Over the weekend of 24th-26th September 2011, AMR and Select Audio (AMR: UK) again, attend the National Audio Show. Located a few miles from Towcester, the village of Whittlebury is situated 15 miles from junction 14 of the M1 and about 1.5 hours north of London.

The system consisted of:

AMR CD-77 CD Processor

DP-777 Digital Processor, HP 310TouchSmart (setup and optimised by AMR)

Basis Turntable

Pass Labs Phono

Pass Labs Pre and Power Amplifiers

Verity Amadis speaker

Racks and supports by HiFi Racks and Track Audio were of the highest calibre.

Photo: The AMR/Select Room

Having attended this show last year, this time around, we secured a somewhat larger room which gave us even better sonics.

Attendees were most pleased and relaxed to hear tunes in our room and many remarked how the transition between computer audio, CD and LP was almost seamless…

The AMR HP TouchSmart computer really impressed visitors to our room with its ‘instant’ library of +2,500 albums and involving music which is atypical of computer audio implemented by most other manufacturers. The switching DACs to flex AMR’s definition of ‘Bit Perfect’ was quite jaw-dropping…

Downstairs, Keith Cheal from Angelsound also used AMR components in his setup.

The Angelsound Room with the CD-777 and DP-777

Source: AMR

Many thanks go to Tom Sturgeon of Ardhowen HiFi and Bony of Emporium HiFi. Without the assistance from both, we would have struggled to setup, breakdown and pack up the rooms where we had AMR equipment out on loan.

We cannot speak highly enough of these two ‘gents’ who go out of their way to help – unfailingly at every show.

The A-Team…

Computer Audio: An Introduction by Audirvana and AMR

It was fantastic to co-present ‘Computer Audio: An Introduction’ with Damien Plisson of Audirvana. Damien took the opportunity to launch Audirvana Plus – his new, highest quality playback software.

Photo: Screenshot of the new Audirvana Plus

On the first day, the room was full with 55 or so attendees, which was impressive as HiFi+ demonstrations had a similar level of turnout for their presentations!

On the second day, in-line with an overall lower number of attendees, some 35 people turned out.

A Very Strong Interest in AMR and Audirvana

It was wonderful to see such strong interest in computer audio. Further, we could tell from the Q&A session at the end that people were intensely interested in what we had to present regarding computer audio.

On the whole, in England, computer audio is in its infancy and people are still getting to grips with how to setup their computer and utilise computer audio.

Photo: Damien Plisson of Audirvana

The Lucky Winners are…

As advertised in the run up to the show, AMR/Select Audio and Chester Group (organisers of the National Audio Show) joined forces to raffle among other things, a brand new Premier Class 777 machine.

The winner was….Mr A Yardley of Milton Keynes. There were nine other lucky winners each of whom received the IC-777 Premier Class interconnection cable. The remaining runner-ups each received a set of 3-AMR Fuses.

We got to know Mike and Caroline from Track Audio better over evening drinks. We would like to thank Mike for his wonderful monoblock and speaker stands which were used in the AMR and Angelsound rooms respectively.

Photo: Mike Butler of Track Audio (left) and Tom Sturgeon of Ardhowen HiFi (right)

The Track Audio equipment is built like the proverbial German car and weighs as much but costs a lot less. Their isolation feet exude a quality that reflects their passion for perfection.

Thanks also go out to Bradley Walters and his team from HiFi Racks who supplied the equipment rack in the AMR room. The quality, looks and sonics are second to none. They are simply gorgeous to look at and sound wonderful.

The Team from HiFi Racks

Again, we stayed at the lovely Linden cottage which is only 10 minutes by foot from Whittlebury Hall. Run by Ann and Mike Thomas, we heartily recommend Linden Cottage to anyone wishing to enjoy a break in this very picturesque area of Northants.

Source: http://www.lindencottagewhittlebury.co.uk/

We hope to see you again next year!