NOTES FROM NORTH WEST AUDIO SHOW BY JON LUMB

HiFi PiG’s Jon Lumb takes a walk through the North West Audio Show 2025 and pulls out some of his highlights from the event.

Jon Lumb shares his highlights of the North West Audio Show 2025 at Cranage Hall. 

GENERAL THOUGHTS

Shows present unique challenges for exhibitors demonstrating their equipment and consumers trying to evaluate gear. My approach with any room is that if it sounds good, great, you know there’s stuff of merit here, but if it doesn’t sound great, there’s so many factors going into the sound (weird room nodes, unfamiliar recordings, the number of people in the room, whether you can get close to the sweet spot, etc) that mean you shouldn’t ever write off anything equipment based on show performance. Getting in the sweet spot for a system in a crowded show is often hard – but frequently patience there can bring real dividends.

ACOUSTIC ENERGY

Michell Gyrodec, original Exposure 80s amplification, AE1 40th Anniversary (£1500)

All eighties gear (Michel Gyro and Exposure) and recordings to match the original release of the AE1. The 40th Anniversary units are tweaked from the originals (no concrete lining, upgraded crossovers, and minor driver tweaks), but all changes applied with restraint stay faithful to the original AE1 concept.

ATOLL AND AUDIUM

Atoll ST300, IN400, and Audium Comp 8.3.

Solid, smooth sound (I’ve enjoyed Atoll’s presentation in the past), spot on for those that want all-day listening, as there’s nothing there to fatigue the ears in any way. The range covered by the primary Audium driver is bonkers considering its size. It’s not a strictly single-driver setup, as there is a downward-firing bass driver to help with the low stuff, but that 100mm primary driver still covers down to 150Hz.

HIEND BY OZ

Innuos streamer, Chord DAVE, Viva Solista, Wilson Benesch Discovery 3Zero

My favourite system at the show. I adore the pairing of Viva and Wilson Benesch gear. There’s so much detail, but without falling into sterility or harshness in the top end. The tone perfectly walks the line between accuracy and warmth for me. I’ve heard the Discoverys at a few shows now, and they’ve always impressed me, from small rooms like this one to a vast (by HiFi standards) open space at Bristol last year. The Solista might be only 22W (that used to be a lot for valve amps, but these days we’re seeing huge nominal power ratings). Still, they were so comfortable driving a stand mount (albeit at 89dB, the Discoverys are pretty sensitive for such a small speaker). I believe praise also goes to Chord for the short-notice loan of a DAVE after UK Customs and Excise decided they wanted to hang onto the Viva DAC that was supposed to be used.

G POINT AUDIO

Circle Labs P300 Pre, M200 power amplifiers, AudioNec Evo 2 Loudspeakers

It was particularly exciting to hear some AudioNec Evo loudspeakers. I’ve been fascinated by their approach with the Evo line since I first read about it, and the way you can start with a relatively small setup and then add in further boxes without getting rid of your originals to enhance the system. The DuoPole driver that covers midrange duties is unlike anything I’ve seen elsewhere, and takes an unconventional approach to spreading the midrange over a wide area so you’re not fixed to a narrow sweetspot. It was apparent that it worked as the sound quality was excellent even while wandering around the room.

DOUG BRADY HiFi

Amazing concept of running 3-4 systems from the same Aurender streamer

Quad 33/303 + Quad ESL-2912X

I’m a long-time fan of the ESL series, a Quad system comprising a CDP2, 909 Power, and ESL 2805s, one of the standout experiences of my hifi journey. As with the 99 series system, the 2912Xs dwarf the 33/303 on the budget front, but those Quad amplifiers do a fantastic job driving the electrostatics. The sense of speed is still unmatched by any non-stat speaker I’ve ever heard.

DCS Lina DAC X, Burmester 077 Pre and 218 Power amplifiers, YG Acoustics Hailey 3

Incredible sounding setup, as one would hope for, as Doug Brady’s flagship system for the show. I’ve been trying to hear some YG Acoustics speakers for years, and it’s always a relief when, after waiting so long, something still lives up to the expectation you have in your head! I was given an insightful breakdown of some of the finer points of the construction from one of the team, with a particular focus on the driver construction they’ve opted for – lots of strength coming from making parts by milling billet aluminium rather than trying to extrude the metal into shape. It costs more to do it that way, but the results sound worth it to me.

KUDOS AUDIO WITH ULTRAFIDE

Ultrafide U4PRE, Kudos Sigao Drive, Ultrafide U500DC (x3!), Kudos Titan 808s.

