Important Announcement

This blog has been inactive for a while and readers are likely to wonder why. As one of the Blog contributors, I am deeply saddened to announce the news that Doctor John had passed away in April 2025. Doctor John is a life fighter and has been fighting  with his disease since late 2024 as he had mentioned in his last post.

To all our friends, we are still in shock of his leaving and will always remember his positive, unselfish and kindred spirit which is full of passion, wisdom and humor. His direct no BS type writing and inquisitive minds on reviewing all cheapo equipment benefits all of us tremendously!

Here are eulogies from some of his HiFi comrades:

From Sean P

I first came across Doctorjohn’s blog Cheaptubeaudio way before I met him, perhaps ten years before I met Doctorjohn.

Quite often, Doctorjohn wrote articles with information which was exactly what I was looking for.  So I thought, this guy must operate at a frequency similar to mine.  I would try to imagine what sort of person Doctorjohn was, was he a real doctor?  Was his real name John at all?

Few years ago, I finally got a chance to connect with Doctorjohn and it was at the time when I “regained” a room for my equipment after more than 10 years.   Naturally, I would like to buy some new equipment and Doctorjohn gave me invaluable information and advice without holding back.  Pretty much he would tell me everything he knew, his experience.

I believe Doctorjohn would like more people to enjoy listening to music.  I also believe he would also like to see improvements from smaller manufacturers in Mainland China.  Not only that he shared his knowledge and experience selflessly in his blog, he also provided these smaller manufacturers with his tips and comments free of charge.  

Doctorjohn mentioned a few times that he had been contacted many times for placing advertisements in his blog but he thought he was not doing it for the money and advertisements may give the impression that his blog was biased, he declined these proposals.  Such a selfless guy!

I rarely met anyone, perhaps no one other than Doctorjohn, who was so academically accomplished, knowledgeable about his interests, willing to share and selfless, with a great personality, and knew how to enjoy life.     

Needless to say, it is very sad that Doctorjohn is no longer with us and I will miss him dearly.  My deepest condolences to Doctorjohn’s family, in particular his wife and his son.  

Rest in peace Doctorjohn.  

Shawn Poon

May 2025"

From Philip L

The audio community lost a cherished friend and mentor with Dr John's passing. Through his writings, his passion for audio and arts touched every reader, and nurtured a community of like-minded individuals. 

I got to know Dr John through his wonderful audio blog. Like many budding audio enthusiasts, I scoured through the internet looking for ideas for the next big upgrade, which inevitably led me to his blog. His wealth of knowledge and experience instantly captivated me. On top of that, I came to learn that we shared similar backgrounds and interests despite our age difference. I started corresponding to him through his blog and email, and later had a chance to meet him in person when he visited the US. My first impression of Dr John was exactly as I expected from reading his blog. His love and enthusiasm for arts and audio was unmistakable, and he shared his enthusiasm with everyone without reservations. It was absolutely a pleasure and privilege to have met him. Through him, I had learned a lot about audio and met a lot of like-minded and equally wonderful audio enthusiasts. 

Dr John. Thank you so much for opening my eyes and introducing me to this wonderful community. Your spirit will live on among those you've touched, as we continue to venture in our journey to audio nirvana. May you rest in peace!

From Sam Chang

Dear DoctorJohn,

You were the big brother of our audiophile community — blessed with golden ears and a photographic memory for music. Your presence is deeply missed. Life is short, but you lived it fully, with courage, curiosity, and an adventurous spirit.

I’m grateful we finally met in 2023. That summer was the most memorable audiophile experience of my life. Thank you for visiting my home and for your kind mention of me in your vibrant Cheapaudios blog. As you once said, you were the glue that held our circle of friends together — and how true that is. It means the world to me that you saw in me a kindred spirit, both in music and in life.

My dear friend, I’m honored to have been part of your journey. The music plays on, and with it, your memory lives.

Missing you always,
Sam from NYC

From E Lo

I have started to get acquainted with Doctorjohn since 2014 , we have since been exchanging messages and sharing hifi and music matters. We  share very similar perspective on HiFi and music principles and hence when he proposed his idea to create a platform to let more people contributing to his blog, I accepted gleefully and thus resulting my first blog post in June 2020. 

We had explored Chi Fi (Chinese HiFi equipment) and became fascinated by the PQR of them (e.g. the popular post on Aiyima T8 , A8Pro, Douk E6 etc) and at the end, he was still enthusiastic about his new discovery of an DHT preamp with 3A5 tubes and we had discussed about the possibility of me implementing it into my rig! 

Doctorjohn is a rare gem in hifi world, his love and hate with no hiding about his belief is uncanny. He will not hide himself his dislike when he came across something that he does not agree with and praise those that he believes in! Which in some way echoes my belief, we just can't bear anything that deviates from the truth.

I have learnt so much from him and he is always generous in answering questions even some silly ones and giving advices with all his heart with no reservation!

As of today, I went through some of his previosu text messages to look for information and still cannot belief that he has left us. I had only met him once in person last year and we were talking about meeting more frequently after he had relocated from Shengzhen back to HK and is still one of my biggest regrets that I did not get to meet him more often. He also joked about people (that is me) will think it is too far to travel from Kowloon to Yuen Long where he lives but more than okay if they have to travel to Shengzhen which apparently is a longer trip!

I wish that Doctorjohn is now in a better place in Heaven with a heavenly HiFi system to enjoy every moment! You will be sorely missed!

