Oriental cousin

Unpredictable, we aren't having rain in April and May in the past, neither we see our currency at all time low against major currencies. Most unfortunately indeed, every import becomes more pricey than ever. I sigh at my falling spending power, my daily meal cost has increased considerably. We have everything to worry about. So, the talk of two jobs is no more a joke in the future, very near future. What more the cost of medicare when age catches up? I wish not to be bled dry financially in my old days, really.

Years of system optimizing, I am delighted that my system has achieved so far. My hearing sharpened in the course of tweaking. I hold true to the principle that "stay status quo whenever in doubt, come back later". While my speakers are not of blue blood, they do many things well, perhaps too well in many respects for their asking price, of course. What can I say, audiophiles, in general, have little respect for a mass market brand, they are entrapped by the brand perception. I do not bother with branding, because value speaks louder to me.

S1-EX strikes a chord due to its well-balanced tonal balance, fairly close to character free. Magnesium midrange driver introduces a very clean midrange. It offers no exception to the rules, the paper driver still reigns supreme in emotional connection. The Beryllium tweeter confined in the midrange driver is relatively reserved, not something I'd expect given 100kHz on the paper. Anyway, Pioneer engineers did a remarkable job marrying all the drivers and maintained in phase. Try as hard as I could, I couldn't discern the crossover point, perhaps my aged hearing didn't do justice to the task. Coherency ranked high in my audio priority, I subscribed to "lesser driver, lesser issue". Having said so, I didn't get caught by surprise that Kalman Rubinson, the Stereophile reviewer felt like listening to flat speakers. From my own experience, I couldn't agree more. Did I sound like self-boasting?

Point source is a brilliant idea, a speaker wisdom from the past. This design kills two birds with one stone, the tweeter nestled in the midrange driver, the membrane of the midrange driver serves as a waveguide to permit single source sound propagating. It handles 400Hz and above, covering the human most sensitive audible frequency range. In comparison to conventional speakers where the tweeter and midrange drivers are separately located, the sound varies to the ear height when seated, more so with a stand-up and sit-down listening.We have got different listening heights.

While so far so good, I'm not without any qualms. My goodness, fresh aramid, carbon fiber and polypropylene composite bass drivers are tight and take forever to break in. Before I come to the bass performance, I'd like to draw your attention to the bass character. Metal bass driver and paper bass driver represent the two extreme bass character, the former is fast, lean, clean, tenacious while the latter is warm, fuller, sluggish and unprecise. S1-EX sits in the middle ground. S1-EX bass deficiency really bothered me before break in, there isn't any meat to the bone, in which led to a recessed mids. This is not a speaker that sings like a canary out of the box or even 1000 hours on them. To remedy this, I did lots of bass enhancement and hours on them to get the bass back up. On the upper end, the highs are reserved even though they claimed of reaching 100kHz. It somehow renders a more civilized, poised and refined demeanor, a very precious asset indeed. The harsh, coarse highs and constantly calling attention to itself top the list of irking you. For me, it is easy to enhance the highs than to tame it. Having said that, to uncolor the speaker is an arduous task that often doesn't pay, a silly idea I must say so. You never know what you will get yourself into. There goes my wishlist, not a perfect specification fit speaker though, but easier to work around to attain my sound goal. Be realistic, the sonic anomalies surface with the room nodes, they will derive the sound from what it should have been. You need to try a few cables on them, the least and room treatment to get what you wanted.

Everything falls into the right place once the bass drivers loosen up, eventually. My tuning has been to facilitate a more conducive listening environment. Not forgetting, adding a healthy dose of spark to give life. S1-EX loves to be driven hard, it was designed for AV at heart. Bass volume shouldn't be the Achille's heel. The bass becomes profoundly gratifying after two Frank Power Banks came to aid, they mark a milestone transformation. I am sinking in the energy sensation, loving it.

Energy/power, resolution and dynamic, S1-EX excels without skimping the emotive department. This is a three years culmination of my work. Says who? Our natural intuition to sound is astoundingly accurate, I often benchmark it against live performance. What measures well doesn't necessary sound good. If otherwise, why undergoing subjective listening if the measurements can fill the bill? Food for thought.

Lastly, buy a speaker to your room size if you don't intend to wage a war against room acoustics. This is a battle you have little chances of winning.

Happy Labour Day

Friends advised that a second Frank Power Bank will do a lot of good to my system, I say play it by ear. They know the ropes because they all got two serving units or otherwise their comment will fall on deaf ears. When comes to money, I'll do my due diligence, you'll too I suppose. Spending myself out of troubles is not typically me, it's my last resort. It is the easiest way out but not always the solution. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and it is easy to see the audiophiles get crazy over the hardware upgrade. Reading the audio reviews is adding fuel to fire, your burning desire will be unstoppable.