It’s hard not to love an active Kudos setup, and this was an excellent demonstration of what they do well. There was so much life and energy in the sound they produced. It’s not for the faint-hearted (or those who want a tidy, discrete little setup), but if the box count doesn’t faze you, you are in for a treat. The Ultrafide products are comparatively new to the market (although the company has a long history of professional audio products under their MC2 and XTA brands.) Embarassingly, I used to work in Honiton, where all their brands are based, and I was completely oblivious! The U500DCs are an interesting product, as they take a very non-standard approach to implementing a Class D design, and they also feature a rear-panel switch to toggle between an uncoloured sound and a vintage setting to emulate some of the character of a more traditional A/B amplifier sound. There’s a 150W integrated in the works as well.

KARMA AV

Mofi Master Deck and Studio cartridge, Unison Research Triode 25 Black Edition, Mofi SourcePoint 888s

An interesting mix of the new and the familiar for me here. I’ve known Unison Research for a long time, and used to own an original Unico integrated. The Mofi equipment is all new to me. By some margin, this system takes the award for the lowest notes I heard at the show. They were playing a cover of “ The Sounds of Silence”, with some incredibly low vocals, and the 888s filled the sizeable room right down to the bottom of the range. Show music choices are often fascinating (I could probably write a whole article just on that subject); in this case, Karma knew precisely what this system excelled at and played tracks that showed it off to its fullest.

COHERENT AUDIO

Aurender N30SA, Wadia DAC, Bel Canto Pre, TAD Ref M700s, TAD GE1s

Many different pieces of equipment were incorporated into this system, so the above are just the main components. Unsurprisingly, this sounded great, and I got a rare moment of listening to a system with some familiar music being played, which helped demonstrate just how good the sound was from those TAD GE1s. I don’t have a copious analysis of this system because I zoned right into enjoying the music, which is the ultimate goal of this palaver!

DOOLEY’S HiFi

Musical Fidelity M8xTT, Rotel Michi X3, Fyne Audio F701SP

This was a great sounding system. Dooley’s had come ready to demonstrate several different speakers in a very compact room, and it was the F702SPs that were playing when I was in there. They also have the Fyne Vintage Classic VIIIs and the F1-10s waiting in the wings, both with SuperTrax Supertweeters set up on top. I was particularly struck by the absence of background noise the M8xTT made; no pops, clicks, or crackles anywhere.

SYMPHONY DISTRIBUTION

SME turntable, Sugden Masterclass PA-4, Esoteric N-05XD Pre, Esoteric S-05, Kerr Acoustics K320

Many rooms were using Kerr Acoustics loudspeakers, and everything in their lineup was represented somewhere at the show. That’s quite an endorsement of just how good their products sound. Here, their UK distributor had the K320 floorstanders paired with an Esoteric Pre/Power combo that really sang. I’ve often veered away from studio monitors because they usually sound rather more clinical and lifeless than I want for home listening, but all the Kerr speakers I heard seemed to dodge any of those issues. Given their studio pedigree, I’m sure they’re as flat as possible right across the spectrum, but the music coming out was also perfectly full of life with no sense of sterility. A moment of having to reassess some ingrained biases on my part!

CAMBRIDGE AUDIO

EX-N100 streamer, EX-A100 integrated, Dynaudio Contour Legacy.

Oh boy, I happily advocate a very speaker-first approach to dividing up a system budget, but less than £4,000 worth of electronics driving a £10k pair of speakers is a heck of a split (Stu comments on the same speakers with electronics at less than 800 quid in his report). That said, Cambridge pulled it off; the EX-A100 had no trouble at all driving the Countour Legacy loudspeakers (one of only about two pairs left for sale in the UK at this point), and the EX-N100 provided plenty of detail. I had the room to myself, so I was offered free rein of music choice, and to make the best of a limited window of opportunity, I went for the Mona Lisa Overdrive by Juno Reactor, from the Matrix Reloaded soundtrack. It’s a real tour-de-force, blending delicate orchestral elements with thumping EDM backing. It’s a lot for any system, but the Cambridge Audio and Dynaudio pairing did a stunning job of it all, even when the volume got pushed hard.

And now a few snaps from around the show.

All in all, I had a great time at the show, heard some lovely bits of gear, met lots of new people, and generally enjoyed the North West Audio Show a great deal. I’ll be back next year!

Follow all of our NWAS 2025 coverage here

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Jon Lumb