From Ray Salamat , one of the Blog's contributor

for Doctor John:

the truth is i didn’t know Dr. John personally. we never met in person.  but his essence came through in his writings which i followed for two decades, and in our correspondences. I imagine him a big personality in whatever room he’s occupying but always with an intention to offer and share views and opinions, help and assistance, enthusiasm and enjoyment to others in the same space he finds himself in. i imagine him livening up that space and bringing color and passion to the festivities. 

in my mind, these questions stand scrutiny if a life was fully lived:

did you eat well?

did you enjoy music and dance?

did you love?

did you get loved?

did you do good to others?

did you enjoy beautiful things?

Dr. John, I am almost certainly sure you hit Yes / 100% on each of these questions. i bid you farewell, my friend. i will play Gymnopedie at 100 dB peak tonight and saturate it with inimitable and beautiful triode second-harmonic distortion to keep you company in your ascendancy. rest in peace, good sir. i shall miss you.

__________________________________________________________________________________

Yours truly,

E Lo

HK 05/25

Douk U4 PJ Miaolai A4 Part III (Latest update on tube rolling 20th April updated in RED, Updated on 19th (Blue), 21st March (Green), 2025)

Letter from Hong Kong (25-1): ELO on  Douk U4/PJ Miaolai A4, again

Review: Douk U4 (aka PJ Miaolai A4), Part III

Douk U4 Part I  from Doctorjohn has all the basic info.

Part II comprises experiences from ELO and Shawn P, chronicled in detail. It's actually fascinating, as always, to read about people struggling to make their gear work for them. It also shows how fastidious we are here in leaving no stone unturned for items we deem worthwhile (even if flawed). Compare that with reviews on the net (not to mention youtubers).

U4/A4 Again?? Not tired of promoting it?? Time for my WEA to step down?

Douk U4/ PJ Miaolai A4

It's hard to conceive that I was a skeptical  bystander about  Douk U4! Now, I have introduced this to many friends and they are all seasoned audiophiles with many years of experience and all were happy with the U4! But why should I keep promoting this unit, I dunno, I am not getting paid nor related to Douk and in fact I have never contacted them once! Ultimately, I just want to prove some principles in HiFi wrong and make HiFi lovers focus on music rather than gear. Many audiophiles use music to serve their uber expensive and flashy systems while music lover simply uses stereo to play music!

I keep hearing improvement over the U4 at difference places and I am expecting it will keep on improving at my place. Will the previously unshakable status of my trustworthy Wattson Emerson Analog WEA be shaken? We will talk about it more below.

This little Douk U4/ PJ Miolai A4 is like David in a HiFi World of Goliath's, where most buy stuff based on eye candy factor, size (over matter) and price tag (high enough to stroke one's ego) more than sound and Douk U4 is always fighting fearlessly in front of these Big Bosses ! 

Andy A newly met (online) friend Andy, who is also a long time NYC friend of Doctorjohn, has an illuminating comment on his experience on U4: he said despite many gear that can better the U4 in certain music genre, none can give him the "Thereness" experience of U4, the realness , the feeling of presence and "as if you are there " feeling, and that is what he treasures most from U4. He reckons tubes from WE sounds most real, perhaps I may look for one. (P.S., Tung Sol 5670, said to be OEM for WE , is on ordered for testing!)

Dr. Lo I brought the U4 to his place and at first his eyes betray his belittlement of this cheap unit, which is normal. But in the end he was surprised by the sound coming out from it! I played Tidal and Youtube through it using my Huawei P30 Pro phone (which I think sounds best compared to my tablet and laptop and other cellphones) as well as playing some tracks from Audio Technica's Sound Burger. Time from Pink Floyd left him in awe of the sound coming out from the formidable U4/SB combo! I left the unit with him to play around for a few days. In the interim, he was using the iFi Zen Blue Bluetooth and briefly thought it was better or comparable to my U4; this drew my doubts as I had previously sold my brand new iFi Zen Blue in less than a week. So I went to his place again to listen to both. Ended up we both agreed that the U4 was more engaging and musical; in comparison the iFi sounded a bit bland, nonchalant and uninvolving. The result further reinforced my belief~ Power Supply With a Ray modified PS that I had bought before the sound has beefed up with more flesh and blood and texture. Before I left, he told me another friend will come over to listen to the setup and I asked him to blind test U4 with his friend. Needless to say, his friend was pleasantly surprised by the sound coming out from this little unit! He said with a better Space and Time cable, the performance elevated to another level but I am confident my Sommer/Studer cable will not be inferior to it. I then asked if blind tested, will this unit beats or compare favorably with a $20k+ CDP, he paused for a minute and think deeply then nodded slowly and agreed.

Kwong Same happened to my long time HiFi buddy. I had asked him to try the U4 for months and to implement into his new home in China. He ended up buying a Pioneer Streamer and a Chinese DAC, which cost him over $10K HKD. He was happy with it until I almost put a knife on his neck to buy the U4 LOL. He then bought it and once plugged it in, he was very surprised by the SQ of U4, which was neck to neck with his current combo. One day, I gave him the Jan GE 5670 tube to replace the stock and as soon as he plugged it in, he never looked back and told me he immediately sold his Pioneer/DAC combo and used only the U4 as the sound sourfce and the SQ has surpassed his streamer/DAC combo by a significant  margin!

