Show Tunes!

North West Audio Show June 21st, 22nd

The North West Audio Show takes place at Crannage Hall in Cheshire every year. We have attended in the past as support to Source Sounds, Sheffield. This year, we invited Source to come and support us for a change.

We always have a good time with plenty of interest from the home Hi-Fi crowd, many of whom have never been exposed to good sound in a car. We love to impress and therefore had a great weekend persuading people to have a demonstration and receiving direct feedback from them.

Our Tesla Model Y sporting brand new Audison Voce II speakers received plenty of positive feedback, and everyone was amazed with the amount and cohesiveness of the sub bass from the Audison 10" active sub in the boot. 

A reliable demonstrator, a Porsche 997 was available again. This install is based around Audison Thesis speakers. It has just received an upgrade by way of a set of TH 3.0 Voce II mid-range speakers and a Voce Due amplifier. This has improved the upper mids substantially and filled in a little frequency dip between tweeters and woofers.

Finally, there was a rare showing of a Ford Ranger installed with Hertz Legend. This is a workhorse vehicle, and despite its outside dimensions, inside space is limited. 

Our roving reporter, Lauren, was on hand and keen to listen to some of the home Hi-Fi on show. She was most impressed with the Richer Sounds room, where she listened to Dire Straits "Calling Elvis". This was Lauren's first experience of listening in this unfamiliar setting, and her feedback was mixed.

"I am young, and was not previously that familiar with the track. However, I found the demonstration and overall soundscape engaging. The instrument placement seemed very precise and deliberate, and offered the effect of watching the band play live.

There is a lot going on in the track. The drums were tight and crisp, and I enjoyed the low-end, which was subtle but added the right amount of drama.

A looped guitar riff weaves together two other guitar tracks, which I found intoxicating, particularly during the three-minute outro. 

I was keen to compare what I had heard with one of our cars. I was interested in seeing if there were any obvious differences between the vinyl version I had just heard and a Qobuz rendering in the car.

I was pleased to hear a lot of the things I had noted down in the listening room. There are probably many reasons why I preferred listening in the car. A car is a far more intimate setting for listening, and although the space and separation in the track were all as expected, my experience of listening to the track in the car seemed to be more immersive, but I wasn't sat amongst strangers, which could have been a significant factor. 

I have subsequently sat in a car with Carl and talked through my observations, which I am pleased to report, he agreed with."

It is always a joy to meet with Driving Sounds Club members at shows. Thank you to all of you who sought us out and came over for a chat and a listen.

We will let you know where you can come and meet us next as soon as our plans are finalised.