Gray, cold, wet – after several years of surprisingly pleasant weather in Warsaw, this time November was knocking loud and clear. We didn’t care: bigger than ever, the AVS offered more tube-warmed listening experiences than anyone could possibly take in over three days.
For years, the Audio Video Show has been fully booked, with more eager exhibitors than space available. This year, however, organizer Adam Mokrzycki managed to secure another entire floor at the PGE Narodowy football stadium – and apparently had no trouble filling its 14 additional rooms. With a total of 188 rooms and about 230 exhibitors, the Warsaw show has now firmly joined the ranks of the world’s largest hi-fi events. And it wasn’t just the exhibitors flocking to the Polish capital that weekend, October 24–26: on Friday and Saturday in particular, most rooms were packed shoulder to shoulder with eager listeners.
Anyone feeling a bit suffocated in the Radisson Blu Sobieski could simply dash across the chilly, wet street to the Golden Tulip hotel across the huge intersection, where the wider hallways and larger rooms offered a more relaxed atmosphere – or hop on the shuttle bus, running every half hour, to the stadium, where the new floor meant there was more to explore than ever before.
More Polished Presentations
As always, the show delighted us with a refreshingly young audience – the average age seemed easily 10 to 15 years lower than at most other events of this kind. The high share of women, families, and teenagers continues to surprise us, as does the genuinely open-minded attitude of the crowd. The likes of us – the serious audiophiles – shared the rooms more or less evenly with “normal” people who simply wanted to hear what great music sounds like on an amazing system.
Overall, the level of presentation felt more professional this year. There seemed to be fewer quirky one-man micro-developers – who may not always sound great but never fail to spark curiosity and invite interested questions – while more established manufacturers offered polished, confident demos.
Still, there was plenty of exotic gear to marvel at: from unusual coaxial concepts to intriguing vintage systems, right up to the DIYaudio.pl room, which with its “naked” crossovers and electronics, and its slightly rebellious vibe, remains one of my personal highlights every year.
Musical Mainstreamification
With all this increasing professionalism, there was one small downside I can’t ignore: the music selection. At times, it felt a bit timid, dominated – as at so many shows – by the same six to ten demo staples. More than once, I passed several half-empty “Kind of Blue” rooms while an enthusiastic crowd was surging into the one room blasting thick riffs and heavy beats of Nirvana, The Prodigy, or Korn.
From an audiophile perspective, the argument for comparability absolutely makes sense – of course, you want to demonstrate what a top-notch setup can do using carefully curated, well-recorded material. But you also have to think about your audience: this show isn’t just for the hardcore golden ears. It’s also for regular folks who see a hi-fi show as just that – a show – and who simply want to be entertained. The high-end fascination tends to follow naturally as a “side effect,” even if the source material isn’t recorded to perfection. So be bold, dear exhibitors – don’t be afraid to play something raw and raucous once in a while!
Still Everyone’s Favorite
But enough nitpicking – the AVS remains a clear favorite, not just for our editorial team but for pretty much everyone we talked to. Most of all, the Audio Video Show continues to be an event for everyone: the demanding audiophile gets their fix, while “normal” visitors come for the latest Bluetooth speakers and earbuds – and end up having their sonic horizons expanded by a six- or seven-figure setup.
What makes it especially appealing is the democratic mix – everything from mid-fi to ultra-high-end coexists under one roof. “Systems from 100 złoty to 2 million złoty” (about €25 to €500,000), boasts the show’s website. Here, everyone meets on equal footing, open-minded and curious. And that’s exactly why, like everyone else, we’re already looking forward to 2026.