(Updated 20th April) Kwong bought a second unit for his main setup in HK and immediately , with GE tube, it surpasses the performance of his Lumin U1/Holo Spring 1 L3!! And now he is selling his Lumin !!! Also, the preamp fro  Fosi ZD3 also amazes him with the sound quality aand price

JC Needless to say, veteran JC, with the museum like collection of gear that he possesses~, along with his friends are all using U4 as their main source already and he is having tremendous fun on tube rolling and replacing LPS, cables (including USB) etc. 

Ah 7 Another friend Seven had bought it based on my enthusiastic recommendation but was too busy to listen to it since he had been on graveyard shift lately, poor him... Finally he texted me that he was so excited by the sound quality of U4. Exactly like me, he put it aside when he first received it, and was skeptical of this little unit..... then eventually the GE JAN tube arrived and he started to plug it in and listen seriously and what a transformation, the sound absolutely surpassed his Eversolo A6 (replaced LPS) and Holo Spring 2  DAC! He is putting them up on sale immediately, which shows how good this little U4 is! He then decided to up his system and today he changed all his cables to Sommer/Studer/Neutrik and needless to say, the whole performance has elevated to another level!  

Extract of his comment:

依家越聽越好聽

部數播同泉都可以收工了

部eversxlx真廢，重要換埋火牛

都輸比藍芽U4

幾舊水對琳左幾千銀部機，過唔到自己心理

我仲未煲好，冇聽夠時數

但已經要打算賣機

(Updated on 21st March)

Ah BUT, I went to my primary schoolmate's place  for a wonderful music gathering focusing on songs rather than hifi. Four of us take turn choosing a song to play of each's own favorite choice. A lot of oldies and some jazz songs were played and we had a great time. I then introduced U4 to them, ah BUT ordered one immediately and was so shocked that the sound quality matches his streamer/DAC combo! He reckons his combo still has an edge on classical playback, but U4 is as good in jazz and vocals! I gave him the Tung Sol tube which sounds warmer and more musical!  He has then ordered the PS from Ray as well too!  BTW, his combo is Grimm's MU1 and Playback CDP's DAC that costs close to $200K HKD or $25K USD vs U4 which costs $200 HKD which is almost 100 times cheaper!! Well done U4 in performing another David and Goliath act! 

Me From the beginning till now, U4 has served as a reliable source at my home for watching TV and Youtube videos and playing records from Sound Burger. But initially I thought WEA clearly had the upper hand when streaming Tidal and I deemed the gap to be significant. Power Supply But how would the U4 sound with the New PS from Ray and with Sommer/Studer cable, will it dethrone my WEA?? 

More Comparison I was ready for the face off of U4 vs WEA. I used the newly bought Luxman AS-4III line selector ($700HKD) from Yodobashi in Osaka to resolve the issue of only one input of E6.

Setup A - Tidal using WEA, iFi Power Plus PS. All resting on graphite plucks and with body connected to ground box. All cables Sommer/Studer (with Neutrik connectors that brought significant improvement over stock KLE ones); Setup B - Tidal using Huawei P30 Pro phone to Douk U4 powered by Ray's PS ( All Sommer/Studer).

And that's not the only thing. Icefox, DJ and Andy (DJ's long time friend) all told me to also try the headphone jack as output. I first heard it that way at Mila's shop - not much impression as I was not familiar with his setup and his audio preference seems slightly differs from mine - so I could not make a judgement. I went home and tried it myself and here's my finding: sound seems to be smoother with improved body , more musical too when I connected to the headphone jack; however, that is with a cost -  a loss of certain degree of clarity and shrinking of soundstage as well as less quiet background. Fish and Bear Paw, I chose the latter, i.e. RCA out at the back.

As mentioned, I had finally taken the plunge and replaced the KLE connectors of my last two set of Sommer/Studer interconnects to Neutrik . The effect on U4 playing Tidal music from my laptop is really promising; the sound from RCA output has further improved with added nuance , musicality and silkiness. 

Tidal Tracks I played to compare: 1) Paris, Istanbul, Shanghai by Joel Glare; 2) Bach III Gavotte and Rondeau by Nathan Milstein; 3) Love letter by Jacky Chan; plus many others. 

Initially, switching A/B, sound was neck to neck, which really surprised me, as this was the first time that my WEA was seriously challenged , which is indeed a shock for me since before there was a big gap between WEA and U4 !

In terms of sheer musicality , details, smoothness, balanced sound through high, mid and low spectrum, the U4 was neck to neck with WEA! At one point I could not decide which setup is better!!! That was the FIRST time in my memory. 

So I did one thing, I unplugged the WEA and decided to spend days to listen to just the U4, streaming Tidal, Youtube through TV. Needless to say, I was very happy with U4 and for once I had forgotten the WEA completely since it was so convenient to use!

Until...a few days ago, I thought it was time to shift back to my WEA. I think that would be a fair comparison since I had become so used to U4's sound by now!

And the verdict is...WEA still has the upper hand! That said, U4 did most of the things right or even superbly. The WEA only beats it in the additional clarity and the emotional connection in strings (Erhu with WEA is definitely more engaging and can trigger my inner emotion far more than U4 or any other setup I have heard). That said, for most other types of songs, U4 is very comparable to WEA.

