My Best of KLIAV 2024

Posted by Tan

In this post, I’d like to share my list of top 5 systems that led in sound quality in the recently concluded Kuala Lumpur International Audio Visual Show 2024.

I found that the sound quality of the systems on show was very high overall. The rooms seemed to be friendly to most systems, I didn’t come across any system suffering the biggest audio bane, the annoying bass boom  for example. 

I prefer systems that sound alive and lifelike, not a fan of a lazy or overly laid-back sound. Music in real life, even from just a solo voice, a single instrument, playing a slow song, always has a certain liveliness to it. A system that doesn’t convey that musical ‘tension’ will render the music un-interesting and will fail to hold the listener’s attention.

My choices here are selected based on the music I heard when I visited the respective rooms on Sunday afternoon. The systems are presented in the order that I heard them in the Show, there is no implied ranking. They range from the highend to the mid-tier, so it was not a matter of the more expensive the better.

1. Perfect HiFi – Nagra electronics, Sonus Faber

Perfect HiFi got it perfectly right this year. The Sonus Faber Amati loudspeakers used in this year’s demo were smaller than the SF models used in the previous years, but with the Nagra electronics, these Amatis had the command of the big hall. Bass was solid and very assured, further up the frequency spectrum there was an organic-ness, a flow to the music that was the strength of Sonus Faber. The sound never turned aggressive or harsh despite playing at a high volume level

2. AV Designs – Innuos streamer, complete TAD system

Huge soundstage, wide ranging dynamics, big sound. The top loudspeaker model in TAD’s Evolution range, the TAD-GE1 (Grand Evolution) is not a small loudspeaker, but they did look somewhat small in this big conference room, regardless, the pair of TAD-GE1s produced a room-filling sound and the whole system practically disappeared into the immersive soundscape.

3, HiFi Creations – Pink Faun, Playback Designs, Accuphase, Clarysis

HiFi Creations’ debut of the Clarysis panel loudspeakers was impressive to say the least. I loved their top to bottom seamlessness and coherence, there was no feeling of different drivers playing separate spectrum of the music. Transparency was excellent with a wide-opened window into the soundstage. Bass performance was a surprise to me, I always had the impression that bass was not a strong suite of panel speakers but what I heard here was well defined, deep and punchy bass notes.

4. Dream Audio – Shanling, Denon, Polk Audio

The first thing that attracted the attention of visitors to this room would be the flashy and flying saucer like Shanling CDP, but when I sat down for a longer listen, I noticed that the music coming out from the Polk Audio floorstanding loudspeakers (the extreme left right speakers in the photo) was quite nice to listen to. It was a lively, balanced and musical presentation. These loudspeakers are worthy of serious consideration indeed if one is putting together a mid-level system.    

5. D&A Analogue HiFi – Melody. Canton

These Canton bookshelf loudspeakers were absolutely punching above its size, they are worthy of their 'Reference' label indeed. I enjoyed the tonal balance of this system very much, the sound was rounded, had a pretty good body and no lack of details. The music presentation was lively too. The Melody tube amp were a very good match with these Canton loudspeakers.

KLAV 2024

 

Is the time of the year again for fellow enthusiast alike and some of the local dealers show casing their new toys or some with the usual classic. Either one, the foyer of the entrance as usual the places of people to gather up before going into the show. This year Samsung has launch its micro LED 114 inches TV which a whopping cost of RM799,999.

This majestic TV seating at the entrance to the event area is just stunning but of course the price is eye watering too. I will think the future large display will be the era of the micro LED or the so called walled TV which can be custom to any sizes with panel making up the size as wanted. This is one great way to welcome the visitors of the show event. 

On the main floor is line up with many different TVs of all shapes and sizes. TV has made quite an impression this year with so many new one coming and the prices are definitely very attractive as well. 

Gaming is not to miss out with the EPSON projector which has the high frame rates to support games and the demo is with virtual reality gaming. This is something everyone will wish to have in their home.

EPSON projector really up their game with the more portable projector and with impressive picture quality of this little boxes. The price again is as affordable as any large screen TV.

This is the latest EPSON QL series of laser projector. The projector has custom lens for the home environment depending on the brightness or dark of the room. 

This is the setup with EPSON laser projector. The demo is to simulate the home living room environment. Most impressive of what this projector could do.

Lots of Taiwanese brand in the show. This is Lukang speaker with Diablo 120 integrated amp with Emerson Audio streamer.

This speaker brand LYDEG is just out of this world. From the top you can see how the drivers has no cabinets.

