A new dawn has come

Gee... it has been so long since my last posting. Time flies when you're really having fun. My procrastination is to be blamed as well. I write for fun, not for money. Many audiophiles out there are looking for the next big thing, they are largely out of my reach I must admit, unfortunately. Talking about making ends meet, that's my problem. 

The audio industry needs consumers to drive innovations. Covid pandemic for the past two years had pulled the handbrake on the audio industry, everything becomes a standstill. Without a sizeable sale, the audio innovation will die. The industry needs money to go around for innovations and developments. I know most audiophiles are concerned with the price-performance ratio, they love the high price-performance products but it's out of the question in the absolute high-end audio, you pay for the performance. Being the best is staying on top of the game. Please, keep your value and judgement to yourself given every audiophile doesn't start at the same point, at the same playing field, sonic preference and whatnot. High-end audio doesn't need all that negativity. Some can afford better things in life, some cannot. Hello, reality. A comment that without a good conscience is outright ill-minded. The relentless contempt against the high-end audiophiles by the lower end audiophiles is crazy, do you have to? Audiophiles couldn't agree upon sound is nothing new, controversy is a way of life more so in the audio community. Nothing good to say, stuff food in your mouth. 

For a long time, consumerism has taught us that high prices correlate directly to high quality. We have grown to accept it as a norm. Apart from luxurious brands, rarity, the difficulty of production, the use of exotic materials also drives the prices up, not something made up that take you for a ride. Merit is the way to go. The ever steep pricing of modern high-end equipment keeps audiophiles complaining, anyway, since when do audiophiles cease complaining? High price or low price, they complain, it's a habit. I have seen a person who complains just about everything, he would have wished that he wasn't brought to the world. I foresee audioing will soon be a luxurious passion in several years to come given the dying of the middle class. This partly explains the booming of the pre-owned equipment market. The other reason, kiam siap (unwilling to pay). If new equipment is priced out of your reach, it wasn't meant for you, the end of the story. Wait, grab them in a few years time in the pre-owned equipment market. Timing is an issue, mental is another, the devil in you couldn't resist too good a deal to pass up that derails your course of system building, eventually.

There are many ways to skin a cat. One does very little with his system set up or overdo. The devil is in the detail, I do a little too much for the anticipated butterfly effect. Continuous optimization is the key to good sound, how little wrong you commit, tireless adjustments and corrections, many good things you have going on or in any other combination that brings about the sound quality. It's the journey, not the destination, man. A progressive upgrade deepens your knowledge. To take a shot at the top at a go? You might not even be sure of what you what. Audio accessories like isolation cones, plinth and rack are bell and whistle? I don't see the point of the heated scientific against empirical evidence discussion, empirical evidence is good enough for me. Scientific measurements cost money, do you prepared to pay? A consistent repeated result on every single application is the fundamental of science.

Mistakes are inevitable, don't let that be the reason that makes you give up. Be open-minded. Mistakes promote improvements, taking you to places. A big part of mistakes comes from making hypothetical assumptions because we think we are smart and in fact, we are lazy. A high-end system owner, a better audiophile? A techie, a better audiophile? An audio dealer, a better audiophile? A reviewer, a better audiophile? A noisy audiophile, a better audiophile? I wouldn't bet on them. Stop assuming, go listen to his system and take it from there.

Audio is a personal endeavour, a personal fulfilment, a personal statement. You do your audio thing, set your personal tone, mind your own business, cherish different sounds. Sound is the last word in audio, technology is the way to get there. Going into topology, components and the circuitry layout, this is the art of voicing by carefully selecting components through relentless listening. Though the components are measured by the voltage, microfarad and operating temperature, each of them sounds different on its account. They impart a sound of their own, thing becomes more complicated when a different mix of components adds up under the hood. Don't judge a book by its cover. On the other hand, it makes perfect sense that the manufacturer streamlines and narrow the number of inventory while on the opposing end, the artisan uses a variety of components to voice his sound. Some take pride in their products, take things further by making their own components, audiophiles appreciate this.