Violin from WEA is among the best that I have heard; it can grab my heart and soul ! I'm afraid U4 , while very very good, cannot match the final touch of WEA but is damn close (Before I use WE396A on U4). But consider U4 is selling at a fraction of price, there's no shame at all, it's just that WEA is such  a wonderful little machine from the Swiss that in itself is a certain David in front of bigger Goliath's!!!

Updated 20th April: TUBE ROLLING

Who would have thought I'm into this! My first time but man that's addictive! I have now 5 different tubes and they are (though I have yet to try 6NS7 like my friend)

Stock : A decent tube given the price

GE5670 : Improves overall sound by 20% from stock and is a cheap upgrade

Tung Sol 5670 : Very euphonic  and tends to gives a sweeter sound which is welcoming to a lot of harsh recordings but at the expense of shrunk soundstage and clarity. But I can live with the loss easily

Electro Harmonix Gold 6922 : Bought a tube adaptor to try this on. Immediately, the soundstage has widened and things get more transparent and a bit more dynamic, less euphonic though comapre to Tung Sol

WE396A: I finally received a replacement tube since the first one delivered was defective. This tube is so neutral but in a sense is pure, without adding or taking away things, Good spatial interpretation, smooth but not lush, and is pure and musical in a natural form.  Achieve a lot by not interfering with the recording! I like it a lot especially when playing LPs from my Sound Burger, the soundstage is huge, dynamics is superb, violin is lean yet clear as spring water with accurate timbre, probably the best format at my current setup! Add in the Uptone Ultracap LPS1.2 further improves the macro dynamics and dynamic shadings of the music. Music seems to calm down in a good sense! This is the best tube so far! For $3xxHKD bought from PTT, it's a steal!

Conclusion (updated 19th March and further update on 20th April) 

I will NOT put a conclusion since both U4 and WEA are such wonderful bargains in today's mad mad Hifi world, where a power cable can sell for 700K to 800K HKD!! I leave it up to you to make a conclusion for yourself and examine your motive towards "playing HiFi" (Chinese term in listening to HiFi). (Updated 20th April): In addition, Sound Burger through U$/WE396A and Uptone produces the best sound ever at my place and I am truly amazed!

Music First, with sufficient Hifi attributes - that's always the only way!!! Until then Adios Sis and Bros.

I surfed through "Leisure Fish", Carousell equivalent of HK and while looking for WE396 tube to replace my GE5670, I came across these old stock Tung Sol 5670, said to be OEM for WE at such cheap price $110 each, bought 5 of them to share among friends. Tonight , I plugged it in and replaced my GE 5670 on U4. Immediately, there was a significant different that can be detected ! The sound has become more coherent, more organic and I hate to use the generic term "musical" but seems appropriate here. Music from singer and instruments played with more  oneness ,sense and pace. Violin has more of wooden box resonance and body, notes between notes are more connected to become more fluid. However, in terms of HiFi terms, there is a sacrifice of ultimate clarity , space and width of soundstage but if I did not hear the GE , I would not have spotted that!  As of now, U4 has this added weapon and can now stand side by side with my Wattson!!! Bravo!

P.S. My WEA suddenly doesn't work for me all of sudden after a rock solid , no-glitch operation 24/7  and man , do I feel so grateful that I still got my U4/Tung-sol tube with me while debugging my WEA!!

WEA suddenly works perfectly with no reasons but is more than welcoming. 

Thanks to Deep Seek's recommendation of Shungite crystal! I just bought some and placed it on top my WEA and mixed some with tourmaline in one of my gorund boxes, all to good effect.

I had replaced the original box with a beautiful inlaid wooden box~

Year in Review 2024

Click pic to enlarge. This is an older iteration. Top shelf, Kondo M7, PJ Miaolai A4; middle, SMPS, 6P6P Preamp, Philips AK601 CDP; lower, BRZ FU-50 Amp. Flanks are vintage Rogers 15-ohm LS3/5A.

2024 in Review

Season's Greetings Time flies, and in my case that ought to be frightening, but I cherish every day, especially with music around. Yes, this recent stretch has seen me in relatively reasonable shape, as evidenced by thirst for good food for the body and soul (music). I wish you all well.

Giving Thanks Foremost, I want to thank our writers for contributing. Especially ELO, who is basically tireless in his tweaking - a hard act to follow. I thank too all you readers who sent words of encouragement during difficult times (Vivek, here's one for u).

What's Up Shawn P has a surprise article up his sleeve. ELO has another on his beloved "Studer" cable. As for Me, there are so many articles that I want to write or am composing in my head (not just audio), but only a fraction can be realized. I am also taking short trips when treatment allows, having just traveled to Shantou 汕头 and Shanwei 汕尾, and going on a short trip to Taipei in a few days. Perhaps that's worth a short blip and a few pics. As you can see from the top pic, I haven't stopped building my systems either. Litmus Tests for El-Cheapo Chinese Gear For the 3 years of 2021-2023, basically I had built an all-Chinese el-cheapo system in Shenzhen without reference to my usual higher-end gear. NOW, you can see that I have transposed most of the cheap stuff to Hong Kong, where they face much more expensive gear. You already see the Kondo Preamp, and stuff like Sun Audio Amps shall follow when I get a friend to move them from the old house. How do the cheap stuff fare? Surprisingly well! There will be articles on that.

Without further ado, the Year in Review below

Best Sound It has got to be at the place of SinG (Taimonsing). Highly unusual gear that are eye- and ear-openers. Read one of the visits here

Trend of the Year For me, this is the year of the Bluetooth (here). Having lived and experienced cheap Chinese gear for a long time, here are my General Thoughts.

