Norddeutsche HiFi-Tage 2018

I have to confess that I had been growing impatient lately, counting down the days until the opening of the main audio event in northern Germany — Norddeutsche HiFi-Tage. The fact that the city I live in hosts the second-largest audio show in Germany makes me feel fortunate, because it is a great opportunity, costing me practically nothing, to align my expectations and internal reference with what is considered top-notch audio reproduction today.

This was my second visit to this key industry event, and I have to admit I enjoyed it even more than the first. As usual, it was held at the Holiday Inn hotel in Hamburg, not far from the city centre, and featured more than 170 exhibitors spread across eight floors. What impressed me immediately when I first popped in on Saturday was how crowded it was. It was genuinely difficult to make my way through the packed corridors. The following day, however, especially in the afternoon, the crowds spread throughout the hotel had already begun to thin out, making it much easier to navigate the exhibition.

There are basically two types of visitors, I can tell: those trying to judge the quality of reproduction by listening attentively, and those simply wandering from room to room, enjoying the appearance of the systems and the different ways they approached music. I could hardly imagine what it would be like to visit such a show without being infected by the audiophile bug or knowing nothing about the function of the components stacked on the racks. Some time ago, however, I had a similar experience when I happened to visit the Essen Motor Show, where beautifully restored classic cars were on display. My lack of knowledge and technical understanding of the exhibited vehicles did not prevent me from appreciating their elegant chassis, comfortable interiors, and meticulous attention to detail. I suppose that even with fresh, “unspoiled” ears one can still enjoy the show.

I tried to see the exhibition through the eyes of a layman, knowing nothing about technical concepts or standards of fidelity, trying to understand what it is about this technological wonder that captures the minds and hearts of so many visitors. I absorbed the atmosphere filling the rooms and corridors of the hotel, trying not to think or analyse but simply to enjoy the different ways the music was presented. After all, the purpose of all the equipment on display is to bring pleasure and allow us to enjoy art. However hard I tried to set aside my preconceptions and analytical thinking, I could not help but nod in appreciation whenever certain qualities of the reproduction opened a clearer path into the music.

Of course, everything contributes to the sound of an exhibition room—from the equipment rack, power conditioning, and cabling to the source, amplification, speakers, and room itself — but I believe that what shapes the character of the sound most are the loudspeakers, those remarkable transducers that convert electrical signals into acoustic energy. That is why, whenever I audition a system, my attention is naturally drawn towards them, because what I hear is ultimately determined by their construction and materials, and in most cases by the complex interaction between the electro-mechanical driver and its enclosure.

Taking the loudspeakers as a starting point, I can distinguish two fundamental approaches to sound among the many rooms I visited.

One follows the modern hi-fi ideal, characterized by enormous slam, deep and tightly controlled bass extension, and an impressive sense of weight and scale. It revolves around heavily damped, rigid speaker enclosures housing multiple drivers made from modern, stiff materials. These designs are generally of low efficiency and usually require hundreds of watts of amplification.

At the other end of the spectrum is an approach rooted in more traditional values, characterized by the fine articulation of low-level detail, natural tone colours, and the ability to deliver a satisfying listening experience even at very modest volume levels. It revolves around lively, slightly resonant cabinets with less internal damping, combined with highly efficient drivers, usually fitted with paper cones, that require only a few watts to sing.

Naturally, such a classification is a considerable simplification, taking into account only a limited number of sonic qualities and technological aspects, but it serves as a useful point of reference among the countless concepts and solutions available today. An entire spectrum of loudspeaker technologies stretches between these two conceptual extremes. Besides the usual suspects — ported enclosures and horn speakers — there are open baffles, electrostatics, ribbon speakers, and numerous combinations of these principles, each offering its own distinctive character. During this year’s show I found systems from both schools of thought thoroughly enjoyable, as well as many that occupied the broad middle ground between them.

As every year, there were also two distinct approaches to exhibiting. Some exhibitors treated the listening sessions in their rooms as genuine concert experiences, restricting access once a demonstration had begun. Entry was scheduled, with demonstrations divided into 30-minute sessions separated by roughly 15-minute intervals. These were usually the larger rooms, occupied by well-established high-end brands, while most of the remaining exhibitors allowed visitors to come and go freely throughout the day. Some of the larger demonstration rooms also hosted workshops, including comparisons of different vacuum tubes in otherwise identical amplifiers, evaluations of music files in various digital formats, and comparisons between digital and analogue playback of the same program material, among others.

The workshop

I began my Sunday by attending a demonstration comparing three different Avid turntables, all fitted with the same tonearm and cartridge, in order to evaluate the influence of the chassis itself. The presentation was conducted by Matthias Böde from Stereo magazine, assisted by Avid founder and designer Conrad Mas, and it became one of my personal highlights of the show.

