Intro from Jaylat and Letter from So Cal

Thanks very much to doctorjohn for inviting me to write on this blog! I feel a great affinity to this blog, as in addition to sharing an interest in audio, my Chinese wife and I also lived for many years in NYC and Hong Kong. And of course we love Chinese food!

My music preferences are rather specific: Baroque Classical (Telemann, CPE Bach, Boccherini, etc.), and East Coast Bebop Jazz (Miles, Monk, etc.). Both genres combine musical improvisation with melodic creativity. I love hard rock and techno as well, but will usually only listen to them on earphones in deference to wife and neighbors. 

 

Despite having been into audio for decades, I’m a relatively recent convert to “high end” audio, having had only a “mid-fi” system for most of my listening career. My best components previously were the great Kirksaeter Monitor 100 speakers, which finally gave up the ghost after many years of listening. This provided an excuse to put together two systems in the last few years:

 

Office System: 

My journey started with the wonderful Harbeth P3ESR speakers. I was very pleased to see doctorjohn has recently gotten these, as they are to my ears some of the best speakers for near field listening available. They have a wonderful way with the human voice, with a rich sound that compliments most music, especially small jazz and classical ensembles. When working I might listen to this system 8+ hours a day. 

 

Sources include the Chromecast Audio, an Apple iMac, and recently a Rega Apollo CD player was added to the mix. The DAC is the great Sparkler Audio S504 “Unison” which I bought after reading doctorjohn’s glowing recommendations. All are driven by the very underappreciated Belles Aria Integrated, a solid-state amp which puts out 70 watts per channel. 

 

Living Room (Main System)

Have fallen in love with the P3ESRs, I was curious to try Harbeth’s larger 30.1 monitors. Continuing the journey down the slippery slope of high-end audio, these speakers needed a good amp. In an uncharacteristic splurge, I acquired the Luxman MQ-88 and CL-38 amp and preamp, two great tube components that look as good as they sound. Here the DAC is a much more hi-tech model, the RME ADI-2 from Germany. Music comes from a Bluesound Node 2i. (The Luxmans are temporarily swapped to my office system, as they provide an extra bit of heat in the winter)

 

I’ll go into more detail on the choices and how each system sounds in future updates, especially the two DACs. Suffice it to say I’m extremely pleased with both systems, which each have their unique virtues. Visual aesthetics are important too, as they both blend in with our modest collection of antique Chinese furniture. 

 

My Chinese wife and I are foodies, having developed very high standards after living in NYC, Beijing and Hong Kong for most of our lives. We now reside in Southern California, unfortunately too far away from LA to take advantage of the great scene there. Luckily, my wife is a great cook. Here’s a recent dinner of shrimp with garlic and hot peppers, with a colorful stir fry of asparagus and sweet peppers. 

My favorite CD (this week) is 52^ndStreet by Ron Affif, who I frankly never heard of before. A great, full speed ahead jazz guitarist, with an amazing rhythm section. Very fun!