I can't stress enough of sonic optimizing. Tweaking and fine tuning are essential to attain a desirable sound, even tuning after a fine tuning. We are responsible for our systems, how we voice our system as much as the speaker designers voice their speakers. Take heed, blame no one except yourself. Even the world best speakers will "submit" to the new set of parameters they are homed in.

They say everything happens for a reason. The time is right now, bring on my second Frank Power Bank. Frank's boys came to install my unit. I wanted my second unit to be placed at the opposing wall of my first unit. The creator advised the length shouldn't exceed 7 meters, any further will have its performance compromised. So, 7 meters it is, the adjoining power cables went directly into my sub-distribution box. Another concerning matter, the different lengths of power cable work in favor to me because they produce a better result, says the wizard. Well, I have no answer to this. Honestly, I got pretty nervous about people walking around my system that could displace my tweaking. A note worth mentioning; both Power Banks were rested on an isolated piece of granite. It sounded to my liking, maximum dynamic, minimum sluggishness. I'm a big fan of dynamic.

It is said the promised performance will come after the 6th hours but I was disappointed. Cold soggy ramen sucks. The sound was like a train running on and off the rail, so many peculiarities that I can't live with. Frank told me the Power Banks will receive a second blossom in 200th hours. We shall see.

About 160 hours of powered up, things are beginning to take shape. Fair enough, I started my critical listening only at 200th hour. Holy cow! I was pinned in my seat. I have been run down by a buffalo sonically. Be it timbral or textural concern, there was marked improvements. The first impression is spontaneous, often right. Remarkably bodied, this didn't go unnoticed. Some relate this to realism, the images are coming out from the woods, yes, they're coming out with convincing depth.

I was blown away by how my bass was manifested. The new leash of power, I didn't have wait long for the crescendo to reaffirm my impressions on the command and authority. Like it or not, a seismic bass is the undisputed test of audiophile approval, universally. On Alborada del Gracioso composed by Maurice Ravel, the timpani drums produced an astonishing scale-like and layered resonance never before heard in my system. The immediate bass impact was hugely reassuring, followed by a lengthier fading. However, the real test is the successive timpani stroke, whether the successive strokes maintaining the composure. I must say here, I'm happy with what I hear. It is a failure if the bass is playing the catch-up.

Power Bank audibly reduced noise floor. In the stillness in the musical passage, a quirkiness like the cloud of dust under a spotlight emerges. Listen, I'm not trying to pull your leg, the CD playback for long been accused of the restrained, sparseness, and inadequate bass delivery, now I know it's untrue. Mostly, the inability to reproduce the wholesome bass causes the brighter sound. The screwed tonal balance is the area you should correct.

Takes two to tango, two Power Banks in this case. The explode of information overwhelmed my brain. So much more nuances, longer sustains, floaty notes, splendor and et cetera goaded the rhythm. High octane music will groove you, your heart goes in sync with the rhythm. But, I can't vouch for your preference. Personally, I'll yawn with a rhythm hampered system. The plucked strings that lose their snappiness like a curry lose its spiciness, homogenous tone.

Gracious and elegance are never easy to describe (sonically). Perhaps, the effortlessness would fit the context. Upon the revelation of Power Banks, I come to apprehend the flow resistance of electro-signal in the link. Picture this, grease and bearings work hand in hand. On this matter, Power Banks acts as an ever-ready power reservoir, meeting the sudden surge of current demand at the complex passages. No complications with Power Banks. Furthermore, Power Banks treat the whole system instead of specific equipment, in short, you get the maximum effect which brings us the most asked question; power amp or Frank Power Bank, which to upgrade? Rule of thumb is, if your amp is up to the task, get Frank Power Banks, if not, upgrade your amp instead. 

Conclusions

Long story short, while it is not plain simple 1+1=2, I'd predict a 1.7 or 1.8 to be on the more optimistic side. What concerns me most is the peculiarity of which my worries are unfounded. Bass, the flesh, depth, dynamic, rhythm and effortless in a single package. They unclipped my system's wings, I am truly living my audio dream. Lastly, I'm not in any way affiliated with the FV Euroaudio or any other manufacturers, your mileage may vary. Happy Labour Day.

Unwrapping Frank Power Banks

The facet of Frnak Power Bank

The butt of Frank Power Bank

The heart of Frank Power Bank

Frank Power Bank at work

The adjoining cables