The Jazzy Sounds Of Teresa Teng, Winnie Ho.

Winnie Ho at her finest hour yet!

We all know that Teresa Teng classics have been covered, re-made and re-sung to death, but never like this Pop Pop Music effort! Most Teresa Teng wannabes have been toeing strictly to the text book classic Chinese pop style. I think even most ardent of Teresa fans could never quite recognise most of the songs on this album initially. It's like as if Pop Pop Music had taken the basic lyrics and went far, far away with the music!

With the help of Maestro Tay Cher Siang, The Jazzy Sounds Of Teresa Teng has being turned in to bold marriage between Chinese pop music with twist of jazz genre. It all starts with Winnie singing prelude on track 1, followed by a very sorrow full version of Forget Him(a Teresa Cantonese classic). The use of a saxophone to open the track was brilliant, followed by Winnie's heart felt rendition, like as if she's lived thru the experience of love lost. My next favorite track is tittled The Girl From South Sea(sometimes also called The Girl From Nan Hai). The original tune had a longing to return to home town theme, but this Tay Cher Siang arranged version had turn the longing to happy, fond memories of a home town in full bossa carnival parade! Maestro Tay even had time to sneak in a bit of The Girl from Ipanema to re-enforce the up beat mood of the track. Brilliant stuff so far!

Now we come to track 7, called Rain Of Tears, which I think sets the record for being Pop Pop Music's hardest rocking tune so far(however, it's still considered slow rock by any other standards)! Winnie flashes shades of Anne/Nancy Wilson(think All I Wanna Do) from the 80's sister rock group Heart, here. I love the edginess and rawness of this track! Track 8 tittled I Only Care For You was one of Teresa's signature sugary sweet love ballads and Pop Pop Music had the smarts to leave a good thing alone when they see it, except for just a subtle dash of immediacy of a smoky, jazz bar performance feel here. My final favorite song is track 11, A Thousand Words, which is presented in Pop Pop Music signature strip down simplicity at it's best. This popular classic has been stripped of all it's frills except for Roger Wang's very softly yet effective guitar work backing Winnie's pristine and vulnerable voice. The balance is just right, the guitar sounds though gentle and caressing, never over whelms Winnie's sensible portrayal of the song.

It all comes to grand finale closing with Songbird, an original composition as a tribute to honour of the late Teresa Teng by Tay Cher Siang, backed by a tastefully applied warmly recorded violin recital of The Moon Speaks For My Heart(another golden tune from the chinese pop diva) , backed by basic rock beat. This track sounds so fresh yet at the same time is like getting to know an ol' friend all over again. There are a total of 12 tracks on this CD. The recording is of the usual Pop Pop Music high standards, but with the latest mastering techniques of Keith Yip, have made this CD very hifi system friendly, for audiophiles of all levels to enjoy, regardless of system status.

I feel Winnie's vocal prowess have come of age now and she's indeed at the peak of her caliber. She has always been a good vocal technician but can leave me a little cold in past, as in some her earlier 2V1G performances. I've never felt left in the cold anywhere during my listening of The Jazzy Sounds Of Teresa Teng, and therefore I give my unreserved salutation of artistic acclaim and hopefully, followed by commercial success. I know Winnie has worked hard to get to this level and deserves our support. It's a Teresa Teng that all Malaysians can be proud to share, and export to the rest of world.

By the way, please remember that you can't get this CD anywhere else for now, except at all the CD Rama outlets within Popular Book Store!

IsoTek Ultimate System Setup Disc.

IsoTek Ultimate System Setup Disc is an easy to use and most helpful when setting up speaker position in a given room.

Oh no! Not another set up and test disc????  Was my initial reaction when I was given to have a play with this CD.  Still, I was curious to find if I could learn something new out of this CD. After having played with the Leo Fung produced The Throne system set up disc sometime ago, which was rather comprehensive,  I found this IsoTek CD more approachable in it's lingo, and offers less daunting steps for a beginner, and benefits perhaps even the most seasoned audiophile. Of course, it helped too, that the instruction is in plain, layman's English for a Malaysian banana like me!

