In Search of Preamp Elekit TU-875

Click pics to enlarge. Lilliputian Conglomerate!

Letter from Hong Kong (22-12): ELO In Search of Preamp, Part I
Nagra PLP, Shindo Claret, Lab12 Pre One or Elekit TU-875?

Another fun filled journey in search of a preamp that is perfect match for my Aiyima A08-Pro, read on~

My quest for improving my overall system built around my lately acquired Aiyima A08-Pro is ongoing. I have done many little tweaks and I have always been immensely satisfied with the quickness and slam of this little machine, while my take on its shortcomings (sees previous post) still holds.

The Itch
I know I really would like to inject some finesse into the system without sacrificing the FUN and occasional rawness (also a fun part as well). My search never ceases, damn, as I realise that I have just started another holy grail chase for Audio Nirvana again. Much like the character of Tom Cruise in Edge of Tomorrow; with eternal reincarnation of the same scene, he gets to improve the situation bit by bit (like dying a little later or in a better way compared to the last episode 😂). Isn't it the same situation we hifi lovers are experiencing??

Aiyima A-08 Pro is like when you have just finished a 3 hour soccer game under 35-degree sun, and you grab a 1L Coke and poured it directly down your throat - the explosiveness of CO2 and resulting quench of thirst feels immensely satisfying. On the other hand, hifi'ers are insatiable beasts; we do enjoy sniffing and sipping a nice glass of Chambolle Musigny and appreciating the finesse and fragrance of the wine with our palates and noses. Chinese Saying goes, "Fish and Bear's paw, one can't have both". But us hifi'ers are defying this and want the best of both, hence the never-ending self-inflicted pain! We always say the journey is more fun than the results anyway...

Before you bid adieu (with four vowels, this word has been my staple word for Wordle), and without further ado, let me get to it.

Mental Games

I did start looking at tube preamps and set a "generous" budget of up to $3000 USD. My mind had been set on either Shindo or Nagra PLP or PLL. But the prices on second-hand markets are still far from my reach. Then I looked at Lab12 preamp from Greece (from reviews, it seems to focus more on music, naturalness rather than hifi terms) and got interested in a second-hand unit that was selling here for less than a grand USD. Spoke to Icefox; he seemed to be impartial to either Nagra or Lab12, as both seemed too pale for his taste. Lately, I was able to audition it and my impression is rather more favorable. A Lab12 pre/power combo through a pair of Neat IOTA Alpha speakers did yield some very satisfying sound at the showroom!

Why I chose Nagra as my target? Visiting Tokyo many years ago (15+?), I was wandering around Akihabara and chanced upon an upstairs hifi shop where they were playing music through the Nagra PLP with a pair of Ensemble Reference. The result was, as all would have guessed, totally intoxicating, and I remember it to this day. But over the years, I did not pursue this due to its high asking price - back then 7000 USD was a lot of money!

Fast forward to lately, when my friend was building a system from scratch. He was extremely interested in the McIntosh MA8900 Int Amp and, as a McIintosh SS amp user before, I told him there are also other routes. Nagra came to my mind and I told him to audition Nagra's latest Classic Int Amp to set a benchmark to himself first. He went to audition it and, naturally, was immensely impressed and poisoned by the sound. But the asking price was so high; at almost $19000 USD, it was far too much for his budget. By chance, scrolling through Review 33 secondhand forum he found this exact same amp on sale for $12000, still a handful of cash at stake. But he managed to haggle it down to less than $10000 USD. I told him if you can spend this kind of money, make sure you get the best out of it! So he took the plunge and become a happy man since. He snatched an Aurender A200 streamer/DAC and was all ready to rock and roll. Meanwhile, deep down, I have the feeling that my Wattson Emerson Analog may sound a bit more analog. He also bought a pair of Tellurium Black Ultra speaker cable which I think is too hifi sounding, so I handed him a pair Luna Orange cables, loaner from Raymond, the generous distributor (I dare not use it, I am very content with my Gris from Luna and it is way cheaper anyway). Poisoning someone else is what I can do best to get a taste of Orange's sound! His immediate impression fresh out of the box is positive and I will let him burn it in a bit longer to see how it fares with the TellQ~

I was getting sidetracked a bit...OK, while I was surfing secondhand forums all over the world, there's a Shindo Claret 343, which DJ also speaks highly of, on sale in Italy, but unfortunately the seller would not ship outside of Italy... The other seller is from Poland but is asking 30% more even though he's willing to ship to HK... Looking at 2nd hand prices of Nagra PLP/PLL and their asking prices are still well over $50K USD, I have given out any hopes for it.

