The 11th edition of the What Hi-Fi? Show 2019, took place at the Trident, Hitec City, Hyderabad, from the 30th August to 1st September 2019. We were present from the day before the show started right till it was pack up time on the last day, to cover the event as well as assist a few of our friends from the AV Industry, who were participating in the show.
We will therefore cover each of the rooms that we entered and provide our audience with the details of the brands and models show cased, room wise.
We start with the 2 Ball Rooms that were taken by the following:
Preeti Trading Corporation (PTC):
The main sponsors of the What Hi-Fi? Show were as is customary for them present by means of showcasing their wares in a Ball Room, but this time, they had been very smart and used the size of the room to ideally showcase their Home Theatre Demo, which consisted of the under noted:
Static Display –
Monitor Audio
Tower Speakers (Monitor 300 & Silver 200) Series
In Wall & In Ceiling Speakers (Iw460x and cpct380idc)
Denon –
AVR’s (S series 650, 750 and 950)
Demo Setup –
Pro Audio Technology
LCR SCRS 12SM
Surrounds SCRS 6iwp
Atmos Speakers – SCRS 25ica
Subwoofers – SCRS 14sm
Amps –
Pma9942
Pma4242
Dma1508
Retail price – 49 lakhs
We were extremely happy to hear and see the outcome as we were pretty disappointed with their efforts at the last show and were not at all complimentary in conveying the same to the big boos at PTC. Our constructive criticism seems to have worked as the outcome of their approach with respect to this show was totally different and one that worked positively in their favour.
We particularly enjoyed their home theatre set up which whilst not only had the impact and punch that one expects from a install in a large room but one that also gave the visiting hyderabadi people, a sense of scale that can be achieved, what with them being blessed with large rooms & real estate available to do justice to a home theatre scenario.
Good Job, team PTC, you guys definitely surprised us with your room this time!
BENQ :
BenQ used the entire room area to demo the range of models they have and also a few on static display. Details of all the models are provided in the pics attached.
12TH FLOOR
1217 – MONEE & CO
The range of KLH speakers in Book Shelf, Tower, Surround, Inwall & Inceiling speakers were showcased, in stereo, home theatre & static display.
1219 – VINSHEK
Elan Home Automation products and accessories, Rako Control Panel Switches & Fusion Research Audio Server were showcased here.
1221 – CINEBELS (JAMO)
The Jamo range of subwoofers, tower speakers and book shelf speakers greeted us at one side, garden speakers on the opposite with plywood wall of inwall & in ceiling speakers on static display. The other end of the room had a home theatre demo of Jamo speakers and the adjoin suite room had a full blown THX certified Jamo Speakers 5.1.2 Atmos enabled set up on demo. The side area of the room had some static THX certified speakers along with in ceiling speakers on display.
1223 – RECLINERS INDIA
The new range of recliners from Recliners India were on demo/display here. Most people visited this room and it was always full. Recliners India also had a placard placed outside their room stating their achievements, service criteria amongst their other USP’s.
1224 – VINSHEK
Waterfall Audio Speakers in floor standing, in wall/in ceiling & subwoofers, were on demo and static display here. The Victoria speakers were very attractive to look at but sadly the room acoustics did not support the speaker’s performance in the truest sense, as they sounded their best at lower to moderate volumes. It was good to see them nonetheless.
1225 – RIVERA INTERNATIONAL
Amina Invisible Speakers and Audio Vector QR Series in home theatre application. We were pleasantly surprised at the performance of the Amina Speakers in this configuration and commend team Rivera International for managing such a impressive result. We are sure that most visitors must have been impressed as well.
1226 – NUCLEUS AV
The Lyravox Stereomaster SM3-150 & SM2-170 were showcased to good effect, targeted to the well heeled HNI looking for a truly hi-end stereo solution.
1227 – NEXUS AUDIO VIDEO
The combination of PMC IB1S Transmission Line Speakers with Octave V80SE Integrated Tube Amplifier & AVM MP3.2 CD Player with Streamer were well matched & delivered the results in an emphatic manner. There was no contest once again though the set up really came into its own from Saturday onwards. Yes, the man behind Nexus AV always finds the proverbial pin of a hand grenade, which he pulled off masterfully to showcase his talent into the art of setting up a kick ass system in a horribly designed hotel room. No fancy acoustic panels, isolating devices, power conditioners nor any gimmickry involved here! Some incredible music heard once again, thanks to the CD collection that accompanied as part of the playlist.
