Awards
At the Sound & Vision Show in 2005, the BFA board decided it would be good to recognise those companies or individuals that had put in the extra effort and delivered to the visitors a way above average experience. Companies that do this don't normally receive any feedback and so the BFA thought that they should be recognised by their peers.
BFA members voted on the parameters that they thought were most important in a
demonstration - in order of importance:
Atmosphere in
the room
Sound quality judged when
sitting
Image
Graphics of
explanation
The look of
room
While the judging was carried out most visibly by BFA Chairman, Steve N Harris, six other members contributed their opinions. The final results were:
- Best two-channel demonstration: Neat Acoustics
- Best multi-channel demonstration: Meridian Audio
- Best looking exhibit: Focal/JMLab and Naim Audio
The judges felt that Neat Acoustics' room was simple with a pleasant atmosphere and informative graphical material. The company was making a good sound while playing interesting music at a sensible level. In the Meridian demo it was felt that "The clip from Hero was excellent: it had scale without going over the top and excellent detail. What's more it could keep the detail during the loud and not so loud sections of the clip.
When judging the best-looking room, the judges felt that Focal/JMLab's use of a wooden floor, IKEA furnishings and good lighting created a great atmosphere and put the home cinema system being demonstrated in context. Meanwhile Naim Audio's chill-out room was "totally different", providing an interesting place in which visitors could chat with the company's representatives and be 'driven' to Naim's other rooms on the hotel's fifth floor.
The BFA thought that this exercise was "a very interesting experience overall," and observed that " It was good to see that more companies than in the previous year had made a serious effort."
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Steve N Harris awards Neat Acoustics |
...and Meridian's Ron Turpie |
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...then visits Focal/JMLabs |
...and finally, Naim Audio |