The What Hi-Fi Thailand Show (Archived 8/14/2017)
Having recovered from my travels/jet-lag time to get caught up on some blog posts! This year we spent 2 weeks in Asia cutting the trip shorter than usual. The first stop was Thailand for the What Hi-Fi Thailand International Show. This show was a re-launch of an existing show that was active for many years. Led by Khanit Pavasutthiphand second generation of What Hi-Fi Thailand (I can relate!) he had a fantastic start with this re-launch.
The show packed the rooms with quality people. The visitors were genuinely interested and were purchasing whole systems (no seriously, one guy walked into a room and bought the entire system from speakers to turntable!) For me/VPI we gauge the success of a show upon if it helped drive VPI and the industry forward. We can strongly say the What Hi-Fi Thailand International Show did exactly that! We had a chance to meet a lot of local and international customers and feel a stronger relationship with Thailand in the world stage. VPI will be adding this show to the yearly list!
Mat Weisfeld getting a welcome/intro for one of the seminars.
The show was loaded with familiar faces such as Accoustic Sound's Chad Kassem, Analog Planet's Michael Fremer, Jeff Rowland's (you guessed it!) Jeff Rowland, and Stig Bjorge from Lyra. Also some help from our Little Fwend! to keep the Lyra Kleos safe! Each (including myself) gave multiple seminars about different aspects of the industry. Covering topics such as proper turntable set-up, quality records/recordings, the growth of vinyl, insulting the Wall Street Journal, and much more.
Michael Fremer giving his seminar on turntable set-up using a VPI Prime.
For VPI we were excited to have our Titan turntable debut in Thailand! Mores-so we were showing off our new Rose Gold finish for the first time. We had planned to have a full "Golden Titan" ready for the show but wasn't ready in time. Having the color pallet of the ring and weight got the job done. The Titan first debuted last year at the Hong Kong show and has since become a "super table" staple in the industry. The key highlights (besides being massive) is the ability to mount multiple arms at any length or manufacturer's brand, pneumatic air suspension feet, magnetic/rim drive assembly, Analogue Drive System (ADS), and our JMW 3DR-12 tonearm.
VPI Golden Titan with Genesis Phono
Every system is a team effort to create quality sound and that is exactly what happened with Genesis Advanced Technologies Phono Stage, Lyra Kleos, Avalon Acoustics speakers, and Spectral Audio electronics.
Lyra Kleos on the JMW 3DR-12
When we weren't playing the Titan we were playing an Ampex Reel-to-Reel player. More exciting was doing a shoot out between vinyl and tape and were impressed with how split the audience was on which format "won".
Avalon Speakers, Spectral Electronics,
Lyra Kleos, Ampex Reel-to-Reel and VPI Titan
From the moment we fired up the system we were thrilled about the sound quality we were getting. This was all thanks to our host and master and commander Wuti Larnroongroj. Besides being a top notch distributor, Wuti is also a great friend and someone who takes the extra effort for sound quality.
Wuti changing and cleaning the record
This was also the international debut of the Cliffwood by VPI. The Cliffwood is our under 1,000 USD high-end solution for the new audiophile. It was the Player that was getting a little love from this enthusiastic listener! It was great to see how many attendees were interested in the entry level products, but still enjoyed lusting after the Titan as a future goal.
Until next time Thailand! Thanks for the fantastic show and fantastic food!