The GuangZhou Hi-Fi Show

Posted by: Robert Harley at 8:08 am, December 3rd, 2007

The most interesting of these is a golf ball to which the tonearm is mounted. The golf ball rests in a cup containing silicone damping fluid. I also attended a presentation on the turntable by Bill Firebaugh, who took a group of audiophiles through the design decisions. The new 'table is expected in the U.S. in March at a projected price of $2500. I'll be visiting the Opera Audio factor in Bejing later this week and will have more details then.

In addition to lots of Chinese-made gear, just about every major American and European brand was also on display at the show. It's easier to list the few companies who weren't represented than those who were.

A vendor area for CDs and LPs was chock full of attendees, enduring music blasting from adjacent booths as each vendor tried to show off his wares. Multiply by about 50 and you have a recipe for a 100-decible cacophony.

Analog is quite popular in China as evidenced by the number of exhibits featuring turntables. One entire floor focused on turntables, and several flagship models were on display. These included the big Clearaudio Statement,

the equally big Transrotor

the Kuzma, and the mighty Work of Art from Basis Audio.

There's a new kid in town in the mega-turntable arena. The turntable is the Pure-Vox PV-Flagship, and it has an interesting story behind it. Its creator, Mr. Tingguang Tan, is a mechanical engineer who founded a very successful business building kitchen appliances.

A dedicated music lover, Mr. Tan was unhappy with the sound of CD and decided to build his own turntable for personal use. His first 'table was more like a pilot project from which he worked out ideas for the ultimate turntable he'd been thinking about for two years. After reducing his responsibilities in his appliance business, Mr. Tan turned his attention to building this absolutely no-compromise 'table for his own use.

Using his factory's manufacturing resources, he built the' table. Word soon spread about it, and he was asked to build another one for sale. He built two more, and then decided to go into the turntable business with five models. The PV-Flagship is stunning visually, and features a magnetically driven sub-platter that has no contact with the main platter.

The top third of the turntable is isolated from the lower section, and is self-balancing via three massive weights (170 pounds total) that hang nearly to the floor. A high-speed microprocessor controls the motor. The entire structure weighs in at more than 750 pounds. The price is 890,000 RMB, or about $135,000.

No hi-fi show would be complete without Lars Kristensen from Nordost putting on his cable show. If you've seen Lars in action at a show, you know what I mean. He demonstrates to large crowds the sonic differences between different models of Nordost interconnectâinvariably with great flair and engaging banter. The exhibit room was jam-packed--easily the best-attended room of the show.

The system on display featured VTL's Siegfried monoblock power amplifiers driving the excellent Scandinavian Raidho loudspeakers. VTL's Luke Manley was also on hand for the festivities.

I had an opportunity to hear the KEF Muon loudspeaker, which is more of concept than a mass-produced product. The all-aluminum enclosure is stunningly styled, and the sound was quite good, although I never got to hear the Muon while sitting between the speakers; showgoers who waited for a turn in the sweet spot were loathe to give it up. Everyone was taking photos of the Muon, although for some reason the left loudspeaker got more attention from the cameras than the right.