Warsaw Audio Video Show 2024 Takeaway

lots of records, little vinyl playback

Last weekend's Warsaw Audio Video Show was a great success: well-attended by the industry and consumers alike. There was a lot to see, hear, and if you were there to shop for records, so much to buy at very reasonable prices. Big international brands displayed at the sports stadium, smaller Polish and other nationality brands unfamiliar to American audiophiles showed at the Radisson Sobieski Blue Hotel, while a few of the larger, more established brands were across the street at the Golden Tulip Hotel.

I'll shortly post videos so you can attend the show from your listening chair but for now I just want to point out a few things and offer some gentle criticism, more of the manufacturers who participated than of the show itself, which as usual was extremely well organized and presented.

First, even allowing for cultural differences, the music played in too many rooms was mundane, predictable and very little of it was useful for assessing the audio quality of the gear playing it back. Some of the biggest names showing their biggest and best squandered their opportunity by playing mostly and sometimes only electronic "bleeps and blops" music. I like that kind of music too but it doesn't tell you much about a system's overall sound quality.

But my biggest complaint was how little vinyl playback there was to hear at this show. There was a huge amount of new and used vinyl to buy—probably the most I've seen at any show anywhere, yet hearing it was next to impossible. Few rooms had turntables. A few that did didn't have them connected for playback. They were there just for show. Ironically one place where vinyl was played, was in the headphone area, where attendees could hear a Rega P3—the only Rega at the show. Clearaudio was there, so was Translator but both had static displays.

I was able to spin records in a few rooms, once on a Kondo turntable and more than a few times in rooms that were showing the Polish brand J. Sikora. I wasn't expecting to see many, if any product debuts, especially in the analog world, but there were a few, including a circa $60,000 phono preamplifier from the Danish company Aavik Acoustics—part of Audio Group Denmark.

You'll soon see a video in which loudspeaker designer Michael Børresen describes the new, soon to be introduced four input phono preamplifier, that includes a highly configurable DS Audio optical cartridge input, plus a MM and two MC inputs. There was also an introduction of a new Polish-made cartridge brand, but more about that in the upcoming video.

Next year I hope show organizer Mokrzycki will encourage more participants to play records so enthusiasts can hear why vinyl remains such a compelling and enjoyable listening experience. Perhaps there could be an "analog collective" room where various companies can all display and play their turntables. Just an idea. There was such a room at the old Top Audio Show in Milan. It was fun and drew large crowds throughout the show.