A Darkhorse
I was not in a hurry though and was taking my time anyway. One day, I was chatting with Doctorjohn about my plan. We talked about the Nagra PLP which he bought many years ago (still in NY), and then he also suggested a Darkhorse which he had owned all along, the Elekit TU-875. Even back many years, I had been reading his posts, and he talked a lot about Elekit. At one point, I was almost sold on a TU-8500 preamp to pair with my 47 Lab Gaincard, but the obstacle of building the kit using a soldering gun set me back and the idea was abandoned.

As DJ said the TU-875 is a very good preamp which punches way above its price tag, it aroused my interest, especially as it is extremely reasonable priced. With this addition, and if I can keep the costs down to $500 USD, it might be a great buy and one step closer to Audio Nirvana (always have that belief, as with every Hifi lover).

TU-875 had long been discontinued, so how am I going to get a unit? DJ told me it's difficult to find a used one in HK or the US and mentioned Japanese sources. Well, since yen is cheap nowadays and I remembered I had signed up with FromJapan.com (a firm that helps people secure Japanese goods, for a commission) a while back. I was previously inactive but, when I logged onto the site and did a quick search, I immediately found out there was a Yahoo auction closing in 4 hours on a TU-875 unit. Immediately I placed a bid at 16000 yen, which is about $120USD. Then I waited until the closing hour and the price since then been propped up and I put up a few more bids (with only slight adrenaline rise as I was pretty cool actually) and finally won the bid at 30000 yen! With fees from the site, it works out to be around $250 USD, plus another $60 USD shipping. The unit arrived at my home in less than 2 weeks without hiccups!! So, if you want to look for a unit, go search Japanese sites and you can find one easily!

Power Troubles
The Wall Wart is marked 100V 7V/2A, kind of awkward voltage as in general. 5V and 12V AC Adaptors are abundant, but not 7V. I went to Apliu Street to look for a meter and perhaps a 7V AC adaptor or perhaps a step-down transformer. DJ also said even if the AC Adaptor specifies 100V, it should be an SMPS and therefore has variable input voltages (and perhaps Japan regulation restricts it to stamp on 100V only). So, by measuring the DCV a meter will definitely tell you whether it's a variable voltage or not. DJ also recommended me to buy an SMPS DC Power Supply, which may be my next step.

I was thinking of buying the meter and testing the stock adaptor on the spot. However, I was pidgeon eyed by the guy at the shop, hinting that I was too cheap and should have bought both the cheapo step-down transformer (which is my reason for hesitation) and meter together, and would not let me test my stock adaptor at the shop. After similar experience from another shop, albeit in a more polite way, I told myself I had enough and remembered Dr. Lo had offered to loan his step-down transformer to me. I called him immediately and borrowed a 300W step down transformer. I hooked it up finally with Gotham GAC4 and Gotham's power cord. I let it warm up a bit more before I listened to it critically.

..... To be continued (as in Srajan style)

Editor: As this is just Part I, and not yet the main course, I'd not like to say too much. I do want to say here what I did not say in my mammoth review of TU-8500 (here), which is that I still prefer the sound of TU-875. The reason of not saying that was that the TU-8500 was competent and has the additional virtue of possible use as an excellent buffer. Besides, the TU-875 has long been discontinued and is very difficult to find outside Japan, so no point in getting people's hopes up. HK readers are lucky that they have agents for buying Japanese goods. The TU-875 is a veritable legend by now. As I have both the TU-875 and Nagra PLP in NYC, I can say the former is not shamed at all; many would prefer its organic and mellifluous sound! I'm sure I'd comment more when the Main Course arrives!

The Spica Overview TC50 SC50 Angelus SC30 TC60

Click pics to enlarge. Top, TC-60 energizes Ray as he works.

Overview: Spica by R Salamat

For details of my equipment, including those in the background of the 2 photos below, see here.

