Best Speakers 2011.

Speakers are most difficult to judge of all hifi equipments. Their interaction with a given room will determine the final outcome of the sound you'll hear.  They are also responding to the amplified signal from the power amp. Impedance/Sensitivity/Watt matching will also play it's role in the final sound one hears thru a pair of speakers.

For review purposes, most big speakers are just too bulky to lug around, but we really did try, with the help of some dealers. Odioslueth was in the mood for some speaker up grades and some of the candidates here were shortlisted. Did he buy any of these?

PMC IB2i with stand.

PMC IB2i.

You can say that I am somewhat biased on my choice here which is the PMC IB2i. For me, this is an aspirational choice, should one day my ship comes to dock! The IB2i has won numerous awards in other publications and I can see(no, hear) why. It has an effortless sense of sheer musicality, lead by a tight, deep diving bass with propulsive qualities. The mid range is as full bodied and "kau-kau"(Malaysian speak for describing creamy, aromatic, thick coffee or tea) as only a special 3 inch mid range dome driver equipped pair of speakers can provide. The highs are refined and smooth, but is not outstanding either. Top to bottom coherence is the order here. This PMC images stably within a wide, open sound stage, some thing that only well designed stand mounts do with ease. It's surprisingly easy on the amps too, as Odioslueth's 60W Pass XA mono block never seemed to run out of steam(except during the most demanding of orchestral crescendos!) when partnered with the IB2i speakers. Some have commented that it looks a little dull, but my advise to them when listening to these babies is "Cover the face, fire the bass!" Ha! Ha!


Dynaudio C4.


Dynaudio C4.

I've always loved the Dynaudio Confidence range, especially the C1. We had to listen to this pair of C4s in CMY's listening room, due to it's long, heavy packing crate which would've being too difficult to move up to Odiosleuth's 2nd floor man cave! The Dynaudio is supremely transparent, and has some of the most refined, yet pristine high frequency reproduction. Mids are true to source without any sugar coating. Bass goes low and articulate enough, but seems just a little shy from diving in to the deepest octaves. Some may complain that the C4 can sound somewhat hifi-sh, but I think that's the speaker's transparency at play here, it's simply reflecting the characteristics of the equipment chain up front, or perhaps the recording it self. John of CMY Audio & Visual tells me that Dynaudio C4 MKII is on it's way to Malaysian shores soon.


Marten Getz.

Marten Getz.

Marten Getz holds joint honours with the C4, Odiosleuth is very fond of these speakers as he always mentions about them during our hifi tea sessions. I can understand why. This speakers has open and highly extended highs, sweet mids, and well controlled bass. It really does nothing wrong except if telling the absolute truth is a crime! That's how highly transparent it is. I still can't forget how seductive Stacy Kent sounds thru the Getz. The Marten Getz offers an open window to your music collection. Did Odiosleuth made them his permanent reference? Stay tuned to find out.

PMC Twenty.21.

PMC Twenty.21

The latest PMC Twenty.21 are my current favorite small/budget speakers. They are highly transparent, and come with the famous BBC LS3/5A kinda sonic cues, if only in broad brush. Again, female vocals are their forte' providing some of the sweetest voices for the below RM$10k budget range. They are easy to position in the room and offers wider than expect bandwidth, dynamic range and volume loudness from such a small foot print. At one point during the world wide press demo, this diminutive pair of 21 silenced a crowd of 30 or so mingling seasoned audiophiles, and captivated them to listen thru a few songs until the demo stopped. It was as if time stood still for the crowd and only the music mattered, even if only for just a while. The music wasn't loud at all, but just enough to fill and immerse that rather large demo area with pure music. If that's not phenomenal, then I don't know what is?

There are other speakers out there for sure, some of which are better, if not more suitable in your own room and preferences than others. I hereby list them here, in no particular rank or order,  that I've heard else where, but not formally reviewed or previewed.

