BRISTOL NEWS: High-end hi-fi, Earth The Movie on Blu-ray and high-definition audio - Bristol has it all

OK, the doors are open and we've been swamped all morning with visitors to the What Hi-Fi? Sound and Vision stand here at the Bristol Show.

Our demo of high-definition audio and video is underway, with performances every 30mins, and the Helpdesk is up and running if you want to pick the brains of the technical team about your hi-fi or home cinema set-up. Alternatively, log on to the Forums at whathifi.com.

Meanwhile, the website team has been rushing around the show to bring you news of all the latest product launches.

First up was a sneak glimpse of Cyrus's prototype CD Xt SE (Server Evolution) CD player, part of the company's new high-end X series. It uses a new optical servo system developed specifically for the SE range, including the CD8 SE and CD6 SE. No details yet on prices or release dates.

One of the undoubted stars of the show has to be KEF's extraordinary Muon speakers. You may have already have seen a picture of them in the magazine, but nothing prepares you for the size of them in real life. They're more than 6ft tall!

If you're coming to the show, you simply have to see and here them in the Oslo suite. KEF is running them with £20,000 worth of amplification: a Musical Fidelity KW Tube preamp, a pair of KW750 stereo power amps and the new MF A1008 CD player, plus Audioquest Volcano cables.

If you want to buy a pair, they'll cost you a cool £70,000! And you'd better be quick: KEF is only making 100 pairs, with 10 available for UK customers.

Back on Planet Earth, another not-to-be-missed demo is Denon's showing of the new Blu-ray disc of Earth: The Movie.

The disc will be on sale from March 17, but pop down to Bristol and you'll be able to see an exclusive preview on Denon's "Imperial Death Star Home Cinema", comprising of a projectiondesign Aurora projector, £60,000 worth of Denon electronics, including its new Blu-ray transport, and £20k of B&W 800 series speakers. Believe us, the picture and sound are amazing!

There'll be plenty more news to follow, so keep logged on or pop down to the show. It's at the Marriott City Centre Hotel in Lower Castle Street, Bristol and the doors are open from 10am to 5pm today, Saturday and Sunday.

Technorati Tags: Blu-ray, CD player, hi-fi, home cinema in a box, power amp, projector

Andy Clough

Andy is Global Brand Director of What Hi-Fi? and has been a technology journalist for 30 years. During that time he has covered everything from VHS and Betamax, MiniDisc and DCC to CDi, Laserdisc and 3D TV, and any number of other formats that have come and gone. He loves nothing better than a good old format war. Andy edited several hi-fi and home cinema magazines before relaunching whathifi.com in 2008 and helping turn it into the global success it is today. When not listening to music or watching TV, he spends far too much of his time reading about cars he can't afford to buy.