2022 in Review

Sheer Beauty! I have been looking for an opportunity to use this stupendous photo, itself a superb re-creative process. Given the grim world we live in right now, the colors shall cheer us up. Miyake was a man unto himself, irreplaceable. Read about the ways he constantly re-invented material for clothing. Much more imaginative than most audio designers!

2022 in Review

Editor: First, belated Season’s Greetings and we wish you a Happy New Year! At the end of every previous year I always wrote a Year in Review. This year I thought, let’s be different and have our writers contribute their share of what they deem important during the year, be it acquisitions or a new direction. Some of the responses I must say are delightful, even confounding! In fact, I think this article is one of the best ever in the longish history of this blog! There are some authors who are MIA but if they check in late I shall amend the article. Mind you, being a strict webzine, it’s not like all the writers know each other, chat on social media, go to shows and Happy Hour together (though that would be nice; in fact, when the world gets better, which it’s not, one day we should have, perhaps over Zoom, a cheaptubeaudio virtual HH)!

Addendum Dec 29: M Surdi's brief update is added below Doctorjohn's entry.

From mrgoodsound (Canada)
I will try to keep it short and sweet. My experiences in 2022 led me to cease consumerist activities in audio entirely. This seems to be the only persistent path to true satisfaction, not just in audio, but life in general. I could not and can not find any equipment manufactured by others that satisfies me completely. I am sure others are in a similar boat. I decided to take up DIY in all respects: source, amplifier, speakers. While there is much written on the internet about audio DIY, unfortunately the majority of it is unhelpful noise. I find I am walking an increasingly solitary path, and the more I learn the more limited the resources of valuable knowledge become.

My interest primarily lies in German speakers, tubes and components made before WWII. This is a fascinating period of technological advancement in audio, and not much is documented in the West. I wrote to DJ about the 'conclusion' of my speaker project but this was really just the first iteration. The next iteration will feature field coil speakers with a self-made power supply. For an amplifier, I am currently collecting pre-war radio 'junk' with the goal of amassing sufficient compatible parts to make a stereo SE amp. For sources, I decided to quit LP playback entirely and I am selling all of my turntables, tonearms, and records. I decided I cannot get the sound I want from the LP format and that LP playback is inherently anti-minimalist, pro-consumerist. Instead I am focusing on my digital source. I acquired a 1998 Mac G3 computer which I am slowly modifying. In its current state, it plays much better than my Mac Pro from 2008, which I previously wrote about. For cables, I have already made a full set DIY from old transformer wire.

That's pretty much it. I thank the blog for turning me on to the Aiyima products. I did not publish a review of the T9 but it has been my main amplifier since July. It embarrassed other amplifiers much more expensive and esoteric, tube and solid-state alike, which put the 'nail in the coffin' for the idea of attempting to buy my way to satisfaction. It keeps me satisfied while I work on my own amp. I also purchased the T5 for testing speakers on my workbench. They are truly great products!

Happy new year to all our audio friends around the world.

From R Salamat (USA)
I was an audio “naturalist” for a whole decade, starting from the early 90s. Single-ended triodes, Western Electric 300Bs, monoplate 2A3s, custom-built 26 triode preamp, NOS 1541 DAC, solid core pure silver cables damped with varnish and using HQ paper for dialectric, minimum phase / time-aligned speakers or “full-range” drivers...I had them all and it all sounded sublime. But circumstances forced me to give them up, or if I’m being honest about it, the spell was broken by one single, simple component that embodies both a paradigm shift and cognitive dissonance - the original Naim Nait. The first Nait was a small, low-powered, utilitarian-looking integrated amp that belied its size with the sound it made. That tiny amp set me off into another journey, from bigger Naim set-ups and other British Flat Earth makes to vintage silver-faced receivers to smoldering Class A SS amps to vintage Fishers and H.H. Scott’s, and finally circling back to SETs and PP, but of a less “purist” view this time, no doubt owing to my Nait epiphany that a great design is just that, a great design. Let’s just say, I became “woke”, amp-wise, and believe good sound could be thermionic or silicon-based. It comes as no surprise that when I (semi-) retired, I wanted to get reacquainted with my wee friend, so I reacquired a Naim Nait 1, newly minted. It still gets my mojo going whenever I hook it up. I swear this one will never leave my home.