Form follows function is the design gold standard, this is very true with speaker building. You want a tube sound, accept its downsides, go tubes, do not let its downsides deter you from it. If solid-state is your thing, go all the way. A design that mimics either character will end up neither here nor there. It's my belief that every audiophile to develop his own unique brand of sound, bear in mind that there's no perfect system, period. Each system has its pronounced strength and weaknesses, you focus on further invigorating your strength to stamp your system's uniqueness. Let's say vocal is your forte, an achievement if your fellow audiophiles regard your vocal playback as a system to beat. Dynamic, transparency, silkiness, soundstage, bass and likewise, these are some of the areas your system can stamp your system. Moving on, your system can also be instrument centric. Be it piano reproduction, drums, sax, chorale and et cetera, any system capable of one of these will shine. Less is more. 

Tone-colour as defined by Oxford is the property that distinguishes the sound of a continuous tone played on two different musical instruments or sung by two different voices at the same pitch and intensity should not be the subject of judgement. Look, the man likes what he likes, our opinions have no bearing on his preference. It's him, his money spent who will live with his system, not you. Please don't play God, the master of the universe, you're not. Tonality is the commonly accepted point of reference. The sound of a poorly and well-designed driver illustrates my point. In this regard, high price offerings always trounce low price offerings. Thankfully there's a consensus about good sound (tonality and timbre) that most mature audiophiles could agree upon. I couldn't stress audio maturity enough. 

Media today is a powerful instrument than ever in the cyberage we are in. Young adults absorb everything the media published without scrutiny is worrying, they continue on with their sharing on social media like wildfire. Media with an implicit vested interest or agenda, lending itself a mouthpiece or propaganda for a certain individual or party often time is heavily biased. We must all guard ourselves against bad media, repeat a lie often enough and it becomes the truth. Journalism etiquette is pretty much thrown out of the window, we are now left with only a handful of credible media. Boring headlines will not attract eyeballs what more the world today is about readership and followers, the hardworking newsmen and the social influentials are rewarded for their readership and followers. Readers must exercise their due diligence to avoid being a victim of bad media.

It's always a great learning opportunity to visit an audiophile, I give those do little systems a pass. Naturally, an audiophile's approach to sound derives from his past experiences and the influences of fellow audiophiles. We regard an individual as an expert for his in-depth insights into a field of study that we could learn a thing or two from him. The equipment guy will resort to equipment upgrade as the primary remediation, the cable guy with his cable deployment, the speaker positioning guy with speaker repositioning, while the acoustics guy, does everything. Naturally, the more exposed he gets, the more complete an audiophile.

YL Audio

Big sound, the enormous lateral and depth of sound-field is a real treat courtesy by a big system in a big room. Nope, can't deliver big sound without either of the two. Intuitively, James' system takes me away. By the way, I was listening to the demanding Carmina Burana not many systems can pull off if you want to know. Holographic and effortlessness were my immediate impression, I'm happy for him for he has come so far. Without dedication and resources, it will not be possible. Five years the least gets him to where he is today. 

Talking about the next big thing, this guy has gotten two. His red-hot Kronos Discovery and Echole Infinity after some time of break-ins have finally shown their true worth this time. I've been listening to this system in and out a couple times but didn't have the urge to post until now. What's a transformation! Wow! This is a real man system. A new dawn has come. Long story short, the tonality is more flesh out, denser, more substance and with more authority this time by a significant margin. Incredibly, the sonic voids in his room have mostly vanished, the sound fills up the room thoroughly. To elaborate, some systems can sound loud but never really fill the room, with noticeable sonic voids, let alone an enveloping effect with hardly anything behind the seat, the gradual fading. His timbre has largely remained identical with the micro-level detail retrieval moved up a few notches, so was his palpability. Thereness. It's a calculated risk for him to upgrade his system by moving up to the top echelon of the product line up within the brands. 

