It takes a mammoth effort to change perception. Japanese sound was long associated with shrill, thin, dry and unnatural sound not until the birth of Accuphase, Kondo, Reimyo, Zanden, Wavac, Koda and alike. Their remarkable sonic achievements now rival the world's best if not the best.
A strong socio-economic is the backbone of a nation well-being. A nation with high income per capita will naturally have higher standard of living, and hence high spending power. Developed nations will talk about liberalism, human rights, environment preservation, cultural preservation, high quality education, high morality, consumer rights, intellectual properties and so far so forth. White supremacy is still very much alive. As such, China is generally regarded as the victim of superiority complex for its battered image. Chinese products still have an uphill battle to combat bad perception, they are considered low tech and cheap. Things are slowly changing though at a snail's pace. Auralic, Lumin, Dussun, Opera, Shanling, Eastern Electric, Lenovo, Xiaomi, Li Ning among others are leading the charge.
Secret Audio is a pleasant find at KLIAVS2015. My first visit at approximately 1.30pm to have found its room was locked and it aroused my curiosity, which the room has secrets to unveil. Probably. My second visit on the same day found no visitors in the room, I had the room by myself. The chat with the designer was informative and Mak, Secret Audio honcho tell me how he sets his products from the rest. Cheap is something you don't expect from him. Ahem, so it seems I have had a slip of memory. I recalled listening to Mak's 211 SET monoblocks at Alan's place last year around the same time. Secret Audio as its name implied, is low profile, based in rather remote Zhong San Wu road in Guangzhou. Mak puts a lot of emphasis on neutrality and transparency. On LC One debut, he was honest to reveal that he uses monitor speaker as reference to work on his creation. Without a reference, you are without a compass in the wilderness, that's how it is.
I cheekily posted a question to Mak with regard to Chinese sound. Does China have a distinctive sound (in a bad way)? He was caught off guard, saying Chinese sound is of audio products made in China. Well, China is a big country and you'd expect some good and shitty products from there. Anyway, my general impression of Chinese sound has been rounded highs, fuller mids and laggy dynamic, a perfect recipe for vocal reproduction. On one occasion, I had heard a pair of unknown Chinese made bookshelf speakers with even tonal balance and awesome transparency that rivals five times its price from overseas. They were asking for RM10k per pair then.
Buying audio products is putting the money where your mouth is, is concurring to the designer's taste. That's the reason we visit audio stores to check thing out instead of reading reviews. Reviews are written by audio critics you might have no clue of what are their preferences. It comes as no surprise to me that many might have missed Secret Audio room at KLIAVS 2015. Boutique audio, because they are small, because they are unknown and most of all, because they are from China. Let's be honest, audiophile purchasing decision weighs heavily on brand and aesthetic. A local dealer also shared similar rants, tough business. Eye fi is a common audio chronic disease among audiophiles who place brand and aesthetic before sound, seeing allegiance to mainstream audio, with intensive advertising and review coverage. Factory direct has little leverage to compete with the big boys.
Mak premiered Secret Audio, LC Ones at its maiden KLIAVS 2015. Boxed up in a conventional right rectangular prism, boxy LC One looks ordinary, resembling a smaller version of Spendor SP100 R2, eradicating the top 7 inch midrange driver. No exotic materials, but good old plain MDF.
System setup
His system was simple, an old Studer studio CD player, Secret Audio 50 watt push pull tube integrated amp, a pair of LC One speakers and hooked up with ordinary cables. LC Ones were listened with the super tweeters. Room size was 430 square foot, usable audio space is approximately 16 foot width, 20 foot length and 10 foot height. Thing can't get any simpler than this.
Listening
Without further ado, let check out LC Ones demeanor. Mak played a variety of music to satisfy my inquisition. Voices, he popped in the late Roman Tam's 亲情, a Cantonese hit from the 80s soap. It was a nostalgic experience. Roman Tam's trademark; a powerful voice and crystal clear articulation. On this number, Roman Tam was supported by an orchestra. I remarked not overly liquid voice, transparent, well separated and enormous soundstage. Come on, you got to be kidding me, in show condition with no treatment? They shamed many more expansive systems in the show. Beside, Roman head movement was captured in the play.
On Cai Qin's slow number, in close miking studio recording, she appeared to be in a right size, more linear and meatier presentation. They don't do the voices like the BBC, which with added colorations. Perhaps, not as razor sharp imaging capabilities of small mini monitor. In imaging department, I'd give a vision power of 50/50. Cai Qin's stature was projected to be about 5 foot.
Next up, 2015 Commemorative CD 小曲儿. This Chinese ethnic dance piece is a good stress test for tweeter resolving and handling power. LC Ones employ the mid-priced Seas silk dome tweeter, not Excel series. I thought the gain of the recording was greater than usual. Still, Mak cranked it up, the highs were well behaved and blend seamlessly to upper mids. Unlike the ultra-resolving Beryllium tweeters, you need to be careful with the matching components and cables to prevent all hell breaks loose. 点到即止。
Mak threw in a chorale work to further demonstrate the resolving power of LC Ones. Due to the scale and width, chorale is one hard nut to crack. The whole audio chain is under examined. No gluey heads thank you, the hall ambiance was unmistakable. I was transported to mid row in a music hall. Not too laid back. At this juncture, LC Ones were found catching breath at fortissimo during the strenuous crescendo, they like to be driven hard but the partnering amp ran out of steam. Mak furthered LC Ones are best driven with solid state electronics of 100 watt and above.
"Give me some piano." I asked Mak. Piano is my favourite test piece. Ill-designed speakers have no chance surviving this. Beside tonal correctness, the vibrancy of strings, the sustain and resonances are what makes piano piano. Inevitably, tube amp softens the stringy and lessens the "masculine" from 80Hz and below.
A listening is not complete without classical music. LC Ones are fast, I thought there wasn't any bass energy below 50Hz. There wasn't any bass overhang to muffle the lower mids which itself is a good thing. The orchestra was expansive with remarkable ambiance retrieval. There was neither any confusion moving section to section. Neutrality paid off, preserving the natural color and timbre richness of the instruments.
Conclusion
You could tell that I like LC Ones. Priced at slightly less than RM10k, they are met with fierce competition. Harbeth Monitor 30 naturally comes into my mind. Needless to say, LC Ones are fighting an uphill battle with both speakers competing in different areas. LC Ones are more neutral, relaxed, extended, open and transparent while Monitor 30 has a clear edge on voices and fuller mids. Both are equally refined and you don't get much refinement below RM10k, either is not a bad choice.
Question is could you live with a Made in China product mental block? The golden advise is 耳听为憑, go with your heart.
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