⌈ The AUDIO VIDEO SHOW PRAGUE is an exhibition of audio products organized every year, around February and March, by DANIEL BŘEZINA and his colleagues. It takes place at the DON GIOVANNI Hotel, the only member of the Great Hotels of The World in the Czech Republic. This hotel is located in Prague, right next to the Želivského metro station (line A), which takes you to the historic city center in 5 minutes. This year, the Audio Video Show Prague exhibition was held for the sixth time. "High Fidelity" has been its media partner for three years. ⌋

| WHAT DID PEOPLE SAY

here was no other topic that discussed as often during this exhibition as the cancelling of the Munich High End Show 2020 (more HERE). It was topic number one discussed by everyone. It was even before the organizer of the Show, the High End Society announced an official message and the first texts were sent to manufacturers and their representatives. So when at 10.00 a.m. the exhibition in Prague opened, we were already after breakfast, but also after the first conversations, attempts to predict the future and sharing some minor rumors.

New speakers from Xavian, Terza and Quarta (on the right). Both belong to the Classic series. This way Xavian reached back for classic BBC designs.

The "magic" word that everyone repeated all the time was "coronavirus". What a time! I did not think that something that we know mainly from SF literature and films will penetrate the reality we live in, and yet ... Because it is a popular topic, covered by social media, and official television and radio broadcasters, it has a direct impact on our lives, it is impossible so stay indifferent to it.

Fortunately, I was in the Czech Republic, in a country full of people with a good, reasonable approach to life. Everyone calmed each other down and I didn't see anyone in the corridors who was particularly worried about it. As you will see soon, this year's exhibition had a tad fewer visitors, but it is difficult to say what the reason was. As Daniel Březina, the main organizer of the event told me, he was happy to see me, and that due to the coronavirus one (one!) small exhibitor has canceled participation, and only a few representatives of companies have been "grounded" in their countries. And next he said:

On the one hand, of course, I understand that the pressure from the authorities and the media makes it difficult to keep it cool and that we have a problem taking risks, but on the other hand, I regret that canceling even the largest audio exhibitions will reduce predictability in our industry, and this uncertainty may result in rising prices, it may also cause lesser-known brands to disappear from the market. I must also say that if our exhibition lasted a day longer, we could be forced to cancel it, and after half a year of hard work, precisely because of pressure from the state authorities.

| WHAT DID NUMBERS SAY

Daniel very quickly after the Show sent its summary expressed in numbers, which is a proof of good organization of the event. In his written summary, he draws attention to, among others, the 150-page exhibition catalog, a really nice and well prepared one, smooth unpacking and packaging of products before and after the exhibition, the presence of many foreign journalists, as well as almost 100% positive feedback from exhibitors and visitors.

One of the most interesting passive power conditioners I saw in Prague: the Harmonic Hammer HH-3000P developed by Czech company GMG Power.

The most important, however, is the fact that the Show offered really good vibes, was pleasant to visit, well organized, and there were a lot of both exhibitors and visitors. In numbers, it looks like this:

• visitors: 2881 (including media people) | last year it was 3324, and two years ago 2783,
• floors in hotel: 5,
• rooms: 73 | last year: 74, two years ago: 70,
• exhibitors: 66 | last year: 70
• number of brands: 300+ , last year: 270+ , two years ago: 275+.

There is a slight decrease in the number of visitors, but it was not really significant and the rooms were usually full. It is important that there were many exhibitors because they set the tone of the Show and it is them the visitors come for. It was interesting that there were more young people, women and even children than in previous years. So - there is still some hope for us, audiophiles.

| WHAT CAUGHT OUT ATTENTION

In the photo gallery below the article you will find photos selected by us. This time we focused primarily on brands that we don't usually see in Warsaw at the Audio Video Show or in Munich at the High End Show, also on those that may sometimes be there, but these are brands from across our southern border and finally on products and systems that performed best and the most interesting ones.

System with Naim electronics and Focal speakers featured a CD Player as its primary source.

However, before we get to them, I would like to say a few words about the trends that caught my attention. It is a local exhibition, but maybe that's why it was easier to notice some things there, that also occur in major European and world events.

The thing that seems indisputable is the return to the physical media to the scene, with an emphasis on Compact Discs and Super Audio CDs. Although in several rooms turntable was used as the main, or at least as one of many signal sources, the exhibitors still played music mostly from digital discs. And again - in several rooms file players/streamers were also used, but in Prague it was a small group of exhibitors. What's more, new CD and SACD players are presented, which gives hope for further development of these formats.

