I went to the Bristol Show on the Sunday and have to admit that it was the most disappointing one that I have been to in the last 3 years, in fact we even left early at 3pm whereas in previous years I could have had a second day at the show. However, it was not all gloom, as for once I managed to get a faster time than my son on the AVForum's racing game, although not fast enough to make it as the best time of the day 
Starting with the good points, we were blown away by the Meridian T80 demonstration and then even further impressed with the clarity and timing of the DSP7200 speakers, although they are a little out of my price range! Definately the audio high point of the show.
As for surround sound, it was great to see the Onkyo AV receivers going through their paces and in particular the HD audio. Their demonstration and friendly representative also showed that you don't need a HD audio track to make a film sound great but it certainly helps!
I liked the demonstration of the Loewe 52' LCD unit although I did think that there were some artifacts from the source player or disc and I am sorry to say that the sound bar unit, whilst stylish and space saving, is no real substitute for rear speakers.
Not so impressed with the Denon demonstration, which whilst the new AV gear on display looked impressive, it was perhaps let down by the B&W speakers or maybe there were just too many people in the room? It was disappointing not to see Yamaha at the show and whilst the Pioneer Kuro screens looked fabulous (the visual high point of the show), the performance of the rest of their AV kit was not a patch on previous Yamaha demonstrations.
The What Hi-Fi demonstration of streaming HD off a media PC was uninspiring and it lacked their usual forward looking approach which they have taken in previous shows. However, some of their recent reviews are clearly not far from the mark as the new budget NAD CD player and amplifier belted out a good tune through the little Q Acoustics speakers (thanks NAD). We too had gone to look at the Nait 5i system and were disappointed to see it being demonstrated through the smallest Naim surround speakers (shame Naim!).
The overall impression of the show was of nothing really new to grab the visitors attention visually and the show's focus was clearly on audio performance. Some of the demonstrators did not seem to have the time or inclination to address questions from paying members of the public (in particular the Sony representative!) and whilst I am sure that many visitors will have enjoyed the show, maybe we have been spoilt in the past? Views on equipment performance will as always be somewhat subjective but I will still want to go again next year!
Steve
