attentively. As with these type of event, you can never really judge the quality in an open hall environment .... that's all I have to say.

I didn't really take as many photos as last year, but ope you enjoyed the photos from this year's show nonetheless. Cheers!

This post has been edited by terranova: Aug 12 2012, 07:27 PM

Just got back home about 30min ago. Really enjoyed the show. For my first time participating the event in HK, I would say it is better than Singapore AV show, at least much organized...

Thanks for sharing bro! Appreciate and I m drooling at them much!

terra,

The crowd this years seems much much more than last year. JunWei and I barely had to queue to get it, maybe that was becoz it was the last day?

They hv really cheap CDs there, regret not getting the Dali test CD last year.

Nice meeting you, terranova

The show is an eye opener. Most of the exhibitors are showing the flagship models. Although not bigger than KLIAV as I thought but definitely worth it since you get to audition the creme de la creme.

Some attention grabbing stuffs

Wisdom Audio STS sub and LS4. The huge sub is at the back of the main spkrs.


Kharma Exquisite Sub. Weighing at quarter ton and go a low 16Hz. Very nice cabinet. Price? If you have to ask.


And I was looking forward to this


This post has been edited by htkaki: Aug 12 2012, 09:53 AM

@ geforce1999 - aiya. we should have met up.

@ ronaldjoe - you're most welcome.

@ anfieldude - the first day queue is typically long, mainly for the hardcore locals and overseas enthusiasts, esp from neighbouring countries including Malaysia and Singapore. Saw a group of Thai enthusiasts there too. I think the crowd tapers off towards Sunday, so yea. CDs and vinyls are hot-sellers at the pasar malam area this year too.

@ htkaki - nice meeting you too. too bad i couldn't buy you makan. hopefully, next time bro. my regards to Ben too .... pls let him know I love the KEF LS50.

Haha..

His very first pair of loudspeakers was Coda 8, more than a decade ago. Along the path, B&W and Sonus Faber were on duty until abt 2 years ago. He found a pair of loudspeaker that he likes it very much and at a bargain price.

On the Procella Audio, the mid bass is awesome. The ultra LFE did not sweep through though. Probably the soft wall is the problem. Else, it would be perfectly good. The dual 18" and dual 15" subs can do better in a 'bunker' style room like in most Asian homes.

Hi Tera,
Yes, we should have met.... I didn't activate any data plan while in ShenZhen and HK and didn't contact you in advance for your contact... else we should have met up....

Anyway there is alway next time You visit HK often? or you actually staying there?

Terranova lives in HK.

what that guy ^ said ...

No meredian speakers on show??

There were some, but their presence was slightly more muted compared to last year's show. Check post #2 above.