The Star, Malaysia's leading daily English language newspaper, will hold the 5th AV Fest hi-fi, home theatre and music instruments exhibition at the Crown-Princess Hotel in Kuala Lumpur on August 4, 5 and 6.

AV Fest 2000 promises to be as big as the previous four shows. In 1996, the show drew about 7,400 visitors. The 1997 show drew about 50 exhibitors and over 9,000 visitors over the three days. While the 1998 show, despite the economic downturn that affected the region, attracted 53 exhibitors and 7,500 visitors. The 1999 show attracted 53 exhibitors and 7,017 visitors.

As in the past four shows, coverage of the event (and publicity run-in) will be through The Star's hi-fi and home theatre weekly pullout, AudioFile.

A short history AV Fest caters to the audio/video/music enthusiast and those with a general interest in AV and musical instruments. The objective of the event is, of course, to advance the cause of both consumer and vendor. For the consumer, the show represents a chance to catch everything under one roof _ the latest products, an awareness of marques and their available representation. For the distributor, it is an excellent platform to promote his/her represented brand/s and obtain potential new consumers.

Previous AV Fests have seen some products making their Asian, and even world, debut.

A big part of the driving force behind the Fest is the fact that all proceeds from the gate are given to charity.

Last year, being the International Year of Older Persons, the total proceeds of RM70,170 (US$18,466) was divided among three homes for the aged _ the Silver Jubilee Home for the Aged, Selangor King George V Silver Jubilee Home, and the Little Sisters of the Poor.

We have had some notable visitors in the past. AV Fest '96 had Peter Qvortrup of Audio Note, Philip Swift of Audiolab, Ben Gosvig of Englightened Audio Designs, Hi-Fi World editor Noel Keywood and renowned British hi-fi writer Alvin Gold, who is also a columnist with AudioFile.

The 1997 event saw Noel Keywood again, as well as Robert Lamarre of RL Acoustics, Allen Wright (author of The Preamp Cookbook) and Peter Holstein and Jakob Magnussen of Holfi, while 1998 had Allen Wright again, Robert Suchy of Clearaudio Electronic, Dr Riccardo Kron of KR Enterprise, and Peter Qvortrup of Audio Note.

Last year, being more low-key, saw Peter Qvortrup of Audio Note and Torben Dahl of Avance making a visit.

Background info
The Star currently has a readership of 993,000, while the Sunday Star has a readership of 939,000.
The online version of our newspaper, The Star Online, is a mirror of our print publication, with regard to all local news and features; the site registered more than 95 million hits (14.5 million page views) in February 2000.

The AudioFile website is part of The Star Online, and is a complete mirror of the print version in terms of content, and registered in excess of 39,000 page views in February 2000. Our website can be found at thestar.com.my/audio/

For more details: AudioFile, The Star (M) Bhd, 13, Jalan 13/6, 46200 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia; telephone number is (603) 758-1188, ext 760/759. You can also reach 'em via e-mail at: afile@thestar.com.my or browse the Audiofile Website

© Copyright 2000 TNT-Audio - http://www.tnt-audio.com