Another Brit integrated that I’ve had fun with over this last year was the Rega Io. It compares very favorably with the venerable Nait. (I must add that I’ve had majority of the Nait versions over the years, and the Nait 1 is the only one I regretted selling.) The Io combined with the oft-said hard-to-drive KEF LS50 make for a compelling combo. I still remember playing the live LP “Home and Abroad” by The Style Council, and the dynamics and in-the-stadium sound heard made me feel like I was in the audience with the band going full-tilt. Better in my opinion than the past Rega integrateds, including the Brio-R and the new Brio, but the Elex-R and higher models are probably better still, although I have not had those in-house. The Io is said to drive Klipsch heritage speakers really well. I can see that…it has an organic flow to it that makes you forget that it is as inexpensive as it is. Definitely a keeper for me.

Talk about throwing purist attitudes out the window, I purchased a pair of Sound Artist “homage “ LS3/5a’s. I know all about the lore of this BBC-designed monitor speakers, and in fact, own original Spendor 11 ohms. I also knew that construction-wise, the Sound Artist do not follow the BBC specs to the letter. Who cares, right? I only do this for fun and for my own amusement. So I ordered the Sound Artist out of curiosity, and found that not only do they sound like real LS3/5A’s, they have characteristics that better my Spendors, namely in a more linear upper bass (but, no worries, my friends, the classic hump is still there), and more extended treble, with less of that “bite”. Mids have that same inexplicable rightness. If you are in the market for a cheaper “LS3/5a”, with no concern for pedigree or purism, check them out. You just might be as surprised as I was. I’ve listened to the Falcon, and honestly, those sound a bit too modern to my ears.

I just ordered a Geshelli J2 AKM DAC (in a wood enclosure) but loads of orders for being the “hot item” right now, coupled with the Christmas rush mean a bit of a delay. I also just received from Jupiter Condenser (maker of excellent capacitors) their new line of speaker cable, a combination, basically, of my two favorite cables, the Belden 9497 and the vintage WE cloth-covered wire. The “Twisted Pair Tinned Copper Cable in Lacquered Cotton Insulation” or TPLC, for short, looks like a cloth-covered 9497, down to the color of the twisted wires used. I am looking forward to playing with these two items (Geshelli and TPLC) and am already scheming in my head what to unexpectedly partner them with.

We can’t all be experimental chefs or Jackson Pollock, but as audiophiles, we can always try to create beauty out of randomness or maybe just come to a serendipitous place, while trying to get max information out of those grooves.

From ELO (Hong Kong)
In the second half of 2022, except for the Wattson Emerson Analog, Dynaudio Crafft and Audiophysics Subwoofer, I have basically uprooted my setup. My 47 Lab Gaincard, icOn4 preamp and all the cables and power cords had been replaced. Now I'm firing up my WEA using a network switch from Silent Angel Bonn N8, through the newly acquired Aiyima A08 Pro and Elekit TU875 preamp. All RCA cables has been replaced by my favorite "Studer" cables; speaker wires by Luna Gris. Preamp and Amp are now placed on top of a IsoAcoustics board; Linn Skeet’s are placed under the spikes of the newly acquired Dynaudio speaker stand (originally for Confidence C1).

Among all the changes, for me the ones that make the most dramatic change are the AiyimaA08pro/Elekit TU875 combo. My friend Kwong's best addition was too the "Studer" interconnect, with which I can't agree more. After implementation, the whole picture becomes more natural, musical and smooth, with better extension on both ends and with improved detail retrieval. I’m also happy that I was instrumental in urging the Nagra Classic Integrated Amp upon my friend Ray, and it is now the anchor of his system.

