It was a fairly early start for exhibitors, fortunately the vintage rig came replete with a matching lamp
Still iconic despite the passage of years, the HD800 featured in many rigs
While the old guard may have been much in evidence, there were some new upstarts present nevertheless - here the Audeze EL8
Although solid state amps were the most prevalent, there were still a couple of tube beauties present - seen here the very photogenic Woo WA22
Some classic vinyl was on offer, for those so inclined
...and now for something totally different! The Final Audio Pandora Hope VI, a fantastic sounding closed can, and something of an oddity with its 8ohm sensitivity and mix of balanced armature tweeter and dynamic driver
Like last year, talking audio with fellow enthusiasts was as much an attraction as the gear on show
The Sennheiser HDVA 600 impressed many, with this station seeing a steady stream of admirers all day
No school like the old school
This year my HE6 rig was a little more sensible, gone were the Merak monoblocks at 200W/channel, and in was the Questyle CMA800R monoblocks putting out a much more modest 4W per channel pure class A amplification
AKG's flagship 812 graced us with a visit year, were less polarising than expected
Figured nobody would mind looking at this one again?
Enough tubes?
The Vega/Taurus stack served up tunes with the Audeze range at the Audio-Reference table
It wasn't all about the high-end though, the pile of Schiit winning friends again this year
Portables city here with the Momentum Over-ears 2.0, Oppo PM-3, FAD Pandora Hope VI filling transducer duties for the Oppo HA-2, Audioquest Dragonfly 2.0 and HeadAmp Pico
Ian from Critical Sound Info with the Metrum Acoustics range on hand, and Terry from Audio-Reference with gear from Audeze, Hegel, Auralic and more take a momentary time out
Some of said Audeze gear
The table sporting the tubes garnered plenty of attention
Even the venerable iPod came out for the day
This headphone charm appears to have been the inspiration for the ugly and uncomfortable headband sported by the NAD HP50
An absolute plethora of gear here - the Audio-GD Reference 10.32, Chord Hugo, an AK portable player, Centrance DACport and even the Koss Porta-Pro
The HE6 showing off its chops for metal, taking the listener deep into Tool's Jambi