This is the external cross over for the speakers. I cannot describe how crazy this speaker design is. 

This is the more usual Divini Audio but its mono blocks in wood still fools me in thinking where is the amps.

Another well known brand of Keces from Taiwan. The amps, pre-amps and power regenerator within the stack. 

Lifestyle audio hardware from T+A. All in one including CD player build in. I don't think there is anything else missing here. Once hook up to speakers and is all ready to play.

Focal is a brand that need no introduction but a Focal active speakers is something new for sure. The speakers plays so well like it has subwoofers build in. It makes any kind of active speakers sounded so small.

The new Cambridge Audio EXA100 integrated amp with the KEF Q series meta. Simple and pleasant to the ears.

This is one turntable that will turn your head too from Yukiseimitsu audio of Japan. Look at the beauty of it.

Clarisys Audio speakers with Accuphase power amps and Playback Designs MPD8 DAC streaming with Pink Faun. 

One handsome speaker and watching the ribbon moving when the song is playing just feel so out of this world.

Its been a long time since I hear such a melodius DAC. This is one big rival to MSB or DCS.

Monitor Audio studio speakers launch recently and make its debut in the show. This is one cili padi.

Just the name itself is musical already. The sound makes it even more stunning. 

Another rare sight of ATC that is not the usual wood finish or brown or black colour.

All in gold only, the non other than the famous Accuphase.

Marantz going into the high space of the series 10 models which was recently review in CEDIA 2024.

Wilsenton tube amps which recently brought in by TechX with some listening session 1 month back.

Another giant in the audio brands, the TAD speakers with the amps, pre-amps and CD player together with the Innous next gen streamer.

Not to leave out the can jams from Focal. 

This year the show has been a good variety of products, different setups and some interesting designs to be seen in the show. Technology plays quite an important role this days even in audio world. Those who is not keeping up with tech is pretty much left behind and disappear. Very much looking forward to more new gadgets next year.

A Fabulous HiFi Trip to Sarawak

Posted by Tan

A couple of us from our HiFi gang made a short weekend visit to our audiophile friends in Sarawak, it was a feast for our ears (and for our tummy too, the food was also fabulous to say the least).

We visited multiple systems in Bintulu and Miri. It is my pleasure to share our friends’ pride and joy here.

There are 2 learnings I made on this trip. One is that our Sarawakian friends tend to prefer to tune to a slightly “softer” sound in their set-ups (as opposed to ‘hard’ or ‘hifi-ish’ sound). Rather than having a brighter, hard-charging, metallic treble region, their systems’ highs were refined and well behaved, not calling out for too much attention, but also never dark and not lazy. The midrange had body and never lean, the bass region had some warmth. So, the listening sessions were always aurally comfortable and never fatiguing despite we covering multiple systems with multiple hours of listening each day.  

The other of my learnings was that everyone paid attention to their room treatment. They knew that our listening space had a significant impact on the sound quality, so a lot of attention and effort was paid to getting the room acoustic right. This is definitely a good approach to avoid the never-ending equipment merry-go-around that many audiophiles got themselves into.

Let’s get to the listening impressions. These are presented according to the sequence of our visit:

System 1 Bintulu – Soul Note cdp and preamp, Accuphase monoblocks, Estelon loudspeakers

Our listening kicked-off to an auspicious start. This was an excellent sounding system. I gathered that the owner started his HiFi hobby just a few years ago, but the progress was fast in getting to his current highend setup, and the sonic achievement was significant as confirmed in our listening session.

I was very impressed with this latest iteration of the Estelon loudspeakers, the XB-Diamond mkII. The sonic presentation was invariably refined and smooth, as smooth as a baby’s bottom 😊. This is not saying that details were glossed over; rather, lots of details in the music came through but were presented in the musical context and never irritating to our aural senses. When dynamics and impact were called for, what we got was the steel-fist-in-the-velvet-glove type, there were both strength and composure. The highs were a standout, they were silky and always full of details, never lost their footing even with challenging recordings. The diamond tweeters on these beautiful loudspeakers were outstanding.

Of course, the supporting cast’s contribution was critical in achieving the final results too. What can I say? The Japanese electronics, all flagship models from Soul Note and Accuphase proved themselves to be a great match with these Estonian beauties.

 

System 2 Bintulu – Marantz cdp, Rega turntable, Leben pre and power amp, ProAc loudspeakers

I have fond memories of my time listening to British loudspeakers in my system (mainly Rogers and Harbeth). I never got around to own any ProAc, though I was mighty impressed when I first heard the ProAC 1SC – a tiny bookshelf that sounded sweet and musical, on top of a seductive midrange and dynamics that belied its size.