From Top, SMPS, Reisong Transformers, TDA-1305 DAC and 6X5 rectified, 6AU6/6V6 Preamp.

From Doctorjohn (now in Shenzhen)
After a year and a half of complete audio hibernation (in terms of equipment), the almost accidental acquisition of the Aiyima T9 triggered a new phase (chronicled here and here). My earlier sentiment that it would be a self-containing and self-disciplined run did not turn out to be quite so, But the wave has certainly crested, and I’m entering a late and slow phase that shall have less acquisition and more of tuning (in and out of a bit of audio hell) that involves 1:1 transformers and better (but cheap) regulated PSs (both LPS and SMPS; as I type, one of the latter, which can go to 30V, 5A, has just pleasantly surprised me with the improvement of the Pink Floyd I’m listening to on my cheap but cheerful TDA-1305 DAC, even at the lowly 5V and drawing a mere 0.11A). Also, quite a bit of soldering to make the extra cables needed (the slender, accomplished, but not perfect, dirt-cheap Canare 2B2AT that is my go-to here) and power bars. And attention paid to mechanical isolation using cheap common day gadgets (like Rubber Pads for Cars and the cheap but double-bearing wheels for my “rack” - it just “woke up” the thing). I should have enough material to write for the next half year and more.

My all-tube preamp and go-to FU-50 SET amp, plus the soldering station, likely do not dissipate more than a 60-80 watt conventional light bulb, but it helps in the cold now. Of course, here in SZ, the cold is nothing compared to what many of our readers are experiencing now, and I wish you all well.

All of this is made possible by the absurdly low prices of things here. Which sometimes makes one purchase wrong things. Duh. Yes, even with the good stuff, there can be compromises, and irritations, but that is par for the course. In my upcoming review articles, there will be chronicles of some of these trials. As a footnote, I despise netizens who complain profusely about the inadequacies of their cheap (Chinese or not) gear but yet are oblivious to the high priced garbage their own have produced.

In many ways, this protracted sojourn of mine here in China has re-affirmed my cheaptubeaudio past. The joy of discovery is the same, but what is different can only be boiled down to one word: Experience. Experience positive and negative do not come easy or free - one pays, sometimes through the nose, but one can gain from the process. Unfortunately, even that is not a given, as many less experienced audiophiles, particularly those who are attuned to head-fi or measurement forums, are just trapped in a small cesspool, be it small or big, and they shall never emerge with confidence in their own ears or experience. Experience means we do not move unduly horizontally, but attempt to traverse new sonic horizons (despite failures along the way). Also, one man’s experience does not reliably transfer to another. May we all gain the proper experiences in the new year!

Although the Aiyima T9 woke me up, the things that truly transformed my recent journey are even more important. I cannot emphasize enough the importance of attention to details but, here, 2 things that get my nomination for products of the year: 1) The Beydas LS3/5A, which is unfortunately not available in the west. It’s my main tool now, and it reveals every change upstream. It’s not better than my reference, the more sensitive Sansui towers, but it’s a huge over-achiever - personally I’m tempted to stick my neck out and call it a miracle that with time may gain admission into the pantheon of the best bookshelves ever, albeit on a wild-card basis; but then I better not, as there shall be many detractors and that they are virtually extinct as soon as they were born; 2) yet to be written up, kudos to icefox (his crowd use the rare and expensive WE91A), I started playing with 1:1 transformers (the 1:2 and even 1:3 versions are for cellphone and BT users who need the extra gain, beware). Used between source and preamp, the difference is so sharply etched it’s mind boggling; used between preamp and amp, the improvement is a little less but still obvious. I’m using 2, in both positions now. I have the fortune of experiencing a new kid on the block, UMI (bought it for ELO), which has truly superior bandwidth but, at least between the DAC and preamp, my heart tilts just a little towards the older and more old-world sound of Reisong (available on Aliexpress). This is not at all the first time I have transformer coupling between stages. The excellent EAR 912 that I had has transformer coupling at every stage (input, output and interstage), and my old Wai Lee Preamp uses massive coupling trannies (said to be wound from WE cores). Of course, with those one cannot just put them in and take them out, so it’s a different experience (that comes with the pain of an additional pair of cables).