Power Supply ELO has an article on LPS vs SMPS, and praises iFi. My own experience with more robust SMPS units have been great (here), and I urge you to get one, if not more.

Gear of the Year has to be the BT/DAC Douk U4 (aka PJ Miaolai A4). If you have not read about it before, I urge you to read all the (many) bits in this blog. It's actually quite astonishingly good, and I have paired it with Kondo! I should mention that my great NYC friend and analog guru Andy, who's super picky, got not one but two and is totally satisfied for its use downstairs with horns (he uses WE tubes, which I don't have here). For a one box solution, I highly recommend the PJ Miaolai A7 (I use it almost exlusively in SZ). And BT Antenna should not be regarded as accesories, rather MUSTs. Even a generic one will enhance the BT experience, not to mention the Kinnie (here).

1:1 Transformers are permanent fixtures in our systems. Read about UMI here. Less resolving but even more musical is Reisong (here).

Audio Technica Sound Burger This has surprisingly musical performance. Those with cramped spaces now have no excuse not to play with analog!

Have Fun!

LPS vs SMPS

Letter from Hong Kong (24-20): ELO on LPS and SMPS

Editor: In HiFi circle, it's almost taken for granted that LPS is better than SMPS. It hasn't been close to universally true for me (quite the opposite) and therefore I'm quite gratified that ELO finds the same. We should be true to our ears rather than audio lore. Mind you, some of the very highest end, like megabuck Swiss Nagra, CH Precision, Soulution etc use SMPS.

Preference on Power Supply - Mesmerised 

There's beeen a lot of  debate on the implementation of LPS to replace SMPS. Results is quite polarised. Some prefers the super black , quiet background and improved imaging while some find out that LPS is robbing the life out of the music. So far my experience is pretty mixed. LPS does wonder to one piece of equipment while doesn't on another. So I think one shouldn't preclude which is defintiely better than the other. It is case dependant and also depend on the quality of the LPS and designer's intent and understnading of music! 

I always think that decent power supply is very important to sound quality . Yesterday, my friend RC came to visit my place for a listen. He brought along an iFi Power X 12V/2A . I am very familiar to this little PS and is already working great with my WEA. But this time he gave me a completely new idea. 

We listened to streaming through  my WEA and after a few songs, he suggested me to replace the walwart PS of my modem to the iFi. I gladly obliged and OMG, the sound has literally improved across the board. Before , my setup's sound is good in listening to softer music and due to Douk E6's character, dynamics was a bit softer. But once I replaced the stock PS of the modem to iFi, the piano's attack , size and body has actually stepped up by a very large margin. He also brought in some other gadgets but none was so significant than this implementation! 

Story did not end here, we then switched over to play LPs from Sound Burger and the overall sound was quite decent. Again , I replaced the walwart PS of my U4 to the iFi, same effect! This combo of SB/U4/iFi produces sound that is very respectable, the dynamics, bass, vocals and soundstage both improved more than 30 %. Lesson is power supply, a good one, be it SMPS or LPS can do wonder to every single piece of equipment starting from the source , i.e. modem to router to streamer onwards etc! Well, I always lamenting a Plixir LPS....hmmm

Eventually I had gotten an iFi Power X to power up the Douk U4 and am enjoying immensely the sound of analog which is very at ease and natural that reminds me again that nothing can replace analog. Lucky I got some old LPs from old days and from friends of Eagles, Pink Floyd, Santana, Eric Clapton , Police and some nice Audiophile discs so  that I have a decent selection to become nostalgic~  of course I have been buying more LPs , but less from HiFi grade ones, instead go for very old edition which I usually find more balanced.

Even further improvement??

Yes, a few days ago, I inserted a DIY LPS made by a nice c-hing FM (a mere $45USD) into my modem and yet experienced another lift in SQ in overall system through my WEA as well as through U4! When I first bought the LPS, the sound was lifeless and uninteresting despite a bit quieter in the background. I spoke to FM and he replaced the sliver plated DC cable to another one made of Belden cable and voila, everything that I had anticipated has been realised and music has came alive!  What a difference a DC cable makes!

I discovered way more details and nuances of music details, quieter background and less digital noise without sacrificing the dynamics and PRAT of the music! This improvement now also extends to my Soundburger as well!. The soundstage has widened further, dynamics has improved and bass dig deeper and with more body! I have immense enjoyment with my new LP from Andrea Vollenwieder only for $11USD!

Well, does an LPS always work? Just when I pick up confidence on LPS from the same guy, I have ordered an LPS for Douk E6 to replace the cheapo USB cord of 5V/1A which I use a cheapo USB charger for charging phone to power the E-6! The LPS is nicely built with quality parts, so I have a lot of high expectation that sound may be further improved. To my utter surprise, sound quality not only does not improve, but then overall sound has took a setback. The sound while is cleaner, but it has become lifeless and the microdynamics was much better with USB cable which the pppp to ffff of sound was so clearly heard to a point that I am in awe! Sound on steroid indeed. I suspect by using 3 UMI signal transformers and 6 earth boxes, the background has blackened to a point that it has reached an equilibrium and any more blackening will make it sound dry, as if life being sucked out?! But for now, I cannot reach a conclusion and is definitely case by case where sometimes LPS helps but sometimes don't. Don't ask me why, but it is what I have heard!!! 

