Chengal blocks - Take Two

After receiving true Chengal teachings, I couldn't wait to try them. Excited to put what I have learned to use, most importantly I'm eager to see the results. On the other hand, I cut loss my earlier Chengal by recycling them, had them sliced to the right thickness. And so, I  drove around my neighbourhood in search for a good Samaritan to cut to half inch thick. Nobody cares for small job these days.

Rewind, a quick listen without Chengal blocks, "a horse does not know her face long" says the banker, your guess is as good as mine. The magic was gone.  And so, I found a person who is willing to help me for a small charge. Paid RM50 for an hour job and thank them for a big help. A basin-ful of small Chengal blocks is now at my disposal.  I'm ready to rock n roll.
 

The cut was reasonably precise. I inspected the blocks piece by piece and spent some time to sand away the rough edges with abrasive paper. When hobby is concerned, all hardships becomes a joy. But with a few exceptions, it is hard to embark on a hobby as profession that pays your bills these days. How I wish I have half my audio motivation in my work? The cross section cut of Chengal exposes  no loose fibre, no pore holes. It is a sign of hihg density.    

The left image was taken at one coffee shop in PJ. The two wood pencils isolation caught my attention, makes me wonder if he is uncle Y's buddy too? The owner is an avid audiophile since 70s, he runs a famous bak kut teh in Taman Connaught. The topic on audio triggered his enthusiasm. He is currently playing a pair of Audio Note ANEs. Don't play play! A small world indeed, it appears that his buddy is our good friend too. All hell breaks loose.  Audio Note fans are the most brand loyal group. You could expect the bak kut teh uncle system ranges from RM80K and above.

Me : "Uncle, what speakers are you using?"

Uncle : "Odio Note." He has a strange slang.
Me : "Odio Note??? I never heard of, uncle."
Uncle got a little annoyed "Odio Note, it costs RM20k per pair." I started pulling his leg.
Me : "O! Audio Note, the Audio Note by Peter something. You must be playing ANE, top of the line."
Uncle : "Yes. It costs RM20k per pair."
Me : "Audio Note has a wonderful midrange to die for."

Ice is broken, I gazed at  the guy whom is seated at one side of me, he plays a million dollar system and he returned with a wicked smile. Just for the thrill.
 

Images on my first right  was my initial Chengal cable support setup, 6" block. I had then replaced them with a smaller block. As you can tell from the image on the second right, setting them up is a back breaking exercise,  ensuring cables sit on the blocks and sit vertical block perpendicular to the horizon plane. To do that, you need to uncoil or untwist the cable as cable has memory of its own. The blocks are about 6 inches apart to avoid cable sagging. In my case, I got to deal with bi cables per side. Doubly hard.



 

Then, I reverted back to horizontal block perpendicular to horizontal plane mostly, some small blocks are horizontal upright to make way for the power cords.
 

 

Before, the pre is on the ET rack, power amp and Power Bank sits indirectly on the Chengal plank in # formation. DAC sits on a piece of glass/Chengal plank.

After, my DAC sits on marble supported by Chengal plank and pre sits on smaller Chengal plank in perpendicular position. Power amp and Power Bank are isolated from the carpet floor.   I changed the DAC plank configuration to only two planks in upright position. The DAC is isolated via marble/ebony cakes.  This is the best configuration that I had arrived to in terms of sound reproduction and  the below listening experience is based on.

My first concern is will the blocks survive the storm from the speakers? Will they not fall like domino if I cranked up the volume. Surprisingly, the small Chengal blocks hold up well.

With all other factors ceteris paribus, the precious subtleties prevail. High end audio is all about subtleties, right?
 

The difference in sound is obvious, deaf also can hear. You may also light off, your gears powered up, close your eyes and feel the atmosphere. First of,  I heard a new level of tranquility never before experienced, indescribable. It is like Christmas Eve, the most peaceful night of the year.  The tranquility is as if the gears are in perfect harmony, ushering a blacker than black background.

The  tranquility unfolds a "longer tailing" and deeper soundstage as if the electro-signals struggle less to transform to sound. I like what I hear.

Everything was on 30/30 vision given my rather low end transducer. Ambiance retrieval benefited from this tweaking. Studio or live recording, heavily damped or lightly damped studio, closed mike and not so closed mike is easy to tell. No sweat.

Patricia Barber Nightclub is a wonderfully  recorded album. It was recorded live in a club after night, after the crowds left.  My type of jazz got to have the hitting and brushing of cymbal. Albeit you can hear the hissing of the master tape, the spaciousness of this CD is awesome, border less. Patricia tears down my concrete walls. The sound is natural and if I'm to nitpicked, the images are slightly bigger than what I used to. I got nail this later. As with most jazz singers, Sara K, Stacey Kent, Diana Krall, Norah Jones etc, their  album shares a strong respective similarities in style and presentation, from track one to the last track. Same tempo, same arrangement, same vocal technique, very predictable, no surprises. The double bass is softer than before, a little more tenacity is nice. This is one of my desired results. It just does not sound right if double bass is hard, punchy and "short breath". Bloated. I desire my double bass of candy like quality. Listen to this album at night is an excellent choice to wind up your hectic day. Her lazy voice paralyses you.

This is one of my favourite CDs, Beethoven Romances Nos 1 & 2 by David Oistrakh. Great composition and impeccable performance by a great violinist playing with a Strad (in all honesty, I could not tell it was a Strad) and a West Germany pressing that is known for tonal accuracy. Recording is very good by today's standard albeit the recording gain is rather on the low side, you need to crank it up a bit.  This CD will mercilessly reveals your system's flaws. David's attacks on violin showcase his masterful technique, brutal force (E note) at time, caressing (D note) at time and how he works the violin is genuinely a gifted talents of a great violinist. He even takes on the whole orchestra!!! The violin strikes the high pitch as thin as a 0.5mm line (ball pen), and no one will even complain my highs is unrefined. Some says Marten speakers possess a hair thin highs!!!  My highs does not sound hard, cold  or choppy, you are in trouble if yours do. The recording is transparent enough to tell where the musicians are, most importantly this CD is very accurately recorded, instrumental in keeping my tonal accuracy in check. Balanced sound is my ultimate goal.

 

Small Chengal blocks as tone wood showed me a alternate route to high resolution, nimbleness of musical notes, see through transparency, trimmed images, tranquility and blacker soundstage at a small cost. The more revealing your system the more significant the effect. As in many cases, do not overdo it. You might need to retune a bit here and there to balance up the whole sonic picture. Good luck!