Kirov High-End at Hi-Fi Expo Sofia 2011 – the second edition of the biggest audio-video exhibition on the Balkans!!! We hope you enjoyed it!

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The biggest event for a/v equipment on the Balkans – Hi-Fi Expo Sofia 2011, was held in Grand Hotel Sofia, from 1st to 4th of December 2011 in Sofia, BULGARIA. We hope that most of you had the chance to visit our 4 rooms at the exhibition. Kirov High-End presented interesting new and innovative products from all price ranges, including stereo systems, gadgets, interactive and home theater systems from the entry level to top of the line equipment. Many people visited our rooms during the four days of Hi-Fi Expo Sofia 2011. According to the organizers of the show, there were well over 4'500 audio enthusiasts attending the exhibition. We are glad that many of you spent some quality time in our rooms, listening to your favorite artists. At Hi-Fi Expo Sofia 2011, we showed for the first time in Bulgaria the innovative Clearaudio Statement, which is the most expensive and advanced state-of-the-art turntable ever built in the history of high-end analogue audio. With its ultimate technical characteristics, design and overwhelming size, the Statement turntable became the main attraction of the event. During the whole show our room 305 Statement was playing with the exquisite MBL Reference Line stereo system. Our room was overcrowded with audio aficionados, journalists and photographers, who wanted to get a closer look and if possible a photo with the ultimate analogue source. It was real pleasure for our team to demonstrate the Statement turntable. If you have missed the chance to visit us at Hi-Fi Expo, you are welcome to visit our showroom, where the Statement will be on display until end of January 2011. After that the turntable will be delivered to its new owner.

The unique MBL reference stereo system and the Clearaudio Statement Turntable

On the first day of Hi-Fi Expo Sofia the artists from the AKAGA band came to listen to their new not yet released album on the exquisite MBL Reference system in room 305. The band was charmed by the rich and warm musical reproduction of MBL and its 360^o Radialshtrahler technology and impressed by the solid Clearaudio Statement turntable with its massive 92 kg. pendulum, holding the turntable in complete balance. These two hi-tech marvels gathered all the attention at Hi-Fi Expo Sofia, and were the main topic of most discussions at the show.

In room 306 our team presented interactive home theater system with speakers from three different categories. The best-evaluated setup concerning price per value system was the 5.1 home cinema set with Paradigm Monitor series speakers and the 3D-ready Anthem MRX300 receiver. Namely this configuration has been acclaimed as best valued and most consumable setup in both Bulgarian and world well-known hi-fi magazines. Reviews for Paradigm Monitor Series and Anthem MRX300 you can find here:

http://kirov-high-end.blogspot.com/2011/06/paradigm-anthem-nuforce-oppo.html

http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/receivers/1424-anthem-mrx-300-71-av-receiver.html

http://www.hometheater.com/content/anthem-mrx-300-av-receiver

The second home theater set on demo was a total favorite for the ladies and design lovers attending the show this year – a crystalline 5.1 home cinema system by the exquisite French manufacturer Waterfall Audio, powered by Anthem MRX500 3D-ready receiver. This "innocent" setup showed how high technology and beautiful design can produce massive amount of adrenalin when combined together.

The most overwhelming home theater set we presented was a combination of Usher Audio reference line speakers and the monstrous 3'800 Watt JL Audio Gotham g213 subwoofer. The 7.1 set was driven by 7 powerful NuForce Reference 9SE monoblock amplifiers (190W@8Ω & 300W@4Ω) and Anthem's AVM40 Processor. All 3 home theater sets we hooked to a 55" HD 3D TV, the Kaleidescape movie and music servers, D-Box's most advanced motion interactive system and a ButtKicker low-frequency transducer. The D-Box motion system literally took the viewers deep in to the movie. We showed also how ButtKicker transforms the low-frequency sound effects of the movies into vibrations that kick the couch in every intense moment of the scene. With this innovative realistic home theater setup, our team attempted to show to all visitors that quality interactive home cinema can be configured in any price range. You are welcome in our showroom to test the interactive home cinema systems we showed at Hi-Fi Expo Sofia 2011.