The system, consisting entirely of Avid components and playing program material from 45 rpm LPs, performed with an enormous sense of scale and genuine visceral presence. Beginning with the entry-level Diva II SP (€4,200), continuing through the mid-priced Volvere SP (€6,300), and finally reaching the flagship Acutus SP (€15,000), featuring its unique variable-frequency suspension system, I was able to observe subtle differences in the articulation of detail, naturalness, bass definition, and soundstage that resulted solely from the different turntables. The differences were certainly not night and day, but they were significant enough to justify the more than threefold increase in price. My impression was that even the basic Diva II SP offers an exceptional price-to-performance ratio, delivering a remarkably stable and natural flow of musical information to the rest of the system.

Towards the end of the demonstration, an elderly gentleman asked why he could not hear the differences he was supposedly meant to hear. Another elderly gentleman replied that he probably had a hearing problem and should make an appointment with an Ohrenarzt (ear specialist).

Trying not to offend anyone, Conrad Mas took the stage and suggested that the gentleman had no problem with his hearing, but rather with his brain.

For a moment I feared the situation might escalate and become somewhat insulting, but Mas managed to explain his theory without causing any offence. He argued that our brains adapt to whatever we become accustomed to, illustrating his point with the example of a €20 bottle of wine being replaced by one costing ten times as much. Someone with no previous experience of fine wines, he suggested, might judge the two to be identical, or even prefer the cheaper one.

Perhaps there is something to that. I don’t know. It may simply take time to adjust to a certain level of quality before one is able to appreciate its full complexity. In any case, it was both an amusing and a very enjoyable listening experience.

The surprise

I was genuinely surprised when I entered Silberstatic’s room. The well-known German manufacturer of electrostatic loudspeakers, with its roots in the local DIY hi-fi scene, was not demonstrating electrostatics at all. Instead, it presented a brand-new pair of compact two-way loudspeakers.

This is the first product in Silberstatic’s portfolio based on conventional dynamic drivers housed in a traditional enclosure, and I have to confess that I was blown away by their powerful, transparent, and articulate sound. Although they bear some resemblance to Visaton’s Stella Light, their cabinets are noticeably shorter, making them rather deceptive in appearance. Their physical dimensions simply do not prepare you for the surprise of the considerable punch, expansive soundstage, and remarkably deep, well-controlled bass they are capable of producing.

The finish resembles raw granite, although the enclosure is actually made of wood. The expected price is around €2,000 per pair. I believe these are still prototypes and have not yet entered production, but I have a feeling these compact loudspeakers have a bright future ahead of them and could easily earn a worthy place alongside their larger electrostatic siblings.

The best of the show

My personal favourite this year was EAR Yoshino’s room, where a complete EAR electronics system was paired with loudspeakers from Living Voice.

Last year the EAR system was partnered with Graham Audio LS5/9 loudspeakers, and I liked it very much, but this year’s combination was simply exceptional. I would place this system somewhere between the two conceptual extremes I described earlier.

The Living Voice OBX-RW employs relatively lively, slightly resonant enclosures made from chipboard with minimal internal damping. This construction contributes to a presentation that is lively yet natural and remarkably free from the boxy colourations often associated with conventional cabinets. Its level of transparency even approaches that of electrostatic loudspeakers.

The presenter mentioned that Living Voice founder and designer Kevin Scott devotes an extraordinary amount of time and effort to seemingly insignificant details, such as the influence of the veneer on the sound of his loudspeakers. The type of wood, its thickness, grain orientation, and even the adhesive used have all been the subject of continuous experimentation. In my opinion, the results of this meticulous attention to detail were clearly audible.

At one point a couple entered the room and took the seats beside me. After a while, the woman asked what the boxes standing next to the loudspeakers were for. Since I enjoy talking about such things, I explained that they were the external crossover networks — enclosures housing the electrical components responsible for dividing the audio signal between the loudspeaker drivers.

She was obviously unaware that such devices even existed, let alone the potential advantages of locating the crossover outside the cabinet or the significance of its design. Yet I found myself wondering whether, in her blessed innocence, untouched by technical knowledge or years of audiophile experience, she might actually have been enjoying the music even more than I was.

Now that I am writing this, however, I am beginning to doubt that thought. Appreciating audio reproduction may itself require cultivation, much like our aesthetic judgement gradually develops, or our appreciation of fine wine, to return to Conrad Mas’s analogy, matures with experience.

At the end, I would like to say that the show was very well organized, vibrant, and well attended. In contrast to the cold and rainy February weather outside, the cosy atmosphere in some of the rooms invited visitors either to listen critically or simply to enjoy the reproduction of music.

The disappointing realization was that two days are simply not enough for a visitor to experience the full variety of concepts and products on display. I inevitably missed some interesting things, but that is simply how life is.

Thank you for stopping by, and as always, happy listening!