The second thing I noticed concerns speakers. In the captions for the photos I tried to point it out: more and more designers are using tweeters based on the idea of dr. Oskar Heil, called Air Motion Transformer (AMT). It is a harmonica with a conductive path marked on it, which is compressed and expanded. This gives the driver a large surface area combined with a low weight. It was once a niche product, rather a curiosity, but now AMT is part of the mainstream.

The Wharfedale Elysian 2 speakers were a living proof of two main trends: they feature Heil’s tweeter and a cabinet with a wide baffle, despite the fact this is a stand-mount model.

The situation in Prague was a continuation of what I saw last year in Munich during the High End Show 2019. And the point is that loudspeaker manufacturers see the possibility of improving their quality primarily in improving the material from which the cabinets are made - see: Wilson Audio, Estelon Audio, GIYA Loudspeaker, Fisher & Fisher, etc. However, they also take the tweeter application method and its type equally seriously. Eton diamond drivers are often used in the most expensive designs, but you can also find soft domes (Dynaudio, Wilson Audio).

As I said though, designers use the AMT drivers more and more. Their most important manufacturer is the German Mundorf, but other manufacturers, such as Monitor Audio, also have their versions. Please take a look at the already mentioned top Fisher & Fisher SN-670 and Monitor Audio speakers from the Platinum II series, the Gryphon and Wharefdale, or speakers from the Czech manufacturer Nadral, and even the inexpensive Well Rounded Sound speakers - all of them feature the AMT.

This is a driver with a specific sound: warm, smooth and full, but also so different from what we know from the domes that each one of us has to decide whether it is "our" sound.

System featuring the Monitor Audio Platinum PL500 II loudspeakers and Chord Electronics electronics including their new Ultima 5 amplifier.

And two cents about products that are slowly but surely climbing to higher levels in the ranking of things important in audio systems: power components. Many products of this type were shown in Prague, with some very interesting devices from Czech and German companies. These are: F&S Electronics and DC Blocker 4X-D, RDacoustics and RD EMI Neutralizer as well as GMG Power and Harmonic Hammer HH-3000. Already today, the power conditioner, filters and power cables are an equivalent component of an audio system, often as expensive as electronics and loudspeakers.

| WHAT WAS BEST

My „The Best Sound” choices are absolutely subjective. I have been to each room several times, both on Friday and Saturday, but it is usually a pure coincidence whether a given system at any given moment performed well in a given room or just OK. It's just that these few systems listed below are ones that sounded great every time I listened to them. They are listed randomly, based on the order I visited the rooms they played in.

|1| FISHER&FISHER | A+T | DR. FEICKERT ANALOGUE

One of the best systems on the Show, based on T+A HV Series electronics and huge Fisher&Fisher SN-670 loudspeakers with cabinets made of slate and Heil tweeter. The source was the MP3100 HV SACD Player.

|2| Kii AUDIO

I couldn’t pass by this system indifferently - the sound was insanely good! The Kii Audio Three BXT system, with active mid-tweeter section (Three) and active bass modules (BXT), all corrected in DSP, offers a top-notch sound.

|3| SONUS FABER | McINTOSH

An excellent presentation run by Mr. Paolo Tezzon from Sonus faber, where he is the head of the research department. Two issues ago he appeared in the Japanese Stereo Sound magazine with Yoav Geva from YG Acoustics. In Prague, he presented speakers from the Olympica Nova series.

|4| ACOUSTIQUE QUALITY | PRO-JECT | LINDEMANN

One of the most active brands from the Czech Republic: the AQ (Acoustique Quality), founded in 1995, with a wide range of speakers. The photo shows floorstanding speakers Passion and stand-mounted Passion Teen. In a system with electronics from the German company Lindemann and with an analog source from Pro-Ject.

|5| EIGHT

Active loudspeakers with a Bluetooth receiver - Eight. It's also a music files player; Hypex nCore amplifiers, 10-point tone correction, upsampler. The whole system hidden in two small speakers, which sounded extremely interesting and involving.

| SUMMARY

For last I saved a few words for the „High Fidelity” readers from Daniel Březina, the man behind Prague Show:

I am extremely pleased that the exhibition, despite a few minor problems and uncertainty that could be felt among people, could come to fruition, with small, compared to the previous year, restrictions that were not even noticeable. I am glad that the sixth edition of the exhibition went smoothly and the event itself was sophisticated and that those with whom I spoke told me that coming to Prague they felt as if they were coming back to their second home.

On behalf of the organizer and ourselves we would like to invite you all for the next year’s Show!!! Same as for the last three years, „High Fidelity” will be an official media partner of the Audio Video Show Prague 2021. ■