The Sound Practice at the
2008 Heathrow Hi-Fi-Show
"The Border Patrol ampifiers were doing a sterling job of powering the Devore Fidelity Gibbon Nine floorstanders...These speakers have been designed to work equally well with a truly vast range of amplifiers, from low-powered Shindo valve designs to the most muscular Krells, all the while being musically communicative...which they certainly seemed to be with the Border Patrol Class A valves."
Hi-Fi Choice June 2008
"Fascinating stuff was happening in the Border Patrol room where we learnt that the two sheets of wood sitting atop a table with a valve poking through the top was, in fact, a prototype DAC design that the company was working on. When we asked why the wooden 'case', we learned that the engineers thought that, in this instance, wood sounded far superior to metallic casework. We intend to watch progress on the project with interest. Also on display were Border Patrol's The Juicy Current power conditioners which are specifically designed to work with Class A valve amplifiers, rather than offering a non-specific, jack-of-all-trades solution to all mains problems."
Hi-Fi Choice June 2008
"The Sound Practice showed us a veritable slew of attractive items, amongst which the smartest was the Scheu Analog Diamond turntable. Available in a wide range of finishes, this elegant, DC-motored, thread-driven, German design provides a highly attractive proposition for those who want performance and a striking appearance at an affordable price."
Hi-Fi Choice June 2008
"I liked the Border Patrol stuff. (No surprise there!) Sound from Esoteric transport with the protoype dac sounded very good."
"The Border Patrol/ Devore speakers/ esoteric proto dac in the sound practice room-a really elegant and involving sound, with good depth. Would like to own this set up"
"but for me the sweetest noise of the show was to be found in 'The Sound Practice' room!! The Border Patrol valve amps, with the Esoteric front end and the Devore Fidelity Gibbons gave what I though was a sublime and very natural sound, everything else sounded bland and uninteresting after that."
"The Sound Practice room was good, very clear with a natural sound"
"The Sound Practice As usual the Border Patrol S20 sounded stunning, bags of presence, stunning vocals and tonally correct. The new Devore Gibbon speakers were certainly not letting the amps down. They look like a cross between Living Voice and Audio Physic - very nice indeed. "
"I popped over to the show on Saturday afternoon for a couple of hours. I was a little underwhelmed to be honest so it's interesting reading other peoples comments on here. The highlights for me though were the DeVore Fidelity Nine speakers in the Border Patrol room - which sounded very natural"