I spoke to FM and he told me he has a well built commercial grade SMPS to try out and on a Saturday morning I hook that up and start auditioing it. Overall, it is better than the LPS, however, I still much prefer using the USB charger and is actually too obvious to hear the difference. It's more dynamic in macro and micro, high frequency extension is great and it  has the liveliness that I most treasure! So I now find out that LPS may or may not help. For Douk E6, since it uses DHT , according to a seasoned tube amp designer, the use of LPS will amplify the noise 10 folds so LPS is not recommended to be used in DHT preamps! One learn something new everyday for sure~

On my E6, Results in a  nutshell : USB phone charger > SMPS > LPS

As of now, 

U4 - iFi PowerX 👍

E6 - USB phone charger 👍👍

Modem - DIY LPS by FM 👍

Wattson WEA - iFi PowerX 

Wifi Router - walwart SMPS (next step after I have found a LPS to replace my iFi in WEA)

UMI S2 - USB phone charger , mixed. For some reason, too much hum when hooked up to U4, while on WEA is fine.

For now, I will use my USB charger for Douk E6. Next step is to try to experiment LPS on my Wattson, until then adios!

LCY Supertweeter , Room Imbalance Acoustics, Home Visits

Letter from Hong Kong (24-19): ELO Home Visits and LCY Supertweeter

Editor: As mentioned in my last communication, starting with this article my editing of others' articles shall be minimal. Regular readers shall notice the difference.

As a HiFi lone ranger I would call myself, I mostly work on my system alone but of course Kwong is my long term trusted HiFi companion sharing same belief. Dr John is another one whom we get acquainted when I start reading and commented on his posts, eventually writing here occasionally. Icefox is the walking Baidu/Google search of HiFi (the word encyclopedia seems obsolete in today's world hence not use here LOL and Dr Lo , a high school classmate and also is a seasoned audiophile with his own unique hifi path~

I do participate in a few small private hifi chat groups talk about mostly music and some HiFi stuff but home visit is very limited either to my place or visiting others setup.

Recently , I have met some really nice hifi lovers who had selflessly given me some constructive advice which helps to improve my setup! 

Home visit to my place by a Hifi Lover

I met JC when I bought the LITE DAC a few years ago, which has a cult following and a dedicated discussion forum on modifying and opamp rolling! 

On and off, we have been exchanging txt messages and I showed him some photos of my rig from time to time. He has then shown some interest and wanting to hear it. Seldom invite new friends over to listen to my setup and is a great opportunity to let someone who is new to my setup to give some constructive advice. In the end, it went well, at least he did not complain, or perhaps refrain from it. Instead, he was surprised by the realness of playing Youtube music and analog setup using my new toy Sound Burger from Audio Technica both via Bluetooth from my Douk U4, which he had never given a serious look at  music from Bluetooth before .

JC was inspired by the sound playing Youtube music videos from my system that he pulled the trigger and bought one along with the TB retro looking antennae. His downstairs neighbor who is a researcher on BT and satellite transmission, said his BT controlled model plane can fly from Kwun Tong to TKO under control thru BT signal which is a full 4 to 5km distance apart!! Perhaps I should ask him to design a BT antennae for me~ 

Later, he connected the PJ Miaolai A4/Antennae (PJM A4 is equivalent to Douk U4) to his system where he found the sound to be very analog and musical ! Stock antennae tends to be more hifi but thinner and with more digital harshness in my opinion. Ultimately he thinks the stock cheap one has better high extension and openness. My comparison of the stock one and the retro sci-fi looking antennae and my findings is that the retro looking one is far more musical in my setup that I am willing to sacrifice the high frequency extension.  Everyone will have their own setup, taste and preference !

He then invited me to his studio which is at a stone throw distance to my office, his place is like a museum with a lot of collectable gears inside, yet the sound does not sound a bit dated at all! Learnt a lot from him and he spent a lot of them explaining and hinting  and finally got me hooked up to a super tweeter which is another story to tell which I eventually bought a pair of LCY 100Mk2 and is still experimenting with it and the journey has just begun...LOL

I think he is now a happy camper of A4 despite he much prefers the black colour to the uglier looking silver version LOL! I told him he can change the sound be replacing the capacitors of A4 but instead, he uses the best cables to test it which I think purely for fun. The lineup is VDH MC Silver Mk2 plus and Habst USB cable.....costing more than the costs of 100 units of  Douk A4 and he said the performance is many folds better! He also did some tube rolling of many tubes and found out WE is of best result while I'm enjoying the one from JAN 5670..

Room acoustics - Room imbalance and imaging

I have met another really nice gentleman on R33 and he generously share his own knowledge on speaker placement. His belief is once speaker is positioned properly, you don't need to buy uber expensive gears ! I haven't started to implement his guide but it did triggered me to solve the problem of my uneven spaced living room with one side sticking close to glass door to my balcony and one side is completely opened up! But luckily , I suddenly remembered that my Dynaudio Crafft has some gain switches and I immediately tried to reduce 3db on both highs and mids of my left speaker against the wall and the imbalance towards left side has switched back to middle! Originally I only tried it to adjust gains simultaneously on both speakers but not just one unit. Previously, I had tried toe in left speaker but effect is minimal, so the gain switch does help immediately and if not this nice gentlemen triggered my determination, I would have never fixed this chronic issue.. LOL

As a return favour, I introduce him a Hifi absorbing/refection board manufacturer in Taobao which he can customer made with dimensions, shapes , patterns and colours to fit your own need!! That was actually another discovery from Kwong, my long time Hifi buddy!