Despite having covered so much Aiyima (and shall continue to do so), none of their products feature now in my main system, which is all tube and transformer coupled. Yes, I have finally, just last week, removed my trusted guard dog Revox system. It’s not really that tubes are superior in all aspects, it’s just that I’m on to other things now. It’s a watershed. Suffice to say, I am surprised to say this: I enjoy the sound of my humble systems here just as much as in NYC and HK. In fact, many familiar tracks seem to have gotten better. Perhaps, my MUCH greater attention to details here, where I have basically started over with much more limited means available (and on the cheap), makes all the difference. There, a tale for you.

From M Surdi (Italy)

"...I am the happy owner of a Benchmark DAC. I bought it for Qobuz but I now use it as a bona fide preamp on my main rigs. Screeds on the Benchmark as a DAC are ubiquitous but I thought I'd do a piece on using it as a line preamp on a reference rig (actually two of them). It could work out as something of a companion piece to my review of the Pass HPA (on 6moons). Now, for the spoiler: this is a hell of a preamp for Nagra tubes and Pass Class A..."

Editor’s Postcript: 1) The most invaluable content here is the sharing of personal philosophy. Not gear reviews or announcements for reviews to come. We have all paid dearly to get to this point, some of us more than others, and it has nothing to do with age. Our youngest, mrgoodsound, astonishes me by his metamorphosis. His chosen path is not for everyone but, as one with Western Electric equipment and with friends who are much more deeply into WE (some from wosirsir and icefox’s circle) I can completely get what’s he’s doing. There are others like him, many in HK, young and totally committed to the oldest stuff, like Field Coils. My hats off! On this point, I applaud the aesthetics of the young audiophiles who fueled the critical phase of the vinyl renaissance, and I have no doubt they shall continue to be fascinated by other vintage facets of audio, like tubes and horns etc. So much of cosumerist audio (using mrgoodsound’s term) is so bland, so faceless, as to be off-putting, in appearance and in sound. Even industrial design is worse now. The beautiful and economical and modest yet elegant looks of classic Naim, Meridian, Cyrus, etc, are just no more. 2) Ray Salamat’s blurp surprises me too, as his candid Nait centered experience (old, not the stuff now) and not taking sides in the tube vs ss thing is interesting. First, almost all of us here, including ELO and me, are fans of the old Nait (which ELO has said he’d be happy with, though his journey is not at all near its endpoint). Second, someone like me, of cheaptubeaudio namesake, is actually receptive to good solid state, and so a bit like Ray. The end justifies the means? Well, I’m forever a tube man, but I’m open. And ELO, not a tube man by far, does not reject a good offering from the other side either. Call us pragmatic. 3) I mulled upon mrgoodsound’s eschewing of analog. Just as I’m forever a tube man, I’m forever a vinyl man. But I can understand the reasons. During the initial covid lockdown I played a lot more through Bluetooth than my turntables. And humble digital (meaning not hi-res) can be made to sound good, whether through USB or BT, but it’s not through the widely touted “advances” trumpeted daily by the press. Our honorary consultant icefox’s friends actually prefer BT. Their approach is to just confine all the digital nasties to the BT chip (which it must pass through) and then use draconian analog measures, like trannies, to improve the sound of the output. To them, the less digital processing (I agree), the better. According to the man, the monstrous extreme BT gear (shall perhaps report in the future) has KO’ed many an expensive analog setup. Just as in digital, most people mess up their analog setups; the more expensive, the more so. Here, I don’t have a single LP or TT, but I’m fine. Enjoy the music! This has been a difficult article to wrap up, perhaps too ambitious. But long-time readers know that I possibly prefer to talk about the philosophy and small things behind audio than review stuff (hence my pagan HiFi Basics articles). Better stop now and wish you all well. We look forward to a good coming year.