1) Triangle Magellan
2) Wilson Audio Maxx 3
3) Sonus Faber Cremona Auditor
4) PMC Fact 3
5) Magnaplanar Mini
6) XTZ 99.36
7) YG Carmel
8) Franck Tchang's Super Tango
9) Linn Majik Isobarik
10) TAD CR-1

We rate the Best Power Line Gear 2011 next!

Best Amplifiers 2011.

In 2010 we dabbled in more than a few power amps, but the situation is outta control in 2011 as our pre amp lust took over and ran amok!

We found the latest batch of luxury audio equipment level of pre amps to be the most neutral, transparent and offer the lowest noise floor of their kind yet. Even the best pre amps made just a few years ago, will sound some what tonally rose tinted and lacked the full transparency factor that allows the lowest of harmonic and timbrel details to be fleshed out, compared to those listed here.

All that I've mentioned of course, excludes the tube based VTL 5.5 Series II Signature. This pre amp remains special to me because of it's non-conformist, i.e. more colourful sonic character. Some like it, others do not, as we have found, and will likely to split opinions.

Sorry guys, we got some what carried away and neglected to find any bargains here this time.

TAD C-2000 pre amp is our current reference!

TAD C-2000 pre amp.

We were completely stunned by how far, this pre amp moved the hifi and musical performance goal post ahead compared to the rest of the pack! It virtually disappeared from the equipment chain, with no sonic character what so ever for us to latch on. A total musical chameleon, it just reflects each and every recording as a whole, without any of the filtering effects in transmission properties when adding another equipment to the chain. Everything in a given recording, even the most subtle of details missed by others, is effortlessly portrayed by this TAD, giving every note it's due time and space to fully develop, lingers on just that bit longer, slowly evaporating in to a fine mist of "air", before the next note starts! The C-2000 is also the most natural sounding pre amp, most free from electronic artifacts that I've yet heard, period! I can't wait to hear how much more it's bigger brother the TAD C-600 has to offer?

Jeff Rowland Corus is one interesting pre amp, but one of my favorite.

Jeff Rowland Corus.

The JRDG Corus is the budget version of the Criterion flagship. The only areas where corners seemed to have been cut is the simplified switching power supply, compared to the more elaborate battery/charger based unit that comes with the Criterion. The sound quality however, does not reflect the cost cutting! It's easily the best performing pre amp that came calling to my system over the years. The sound is exciting, yet at the same time exacting. It's totally neutral when it comes to tonality and one of the most transparent pre amp available now. Perhaps there's a positive sonic synergy matching my Pass Aleph 0 power amps, while in some systems the Corus can sound a bit on the analytical side, which may lead some, if most to prefer the next candidate on the list!

Many will like the Ayre KX-R for it's highly musical and natural presentation.

Ayre KX-R.

Holding joint honours with the JRDG Corus is the Ayre KX-R flagship pre amp. In the context of my already slightly warm sounding system, the Ayre came across as just slightly less muscular. However, I know many who may prefer the more forgiving qualities of this pre amp over the earlier two candidates. Supremely musical and dead silent, jet black back ground lets images stand out in a rather laid back sound stage. The KX-R is just as transparent as the JRDG and never have these two pre amps split more opinions than before, despite their near equal sound quality assessment!

VTL 5.5 Series II Signature can be ordered with a phono stage card, which occupies nearly half the internal space!

VTL 5.5 Series II Signature.

This is the only tube based pre amp design we've tried and it stood out for daring to be different, even if it sounds a little o'skool. Unlike the latest ARC tube pre amp designs which aim to close the gap with solid state likeness in it's sonic character, the VTL should be congratulated for standing it's ground sound wise, just being on the tube side of things. It's warm, inviting tonal colours are as easy on the ears as wearing a pair of well worn jeans. Still highly transparent enough to allow music listening sessions to be enjoyable, while only a slight softening of dynamics and transient was detected, compared against the rest in this group. Full bodied imaging realism and ambiance cues are a plenty, as any proud tube design should be. Viva la difference!

