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Canjam London 2022 - Tag1
CanJam 2022 in London started last Saturday in glorious weather at the Park Plaza Hotel near Westminster Bridge.
Unlike HighEnd Munich, however, the trade fair was not held in the sun-drenched rooms of this beautiful location, but in the "cellar," more precisely on the third underground floor of the hotel. Under artificial light and a temperature of what felt like 15°C. 🥶 (The air conditioning was running at full blast despite the very moderate outside temperatures) the atmosphere here was completely different than I had expected! 🤨
But no matter, it's all about the products and meeting people and exchanging ideas! 😅
The far greater disappointment followed: Empire Ears We had canceled the day before: urgent family matters. I still really hope nothing bad happened! I would have loved to finally meet Jack Vang in person and, of course, test your new prototype. Well, there's nothing you can do about it. 😥
Oh yes, my test setup only consisted of the Empire Ears Odin and the unsurpassable Cayin N8II DAP.
So let's join the fray and say hello to everyone...
The first Effect AudioThe evening before, I had spontaneously helped them set up their booth, and despite a total travel time of 35 hours, Heley and Jordon rocked the place and devotedly looked after all the interested guests.
I was allowed to see a prototype of their Cleopatra II I tested the silver cable and can say I was very impressed with what I heard! Extremely high resolution, tight bass, great detail – if you're looking to improve these aspects in an IEM or headphone, this is the right choice! 😅
To the one I brought with me as a reference Empire Ears Odin There were almost too many details, so a copper cable would be more suitable here, such as the Stormbreaker (PWAudio 1960 2x), which really fits the Odin perfectly.
Nevertheless, I'm convinced that the "Cleo II" can work wonders with slightly less high-resolution in-ears.
Right next door Spirit Torino The "Maestro" Andre Ricchi and Giordano Zacchini, Chairman of the Board of Directors, were in excellent spirits and took plenty of time to demonstrate their products to interested listeners.
In addition to their new hybrid amplifier prototype "Sigfrid" they also had the new pulsar at the stand, which is technically identical to the Valkyria, which is twice as expensive, but is made of anodized aluminum instead of Titanium Grade 5.
Spirit Torino is, by the way, the only over-ear headphone brand distributed by Audio Essence for good reason. Why? Because they and their products are something special. These are not empty words, I mean it! 😎
Another row further on were Eletech and Element Technology with their latest cable creations. Eric, one of the founders of Eletech, and Lim Hong, their cable designer, were visibly proud of their new products.
I took the time to test the "Ode to Laura," their new flagship cable, which is made of three different copper materials and costs a whopping $2,799 USD or CHF—a lot of money for a pure copper cable!
Apparently, high-purity copper from different regions is used, which has also been treated differently and implemented in the cable in a unique way.
I want to be honest: I had I have doubts as to whether such a copper cable would be worth the money, and in the end, of course, it's up to the buyer to decide.
One thing is clear: The Odin's Stormbreaker, which costs CHF 1,299 alone, was significantly surpassed by the "Ode to Laura" in every area of reproduction, and that's saying something. It wasn't easy for me to go back to the Stormbreaker after testing the Laura!
I made a final detour of the day to 64 audios, where Kalani Hiramoto, Customer and dealer advisors par excellence, did his best to supply the ever-present crowd of interested customers with products.
Kalani also kindly arranged an exhibitor ticket for me—thank you so much!
By the way, I had the fun of playing the 64Audio U12t with the over-cable Centurion from Effect Audio, and the resulting sound is simply dreamy! The U12t are perhaps the best pure balanced armature IEMs I've ever heard.
The Highlight of the day However, there was a spontaneous dinner with some producers and participants:
Thank you to everyone who was there and made the evening unforgettable!
P.SI apologize for the poor photos. Unfortunately, my phone was completely overwhelmed by the conditions in the "basement," and there was no room in my carry-on luggage for my real camera.