24 Nov 2018

Together (Kronos, Absolare and Echole) as a package, the sound that evening was penetrating, far-reaching (if you have experienced the power of live soprano to know what I'm talking about, we have listened to the sensational Carmina Burana live by Petronas Philharmonic Orchestra downtown, the best ever chorale from PPO in my opinion) and yet with ease, an impossible feat I never thought attainable. I just don't know how one could resist the mighty Kronos Discovery if he's an avid turntable guy. Kronos Discovery has taken up the shortcomings and improved upon Kronos Pro, it's the turntable to beat. All basis of turntable designs focuses on the cartridge to pick up only the mechanical vibrations from the vinyl groove. A dedicated rack is Kronos's answer to the challenge, going a great distance to minimize the unwanted vibes from top to toe. Vibration is energy, you cannot kill energy. This doesn't require a scientist to figure things out while others opt for mass to reduce vibration. In addition, the attribution of SPCS shouldn't be disregarded, I sensed more drive in the music, drive makes music exciting. What we have here is a turntable, phono stage and racking in a single package, making life easy leaving the analogue front end to Kronos with only amplification and speaker for you to have a crack on.

The flagship Echole Infinity banking on the proprietary metallurgy of silver, gold and palladium in a greater diameter opens yet another galactic dimension of sound. Never sounds harsh and forceful, it was gentle with the music. James has an almost full Echole Infinity loom, this guy's passion is unparalleled. From Omnia, LE to Infinity, I heard his cable progression and never ceased to amaze how far we could push the sound boundary. It's mind-blowing, so with the hefty cost of ownership. I perceived an escalating resolution and fidelity with every step up in the cable lineup. The conductor is the lifeline of a system I know many are saving some bucks here. Get rid of the bottlenecks, not create a bigger one. Get an Echole cable loan, just one cable in your system, you will know what I mean. Neutrality is non-existent, Echole is not neutral so does any other offerings in the market. Its tone colour tilts ever so slightly to the yang side but the silky highs and ethereality, not bright, brittle or glassy, not anything like a chill wind blows at your neck with low-quality silver cables. Enough said. This system stands out with big music. Oh man, turn off the lights, with only the glow of the tubes as ambient light, put the needle in the groove, let my hair down, turn off my analytical mind, what a great way to spend an evening away. I left his house with a stirred soul. 

That's it, folks. Till I write again if I will. Stay safe, Gold bless. Happy new year, may this year be a good year for you. 

AVD product launching

I was honoured to be invited to participate the launching of new products brought to Malaysian soil on 26 Jan 2018. The launching was slightly delayed to roughly 3.00pm, started with a short sweet speech from James Tan. A humble beginning, AV Design was incorporated in 1993. It was operated from second-floor office floor above an auto workshop. This year marks 25th years anniversary in business, something worth celebrating as with our KLAV in tandem. 25 years is a long time.

From left, Joseph Ki, James Tan and Tony

James took the opportunity to announce that Joseph Ki, widely known as Jo Ki, the man who founded the unofficial Rogers LS3/5a group, coming on board as a director. Jo has been responsible for the interior design of the previous outlet in Rohas and now new outlet, Boulevard Business Park. AV Design has been a reputable home theatre entertainment solution provider in town, James is ambitious to take on the two-channel system seriously with the appointment of Jo Ki. Something is bound to happen. AV Design is now in a better position to provide a complete mid to high-end two-channel system package, namely, hardware, acoustic solution and room design.

Time for the new products, PMC Cor analogue amplifier. Tony, Sales Manager went on to brief us on PMC electronics. PMC is not new on amplification technology, they have been doing amplification for over twenty-five years experience under their belt, primarily for pro sound industry.

Cor as in Portuguese means heart, soul and mind. Rated 95 watt at 8-ohm or 140 watt at 4-ohm integrated amplifier, dressed in a ribbed box and an oversized volume knob, the design looks as utilitarian as can get. Timeless. Cor brought back Japanese old school tone control features, the slide motor allow left-right balance, treble and bass adjustment that will come handy in various room shapes.

We were played three tracks of various music genre to give a glimpse of Cor's sound perspectives. I didn't get the sweet spot for the demo but got an opportunity for a serious listen afterwards. The system comprises of Bryston music streamer, Cor integrated amp driving PMC 25.26 (RM46,800 per pair).