This ProAc system brought back memories of all the good things about the British sound. The sound was warm and musical, rhythm and pace flowed, vocal, especially, was natural and articulate. The highs from the ribbon tweeters on these D20Rs sounded more natural and neutral to my ears than my previous experience with ProAc’s dome tweeters. 

Being a floorstander, this ProAC also presented more bass than its bookshelf sibling, it was balanced more on the richer, rather than the lean, side of things. Here, the bass provided a sonic foundation and contributing a nice bloom of the overall sound, attesting to the owner’s skill in room acoustic treatment and system setup. This is a system that allowed long hours of fatigue-free listening.

 

System 3 Bintulu – Marantz cdp, Jadis pre and power amp, ProAc loudspeakers

Here, we have another pair of ProAc loudspeakers, the bigger K6. I always had the impression that ProAc generally matched very well with tube amplifiers and it seems to be the case here with the Jadis pre-power combo.

In this big room, the system conjured up a big, room filling sound. The K6’s delivery did not depart from the character of ProAc in general, there was a warmth to the music, the bass region was rich and also prominent, the midrange and vocal stood out with good body coupled with more richness.

The owner just moved into his new home for a few months, I think you can see from the photo that this system’s setup was still a work-in-progress, there was a lot of work being done on the acoustics, I am sure there will be more to come from this system.

 

System 4 Miri – Esoteric cdp, Accuphase pre-amp and monoblocks, B&W loudspeakers

This system is stuffed with flagship level equipment. The digital frontend was Esoteric’s top integrated SACD/CD player, the Grandioso K1X, upgraded with the matching Grandioso PS1 external power supply. We were given an A/B demo on the contribution of the external power supply. I was very surprised by the magnitude of improvements wrought from the Grandioso PS1, they were not at all subtle. With the Grandioso PS1 plugged in, the sound grew in stature, had greater resolution and came with more saturated tonal color. I couldn’t imagine going back to the lone cdp after hearing it with the power supply.

For amplification, most of us would be happy with a pair of monoblocks, or a pair of stereo power amps for biamping purpose, but here we saw 4 Accuphase monoblocks being used to biamp the B&W 800D3 loudspeakers. The Accuphase monoblocks were in turn plugged into 2 units of Accupahse PS-1250 power conditioners, situated behind the racks.

This substantial system produced a huge and deep soundstage in this cavernous room. The B&W 800D3 produced substantial sonic images with excellent body, the sound blanketed the listeners with warmth and airiness. Dynamic expression was done with great control, which was to be expected from the 4 class A monoblocks, Vocal was outstanding, I can’t really put my fingers on what the secret sauce was, I’d just say it was imbued with just enough sweetness and magnetism such that it was really attractive to listen to (the young Jackie Evancho’s voice was so beautiful). I imagine it would be difficult for one to live without that ‘secret sauce’ once one got used to it, but I believe all this was just a walk in the park for this flagship in B&Ws renowned 800 series.

This was again a very listenable and non-fatiguing system for long hours of listening.

 

System 5 Miri – Orpheus cd transport and dac, Goldmund pre and power amps, Dynaudio loudspeakers

Many people would think that the big Dynaudio C4 Platinum loudspeakers could not work in this relatively small room. That was indeed the case when I visited this system a number of years ago. The bass boom was somewhat pronounced then, such that much of the frequency spectrum further up was obscured when there was substantial bass energy in the music.

That was pretty much history now. In the intervening years, the owner experimented and did substantial acoustic treatment in the room (I saw a number of GIK bass traps). The bass problem was now solved, and it proved again the importance of appropriate and targeted room treatment.

This system had not one offensive bone in it, I am sure the legendary Esotar tweeter used in the C4s had a substantial role in this. The sound was smooth and the presentation was warm. Detail delivery was good, nuances in vocals were clearly resolved. Again, a system that would allow long hours of comfortable listening and one of the best Dynaudio based systems I have heard.

 

System 6 Miri – dCS Vivaldi digital system, AVID and Techdas turntable with multiple tonearms, cartridges and multiple phono amps, Naim Statement pre and monoblocks, Focal Utopia loudspeakers

This was one massive system. The owner was an analogue fan, so the LP frontends were especially extensive, I can’t recount all that I saw on the LP rigs as I am not that knowledgeable in that area, except being impressed by the two turntables, each with multiple tonearms and cartridges, everyone playable, all high-end.

