DreamAudio - Audio Video Show 2021 Bratislava

AUTHOR AND PHOTO OLIVER DRÁB
www.dreamaudio.eu

After last year's hiatus, when our only exhibition devoted to sound and image technology did not take place for objective reasons, this year its organizers decided to take a risk and set the date of the exhibition for 17. to 19. September - filigree at the time of the Holy Father's visit to Slovakia. Nine exhibitors brought the best that the Slovak and Czech hifi scene has to offer to the new venue in Bratislava's Gate One Hotel. We listened to the legendary McIntosh MC901 "locomotives", which two years ago were tested and described by our Andrej as a novelty. There was also the Audioresearch kit, Sonus faber loudspeakers, and the hot new flagship model Bowers&Wilkins 801 D4 made its musical debut. Traditional manufacturer of beautiful components Canor came from Prešov with their new products, Platan showed off their standard line-up on American Legacy crates and Moon components. AV Integra flashed with new products from NAD and Dynaudio and one Czech swallow represented by High-End Audio Studio also wandered into the show. So I reminisced a bit, but let's go back nicely to why I sat down at my modern typewriter today. The guys from Dreamaudio asked me if I would write a few lines about the "brutal" set-up they built in a rented hotel room just for the occasion of the exhibition. I said to myself, why not.

Brutal line-up

I guess Tomáš Šedivý a.k.a. Lasky from the band Para will forgive me for daring to use this phrase, which is the title of his third studio album from 2004. I simply couldn't think of anything better to do as I eagerly took my seat in front of a pompously stacked line-up, the likes of which this exhibition has probably never seen before in its existence. The basis of the whole assembly was a pair of ultimate monoblocks Pilium Hercules. Each needs two ultra-high-quality flow hoses capable of feeding enough current to the huge, powerful substations inside the hundred-kilogram terminals. At the exhibition we had the opportunity to hear the Slovak premiere of the highest model of Siltech Triple Crown network cables, the list price of which starts at 1.5 meters, and now read carefully and sit back, at the amount of € 15,500. WTF, I think to myself as I look behind the curtain and observe meters of cabling of the finest quality and price. The complete interconnection of the components and the pair of loudspeakers with Siltech cabling thus reached the astronomical 250-thousand-euro mark at the show. I haven't come across anything like this, I mean so ultimate quality and expensive, so far in our "home" conditions. Another component as the main carrier of the Pilium's brilliant sound was the Alexander split preamplifier. The whole was completed by a high-end DAC converter from the top of the range Pilium Elektra. For filtration, a powerful model from Canadian filtration specialists Torus Power was fitted into a multi-segment rack from Spanish manufacturer Artesania Audio. The embedded Paul Pang Quad Switch with Platinum M Lan cabling also played its part in the purity of the digital transmission. For vinyl lovers, the guys have added a specialty to the chain in the form of a Kuzma Stabi R turntable, a split phono preamplifier and an optical cartridge from DS Audio. Peck... And I almost forgot. In the Dreamaudio portfolio, just before the show, another ultimate toy from Taiko Audio SGM Extreme appeared, which is a high-end music server with the ability to accommodate hard drives with a cumulative capacity of up to 24 TB.

His Majesty PILIUM

For me personally, and I suppose for many of us, the small Greek manufactory PILIUM producing ultimate hifi components was completely unknown until recently. On the homepage you can read that they first entered the market with their components in 2014. It was brought to light in Slovakia and nearby by music enthusiasts from the Dreamaudio company, who bet on unprecedented construction and absolute "truthfulness" of the heavy-duty components. Last time I tested the ultra high-end integrated amplifier of the largest shooting caliber, the Leonidas, which I had the opportunity to hear again with hindsight on a fantastically tuned setup along with the legendary Wilson Audio Yvette loudspeakers. I'm glad to have confirmed my statement that Leonidas is undoubtedly one of the best playing integrators you can get these days.

Sound

Exhibition room or hotel lounge conditions are never too conducive to the acoustic comfort that exhibitors would like. Often this is the limiting factor in achieving optimum sound. The guys from Dreamaudio tackled this obstacle very thoroughly and with the help of custom-made sound panels, according to Mr. Nosek, they managed to prepare a very pleasant listening environment for their main line-up. I returned to the auditorium repeatedly over the course of the three days and spent an estimated total of four hours there, including a photo shoot, during which time I listened to several of the songs presented at various listening venues. From the perfect golden listening centre in the second row to places on the sides outside the ideal sound stream. I have to say, however, that the information in the songs had me rolling regardless of my chosen seat, although I did enjoy the real experience of a perfect perception of the space within about 1.5 metres of the most optimal spot in the middle of the second row, which amounted to about six seats. That's pretty decent, I think.

The first song I settled comfortably into my hotel chair to was Sade's Soldier of Love. On the ultimate set, Sade gave us a private musical performance with everything that goes with it. Her beautifully coloured voice spoke to us from a podium three metres away, exposed at a height of about one metre above the listening area. Localization as we only know it from a real live performance with natural playing instruments, and I'll repeat myself, absolutely accurate localization of the scene and its performers. Vital Techtones (Drums Stop, No Good 2000) is a kind of jazz-rock fusion of an American trio of musicians who build most of their music on proper bass, which the pompous YG Acoustics Sonja in the triple-decker 2.3i version presents with amazing emphasis, yet with ease and plenty of reserve. You just get the feeling that the membrane on the hill is about to break, but the crates pretend as if this drama unfolding on the stage doesn't concern them at all.

I was shot into the spiral galaxy of M66 by Felix Laband's electronic affair Miss Teardrop. I listened to the song, which I know intimately from our editorial reference line-up, in a completely new, hitherto unfamiliar version. A quantum of positive interlocking sounds and tones grounded by an incredibly solid bass foundation. I feel like I was somehow magically allowed to step right into the action of this feel-good digital piece. Canadian blues-jazz diva Dominique Fils-Aimé has set a bar I'll probably find hard to surpass in the near future with her jazz ballad Birds. Stunning resolution, extremely dense and dynamic double bass, natural but perfectly dynamic sounding drums and organic vocals climbing deep under the skin. Perfect musical theatre.

Conclusion

The brutal music line-up, brought to the Bratislava show by the guys from Dreamaudio, didn't let me sleep after the first listening on Friday. In a similar configuration I had the opportunity to listen to it directly in their "old" listening studio. The show featured a number of important upgreads, including the aforementioned top-of-the-line Siltech Triple Crown cabling, which shot the resulting sound up a few floors again. Currently the guys from Dreamaudio are finishing with a brand new listening space, which should be absolutely perfect from the acoustic point of view and the presented line-up should show itself here in its absolute absolute absolute. You'll soon find out when and where you'll be able to come hear this parade for yourself, and I'm pretty sure you'll agree with me and my observations from listening to it at the show.

Dovetok

At this year's show, Dreamaudio showcased, in addition to the pompous and without exaggeration spectacular line-up described above, many other top-notch and sound products and brands. It was also possible to hear a setup of a pair of Pass Labs end stages and preamplifier connected in tandem with the legendary Harbeth loudspeakers. The eye, the ear and the fragile soul of the audiophile was also caressed by the beautiful Jadis i70 tube integrator, which, by the way, you can read a special review of in this issue. It was also possible to get acquainted with LinQ, Aqua Acoustic Quality, ATC SCM100, Chord Electronics and high-end Hifistay pads, on which the presented YG Acoustics Sonja 2.3i oil systems were built.