We met the guys from Albedo at the Munich High End in 2014 and have stayed in touch with them since. We saw them again at this year's show where they said they were keen to try one of our pre-amplifiers in their reference system, so in June we duly dispatched one in a champagne finish. We were due in Germany in mid July so it made sense for Lucy to visit Albedo on the way.
I left Hastings on Tuesday 14th June and flew to Poznan, a fair way away from Bydgoszcz, but with the most convenient connecting flights. Poznan is a beautiful city and on Tuesday evening I had a great time exploring the Old Town, with its sprawling cobbled streets and charismatic atmosphere. First thing on Wednesday I caught a train to the town of Bydgoszcz, where Albedo hand make their Mono-Crystal cables (they even draw their own silver wire!) and where they have their shop: Audio Connect.
Grzegorz, Pawel and Marcin have built a beautiful place to enjoy music and audition different products. It is tastefully furnished with period pieces, host to many beautiful musical instruments and a huge array of HiFi (all housed on bespoke shelves) it was the perfect place to listen to some tunes. I loved how they had converted an armoire into a hidden doorway, it has been expertly cut into the wall, leaving the internals of the wardrobe intact allowing it to be a drinks cabinet! This is an idea I plan to steal for my future house.
After a good listening session, they very kindly showed me around their town, home to an opera house that took 40 years to construct and which currently holds the record for taking the longest time to build in all of Europe, the beautiful square affectionately known as little Venice and the bridge where the annual tightrope competition is hosted. before taking her for a delicious traditional lunch followed by the best ice cream in Poland.
I headed back to Poznan having had a brilliant day. Thank you Grzegorz, Pawel and Marcin for your kind hospitality.