The first time I heard Spica TC-50s, there had already been a bevy of first serious speaker contestants for me. I remember listening to some Boston Acoustics, A40 and A70, also some T830’s, Polk Audio RTA-something bookshelf, Infinity Kappa 9’s, MB Quarts, etc. These were the marques that were in vogue during my entry point to specialist hi-fi. I had no benchmarks as to what constitute good hi-fi then. Exposure to classic speakers like Dahlquist DQ-10s, Quad ESLs, or Apogees were still just glints in the eye and would not be happening for a few more years. What I did have in my ear-brain connection was a remembrance of sound past. A sound that stimulated my brain and sent it to a whole new vista of experience. A connection to the music that goes beyond extended frequencies or transparency and detail in sound. Jazz did not sound like the players were in the room, of course, but it did enable me to lock in the groove and feel what the musicians were serving.

When I was auditioning speakers, this was the sound I was looking for which I did not know I was looking for. I only know that I was not finding it in a large number of speakers I had been auditioning. It’s a bit like Edison looking for the proper filament for his incandescent bulb with no preconceived notions, or so the lore goes. When he finds it, he will know. I perused the Yellow Pages to look for audio stores within a 50-mile radius, so that I could return and have dinner with my new wife like nothing unusual happened during the day, I’m sure you audio nerds can relate! I was losing hope in finding something within my budget that can fit in my medium-sized apartment. Do I wait until I come to some B&W 801-money before I can call myself a certified audiophile (a logical enough term to call hobbyists like us but the baggage of how it’s used makes me shudder at the thought sometimes)?

I found this audio store not very far from where I lived. Jerry the salesperson looked me over, figured I was not there for Magnepan Tympani’s and sat me down in front of two wedge-shaped speakers on solid steel stands, fired up an integrated amp on consignment, which I would later find out was an Accuphase, put on Green Flower Street from The Nightfly CD, and I. Was. Sold. I’ve heard better frequency extension from the other speakers I’ve auditioned, but something struck me about the TC-50s - it’s that undefinable oneness of sound that I was looking for. The sensation that, even though their dynamics are limited, that actual humans are playing or singing the same time you are hearing the music. There are less layers of disbelief. I have found the “girl of my dreams”!

After living with them for three decades now, I believe it is that (phase) coherence that shines through more than any other quality from these speakers. One thing Mr. Jerry Audio Sales Guy told me back then still holds true for me now: “The TC-50s (with Quicksilver 8417 Mono’s) are all I will ever need.” Even after owning much dearer components, even after discovering triodes, horns, full-range drivers, I still kinda feel the same way.

R, TC-50.

I became obsessed with the TC-50s and learned everything about them – how John Bau designed them not by ear, but with precision quality measuring tools with a clear-eyed approach to the time-alignment between the woofer and the tweeter, making them virtual point-sources. I read all the rave reviews, positive show impressions, but also the legitimate complaints about them (rolled-off highs, limited bass). I have also come to realize that the quality I like from the TC-50s, the immediacy of sound via that coherence of images in the listening space, however, is not by a long shot exclusive to them. Subsequent exposure to other systems, new designs and classics have also given me glimpses of greatness, regardless of price, and regardless of design ethos. As a typical audio nerd, I pushed headlong to other speakers that might offer me more of the same, or I should say, better of the same. I had no intentional direction or biases. To that end, I got to own Quads, LS3/5As, Spendors. I explored other “time-aligned” speakers, such as Vandersteens (still own 1B’s – a bargain in the used market), Thiels, Dunlavy’s, Reference 3A’s, Sequerra Met 7’s. I experienced WE755’s (wonderful). The strange thing about it is, they all have that oneness of sound, but the characters are all different. The Reference 3A De Capo I, in particular, is persnickety in its choice of amp. Pick the wrong amp, and you can deem them “peaky”-sounding and/or soulless. 300Bs and gainclones sound wonderful with them. The Sequerra Met 7’s, for a smaller speaker (tiny, in fact), are even more dynamic and overtly detailed than the TC-50. They are also very believable and live-sounding, and it’s my belief that the cone tweeter that Dick Sequerra (RIP) preferred gives them the dynamics and “push” that is unusual for speakers that small. The midrange, if not as glorious as the TC-50, does present you with a different strength based on superior microdynamics.

