Need Based Audio

Yo yo yo, what's up, what's up! Just came back from Guangzhou Audio Visual Show, China.

Met the men, Leo Fung and 葉振棠 (Johnny Ip). Leo Fung as always dressed in black with all comb over with a ponytail, a  signature he keeps for donkey years. The man is an important figure in audio and recording industries, his famous "black room" attracted many audio pilgrims. Johnny made his name singing Canton pop in the 70s - 80s when the Canton soap drama was at all time high. At 70 years old, his vocal is still very good. He sang without any accompanies in the show, he maintained a masterful composure. No breathing complication. Little that I know, he has just release an album.

Thought of writing tweaks, but then again better not. "Shen Gong" (the black art), the effect is only appreciated by some and considered a work in the mind of the other some. To the latter, it is a state of psychology, feel good having them around. Different school of thought, eh. No invitation to open debate. Look, there are all kind of birds, only few can sing.

High End Audio these days for their astronomical prices are not solely sound quality but the pride of ownership. High End audio prices today are unimaginable back 20 years ago! You can do a lot of things with the money then. Is High End shrinking? Is High End dying? Are High End companies going for the kill? And since they don't sell many, it makes sense to jack up the price to make up for the earning. There are two sides of the story, both are unsubstantiated. Arguably, high price is the great divide, you are either High End or commoner, eh? One thing for sure is that owing a kiss ass mega system certainly grants higher self esteem than owing a luxury car. There is a perceived effort from the owner to make the system sounds good, while as luxury cars, you do not.

Buying a high end audio is a launching pad to audio stardom. Instant talk of the town, the audio community is gladly inducting a new member into the hall of fame. An  exclusive club. Chill dude, segregation happens in every aspect of our life.  Even the banks have premier banking and what not, catering fat pocket customers. Good private schools too require the parents to be in high social ranking! Exclusive clubs,  exclusive restaurants, exclusive this and exclusive that, you name it. In the world of consumerism, who care? The rich don't understand the poor, the poor don't understand the rich. And value is not in the rich men's vocabulary. Rarity, history, technologies, branding, being the best are neither in the poor men's vocabulary too. Substandard stuff, mai liao si gan, don't waste time. It has become our catchy phrase.

Coincidentally, a brand with impressive built, rocket science technologies, glowing reviews and industrial credibility bears a high price tag, I was having high expectation on a component but utterly let down by their lacklustre  performance. This is half million Ringgit piece of component. Guys, if you wanted to buy High End, audition is a must. Look! This system is setup by the dealer. Trusting online reviews? It is better off trusting your hearing.

Ironically, the mid price audio is also raising prices to keep up their game.  The combination of these factors promotes DIY audio, catering the needs of the unprivileged fi like me. Value is a big thing, I would think twice buying a high end component even if it is a pre owned component. A high end component in a budget system? You get the graze in people's eyes, mockery follows. What's a waste of time explaining the justification?

Need based audio, which is how I look at things. Buy what is necessary. Of all components, you don't mess with CD player and speaker. The former is too technical and too many parts to handle, even some High End companies don't get their hands dirty making CD player. Japanese are good with delicate parts. Many High End companies utilise Japanese transport, mod and re-badge it. Chinese and Korean are starting to their presence felt. I found truth in one Ang Mor saying. He says "MBA trains people to make the number looks good. They shut down factories, they retrench people, they outsource, they rent building, they subcontract, they buy technologies, they acquire competitors, they only keep their design teams for the sake of keeping the number looks good. It will only looks good in short term! Little do they do, they are slowly killing themselves in the long term." How do you innovate without manufacturing facilities? The higher management level, the least they know about operation and products. How do they drive the company? I called them Number Intelligence, good at crushing the numbers but poor at generating revenue.

Speaker building requires skills and testing facilities. It is more of an art than science. Even with the latest software and testing facilities, the Chinese can launch a satellite to the orbit but can't deliver in audio. It is a skill they have not mastered. The Japanese developed the Beryllium drivers in 1977, employed in Yamaha NS1000. Yamaha NS1000 is the most well known speaker from the East ever making its way into pro sound. Twenty years later, we see the wide use of Beryllium tweeter.  However, Japanese giant, Pioneer Corporation seeks help from the Ang Mor (the Whites) to develop their flagship. These capabilities, even the Japanese  do not have it. What left on the table now, DAC and amplifier, unless you demand the state of the art amplification with rocket science technologies, ultra wide bandwidth, huge current delivery unfazed of 1 ohm devil speaker impedance, unlimited dynamic, speeding bullet transient etc etc, these require serious technologies.

Now, unless you are brand conscious and resale value conscious, you have my blessings to go High End. It is your money anyway. But now, Customized Audio is slowing picking up pace especially in the States, UK, EU, and many other countries. CA is strictly for those who know what he exactly wants and in for a long haul (the jaded fi). No more buy and trade audio components merry-go-round. The designer will determine either current feedback, voltage feedback or no feedback amps to mate with the speakers. I have heard a RM60k+ branded power amp (no name to be disclosed) was blown away by a local customized amp. The performance disparity was great, the branded amp sounded mediocre after direct comparison. Everyone who has listened to the system, got really impressed. The real beauty of it is the price is one sixth of the branded amp.

System synergy accounts for a big share of ill sound. The amp and speaker relationship is largely mystical. The only way to find out if there is a cordial relationship is to test it out. Dealers these days, gladly loan amp to test but their faces quickly turned sour if the sale was not realized. Let's us not to be deceived. If good resale value is a concern, go other investment instruments but audio. Audio is never a good investment tool and of course you do gong (got lucky) sometimes. Believe me, the odds are against you. Insufficient fund for audio purchase, save up. Don't fall for short term consolation, you stand to lose at both ends.