The system is placed in an open area with a right opening, in spite of that, my listening impression has been positive. No grain, no hardened notes, offering a clear view into the music. A thumb up to acoustic treatment. The sound was clean, exquisite and detailed, there were no hints of boom. Credits to Jo for his set up efforts, PMC 25.26s were imaging ghostly. The highs were tangible! For a little more than RM31,800 price tag, Cor joins the bandwagon of mid-market integrated amplifiers. Cor is the natural choice for its transducer.

PMC 25.26

Read http://www.the-ear.net/review-hardware/pm-cor-integrated-amplifier

Next up, Syzygy Acoustics. These are subs for music, should excite some of the bass enthusiasts. Wait til you hear this, Syzygy subs are wi-fi able and wired providing the flexibility of connection. It equips with BLE app and SoundSculpt Technology (DSP) to boot, offer a smooth bass response.

There are four variants in the range, starting from

Syzygy SLF 800, 8in driver, 200 watt, 34-200Hz, BLE app and bass reflex design, MRSP RM2500, optional WRM TX1 transmitter RM470
Syzygy SLF 820, 8in driver, 400 watt, 30-200Hz, BLE app and bass reflex design, comes with digital room correction, MRSP RM3700
Syzygy SLF 850, 10in driver, 1000 watt, 24-200Hz, BLE app and acoustic suspension design, comes with digital room correction, MRSP RM4900
Syzygy SLF 870, 12in driver, 1000 watt, 20-200Hz, BLE app and acoustic suspension design, comes with digital room correction, MRSP RM5990

Driven by a Pioneer AV amp, a single Syzygy SLF 800 in this room, mating PCM 25.21 in a room 14' x 20' (my best guesstimate). The sound was noticeably beefen. The speed of the sub is remarkable.

With BLE app, the owner could sync automatically with the system. For the capable, they can opt for manual tuning, like Q factor, phase degree, dB roll off, delay and fading to manipulate the bass curve.

You can opt for duo subs for optimal stereo performance. Intoxicating just to think about it. AV Design has three dedicated rooms, one for home theatre and two for the two-channel system.

A review by The Absolute Sound on Syzygy SLF870 by Vade Forrester on Sep 11th, 2017.
You may want to read http://www.tonepublications .com/review/syzygy-slf-870-subwoofer/ and http://www.cepro.com/article/review_syzygy_slf_850_subwoofer_sound_quality_calibration

This is the home theatre room.

The equipment is nestled in a hidden compartment.

This is the TAD room.

The clever use of absorption and reflection.

For further info, visit http://www.avdesigns.com.my

An evening with Kronos

I received a sort of "An evening with Kronos" invitation from a good friend, Victor Pheh. Ganged up with a few audio heavy weights, we went to meet up with Louis Desjardins, the Kronos honcho over a dinner. Kronos Audio is a new kid on the block. Already well received worldwide, sweeping numerous awards in major audio shows, Kronos must be a force to be reckon with. Five awards already this year, snubbing the talk of audio conspiracy. Louis raised his eyebrows to my audio conspiracy, audio world is not without politics but Kronos is real. What high end concerns is merit and merit alone, the sole determinant. Inaccurate audio reviews will be all to lose. 

Wasting no time after a good meal, we went straight to Hifi Creations music room. What's new was the realignment of fixture and furniture, and a new partition that separates the music room from pantry from my last visit two weeks ago. The new partition is said to cut down noise and accidental new found bass. I must say Louis did a good job working the system, he gets my renewed respect. You know, many manufacturers blame others for less satisfying sound and didn't do justice to their products, do little to bring the best out from the situation. In this regard, Louis is a true audiophile in nature. This man got his hands dirty and didn't shy away from telling me which speaker he prefers. His choice of speaker happened to be my dream speaker. This instill confidence, gives me an insight into his sonic preference; the priceless neutrality. End result, the system now became more cohesive, less protruding bass and more expansive soundstage than last heard. The renovation helps the sound stabilized. 