Following on from the frontend, the amplification was equally high-end, being the Naim Statement trio (pre and 2 monoblocks). We could see only the pre in the listening room as the monoblocks were situated in another room behind, which also housed the owner’s massive digital music server system. The end of the audio chain was the imposing Focal Utopia Stella EM Evo loudspeakers.

No music could faze this extreme and extremely capable system. I liken the experience to sitting in a sedan with a 6L V12 engine, one got the sense of limitless power and yet it was power delivered with smoothness. The soundstage was wall to wall and enveloping, each sonic image within the soundstage was clearly defined and delineated. The sound was fine-grained at all volume and dynamic level.

We listened to LP almost exclusively, vocal was as sultry as it come and the airiness was pervasive from every track. The sound was silky, there was not one note that got harsh, too bright or ear piercing. I noticed that my nerve never got tense nor my attention got bored throughout the listening session. Music enjoyment, without saying, was extremely high.

Without a doubt, this system occupies one of the top spots on my list of impressive HiFi visits.

 

System 7 Miri – Audio research cdp and pre-amp, Krell power amp, Dynaudio loudspeakers

Another pair of Dynaudio floorstanders in a not-too-big room, but this setup worked too. In fact, my impression was that these Dynaudio Contour 60 loudspeakers and the room were working hand-in-glove as if they were made for each other. All in all this was a testament to the owner’s excellent setup effort.

The owner professed himself to be a fan of dynamics and impactful music. He definitely achieved his sonic objectives with his system. We listened to many dynamic soundtracks, drum tracks, and electronic music, all were handled very well, with the Krell power amp exerting a good grip on the loudspeakers, and the room acoustics not allowing the sound to misbehave.

This was another Dynaudio system that impressed me. Together with the Dynaudio C4 system, our Sarawakian friends sure have a way with Dynaudio.

 

Well, my coverage of this excellent HiFi trip is thus concluded. My gratitude to all our Sarawakian friends who so generously opened their doors and spent their precious time with us. I had the chance to listen on-site to systems I only saw in photos and heard through handphone recordings. I got to experience never-before-heard models, setups, and equipment combinations, all of which added much to my Hifi knowledge, something I could not get by playing in my own system alone. So, let’s go out to visit and listen to fellow audiophiles’ systems, and reciprocate by opening our doors to others too.

TAD-C700 Pre-amp and TAD-GE1 loudspeaker Launch Event at AV Designs

Posted by Tan

AV Designs recently held an event to introduce two latest products from TAD (Technical Audio Devices), the TAD-C700 preamp and the TAD-GE1 loudspeakers. 

The TAD-C700 is TAD's top-dog pre-amp from its no-holds barred Reference Series. Just like the TAD-C600 pre-amp that it replaces, the TAD-C700 is a two-box preamp, with a substantial outboard power supply and a main body for the control and amplification functions. The TAD-C700 list price is RM209,000.

Glossy, silky smooth finishes on the TAD-GE1

The front firing bass reflex port is located at the bottom of the loudspeaker

The TAD-GE1 loudspeakers, on the other hand, comes from TAD's Evolution Series, which has now grown to be a 5-louspeaker-model line-up. The TAD-GE1 floorstander is the top model, its enclosure design is stunning - refined and an instant classic with its impeccably finished glossy wood grain surface, photos don't do them justice. Compared to the more massive and squat stance of the Reference Series speakers, I believe the TAD-GE1 (and all the loudspeakers in the Evolution Series for that matter) would be much more friendly in the domestic setting, with its high-end-furniture like finish, slimmer profile and smaller footprint. The list price of the TAD-GE1 is RM194,500/pair. 

As I listened to a complete set-up without A/B comparison with other components, it was not possible for me to isolate the sound of each component. However, what I heard from the TAD-GE1 was cut from the same cloth, sharing the same traits with TAD's top reference the TAD-R1TX loudspeakers. The sound was transparent with a lot of well resolved details. Dynamics were excellent, music was fast and impactful when it is called for. The TAD-GE1 also conjured up a soundstage that easily filled up the very big space in the showroom. Bass was the best I heard from all the Evolution Series models, being deep and well defined.  

In fact, if I may say so, all of the loudspeakers from TAD that I ever heard (which includes the R1, CR1, GE1, E1, and the ME1) carry the same house sound and core characteristics, the differences are a matter of degree in terms of the performance envelope - you just get more as you move up the ladder and you'd never get disappointed even as you move downwards. These TAD loudspeakers would always satiate your musical appetite. 