It contains the usual test tone tracks and signal generator for checking phase, speaker L/R balance amongst the standard test and set up disc must haves. What I found most useful, is the speaker positioning guide, with it's instruction diction-ed in a clear and easy to understand manner.

Once you've set up your system properly, there are six music tracks, licensed from Opus to allow you to hear the fruits of your hard labour of the newly repositioned speakers. I found that it helped me to easily find the sweet spot for the least room to speaker interaction, when I was setting up a pair of YG Acoustics Carmel(review coming soon!) in my man cave.

Go on, do give this IsoTek Ultimate Setup disc a try! And by the way, don't use the China pirated versions of this CD, as one of my buddies found out, and complained about it's over boosted test tones, causing his speaker positioning exercise a futile proposition, except if any good done, gave him a few hours of decent work out!

IsoTek is sold by Centre Circle Audio, contact Nelson or Sky at 03-77282686.

3's The Charm? Rega RP 3 Turn Table, Elys 2 Cartridge & Fono Phono Stage Combo.

The aren't many hifi products as long lived as the Linn Sondek LP12 turn table and perhaps the various evolutions of Rega Planar 3 series?   I remembered clearly that I've always lusted for a Rega P 3 turn table during  my student days, so when I actually chanced upon a P 25 Anniversary Edition with an RB700 arm, a few years back, my school boy's dream finally came through, somewhat 20 years belated! Well, as they say better late then never.

My hifi dreams are insatiable, and I've since moved on, but Rega hasn't stood still either. They have continuously refined the Rega P 3 concept and take the basic design further as we past the a decade on in to the new millennium. The RP 3 is the latest evolution of the concept. I never got a chance to try out the previous version of the Rega P 3-24 series. So my basis for comparison would strictly be based on my experience with the recent RP 1 and my fond old memories of the P 25.

The new Rega RP 3 shown here in cool gray.

The Rega RP 3 looks little different from their previous incarnations at first glance, but spy harder and you'd find a new one piece construction Rega RB 303 tone arm, the new phenolic resin laminated plinth as per the RP 1, and a pair of spindle to tone arm mounting metal braces(called Double Brace Technology), clamping both points on the top and bottom of the plinth. I believe this pair of metal braces, for increased rigidity of the plinth, which allows the tone arm to track record surfaces on the platter more efficiently and quietly. The review sample is a cool gray coloured plinth unit, which makes photograph taking rather un-exciting.

However, setting up is pretty simple. For the sake of simplicity, to quicken plug and play effect, I requested the Asia Sound Equipment guys to supply me a unit pre-fitted with a Rega Elys 2 MM cartridge, accompanied by the Fono MM phono stage. This review conclusion is formed out of this trio of Rega combo, for the beginner just starting his/her journey in to the dark side!

I un-boxed the turn table on my hifi rack, loop the drive belt over the motor stub and sub platter, then top the glass platter and felt mat over. I check the tracking force of the Elys 2 cartridge and confirm that it's tracking at 1.75 grams. Since the Rega tone arm and cartridge uses a 3 point fixing system on it's head shell, no further cartridge geometry adjustment is required. Only setting the magnetic anti skating of the tone arm is required. I then proceeded to wire up the RCA connections and power cords and the Rega was spinning music 25 minutes after un-boxing.

Note the thin metal(DB Tech) brace running running from center of bearing to the tone arm mounting bracket. There are 3 rubber feet below the plinth as before. 