Louis is a fun and easy going guy. He played a track to warm up the system before the real audio starts. Our honorable heavy weights were no average Joe. A quick system run down, top of the line Kronos Pro turntable and XYZ cartridge, Nagra phono and Preamp and Magnet mono bi amping, wired up with Skogrand throughout. Room size is approximately 16' x 20' x 10'. Seating spot is approximately 8' unilateral triangle. Listening volume roughly hits 90s at peak, about right, not overly loud. This too is important.

We were listening to early 60s jazz standards, I must say the recording selection was top notch. Count Bassie mono, Duke Ellington and some other great jazz master were on the playing list. Kronos Pro is one hell of turntable. What Louis did this differently from the competitor is, he fitted a counter rotating platter right below the main platter. And he's honest enough to reveal that the design idea is not his brainchild, but he perfected it. The ingenious counter rotary of bottom platter neutralizes the top platter, did a marvelous job eliminating the torque resonance. No measurable resonance. No rumble, no skipping occurred too knocking the rack the Kronos rests upon. Play wasn't interrupted when jittering Kronos front to back and sideways. This is the second turntable after Clearaudio Statement I had seen with such immunity. With a hefty price tag, it lives up to the claim.

How effective is the counter rotating platter? Louis wanted me to discern the sound without the counter rotating platter in motion. I was all sweat, this was an audible test in public and I didn't want be branded as cock ear. I want to thank my parents, my uncles and aunties, I survived the test. The sound was diffused, laid back and lifeless! Resonance sucks up life! Once you heard the magic, it is hard to go back. Work hard to make money to carry a Kronos home. 

Count Bassie mono LP, exhibits an unbelievable level of tonal richness. So musical, isn't this hifi about? Enjoy the music, be lost in an illusion of space and time. Double bass, bass pitch and definition was immaculate. Concurrent double bass and foot stomping, no masking, it is easy to discern the two. I could see Kronos Pro as front end in a top notch system, in a good room would be unimaginably enjoyable.

Some complained it is too cheap for what's it worth. You know how Chinese are like, low price, big bowl. And you know too that I don't do commercial review. Go check out yourself.

The lit fella, Jordan Watts

This is a follow up to Alan visit. The second system that we listened to was DIY Jordan Watts speakers based system, same system in different setup. The DIY Jordan Watts project is manned by Alan and with the help from his son. Box is of solid wood, Cenggal Mas if I remembered correctly. Cenggal Mas is one of the Asian densest wood, as to minimize box resonance. The radiators help to offload standing bass energies, would result a longer bass grunt. Aesthetically, Cenggal Mas veneer is not that pleasing like nyatoh. The fit and finish is good, far from amateurish. So far, that's how I read Alan's logic of engineering.

It has long known that Alan champions vintage gears, promoting out of the radar of most fi vintage gear. Price has been reasonable, hence, giving good performance and cost. These days, anything that bears big name like WE or Klangfilm and history are crazily priced. There are collectors all over the world willing to pay good money for them, for nostalgic or investment reasons. A remembrance of the golden era of audio, perhaps. It is difficult to put a value on sentimental reasons. Form factor, mini refrigerators fall out of place today due to space constraint, slim tower or book shelf speakers are the darling of urbanites. Scarcity of space in urban command a premium. Secondly, the low wife acceptance factor is also the reason for the decline of mini refrigerators.

Power conservation is hardly a valid reason for fi to go green. Class A amps will never go away. Anyway, amp is a mature technology. Digital and speaker are the cash cow, attracting a lot of entrepreneur's attentions to cash in. Some one will make their cash register rings.  

A little check on Jordan Watts, Jordan was the first to use metal cone driver for wideband application. Yes, you have guessed right, a single driver to cover all frequency spectrum, no crossover as per se. The idea of using stiff and light material for speaker cone drives the exploration using aluminium, magnesium, ceramic and berylium. And all these drivers achieve varying degree of commercial success. Nevertheless, it is almost an infinite of matrix of speaker building. It is a good advice to read the objective of the speaker designer before shortlisting them. Acoustic Energy AE1, goes down in the loudspeaker history as one of the speaker that defy the law of physics, squeezing bass volume that never before heard from a small enclosure. The designer, Phiul Jones wanted to create a small speaker with jaw dropping dynamic and sonic precision. Time waits for no one, AE1 as of today sounded dated.