Our Stereo-room – 307 - A real temple of legendary brands in the high-end industry. To see so much equipment from the BIG ones in high-end audio in one room, not at the Munich, Las Vegas or Milan shows but in Bulgaria is a real precedent! Our team brought all of the big names of high-end closer to the Bulgarian audiophiles. The stereo systems we demonstrated included components from mid to top end equipment from McIntosh, Burmester, Hansen, PassLabs, SimAudio, dCS, German Physiks, Bryston, Audio Physics, Prima Luna, Wadia, Benchmark, Audioquest, Kubala-Sosna, TaraLabs, Torus, Furman and Audience. All of the above mentioned brands can be auditioned in our showroom as well.

Here are the stereo-systems:

McIntosh – including the 1,2-kW XRT 28 loudspeakers, the reference SACD-player MCD1000, D/A converter MDA1000, 3-chassis tube and solid-state preamplifier C1000, 2 monoblock amplifiers MC 501, TaraLabs cables Torus Power 16 power conditioner.

Burmester – including the B25 loudspeakers, CD-player 061, preamplifier 035, stereo amplifier 956 МК 2. Review in bulgarian for the whole configuration you can find here http://kirov-high-end.blogspot.com/2011/03/burmester.html.
German Physiks & Bryston – including the German Physiks HRS-120 loudspeakers, CD-player Bryston BCD-1, preamplifier Bryston BP-26, 2 x monoblock amplifiers Bryston B28, Clearaudio Concept turntable, Torus Power 8 power conditioner and Kubala-Sosna cables.

Hansen, dCS & Raysonik – including Hansen The Prince V2 loudspeakers, the best CD-player in the world dCS Scarlatti, tube preamplifier Raysonik C200, a pair of Raysonik M100 tube monoblock amplifiers and Audioquest cables.

Audio Physics, Wadia & PassLabs - including Audio Physics Avanti loudspeakers, SACD-player Wadia 581 i SE, D/A convertor Wadia 521, the solid-state PassLabs X150.5 stereo amplifier, Audience aR6 power conditioner and cables.

Audio Physics & Prima Luna – including Audio Physics Tempo IV loudspeakers, tube CD-player Prima Luna PrologieEight, D/A converter Benchmark DAC1 and integrated tube amplifier Prima Luna DialogueOne.

Audio Physics & SimAudio Moon - including Audio Physics Scorpio loudspeakers, CD-player Moon CD-1, D/A converter Benchmark DAC1 and integrated stereo amplifier Moon i-1.

At this years' Hi-Fi Expo Sofia we took the liberty to demonstrate budget-oriented innovative products and gadgets, which can be integrated in every home. In room 308 we've made a special place for the Sonos Multi-room music system. The new integrated zone players Play:3 and Play:5 can easily replace complicated audio systems from the entry level. The Connect and Connect:Amp zone players can be used not only for background audio but to replace the CD-player and even amplifier in the low end systems. Our examples were the stereo systems with Duevel Venus and Planets loudspeakers, each pair hooked only to a Connect:Amp as source and amplifier. The effect was amazing! All visitors in room 308 had the opportunity to test the Sonos system, to control the set up with the innovative Sonos controller apps and play with the zones in party mode or individually, choosing their favorite music in a storage with over 3TB of music and among 100'000 online radio stations and services. The Sonos multi-room music system is made to bring all the music in the world in the home at the most reasonable price.

For the first time in Bulgaria we showed the universal remote control called "RedEye". Whit the clever RedEye, controlling all electronic equipment at home is easy, user friendly, wirelessly. RedEye connects to the home wi-fi network, it has an IR transmitter and combines all your equipment remotes in one single unit that can be a smartphone, a tablet or PC. Now every member of your family can easily control the stereo or home theater, or any device that comes with a remote.
Visitors from all ages enjoyed the Raikko portable vacuum speakers – compact pocket-sized loudspeakers, made for every device which supports 3,5 mm stereo input. Raikko vacuum speakers play quite powerful and support stereo mode. The visitors in room 308 had a lot of fun testing Raikko speakers with their own smartphones, mp3 players and tablets, watching videos from the internet and listening radio stations.

Among the interesting gadgets were also the USB-only powered speakers Soundscience QSB, which deliver 30W musical power from any netbook or pc. The L5 universal IR remote for iPhone and iPad was of main interest for all passionate Apple users. In all 4 rooms our team controller the stereo and home theater systems mainly with L5 remote.

We hope all audio and video fans who attended Hi-Fi Expo Sofia 2011 enjoyed our demonstrations.
You are welcome to visit our showroom where demonstrations and tests of the equipment exhibited at the show and many more continue running. We are looking forward to see you!
Best regards,

The team of Kirov High-End