Nov 2014 Guangzhou AV Fair

Event 2014

 

Date: 2014-11-28

 

The Guangzhou International AV Fair 2014, which lasted three days, ended on 30th November. An attraction to innumerable specialists in the industry and audiophiles, the event saw over 200 exhibitors, occupying nearly 300 exhibition halls and booths. The premises had an area of over 15,000 square metres, outweighing the previous ones. Besides the booth in Conference Room 2 of Dong Fang Hotel for exhibiting featured brands, Richcoln acquired Room 507 for compact, life-style audio products.

An attractive feature of Conference Room 2 was Burmester's Reference Line of audio equipment comprising the 069 CD player, 077 pre-amplifier, 909 MK5 stereo power amplifier and the latest Ambience Series BA71 floorstanding speaker. Meanwhile, an analogue source component system was debuted, which consisted of Acoustic Signature's latest "Novum" turntable and TA-1000 12" tonearm and the flagship Strain Gauge cartridge with a dedicated phono amplifier by Soundsmith of USA. These components formed an overwhelming audio demonstration system. The latest Burmester BA 71 floorstander features four bass units, two midrange units and an AMT treble unit in D' Appolito configuration on the front baffle, while a rear mounted AMT with level control helps create holographic soundstaging. The placement of the four bass units differs from the usual side- firing configuration. According to Burmester the use of four 160mm woofers enables faster low frequency transients and more refined layering. This reflects the current trend in speaker design and justifies Burmester's status as a progressive manufacturer.

The Acoustic Signature "Novum" turntable also looks promising. Besides adopting the second generation "Silencer 3" platter design and the unique "Tidorfolon" bearing technology, three motors are mounted around a sub-platter in the manner of an equilateral triangle, driving it via a single rubber belt. This provides a uniform distribution of driving force for reduced friction and vibration.

The Strain Gauge cartridge by Soundsmith is an innovative design with inherent advantage over mainstream pick-up cartridges like moving magnets and moving coils. It works on the principle of displacement whereas stylus/cantilever movements on record grooves alter resistance of the silicon crystals inside, which subsequently generate AC voltages. The absence of coils or magnets rids the cartridge of moving mass issues, resulting in superior trackability and fast transients for accurate retrieval of all nuances engraved on records. No loss of subtlety in music signals is incurred and integrity of music is preserved. Frequency response extends beyond DC ~ 70kHz, achieving an uncompressed, open sound best for reproducing music of a large scale and wide dynamic range. Another feature of the cartridge is the absence of an RIAA equalization network that induces phase shift and distortion issues, thus reproducing sound as captured on tape.

Having never left home theater surround-sound systems neglected, Richcoln displayed in the other corner of the Exhibition Hall the first network speaker system by Ascendo Kino of Germany, namely the Coaxial Cinema Reference Monitor (CCRM) and SMS active subwoofer. Equipped with built-in high powered amplifiers, these speakers can be individually configured by acquiring multi-channel audio signals from Auro 3D or Dolby Atmos systems via integrated streaming technology with AVB connection. This eliminates sound quality degradation derived from lengthy transmission of the analogue signal using long runs of cabling.

The event also witnessed introduction of new audiophile-class recordings by Hong Kong's veteran singer Mr. Yip Chun Tong, who gave an unplugged live performance in our booth.

Room 507 was packed with high quality computer-as-source (CAS) playback systems Richcoln Company Limited currently represents. Among them were the famous Lindemann musicbook series from Germany, the AVM CS5.2 integrated amplifier, SD3.2 and SD5.2 streaming DAC/pre-amplifiers, Bryston BDP-2 digital player, BDA-2 decoder and BHA-1 headphone amplifier from Canada. Meanwhile, an upmarket life-style headphone by Aedle of France on demonstration became an attraction to computer audio maniacs, who praised the exhibits for their timbre and versatility and haled them as the ideal reproducing equipment for computer music.

The Guangzhou International AV Fair 2014 ended in a joyful finale. The event drew the attendance of audiophiles and music lovers at home and abroad, who responded with passion. Richcoln will adhere to our motto of "Music for Life", offering solicitude and professionalism as ever to enrich our musical life for a better future.

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