Alan must have savaged old 4.5" Jordan Watts drivers, affixed them onto a box which is about the shoe box size of the legendary LS35A if not any smaller. In order to expand extreme bandwidth, Alan opt for ESS Heil Air Motion AMT tweeters and passive radiators to realize his objective. Suffice to say, you do not obtain linearity from a single driver to take on wide bandwidth. Hence, two way, two and a half way and three way are the choice of modern speakers to coup with hi res media via an introduction of crossover. We shall see in a coming decade if active speakers are game changer. Guesswork is being taken away. If so, this will put a lot of amp companies.

One front two back formation

On the metal stand, Alan sits three ball bearings on a wooden pockets to isolate the speakers from sitting on the metal plate. Sitting directly on the stand will veil the sound, albeit a gain in bass weight. I have had a fair experience with Yamamura foot, they do wonder to the bass but on the downside, they move quite a bit. Image specificity is compromised.

Driven with puny 8W Secret Audio 300B monoblocks, I immediately felt that it was a punishing act for Jordan Watts to fill the room. And Jordan Watts will not shame away telling they are not happy pushing them hard. They introduce distortions, alas, 4.5" drivers can only move so much air.

Metal driver has two distinct advantages, structural integrity and pace. Smaller diameter further enhancing structural integrity, to allow for a more pistonic lateral movement. Less crazy bounces. As such, you will hear a cleaner and less edgy sound compares with driver of paper and plastic made. Some will notice metallic flavor but this is not a deal breaker. You now see the return of metal tweeters. Go ahead with paper or plastic driver if you prefer romanticism. Metal drivers are not alone, joining the race are more exotic drivers like carbon fiber, composite materials, diamond, ceramic, magnesium, alloy etc. These days, coloration in high end audio is a plague.

In this system, tube helps to curtail the metallic character, so much so that I was enjoying the music and forgot about metallic-ness. Tube inevitably adds body and blooming to the sound, giving more "human" to the sound. Decidedly, there was a lack of immediacy and presence with certain music. I felt disconnected with the music when listening from 9 to 10' away, especially on more demanding materials. My instinct tells me to move my seat right up, to 5',. Things began to take a dramatic change, for the better. More palpable, more immediacy and vastly improved enveloping effect. The feeling of being enveloped in music is a sensational feeling, like in a live event. Your skin feels the music.

Pity, I did not try other positions to validate my thoughts like reducing the speaker to speaker distance or toe in or listening as in soundfield, aka Audio Note method. I hold on to my principal, touching people gear remains a taboo unless permitted.

Sound impression

Voices hang nicely in the air with steady locality. Sweet. The crossover-less is magical with voices, nothing ever come close to it on vocal reproduction. Voices are intact with none of the oscillation between the tweeter and the midrange driver. The detail is aplenty, afloat, courtesy of ESS Air Motion tweeter. Nice. Pace is good, giving the needed groove to the music. Overall, the sound falls into slightly warm side of neutral.

The downsides, Jordan Watts could not go loud. They will protest when pushed hard. No, they will not provide the majesty of full orchestral works like Mahler or Stravinsky's works, you got to pay a lot more to get it. The bass seemed to roll off slowly and smoothly from 100hz. And they will not shake the room the way many mammoth speakers able to. However, I can't lie that I am yearning more bass, more, more and more. Since you can't use a more powerful amp, get help from wall boundaries to increase bass volume.

If you valued soundstage and non fatigue listening, these Jordan Watts might just be your ticket to sonic haven. Sit back and enjoy the music.

En route to off mainstream

Audio is great fun with home visiting, a private peek at one's man cave how others are audioing. This is where the real thing is, this is where the audio wisdom lay bare. Whether a standing ovation or speechless comment, it is time for reality check. You can't teach an old dog new tricks, perhaps not. Facts is you may not know your guest preferences, the response would be unpredictable. The question is can you take the heat? In all account, we should all embrace diversity, audio shouldn't be that boring.

