HiFi Lounge's open days are becoming the stuff of legend. Three manufacturer-supported rooms hosting systems at varying levels, plus great sounds and a track record of great weather.

The latest open day showcased Chord Electronics 'Ultima' range of pre and power amplifiers, ably demonstrated by Chord Electronics' UK Sales Manager, Maurice Tryner, whom I have met numerous times at various shows and dealer demonstrations.

My previous experience with Chord Electronics is that their components are beautifully made, have an element of 'bling' and, in my view, a sound to match, with a slight edge of brightness to the delivery. Having been told good things about the Ultima range, I have been eager to hear them demonstrated.

The Ultima series has been designed from the ground up as a range that Chord can develop into the future. The lower numbers denote components higher up the ladder, with the flagships simply called 'Ultima'. All components are Class A/B, are available in brushed silver or black and have the option of Integra legs for stackable use or acrylic side cheeks.

Maurice kindly talked me through each room, described the components involved, and demonstrated their capabilities.

I'll now work through the three rooms in order from a relatively modest system to a six-figure system using Wilson speakers.

ROOM 1

In my opinion, HiFi Lounge's upstairs space is the best-sounding room and is great for demonstrating smaller systems. It is very much lounge-sized and is a very comfortable environment.

Listening in this room, it was immediately evident that the sound was smooth and well-controlled. The DAC used was the Qutest, and a 2GO/2YU combination assisted streaming via Roon. Included in the 'stack' with the Qutest were a Huei phono stage and an Anni Headphone Amp+ (the plus denoting the added optional speaker terminals). The latter two components were not in use for this demonstration but showed the stacking capabilities of the QSS Stand (Qutest System Stand). Everything then went out through a pair of Spendor D7 loudspeakers.

For consistency, I played the same few familiar tracks in each room. These were Contagious from Ani DiFranco's Revolutionary Love album, Wretched Soul (Rewired) from The Pineapple Thief's Give It Back album, and The Deconstruction by Eels from the album of the same name. I deliberately did not choose HiFi showcase tracks so that I could better discern the differences between systems.

The Ultima Pre 3 and the Etude amplifier, the 'hidden gem' of the Chord range, provided a fast and detailed sound through the Spendors and were completely satisfying in this environment; they were very even-handed and musical. It was definitely a good start.

ROOM 2

In addition to the system as a whole, Maurice demonstrated the difference between the Ultima 5 and Ultima 6 stereo amps.

The other components involved were a Melco Server/Streamer into a Chord TT2 DAC and M-Scaler Upsampler. The power amps were on a SolidSteel Hyperspike amplifier stand and attached to a pair of PMC Fact 12 loudspeakers.

We played music from both the Melco and streaming via Qobuz. After a disappointing start with Qobuz, we quickly adjusted the streaming settings to full-fat hi-res, sorting the issue. You really can tell the difference between bit rates!

Listening through the Ultima 6 power amp, the system delivered a detailed soundstage with plenty of power, allowing both a lightness of touch and a solid, room-filling sound. No brightness here at all. This is a powerful system, and switching to the Ultima 5 provided the same sound but with a degree more heft and weight to the lower frequencies. Bliss On Mushrooms from Infected Mushroom's strangely titled Head of NASA and The Two Amish Boys positively bounced along, raising many smiles from the gathered listeners.

ROOM 3

Nothing but the best in this system. The ubiquitous 'Dave' with M-Scaler was fed from a Taiko server, and the pair of Ultima 2 Monos were each on HiFi Racks platforms.

The Wilson Alexx V speakers towered over the room, producing a big, involving sound. Intriguingly, although the soundstage was huge, the individual elements, such as solo voices, guitars, and so on, were naturally scaled and nicely layered from back to front, as well as side to side. I've heard many 'big' systems which oversized all the elements, but not here. Of course, the difficulty in hearing components within an unfamiliar system is determining what each one brings to the party. All I can say here is that the Chord components in all these systems contributed to an impressive whole.

The Chord Electronics Ultima system should undoubtedly be on your demo list should you be in the market for a pre/power combination.

Thanks to Maurice for demonstrating the Ultima Range, and a big thank you to Paul and Wendy Clark for providing all the facilities, endless coffee, a great buffet lunch and, of course, the exceptional weather for which their events are renowned.

NOTE: There are additional images in the gallery.

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