Now contrast this to the LS3/5A and its derivatives, such as Spendor S3/5 and Harbeth P3. To my ears, their sound is very seductive to listen to. I would not blame listeners waxing rhapsodic over their qualities either (I do still own LS3/5A’s, in fact.). You could just own one of these, drive them with a copacetic 6L6-based amp, a classic British integrated, a big-ish Class AB, or even the Aiyima T9, and you are set. However, I do miss that from-the-core-of-the-music delivery that the TC-50 gives me.

L, the mighty Angelus.

Let me touch briefly on the other Spica models. In his speaker-designing life, John Bau, the erudite Spica designer, only came out with five models. The first model, SC-50, actually started out as studio monitors that he made for himself, being unsatisfied with what was available at the time. The SC-50 (I have an earlier variant) does sound like monitors in the best way possible. No exaggerations or aberrations in the frequency spectrum, very flat like how a monitor should sound in the studio. They are surprisingly detailed, and even if not “time-coherent”, the crossover is seamless. The second model was, of course, the TC-50. The third model was the Angelus. The Angelus deserves an article of its own. I have always said that it is a genius design done with frugality. If constructed today with more advanced manufacturing, finishing, and speaker drivers, it would give a lot of current market models a run for their money. Just to put it succinctly, it has a different sound than the TC-50, not only in terms of better extension, but in the sense that it gives the listener this whole “curtain of sound”, almost electrostatic-like in speed but with more palpable images.

The fourth Spica design was the SC-30, a budget model. John Bau used very inexpensive drivers, even a cone tweeter for the SC-30. They still have the Spica hallmarks, have even lower bass than the TC-50, but full-sounding and not as tight. They are more efficient and could be driven by low-wattage amplifiers. In my mind, they are the most Snell-like of all his designs, in sound and in appearance. My only reservation about this model is that the cone tweeter has a definite sound signature to it, which I remedied by applying some natural varnish on the cone. I tried the SC-30’s with a friend’s 845-based SET, and that amp’s distortion profile ameliorated the SC-30’s quirks and turned them into a big-sounding, complete-immersion speakers. Not bad for a budget model, eh? The fifth, and last model, just right after Parasound bought the Spica brand from Bau, was the TC-60. John quit almost right after designing the TC-60, disillusioned by the Home Theater Damocles sword hanging over his head. Well, we all know what happened to Home Theater, right? John retired and no amount of convincing from people missing his designs could bring him back to designing.

The TC-60, in essence, is an obviously more mature design, a culmination of everything he had learned by that point, especially from the TC-50 and the Angelus designs, as you can see influences of both on the TC-60. If you are a fan of the directness of the TC-50 but also like the fullness of the LS3/5A, you will like the TC-60. It sounds like a TC-50 that went to a finishing school but retained that sneaky rebellious streak. It is not a diluted design or vision, but I believe more of a progression informed by things learned along the way. It is the only Spica design that is not a sealed box. There is a small port in the back that was said to be angled inside the box. Even with the simple port, there is some innovative thinking used, I am pretty sure still with the help of Bau’s industrial precision measuring instruments.

As I’m working on my laptop and also typing this article, I am listening to the TC-60’s closed-up (see pic). Khruangbin is sounding just fab and head-bob inducing! They are shoved into corners and driven by the aforementioned Aiyima T9, sitting on custom-made KEF B139 transmission line “sub” woofers driven by a gainclone amp (cheap gentle-sloped in-line low-pass crossovers used). Even with the less than optimum placement, they simply put a smile on my face. Who needs headphones?

In closing, yes, I’ve heard and owned lots of speakers (no Wilson-priced ones, though), and yet I still am with the “girl of my dreams”. The one that hit me like a bolt of lightning, courtesy of Jerry, Mr. Audio Sales Guy. He was correct, the right one is all you need. Sometimes, a harem of speakers makes not for satisfaction but only amusing distraction. Nothing wrong with that...But, like Donald Fagen sings in that jaded voice of his, “Aja, when all my dime-dancing is through, I run to you…”

Editor: Brilliant and heartfelt! I wish I had a salesman like Jerry when I started out, but then neither did I have the sound in my head that Ray was equipped with even at the start. I missed out on all those Spica when they were current, as I was then not a serious audiophile. It was in Hong Kong that I heard a few in secondhand shops, but always in passing. The only serious time was a pair of, I think, TC-50 brought to the home of limage, Maggie Guru. Placed near-field, they indeed disappeared and was sonically almost indistinguishable from Maggie 3's, except the bass was even weaker, all just as Ray described. Not easy to find them in good condition!