And so, we decided to check out Ipoh friends. Hopped in a car before the sun break, we headed north on Saturday, two days before Hari Raya. Bad traffic is expected, we joined the large crowd "going home convoy". We never have thought it would be this degree of madness. Traffic was at snail's pace. At some point of time, we managed only 12km per hour. A 230km route that normally take two hours, took us eight that day. 30 odd km per hour, that's a scary record. Make no sense paying toll. Exhaustion and frustration all written on our face, compounded with tiredness and hunger, it fell short of someone suggesting a U turn going home. Exited express way at Sungkai for fuel and food, we pressed on. Patience brings sweet reward, the traffic eased somewhere at sleepy Kampar town. What's a relief! Vroom... we stomped on the speed pedal for the lost time.

The weather had been kind to us, not as burning hot and stuffy as few days before. Waiting is annoying, the host felt the stress too for an unexpected long wait, kind of "stuck" situation. Anxiety drives people nut. He had since expected to receive us at 12pm, got us at nearly 5pm. We made two home auditions that day, hit the sack at 200am calling it a day.

After dim sum in the next morning, we stopped by Alan Wang's place. He is the owner of Kinta Valley Audio whom runs a home based small audio boutique. He imports audio equipment, parts and tubes from all over the world, refurbish and resell them. Alan is silently running a vintage audio campaign off mainstream. Truly, audioing is indeed for all walk of life, any budget, there will always something in-store for you. Just drop the prejudice, different budget vary fidelity and enjoy the music.

Below is his vintage audio collection. Here's his vintage audio collection.

Pioneer vintage speaker with proprietary beryllium tweeter and midrange unit

A closer look

Magnavox FM cum pre amp 

Eico electronics

Darling 1626 tube amp

Eico tuner

Eico tuner again

Eico

First system featuring the rare Shahinian Arc based system, Arc measures 14 ¼" x 27 ½" x 9 ¾" in a 12' by 20' room and with a cathedral ceiling approx 14' at the apex. It is a two way design. Arc's tweeters, midrange and bass units fire up at tilted angle, there is a 8" rear passive radiator claiming 28-18,000Hz -3dB. The figure is a little ambitious without the help of front wall bass reinforcement especially the Arcs were placed out in the middle. Nevertheless, a neat and clean room is eye pleasing.

Alan Wang in his room

Driven by Chinese made Audio-gd pre and Secret Audio 211 SET monoblocks, the source was Denon professional CD player. Secret Audio, an epic DIY goes commercial. The very amp at Alan's place, set to premiere in the coming Hong Kong AV show. The MRSP is RM30,000, slightly under 10k USD. Comes in with Shuguang 300B. Alan tube rolled, GEC 300B if  I remember correctly. In this room, Arcs was about 8' apart, we were seated 9' from the speaker plane. My qualm, IKEA Poang chair is not an ideal chair, that thing rocks. It also sink at varying degree with body weights.

Arc is clearly a different breed of speaker for a reason. Big sound, warm and relaxed. Best suited for classical treat. Arc paints the wall of sound to give you an illusion that you are listening to big speakers.

The sound was relaxed that you could feel the tone harmony, cohesiveness is admirable regardless whether you stand up, sit down or walk around. The bass was rather lightweight, Arc could use the wall reinforcement to aid bass quantity. The fact that 87dB and 8W of power did not jive with me, Arc needed more power to come alive. That's my biggest reservation. Nothing substitute power.

The presence was there but did not have the strong leading edge nor the tone density of conventional straight firing speakers. The stage is without a spotlight. Neither, the microscopic detail and pinpoint imaging. And do we not distracted by non musical microscopic detail, and got carried away with "my system let me hear this". Over emphasizing detail can be fanatical, this is a common acute disease of fi. I placed strong emphasis on harmonic richness, the music. Togetherness. What's there is there, what isn't, don't deliberately looking out for them. Soundstage freak with strong fondness to spatial things need not look here as you will feel getting off on wrong foot.

For jazz, Arc is a little falling behind in pace department, hence, lessened excitement. Again, the power could be the issue.