Revisit to Dr Lo's home

The only change but a most significant change is to install a dedicated German custom made speaker stands for his Harbeth P3SE Special Edition and it costs him over a whacking $10000HKD!  Well, it all worth it and the results is really great, now you find quality bass that is missing before and the analytical power has increased with tons of micro details being revealed!

Conclusion

It's always nice to meet new hifi lovers as it will always give you something new , inspire each other and can improve the performance of you setup with all the constructive ideas, of course there will be trial and error in this process which is inevitable! 

As usual here's some of my latest street works~~

Editor's Note

Click pic to enlarge. PJ Miaolai (Douk) U4 (Bluetooth) with Holland Amperex 6DJ8 on adaptor. Headphone Output as Preamp Output (Cable Sommer SC Club Mk II with generic 3.5 to RCA adaptor) into BRZ (Weiliang) FU50 (old-stock 6J7 on adaptors and WE422 rectifier). Loudspeakers Beydas "Stirling""15 ohm".

Letter from Hong Kong (24-18): The Thin Red Line

Dear Readers:

This is another letter from one of my better days...dictated more than a week ago, and edited now:

"...Last night Hong Kong's English television, the Pearl Channel, which usually airs lousy action flicks, suddenly put on a decent movie, Terence Malick's The Thin Red Line. Now, I am a big Malick fan and have actually seen almost all of his movies except this one. Imagine my delight when I found out it's on, and together with the commercials it was long - over three hours, just. All the Malick character traits could be found, except in this movie he uses mostly original music and less classical music, which is regrettable to me because I still remember his use of Mahler etc

My illness has mostly breached my body's defense and I am commencing more intense therapy which I am sure will cause ups and downs. Nonetheless, I am really pleased that the first round of therapy has improved my condition to the point that I am writing this article. This shall be a protracted struggle but I hope there will sometimes be windows of relative comfort which will enable me to write a little bit more. I actually miss writing and for the first time I am using Voice Typing, which saves my energy a bit.

From the above pic you can see that I have picked up enough energy to set up a system by the television, and longtime readers would recall this station, which was fairly complicated in the past (featuring one of my longtime favorites the Yamaha NS1000, as in here). As my illness limits my energy and forays I now seldom return to the old house where I still have some of my treasured gear (much of my best gear though followed my move to NYC in 2018). Instead, I hope that I will find enough energy to move some of those precious gear into my current abode so I hope that you shall see changes in the system very soon. Right now it is the most primitive system consisting of gear that I have brought back from Shenzhen. Reasonable sound but having those stuff here will enable me to do a little bit more in depth comparison which shall be perhaps interesting.

With my limited energy I would prefer and I hope you will understand that I will spend them on my own writing. This means I shall change a bit the way I edit. In a word, I shall probably not edit very much and you shall notice the difference. For me, Editing is not just proof reading but also an effort to enforce a uniform style, which may or may not be preferred by all. The Blogspot software is full of bugs and there is basically no support and little update. So authors who write on their own templates and then transfer them to Blogspot will find things deranged a bit. I used to try to ameliorate this and I have my ways but it has been time consuming and I shall not continue to do that. Hence, you shall find articles in more conversational or streamlined manner, which may actually be a good thing. In my own writing, I may also simplify. For example, although not read by many, my Classical Recommendations are important to me. Creating them is actually cumbersome as I try to import pictures of the albums into the troublesome Blogspot template. I thought of discontinuing this series, but I think I just may write things in a more notepad approach, raw.

There are articles coming from our other authors. ELO has actually accumulated a few and I am going to publish them soon. Shawn P also has some interesting stuff up his sleeves and I hope to read about them in due time.

For the meantime, I'm still here and I am very happy to be writing to you, as I have always been. I hope the next communication would come soon..

Cheers..."

以上来自我最喜欢（无二）的饭店，深圳的老大昌。超正宗的上海本帮菜，别的地方找不到的味道。由上而下：冷盘：醉鸡，熏鱼，海蜇，马兰头；草头，烤麸；韭黄鳝糊炒面，萝卜丝酥饼，素菜包。我每星期都会想去。

人气素食连锁素满香深圳店爆红，30元任食，被港人挤爆。

味道是不错的，不过不是每人都会喜欢搭台和磕磕碰碰。

回到街坊，现在少见超大平底锅煎的锅贴。深水埗元州街这家及格，

底脆而连在一起。馅也不错，只是皮稍薄。当然，要吃更好的，

只能飞去台北。

桂林街新荣记20元艇仔小碗但料足味道OK。肠粉等冷的就不要叫。

这面是即炒的，质感OK.

Micromega MyAmp

Vontage 15-ohm Rogers LS3/5A driven by Micromega MyAmp. AT Soundburger on silent display.

Letter from Hong Kong (24-17): Hard to Stomach

Dear Readers:

This is a letter to inform our Regular Readers of what's been happening to Me and the Blog. Even back a couple of months ago I'd not have thought I'd need to do this. It's been a busy few months, to be back in Hong Kong and living a "new/old" life.

