HiFi+ is één van Engelands meest toonaangevende HiFi tijdschriften. Bekende namen als Paul Messenger, Jason Kennedy, Alan Sircom en hoofdredacteur Roy Gregory schrijven zeven keer per jaar een nieuwe editie van HiFi+ vol.

HiFi+ maakt sinds enige tijd deel uit van het Amerikaanse The Absolute Sound: ook uitgever van The Perfect Vision.
Vanaf heden zullen we zeven maal per jaar de inhoud van de nieuwste HiFi+ op HiFi.nl plaatsen

Een abonnement op HiFi+? Dat kan in gedrukte vorm en via de zogenoemde e-edition.

Hieronder het hoofdredactioneel van de hand van Roy Gregory:

This Months Editorial (Issue 51, May 2007)

The Biter Bit…

For many years, exhibitors at the annual CES in America have exercised their option to meet their distributors and show new products at “off-site” locations, safe in the knowledge that the main event will have drawn the necessary crowds. For some it’s a case of facilities, being unable to get the space amidst the competition at the main show: for others it’s simple economics. After all, it’s a lot cheaper to simply rent a hotel room or suite and set up on your own, rather than paying a show organizer for the pleasure. In fact, the practice became so prevalent that it actually spawned an entire alternative event – T.H.E. Show.

Now, I’m not going to debate the well-worn arguments for and against this behavior. Instead, I merely note the historical precedence for last year’s events in London, where a parallel show was established across the road from the established Hi-Fi News event. Driven in part by frustration with the decline of the News show, the alternative was sufficiently successful to create something of an impasse, with the two events together being worth a visit, but the risk that neither was viable on its own. In response, News owners IPC have cancelled their September show for 2007, leaving you might well think, the organizers of the parallel event rubbing their hands in victorious glee…

Well, not if they actually stop to think for a moment. Not only is it far from guaranteed that exhibitors (or visitors) who previously attended the News show will automatically cross the road, now it seems that a number of Companies are taking a leaf out of the Vegas book and setting up independent exhibits in the Renaissance Hotel, so recently vacated by IPC. Whilst that effectively adds their presence to the main event, it does deny its organizers a substantial chunk of revenue. So, the plot thickens, but given the strong vein of cynical self-interest that has been nurtured in exhibitors over the years, will what was once a parallel event have the pulling power (or be able to guarantee the attendance) to counteract the financial savings on
offer across the road.

Roy Gregory
Editor hi-fi+ magazine