Have you grown tired of those constant attention grabbing sound that induce listening fatigue over time? Constant spanking you in your face? It is attractive at first, slowing it wears you down. Enter the realm of horn, flat speakers and some exceptional front firing speakers for tireless listening. Arc is one of them, projecting a semi Gothic sensation. I guess we could expect experiencing spookiness of Roger Water's amazing album, Amused to Death. This album will leave you a life long memory perplexing.

Meet the Duevel family

German Physiks 

In view of similarity, Duevel and German Physiks take thing to another level. High fidelity has since evolved, time bears witness to pivotal sound, from forward midrange to flat response, to imaging, to transparency, to immediacy, to super airy, driven by technologies. These aspects were notably improved by leaps and bounds. Even horn is making a comeback on its own way these days, just refer to the number of new horn in CES. It all comes down to the sound matching your listening profile. If Arc fits your listening profile, I urge you to pay Alan a visit, kintavalleyaudio.

Another breaking news, KF has quietly become an audio celeb in Ipoh!

KLIAV 2014 coverage

Audio Sector line up

Rogers LS5/9 (right) and its replacement model (left).

Marantz network player NA11S1, deserves your attention.

Atoll electronics

BMC Pure Vox debut

Impressive showing by BMC Pure Vox, small speaker with big heart

Rear view of BMC PureVox

BMC USB high speed cable debut

Swedish Statement showing, Marten and Vitus winning combo

Local made diffusor by Hifi Creations

Hifi Creations, Arpeggio speakers and Magnet electronics. Good run for your money.

Tweaking from the pearl of east, Hong Kong

Audio Physic Scorpio 25 driven by Odyssey electronics

Audio Physic Scorpio 25, cross section view

Classic on wall (left) and Classic 10 (right)

Linn Akubarik with Linn electronic

Harbeth C7ES-3 with Quad electronics

AE Reference 2 with Roksan electronics 

New line up from Epos, K series

Devialet driving Penaudio Cenya

Inside the Devialet

Estelon speaker and 49 sonic personalities Graitech cables, come at RM28k

Unconventional Devialet remote control on Penaudio Sara S Signature 

Audio Note assault

Alan Wolff's Magico S3

Focal JM Lab Aria 900 with McIntosh electronics

Rosso Fiorentino in action

Adam Column by Audio Art

Soul Note,ex Philips engineers creations

Gut wires

French seduction, Atoll electronics

Audiomica Laboratory

Triangle speaker

Triangle line up

Hi Diamond cables

XTZ Divine 100.49 with YBA electronics

Focus Classic series teamed up with Densen electronics

Zellaton Grand and KR amp

ASI speaker, resonators and Karan electronics 

ASI cables with proprietary metallurgy

Dynaudio C1 with Jeff Rolwand electronics

Meeting the Naim family

Mission + Audiolab

Aurum Cantus from China

Canton tag teamed Moon audio

Verity audio + Nagra 

Neat speaker, FM acoustics and Vertere turntable. You gotta hear this!

Vertere The Record Player

Wharfadale classic

Harmon Kardon group, Revel + Mark Levinson

Opera speakers line up

Dali + dCS Vivaldi and Constellation

Sonus Faber Aida + Audio Research

Rockport + Vitus

Close look at new Vitus

PMC fact 12 driven by TAD electronics

JM Lab + McIntosh

Goldmund Prologos Plus

Findings :

CD and CAS as media are among equal, five accounts for only 11% is using vinyl at this year KLIAVS.

Speaker below RM10K showcased attained 16%, below RM30K 41%, below RM100K 30%, below RM200K 11%, above RM200k 2%.

I returned for the show on the second day to make sure I am missing anything.,particularly the sound from Arpeggio + Magnet and BMC room. Some are lucky that they do not have home theatre as neighbour, some are unfortunate. Man, Neat + FM Acoustics + Vertere combo captured most of my attention. Rhythmic, lively, clean and communicative, set my foot tapping, they did the least wrong. Best sound in my book even though missing the lower octave energy. It goes for RM300K, the least. No mushy mushy presentation but plenty of bite. If you are for live, directness, micro dynamic and gutsy sound, ASI room is worth checking out. Super Tango goes down to 18hz + - 3dB, that's is amazing.