Clone LS3/5A 史特灵

点击所有照片放大。

Letter from Shenzhen (22-15): 史特灵 LS3/5A, Part I

Canare 4S10F 喇叭线 和脚架

To Non-Chinese Readers: The Chinese products discussed here are not available outside China, so this is written for Hong Kong readers mainly. I let you know this to save you the bother of translating.

Update 更新：Part II 讨论史特灵 11 ohm 版本，必读。

我這博客十幾歲了，讀者來自世界各地，所以幾乎沒有用中文寫作。由於 Blogspot 系屬 Google，除非翻牆大陸看不到，可以說我和大陸發燒友沒有緣分。現在身處的深圳也不像廣州邊圍，絕對不是發燒重地，暫時沒有臭味相投的同好。曰：得之淡然, 失之坦然, 爭其必然, 順其自然。香港就不一樣，什麼都看得到，而大部分朋友和讀者都懂英文，所以沒有問題。看瀏覽統計（右下方），香港向居第二位，仅次花旗，讀者是不少的。這一次中文寫作可以說是絕無僅有。為什麼是例外？因為事關淘寶雙十一，而提及的寶貝暫時似乎沒有賣到國外去的。這篇文章是特地為香港讀者們寫的，雖然有點姍姍來遲，希望有人 get 到。 很久以來 我都很少買國產貨。可是暫時身在國內，近身的三妻四妾又未能跟隨，只能構思用少許錢另結新歡。另一原因是因為國貨（比如最重要的變壓器/牛）現在進步了很多。不像外國和香港那一些靠餘蔭吃飯的品牌（非音響的經典例子是掛羊頭賣狗肉的藍妹啤酒），賣得死貴還有屎忽佬上門，國內市場更加殘酷。君不見，非常多以前品牌已經式微或落幕？想多了解我最近歷程的朋友可以看這篇文章，比較詳細介紹我現在的音響。比起我在美國和香港，這裡低檔很多，但絕對聽得，照樣可以非常享受音樂。對我來說玩音響是提升聽音樂的樂趣，而不是音響是樂趣而音樂是工具 - 精神享受和提升，而不是流於玩物。當然，玩物和精神層面是互不排除的，但切勿本末倒置。 淘寶雙十一不是每樣東西都會便宜，有的把價錢提高再減，但是如果你有經常留意的話確實可以省一點錢。像跨店200減30這種活動只有部分商家參與。第一輪的活動已經過去了；第二輪在11/10 晚上八點展開，11/11 半夜結束。這裡我推薦3樣東西。 第一個討論的是所謂復刻LS3/5A。這些在香港台灣也聽過不少，包括英國所謂嫡系的 Stirling 和 Falcon。說後兩者，聲音雖然頗有以前影子，卻不免現代化，高音多些，低音較快而節奏感也會緊湊一些；中音為主者可能會有保留，而古墓派就不用提了。大陸有不少復刻者，效果參差，有的能入木兩分，其餘頗有偏差。價錢如所謂復刻西電一樣，比較便宜到揾笨價都有。 這裡說說 LS3/5A，那些自命不凡的 3/5A 專家，很多其實品味非常狹窄，一日三餐蔡琴。算吧啦！這些人，換膽多過吃飯，開機就像有人按門鈴，“是誰...是誰...”。音樂修養差些不是問題，但沒能力駕馭大些的系統卻是。這些人搞的 Tannoy, Spendor BC1 之類大多慘不忍聽，只能玩3/5A。我不屬於這類認為 3/5A 是全世界最好的喇叭的人，但我認為它是一對經典的小喇叭，如友人 icefox 的口頭禪，“夠聽”和“正經”。如果你像我，聽大編制交響樂，那它在香港寸金尺土的小廳房是勉強可以的（這裡和這裡有我以前在香港斗廳和其它喇叭的比較）。一般人說 3/5A最適合聽小品，但其實也不盡然。經典LS3/5A的速度，無論 11 或 15 ohm, 尤其低音，都有點慢，聽蔡琴沒問題，但聽打擊樂器佔重要位置的音樂，就算是小編制爵士3重奏也絕對不完美，總感覺欠了點什麼。編制其實在音樂里佔非常重要的位置。華人發燒友愛聽人聲和小提琴，這本來不是問題，但完全忽略伴奏和合奏就是大問題。我最怕發燒友播貝多芬小提琴協奏曲，因為主人只聽“一支弓”，完全不知道那樂隊聲音有多差，而我們要忍受很久獨奏才出場。另外最怕 Brubeck 的 Take Five。這3人組喜歡玩弄拍子，但其實並不怎樣 Swing。播放必需明快, 但在香港鮮有聽到合格的，通常令人昏昏欲睡。有人問大神 Charles Mingus 到底 Brubeck 是不是 Swing? 他的答案可妙：他自己認為是的話，那就是。這句名言可以展升到音響那些認為自己天下無敵的人的身上。 自己聽 LS3/5A 已經有40多年，順年份回溯，賣掉的有古早11 ohm 單柱 Rogers, Spendor，Harbeth 兩對; 11 ohm bi-wire 有 KEF，Spendor 兩對；古早 15 ohm Rogers 兩對。現在仍然擁有 15 ohm Chartwell 和 Audiomaster（在美國）。沒有“是誰...”來“是誰...”去，但大體聽感的比較當然是有的。差別說大不大，說小不小，有的朦，有的豬油羔般慢，也有的過分高清，絕對不是所有都有留下的價值，故也有沽出。最後期的 KEF Rosewood 版，有一點高清但我喜歡它較爽的聲底，和現在英國那些復刻有點相似。這裡順便一提變種 Harbeth P3ESR，這版本比以前的 P3 好很多，值得一聽 (這裡有和 3/5A 的比較)。至於 Spendor 那些 S3/5 類，聲音對我來說都太纖瘦，不是我杯茶（我還是 Spendor 粉絲呢）。 寫這些是讓讀者知道我對 LS3/5A 有一定的了解，也不會被變種或複刻輕易動搖的。那為什麼我在深圳還是買了復刻版？很簡單，我需要一對便宜的喇叭，而大陸喇叭很多聲音都不平衡（其實外國也是），我也沒有興趣到處去試聽。除了天經地義的謀利，3/5A復刻者起碼有個初心，知道自己的方向（做不做得到是另一回事）。就算次的研發都需要非常多時間和耐心，不是每個人可以或想做的。