I was shocked by the total silence and a general lack of surface noise, which is very un-Rega like, from the moment the stylus dropped! This level of noise free turn table performance is just un-heard of at this price point just a few years ago, until the Clearaudio Concept came along that is! The totally silent back ground seemed to have wiped away most of that grayish back drop that was a Rega turn table signature, purifying the overall tonal balance of the RP 3. As a result, the highs seemed more extended and clean, while the mid range rendered more open yet still retaining that signature British mid range magic. The bass was clear, articulated and seem to extend lower than before, and driving the musical foundations with more authority. With the grayish back ground muck reduced to a trace, I hear more bandwidth and wider dynamic range. Overall instrument separation within the sound stage was more distinct too. Many used to accuse the older Rega P 3s to run just a little faster than 33 1/3 rpm, as if the turn table is in a hurry to finish the music. That hurried feeling is no more, as today's 24V motors are more tightly regulated than before. In other words, I did not audibly detect any wow and flutter or pitching issues with the RP 3.

Of all the sonic changes described above, one thing remained constant, Rega's signature rhythm and pace in keeping music's sense of timing is never off. I found the RP 3's tune easy to follow and gets my feet tapping infectiously. The RP 3, Elys 2 and Fono combo never let my musical play list down, as it plays every piece of vinyl, what ever the music genre to it's best ability.

At this entry/mid level pricing, some thing's gotta give, like if I could make a few more wishes. I'd wish for better detail retrieval, a smoother and more refined mid range, and increased dynamic contrast. But fret not, the Rega RP 3 is pretty up grade able, as I had once experience with my own P 25. When one craves for more audiophile attributes, just up grade the cartridge to any mid price MC offering from Benz Micro(the Glider works very well in my experience), Clearaudio, Dynavector or ZYX, and your vinyl enjoyment will be further heighten by no small margins! Couple that to the plenty of after market tweaks available for the Rega, your upgrade quest may never really come to an end, and the Rega RP 3 may end up as a prospect for potential life time ownership. Believe me, if any hifi equipment is going to last a life time, with some gentle TLC, this Rega is it, going by the thousands sold in the last 30 odd years or so and still in healthy service.

The Rega Fono MM is offers very quiet performance and is an excellent match to the Elys 2 cartridge. There is only a pair of RCA input and output behind. A red LED indicator power ON/OFF switch in the front panel. No loading or gain adjustments of any kind are offered.

The following are the retail price of the above review combo in Malaysian Ringgit:

1) Rega RP 3 turn table $2,500.00
2) Rega Fono MM phono stage $895.00
3) Rega Elys 2 MM cartridge $626.00

When Rega launched the RP 1 turn table, they proclaimed it's performance so good, even the more expensive, but older P 2 model was superseded. What I heard with the RP 3, I thought it's performance so good, it probably rendered the P 5 model obsolete(based on my fond memories with the P 25, predecessor of the P 5). My hunch was correct as I checked the Rega website today, the P 5 model is no more, seemingly replaced by a new, higher spec P 6 model!

The Rega RP 3 offers a toast to hifi equipment, whom one never needs to break the piggy bank to buy!

Rega is sold by Asia Sound Equipment, contact Eddie Tan at 03-79552091.

Marten Design D'jango Arrives at Audiomatic.

The much anticipated Marten Design D'jango speakers have arrived Malaysian shores, and is now on demo in Audiomatic at Amcorp Mall.

The sound is as sumptuous, smooth and transparent as Martens can be, but this time with only more liquid and voluminous bass response. According to Eugene at Audiomatic, he thinks this Marten D'jango model will be highly successful in the local market place because it matches the sonic preferences of Malaysian high end audiophiles perfectly!

I think you should check it out and see if you'll agree with his statement?

By the way, while you're in Audiomatic, do check out the Entreq range of cables too!

Call Eugene at 012-3222698 for demo appointment or for further info.

Hi-Way Laser Renovation Sale!

To make space for renovation at their SS2, PJ showroom, Hi-Way Laser is offering the sale of all ex-demo items with up to 50% discount. They include a range of branded AV receivers from Onkyo, Pioneer and Marantz. AV surround speaker packages from KEF and MK are also on offer.

Some ex-demo stereo items are also on sale. There are too many items to list in detail. Anyone shopping for hifi and AV bargains now should visit Hi-Way Laser's website at linked on the left panel on this blog page, or contact Kenny at 019-2813399 for more infomation.