The Manchester Home Entertainment Show 2010, once an enthusiastic but marginal show in the hi-fi calendar, has gone from strength to strength in the last couple of years. 2010 proved to be the busiest event so far with 87 brands filling the rooms of the Renaissance Hotel and an unprecedented number of debutante products making their first UK public appearance.

Naim S400

Naim
Brit hi-fi stalwart Naim chose Manchester as the venue to show off its latest S400 floorstanding loudspeaker (£1,350). A tad smaller than its predecessor in the Ovator range, the S600, it features twin 165mm bass drivers (200mm on the S600 and a 47mm BMR (Balanced Mode Radiator) mid/HF driver in a 40l enclosure. It’ll still reach down to 36Hz and stands just 10cm shorter than its cousin.

Naim NDX

Also on show was the Naim NDX high end network player (£2,995), still not due to hit the shops until next month. It offers streaming over Wi-Fi and includes an onboard DAC with SHARC DSP-based buffering with fixed clocks plus 16x oversampling and Naim’s proprietary digital filtering algorithms.

Naim UnitiQute and UnitiServe

Other Naim items were the UnitiQute offering 30W amp and DAB/FM/iRadio tuner with iPod dock, missing only the CD player and 20W from the original two-year-old Uniti system for £1,350). The UnitiServe 1TB hard disk server (£2,000) meanwhile aims to mark its turf as the audiophile’s choice for ripping CDs, with bit-for-bit copying and a solidly dependable power supply that Naim’s boffins reckon put it a cut above the best computer rippers.

Marantz Melody Music (top) and Melody Movie

Marantz
Marantz showed off the cream of its Melody range with the Melody Music (top), Melody Media (£500, middle) and Melody Movie (£800, bottom) players. The Media is a CD receiver with FM and DAB radio, 2 x 60W amp, USB connection for iPod, PC audio streaming and vTuner internet radio access. It’s also expected to offer Apple’s AirPlay streaming system from November.

The Movie is a Blu-ray receiver which will also play DVDs and CDs as well as offering FM/AM (but no DAB) radio. It has 2.1 audio options so you can add a subwoofer to your stereo speakers and pumps out 2 x 70W, as well as offering 1080p upscaling.

Marantz Pearl Lites

Also on show were Marantz’s new Pearl Lite pairing of PM-KI stereo amp and SA-KI SACD player. Slimmed down in size, spec and price from the original Ken Ishiwata signature Pearls they have different chip sets, but the player comes with the same DAC and digital inputs front and back. The original Pearls were £2,500, the Lite version is going for £1,000 each.

Marantz NA7004

The Marantz NA7004 (£700) networked audio player can get music from FM, DAB radio, internet radio (via Ethernet connection) as well as streaming music from Napster or your PC (Windows 7 compliant) in virtually any format. It’s intended to be used with Marantz’s M7004 SACD player and like the Melody series it’s expected to be able to add Apple’s AirPlay streaming system as a paid-for download from November.

Sony VPL-VW90ES

Sony VPL-VW90ES 3D projector
First sight of Sony’s first ever 3D projector seemed promising, with a demo of the VPL-VW90ES which is due to launch next month. Based on the VPL-VW85ES, it uses frame-sequential projection via infrared LED-switching glasses (with energy-saving automatic switch-off), and boasts a 240Hz refresh rate, adjustable 3D settings and a true 150,000:1 Dynamic Contrast Ratio.

Sony promises that its 2D projection is superior to its predecessor and it also offers 2D-3D conversion for 2D material, so it can present anything in 3D. Selling for £4,800 at the show, it’s expected to retail for around £5,500 from November.

KEF T series

KEF T series
KEF’s new T series uses some innovative new technology to deliver full fat sound from skinny speakers.

The T series have their own dedicated stands or can be wall-mounted, and unlike most flat speakers, they eschew NXT panels for KEF’s own ‘flattened’ cones – a twin-layer bass/midrange driver with a flat diaphragm which allows the entire speaker to be just 35mm deep.

There are two types of front/surround and centre speakers and with their accompanying 250W subwoofer they’re available separately or as three matched systems: T105 (all small speakers, £1,200), T205 (a mix of small and large, £1,500) and T305 (all large, £1,700).

KEF Q series

KEF Q series
KEF has redesigned its Q series loudspeakers from the ground up, with all-new drivers, tweeters and crossovers.

Using the established combination tweeter/midrange Uni-Q driver array, the new aluminium cone design now includes KEF’s Z-flex surround – a ribbed rim which allows the surround to be thinner and offers more control.

The new dome tweeter is based on trickle-down technology from the company’s concept Blade loudspeaker and is now larger at 25mm for increased sensitivity and includes KEF’s ‘tangerine’ waveguide to maximise HF dispersion.

Prices start at £380 for the Q100 bookshelf speaker rising to the £1,200 Q900 floorstander.

XW-NAC3 and XW-NAV1

Pioneer Kodo iPod docks
Pioneer’s new Kodo iPod docks were in evidence, including the XW-NAC3 (£299) with twin iPod docks and internet radio. You can switch between docks at will or shuffle the tracks from each together and it will play MP3, WMA, AAC, WAV or FLAC files.
The XW-Nav1 (£199) digital media player has a single iPod dock at the front and a top-loading CD/DVD player as well as an FM radio. It has an HDMI port and offers 1080p upscaling for DVD.

Pioneer Blu-ray players

Pioneer Blu-ray players
Pioneer’s latest Blu-ray players at the show including the BDP-LX54 (£99) with a brushed black finish to match the accompanying LX receiver and the gloss black BDP-430 (£299). Both models offer 3D playback capability as well as the latest incarnation of Pioneer’s Precision Quartz Lock System (PQLS) for jitter-free reproduction and 1080- upscaling. The Blu-ray/DVD video components are similar in both machines but the LX54 includes superior audio components.

More from the Manchester Home Entertainment Show 2010 Part 2

More from the Manchester Home Entertainment Show 2010 Part 3