https://m.tb.cn/h.UTgJAm6?tk=g3pedYo22wY

本著雖不中亦不遠矣的希望，幾個月前我購買了聯盟音響的 Anubis LS3/5A（前文有提及；是現代化 8ohm）。效果還可以，但起初有一點化不開的感覺。本來也安分的，但靠近雙十一發現了這所謂 Stirling 的產品，立馬被吸引了。應該是新推的，以前沒有見過。這也是第一遭國人復刻一個英國復刻版！有趣！史特灵是国内注册商标，但單元標著 Beydas Audio。把心一橫，拍了下來。 2380 人仔，比 Anubis 貴 400。寫這文章做了點研究，廣州貝達思有出CD機及喇叭等，還說自己有英國傳承。那一段公司歷史簡直精彩過神話，這裡不引述，自己查看把。 包裝超妥當。國內買喇叭有土炮喇叭線送。用廉價數碼機 Aiyima 接好，一開聲我就跳了起來。 Bingo，掂呀！如賈平凹小說（通常超鹹濕，東方日報可以行埋一邊）下刪3000字。一個星期了，還在聽。沒有任何抱怨。沒有舊款有時候的拖泥帶水，沒有新的可能過分高清，一切自然。你可以當它是靠近 KEF 和現在英國復刻那些品牌的變種，但高音可能更滑一些。換線就可迎合自己口味，非常敏感。音場深遠，高低平衡，能量感好，彈跳力佳，現場感強，无论人声，爵士古典，沒有什麼可挑剔的。是真木皮，沒有 Anubis 好，但合格。重要的是，聲音徹底 PK 了 Anubis。重複友人 icefox 的口頭禪，“夠聽”和“正經”，是至高榮譽。這喇叭不難推，就算 300B 都非常靠譜，膽石皆怡。我知道，有人會問，有冇嗰祲馟先？答案1，冇乜，起碼在我這裡如此，因為我不要一祲馟；答案2，那些說3/5A和號角有音染的人認知有限，現在非常多的高端喇叭才有音染，中音不好就是一種負面的負音染！別忘了，3/5A 是科班出生，用來監聽的。中音大氣但天生沒有什麼馟，那是玩家賦予的。玩得不好，35 也可以變 67；玩得好，其它有質素的小喇叭，如經典Sonus faber 和 Ensemble Reference,一樣可以祲祲馟。曰：人追求音色，但音色跟人, 看你是什麼人。我說千萬不要像狗一樣，重复無止地追自己尾巴。後者大有人在，但有什麼關係呢？自己開心就好。說到狗，有一個朋友一開機他那條就哀鳴著撤退，真人真事。所以再靚聲也要顧及家人感受。 現在只有兩個選擇。 15 ohm是所謂黑檀木，有淺色斑馬紋的（見圖），也就是我的。 11ohm是所謂白樺。這個有趣，我相信單元都一樣的，只不過分音器應該不同。我覺得沒有必要執著，你喜歡哪一個顏色就買。這是bi-wire設計，而jumper是一條不起眼的小銅柱，但別小看它，放到 Anubis 身上 PK 了它本身帶的鍍銀線。