Not that we've played with much power amps this year(as a matter of fact, I didn't), however I feel the following amplifiers are worthy of ones consideration should one decide to do some power shopping. Listed in no particular rank or order.

1) Pass Labs XP-20 pre amp
2) Parasound JC-1 mono block
3) FM Acoustics FM108 mono block
4) TAD M2500 power amp
5) XTZ A100 integrated amp

Next, Best Speakers 2011.

Experience XTZ At Living Audio!

Living Audio, home to XTZ.

A new hifi retailer, Living Audio has quietly opened it's doors in Lot 1-017A, 1st, Floor, Endah Parade, 1, Jalan 1/147E, Bandar Baru Sri Petaling, 57000 Kuala Lumpur. This new player introduces a new, high performance hifi brand from Sweden called XTZ. The Hifi-Unlimited team went to survey the new components and came to the conclusion that XTZ offers tremendous value for money vs hifi performance proposition. 

The main demo rig, with a full cast of XTZ components. Note the subtle room tuning devices in the back ground and floor. 


We listened to the main demo rig, with a full cast of XTZ components, starting with a CD100 CD player, an A100 D3 integrated amp, and a pair of 99.36 floor stand speakers, all linked together via Furutech cables, set up by the enthusiastic, young entrepreneur named Ean Soong. The demo area has being extensively treated with lots of vibrational control and resonance tuning devices.

The system produced an exceptionally open, transparent sound most familiar with Bladelius(a truly high end Swedish marque). Tonal balance was strictly neutral, but on some recordings, it could sound just a tad "cool", tough not exactly clinical either. Highs were extended and refined, as expect from a ribbon tweeter equipped speaker design. Mids are natural and highly focused with just a hint of sibilance if the recording shows. Bass is tight, deep and tuneful for a speaker of smallish size.

The system maintained great pacing and dynamics on orchestral recordings, with lots of ambient cues. It's a great system at any price, but guess what? This string of XTZ components cost only RM$16k or so!!! It's a sonic bargain, which ever way one looks at it. Do audition them, even if you are prepared to spend twice the money on a new hifi system!

The XTZ CD100 CD player(top shelf) and A100 D3 integrated amp(lower shelf), which can be switched to run on class A mode, out putting 50W per chanel.



XTZ 99.36 speaker in piano black finish, which makes it a nightmare to photograph! This speaker is very tune able to suit any room and component matching. It's got jumpers in the rear panel on the speaker cable binding post to tune for high/mid/low frequency output select able. I was also surprised that it used SEAS mid range and bass drivers for such an affordable product!!!


For those who are on a tight budget, but still wanna enjoy the joys of hifi dom, Ean caters by stocking a list pre-owned audio components. Living Audio also deals with cables and accessories from Furutech and Telos. For those seeking high performance value in high end audio, this is THE place to be!

A proud Ean, at your service! Do call him before you make your way to Endah Parade as he is a one man show to keep operating cost low, which allows him to pass some savings to you, the customer. He tells me that this is another XTZ brand requirement, which is to keep the lowest retail cost possible for customer's added value in sound quality!


For demo appointments, please call Ean Soong at 019-5710383.

XTZ at Living Audio

A new brand has come to our shores and you can see them in a new showroom.

The brand is XTZ from Sweden, and the showroom is Living Audio.

XTZ says it is "The World's Most Affordable High-End". It has an extensive range of products, including room analyzer, DSP/multimedia, digital frontends, amplifiers, loudspeakers, subwoofers, and cables. Everything you need to set up a complete system. Website: http://www.xtz.se/uk

In Kuala Lumpur, you can check out XTZ at Living Audio's showroom, which just opened for business a few weeks ago in Endah Parade.

We look forward to bringing you more on XTZ and Living Audio in the coming months.

Contact Ean Soong, Living Audio, 019-5710383.