Sadly, the setup involved doesn’t come cheap & is privy only to those who can afford the same!
1228 – VIEWSONIC
Another room used to cram as much product as possible, what with Projectors firing to Screens in every possible space of the room. Quick click of pics will show the needful.
1229 – LUXURY PERSONIFIED LLP
Devialet Phantom Reactors belting out loud sound throughout the day, every single day, without fail. Bang, bang & more bang!
1230 – M Z Audio
Q Acoustics Concept 40 in a 5.1 home theatre set up with Marantz Pre/Power were showcased in the main room of the suite. The adjoining room had Q Acoustics Concept 500 with Marantz PM10 & SA10 hooked up, which sadly the majority did not even hear thanks to the notion that only home theatre demo was possible in the said room. An even bigger pity was the presence of the new Concept 300’s albeit on static display at the event registration area. One big opportunity missed to show case these raved about speakers, which sadly we won’t have a chance of listening to thanks to various reasons involved.
1231 – SURROUND SWAR
XTZ Speakers, subwoofers & PSA Subwoofers were on demo in a dolby atmos 5.2.2 configuration, along with Eltax 5.0 Speakers & Tangent 3.0 Speakers Sets, as static displays in the room. The good folk behind Surround swar tried their best to dial in the monstrous subs throughout the show & what we heard gave us enough to rate their set up as that being highly capable to deliver the goods to a movie crazy enthusiast craving for good quality bass extension. We hope to review some of the XTZ speakers in the near future.
On demo were the following:
XTZ
Cinema M8 Tower speakers
Cinema M8 Center speaker
Cinema S5 Surrounds speakers
Cinema S2 Atmos speakers Upfiring Modules
DS12.17 sealed dual 12” Subwoofer (Debut at the show)
D12.17 sealed side firing dual 12” Subwoofer (Debut at the show)
PSA
PSA V1510 15” Ported Subwoofer
1233 – SOUNDTRAILS
Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs Inc., are now officially represented in India by Soundtrails, which was a good surprise to us & to those who visited their room. Mofi Electronics by way of the Ultra & Studio Decks & Phono Stages were on demo along with Vinyl Accessories & Vinyls displayed alongside. We look forward to reviewing the Mofi Electronics in the near future.
1234 – MUSIC & MOUNTS
Axiom Wireless Speakers, the M5HP & M100 were on demo along with numerous inwall & onwall speakers on static display, with Clicktronic & Goobay Wires. The source was compromised hence we could not really get a good idea of these Axioms. Hopefully these will be sent for review to us in the future.
1235 – SIGHT & SOUND INDIA PVT. LTD.
Aero Digital products were showcased which consisted of Mirror TV’s Digital Displays, Digital Standees & 2 Way Digital Displays. We are always impressed by the price to performance ratio that Aero Digital Products deliver upon and definitely see them growing in stature as the years go by.
1236 – ACOUSTIC PORTRAIT
It has been a long while since we heard Acoustic Portrait products and that too consisting of the entire chain, which certainly was a bonus for us as we have always felt that their synergy is best achieved when they entire chain involved consists of their own products. On demo were the new speakers called Naadam, along with Thiyaga DAC & Thiyaga Power Amplifier with Volume Control.
It was also a pleasure to meet the people behind Acoustic Portrait, namely Jaya & Siva, who were very warm and gave their audience ample time to listen to their products. Acoustic Portrait also had the Kavi Active Studio Monitors at hand with their outboard Electronics, which sadly we could not hear due to being busy during the time they were brought into action. Nevertheless, the setup we heard that costs just under Rupees Ten Lakhs (excluding cables) was in our humble opinion a true winner and undoubtedly the star of the show.
The icing on the cake were the Indian Classical Music CD’s that Acoustic Portrait have for sale under their own label. These are some of the best recorded CD’s once can currently find in the market & are a real source of pleasure to those who love this genre of music. Acoustic Portrait also offer MP3(320 kbps) Studio Master FLAC Digital Downloads(24bit/192kHz) of the music via their website.
For those looking at investing in a quality stereo setup that will last a long time without the need for upgrading, then we highly recommend you visit Acoustic Portrait in Bangalore to get a first hand experience of what they have to offer. The only caveat being that you have to buy all the links of the chain to get the desired results.