https://m.tb.cn/h.U5pssnU?tk=HdeDdYofYAa

第二說的是腳架。同時我買了這便宜全鐵腳架（千萬不要買MDF面板的）。 ”Stirling” 一放上去就牛逼。這腳架需要自己組裝，沒多少時間。我家木地板，所以我把較尖的腳釘向上，而圓的旋鈕在下面，不會刮地板。聲音超好，如果你需要腳架，選擇適合你的高度（那些說 24 寸最好的老屎忽都是矮仔）。在客廳，我把 Anubis 放上去，聲音像通了電，改善令人咋舌（但還是不及 Stirling）。通常香港人喜歡焊死的 Foundation，是勉強可以的，但土炮就非常難聽，重之餘還大而不當。我喜歡輕盈點的，這產品是我杯茶，就是頂版大了一些。打磨靠譜，我覺得比 Foundation 好看好聲，見仁見智吧。另外，見圖，我把兩個喇叭跟來的貼膠貼在腳架前面邊上2點，後面沒有貼，這樣有些3點避震的作用。聲音一流。

https://m.tb.cn/h.UTgpubt?tk=laBbdYoYe4I 第三說的是喇叭線。如果需要 bi-wire， 4 蕊我推薦 Canare 的 4S10F。 20 人仔 一米，聲音像我緣用但现在沒有的 Belden 9497，一級棒！ PK 了我家其它喇叭線，包括那些跟喇叭來的。香港有代理，雅歌也有一些，但未必有這平價系列。其它成员应该一样好的。 所費無幾，加上你自己的音源，就可享受；你不會停下來的，晚晚通頂也不為奇。我寫得慢是因為不停地翻舊歌來聽。如果你想，但是沒有擁有過 LS3/5A, 怕買二手中招而覺得英國新的複刻太貴，這是你的機會。用十分一的價錢可以模擬到 LS3/5A 的魅力，還用想嗎？不要忘記，要用腳架。但我更想說的是，就算你是老用家（像我）你可能也會有驚喜！我是折服了的。不單如此，這 Stirling 還刺激起我要把 Anubis 搞得更好的意欲（我會打開它，看有什麼可以摩的）。 像這裡3圓店的口號，這個價錢買不了上當。行動要及時，但錯過也可能沒有問題，淘寶時常有活動，總有下一次，但可能價錢會有小調整。有個小顧慮，廣州很多地方都封了，不幸的話發貨會慢，但 Stirling 商家 HiFi Music 是 Beydas 官方代理，可靠的。如果你被我煽動而買了，麻煩你回來留言，說說你的感覺，好壞都歡迎。但千萬不要問我關於操作淘寶的問題，沒有時間回复，寫這文章已花了我幾天，不懂的話向身邊朋友求救。

我是 35 仔群里的 25 仔，也时常是胆机和黑胶羊群里的狼。虽然脚踏多船，却越简单越好，也从不人云亦云。这是乱世，连音响都充斥着假新闻，靠自己的耳朵最可靠。共勉之。

附录：

1）想知道联盟音响的 Anubis 有多离谱，看这里。

2）我最近买的东西记录在这里，有的 12.12 可能会少许折扣。