New Year Fiesta

2014 Lunar New Year is the craziest audio fiesta ever with gatherings lined up from a week prior to new year, followed by a customary family reunion break, party all the way to Chap Goh Mei. We meet for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Same old story, never end. Old wine in a new bottle, but the story never failed to amused. Time reveals true character, got to clean up the list.

After the heavy long feasting, I fear walking near to the weighting scale even though resisted mouth watering gastronomy. Shedding weight is a long and painful process. It calls for starving.

Usher in 2014, this year greets three Goldmund owners, one upgrade and two possible new owner. Now, I understand there is hardly Goldmund in pre-owned market. At astronomical prices, who says high end is dying? Surely, the little audio guys would scratch their head figuring the justification for the high price. Well, stop ridicule how people spend, instead, ask yourself why aren't you make as much money as them.
 

Two hour listening to Goldmund power amp suffice to tell its worth. For its hefty price, it must have done something right. Conventional wisdom tells that power always comes in the expense of refinement. The Swiss defied that wisdom with power and refinement co-existence.

It is hard to not notice the pace of Goldmund. Wow! This amp is really fast, rendering a real world music realism. No buffering! The drum is exemplary. Pro drummer knows the beat all too well while amateurs still undecided to strike the drumhead. You know some systems can literally make you wait and yawn, slow train. Goldmund excites, it raises hairs, music speaks.
 

The second distinctive thing about Goldmund is its grip on driver excursion, in total control. No lazy drivers. No difficult load excuses, an authoritative conductor. What a treat listening to heavy percussion! Goldmund will make your blood in adrenalin rush.

It may also seems there is no difficult passage can trouble Goldmund. Be it Masakela's Coal train or Chinese operas, Goldmund makes them look easy. The tonal balance is largely neutral, just as what you would expect from the Swiss. You can crank to the max and keep harmonic distortion at bay. And lastly, refinement. A rare commodity in a power house. A wonder woman, who can fix water leakages, bulb changing, defend herself, cook, and with a perfect body contour dressing to kill. Where to look out for amphibian like women? Hard, isn't it?

I got good news to share to you guys, Hifi Creations, a promising new local speaker company run by a car audio enthusiast Victor Phah. His Line Array 100 speakers made its maiden appearance in last year KLIAVS. He is coming back stronger with his new floorstanding speaker in 2014 KLIAVS. He believes in premium drivers, premium components, good engineering, good finishing and good value.

He offered me to review his standmount speakers in my room to see if I like it. He thought that they will sound great in my room, promises a room filling sound pressure. I can too with my Pioneer S1EXs. I politely turned down his offer due to the hassle of moving the heavy speakers and regaining the sound that I used to. I am not going to tell you how his standmount speakers sound, but I could tell you that he is by far the best speaker maker the local ever have. Everything comes in at a price. If your sound criteria is getting close to the real thing, I can heartily recommend you his standmount speakers. Knowing audiophile purchasing habit, they are very much unsure of their own hearing but relies on  the reviews for purchasing decision. A sad thing if you ask me.