Simon Price
I’m “brizzle bound an’ proud, me babber”…. so the Bristol HiFi show is once again at the behest of HiFi and audio lovers. Taking place from Friday 21st – Sunday 23rd February 2020.
Based at the Marriot, ‘Brizzle’ is a ‘hotel room’ type show, now in its 33rd year. You can have a butchers at HiFi manufacturers wares in hotel rooms on various levels, plus conference rooms are used for the bigger exhibitors.
I’ve attended in the past and it’s a great place to see new product launches and talk to the designers and manufacturers directly. Plus listening to money no object systems that we can only dream of, ready for when we become bit-coin millionaires….perhaps like ‘lotto lout’ Michael Carroll.
On the show website are lists of all the exhibitors, and a news page so you can get a feel for star exhibitor attractions. My bet is to look nearer the time to see what’s what.
So if you are hankering for a new pair of speakers or a DAC, or whatever, then go there to talk to manufacturers to cement buying decisions perhaps. Or go there just as a HiFi geek – for you will be in HiFi heaven, or just a music lover who likes to get the best out of stereo, like me. I can only talk about FPGA for so long you know…..
Hotel rooms can be ‘beat box’ boomy for big HiFi and this means that listens are *sometimes* not representative of real world conditions, so bear that in mind. I certainly wouldn’t be offering a serious view/review of a product tested in a hotel room. What this show does allow is to get a flavour of the products in such rooms. Personally I find ‘Brizzle’ useful for reasons of inquisitiveness – ‘What’s on the scene?’, ‘What’s new?’, ‘What new tech is there?’. There is also the issue that HiFi testing needs comparison in a familiar room.
As well as HiFi, don’t forget this show serves headphone fans too, so take your DAP (Digital Audio Player) or maybe your Audioquest DragonFly Dac and you can pair it with lots of gear. Without the acoustic issues of hotel rooms too.
My experience is get there early as long queues can build up at the front of the hotel. Also parking is expensive in Bristol city centre, so if you can say ‘cheers drive’ in bussing it from ‘out a town’, as the locals do, then great.
For Bristol HiFi show 2020, organisers and retailers Audio t are dangling carrots by offering £10k worth of HiFi to win in the show competition and are offering exclusive deals and special offers on some products.
Want something to eat – well it’s quite expensive in the show….I noticed the HiFi organisers have posted ‘high end’ and ‘medium end’ eateries, quite apt language for HiFi, but if this is still too expensive you could always find Bristol’s famous ‘Jason Donervan’ 🙂
Bristol is very recommended by me and if you’ve never been to a HiFi show you definitely should, ‘innit!’…. “Do you know what, I sooooo can’t believe you said thaaaat and took the fun out of Bristol”.
And if you want to collar me to ask any questions, this is my mugshot if you recognise me. If you’ve been watching my videos you will know who I am. Best wishes.
Bristol HiFi Show 2020
Website : https://www.bristolshow.co.uk