Credit, of course, must be given to the TAD-C700 preamp and the TAD-M700s power amp, which exhibited a fine grip on the proceedings - being of the proverbial iron-fist-in-a-velvet-glove type. I can't vouch how much improvement there was moving from the prior generation to the current as I never heard them side-by-side, but someone who had heard a TAD-C600 before told me that the new preamp sounded much more open and more resolved. 

The team at AV Designs

The TAD stack will be on demo in AV Designs showroom, give them a call at 03-6241 1237 to arrange a listening session. 

Another music streamer

I will call this another music streamer which is partially true. Innous is brand came about around year 2009. Not so old brand for hi-fi. For the last decade streaming platforms have pop up all over the world like mushrooms. I am not just talking about music streaming but any kind of streaming services is like a must have this days. For hi-fi there is no escape from this as well. 

Coming back to Innous, is a brand born out from Portugal. When it first came about was not just streaming but also design to be a music server, CD ripper and local digital playback. The Zen series is the early days of Innous which made the brand to be quickly came to fame with many high end audio. As the brand gained recognition for its versatile playback and the software of Innous was greatly improved over the years which makes it one nice player to enjoy. I have been over the years searching for the holy grail of digital playback. Have tried dozens and dozens of players. I am sure most who knows me, I did a marathon of testing on digital streamers / players end of last year. Pretty much obsessed to my quest for the most perfect player available in the market. I was kind of itchy to try out the Innous which I have already own the USB reclocker known as Innous Phoenix. Came Jan this year, was in Singapore and decided to visit Adelphi mall for trying out the Innous Pulse which is pretty new line of product from Innous. Is kind of strip down version of Zen series. The pulse is pure player without internal storage or CD drive. No internal DAC as well , just with bunch of different digital output like USD, optical, AES and Coaxial. 

The internal part of Pulse is pretty simple too with the main board and power supply with separate power for the digital controller. As usual, Innous is a little fancier with the Mundorf capacitors. With its simple design which is good to have the components not to crap into a small space which is true for many hardware manucturers to save space which save cost too. Most of the internal components are design by Innous and not just any OEM or third party components. I think it speak a lot for the manufacturer. 

For the past 5 months of using the Pulse with the Phoenix is quite reasonable I will say for the outcome. Nothing to shout about but is pretty much what I have already in my own setup with my Asus Tinkerboard. The Pulse playback on the Tidal, I will say is quite a surprise to me as the quality is quite up to par to some of CD being ripped into the hard disk. The local file playback do still has its edge over streaming like it or not. I am not a fan of Tidal because of the price and interface. For the sake of trying out the Pulse, I have signed out for free trial. I have to say the quality it provided does better than native Apple Music. Is also quite unfortunate not many player is able to run native Apple Music. Can’t really make a side by side comparison. Hopefully Innous will decide to add Apple Music to its arsenal. 😁 

The Pulse was originally designed only for streaming purposes but after some good feedback from users that Innous decided to enable local playback with USB drive and NAS support. This was added on early Feb this year. This is one point that gotten me to jump into it. I am quite hopeful that it can be a good replacement player for the aging Asus Tinkerboard. By now the Asus is been with me for 7 years. The setup for the NAS and USB is as easy as using any computer at home. Nothing fancy, just plug in the USB drive and the NAS just have to add in the path for the drive. Once is recognized the files will pop up in the apps and just press to play. That is the easy part, the unfortunate part is the files being supported is pretty limited. Only wav, flac and DSD are mainly supported. Like ape, ISO files are are not recognized by the Pulse. The storage part to load up the playlist is quite slow compared to the Asus. 10,000 files took about 3 mins for Asus to load and it took the pulse almost 30 mins to complete. Just to make a comparison on the overall sound quality is pretty much the same as Asus with Volumio.  Definitely this wins over the like of Eversolo, Fiio and Lumin which I have recently tested. One thing that cannot be beaten is the mirror function of Eversolo and Fiio. That is superbly good function to have. Every player should have it. The casing of the Pulse ivery well build and what is outstanding is the power button is hidden below the player. This makes the player doesn’t emit light which can be annoying in low dim lighted room. 

Just to sum things up for me is this player does lives up to its expectations. The downside is this player is definitely not for me. It’s great as music streamer and the standard support on Roon would be nice for many. The lack of files supported is a deal breaker. What I also miss is the Volumio ability to display on TV or any display with HDMI. Is so much better than any player which has its own screen big or small. I guess this is one fail experiment for me. Hopefully Innous will continue to improve its software as its hardware already quite top notch. Not sure if the price tag of RM15k is justificable for me. For those still hunting, happy hunting. After this pretty much end of journey for me. I just pray the Asus don’t die on me after such long year of service.