What I had not informed readers is that long before we relocated I have been plagued by by health issues. It started with moderate gastric reflux almost two years ago. Proton Inhibitors (PPI) had not been effective in control. In the last few months, however, things have gotten worse. Now, I am plagued by increasing severity of symptoms, worse of all a nagging pain almost all day, and suffer from fatigue and insomnia (very rare for me). Amazingly, I don't even want to drink now. I have initiated work-up, which will take a bit of time. But it's hard to see this thing resolving soon.

What's amazing is that this nagging pain has managed to rob me of much drive to write, or edit. ELO has some articles in the pipeline, which he is re-organizing. I don't really have much to report myself as of this moment, save a snippet below.

So, you can expect less output here for a while. But hopefully there shall be moments of respite.

As Simple It Gets

Another amazing thing about the malaise is that for much of the time I am actually not in the mood for music. This is compounded by the fact that the apartment no longer has a "dedicated audio room", like I sort of did have in Shenzhen.

But we had lived in this same HK apartment for almost 6 years before returning to the US in 2018. In those years, I still experimented with a lot of stuff. It'd be instructive to re-visit some of my setups then (prototype here). Although I still have a lot of the equipment I had then, I'm not at all in a hurry or in the mood to re-build.

Part of the reason had to be that since the end of my NYC stay, from the beginning of the pandemic, I had gravitated to Streaming Music (simple USB and BT), and my setups have become simpler in general, certainly in my almost 4 years in Shenzhen. 

And now? In my old house I still play only CDs on tube equipment (like here) but that's not my regular abode. Think of that as my Reference. In this smaller apartment where I now stay, in one of my better moments I set up the simplest of system, certainly the simplest I've ever had:

(Old Samsung Galaxy S7 running Tidal and Bluetooth) Micromega MyAmp drives vintage Rogers 15-ohm  LS3/5A (SN 02631).

Micromega MyAmp In the same apartment I had used it before in a desktop system to great effect (basic info and my review see here). But I had never tested it in the larger living room, nor with LS3/5A. Although the MyAmp is full featured and can be hooked up to analog and digital sources, I only use the Bluetooth (spec AptX but my cellphone is not). The result was so musical it took this veteran of integrated amps by surprise. I played some of the tracks I played often in Shenzhen and came away with the impression that in some aspects of performance this simple system is just as good, if not better. Dvorak Symphonies 7-9 from Czech PO/Bychkov (Pentatone) are more taut and flowing than what I got in SZ (Bychkov is often too soft for me). This while preserving the timber of the massed strings very well. COE/Nezet-Sequin's Brahms (DG) also sounded more cogent and tonally integrated. That's surprising indeed.

The link I cited for MyAmp includes a reference to the HiFi Choice review by always reliable veteran David Price (used to write a lot for the old and quirky but fun HiFi World). I cannot do a better description of the MyAmp's abilities.

The most astonishing performance was Ural PO/Dimitry Liss' Shostakovich 15 (Fuga Libera). This most enigmatic last symphony has a super-coloristic score and the Russians here play it to perfection. You can just about forget most of the Western recordings. The soloists, from the concertmaster to the percussionists, make the notes just leap out from the loudspeakers. Even in my compromised state, I was thrilled and elated. Life affirming, yes.

My loudspeakers are not ideally positioned, but they sound very good. Bass is very respectable, perhaps positively aided a little by the IKEA racks. No smearing and rather taut and tuneful! Of course, the images are high but that's tolerable from a distance as long as the dispersed sound is musical. No doubt I shall tweak it from time to time. Adding a CDP (my venerable DVP-PR50P) shall be next I'd think.

The MyAmp surpassed my modest expectations. I expected a stop-gap but was instead rewarded by surprising competence and finesse. I think it's better than the same stable's more traditional IA-60 (here). Another example that a well-designed SMPS can bring superior results.

Caveats? Yes, the Bluetooth breaks off (and reconnects) occasionally (mind you, my cellphone is quite old). And once (only), I think it went into self-muting briefly (I think thermal protection) so, despite the reviews, I'd only use it with relatively efficient loudspeakers. The LS3/5A is not a perfect example but its impedance curve is benign.

There, my humble setup for now.

Leaving Shenzhen

pic of Dameisha, SZ, from the IC Hotel.

Letter from Shenzhen (24-10): Removal Notice

This is to let regular readers know that I'm in the midst of re-locating back to Hong Kong, for family reasons. It goes without saying that I'm crazily busy, and tired.

Articles, those by myself and others who need editing, are put on the back burner. I expect to pick up pace in two weeks or so.

It really is not leaving Shenzhen - like many HK people, we shall be back regularly. Perhaps I'd have more to say about my (almost) 4 years in SZ, when I get the time.

PJ Miaolai A7

Review: PJ Miaolai A7

If you are a regular reader and just casually glimpse at the large pic above, you shall be excused for mistaking this article to be a continuation of our Douk U4/PJ Miaolai A4 reports, but blink and stare again at the speaker binding posts! Yes, in the same tiny chassis, this is a complete amp!!!!

Let's see some Official Spec's:

A7 Parameters:

Audio input terminal: 3.5AUX stereo input, Bluetooth input

Voltage input: 12V

Rated output power: 8Ω 2*30W; 4Ω 2*50W

Headphone Amp Parameters:

Rated power output: 150MW+150MW, impedance 16-300 ohms

Distortion: THD+N: 0.004% (RL>10 kΩ)

Distortion: THD+N: 0.020% (RL=32 Ω)

Signal to noise ratio: >99 dB

Dynamic range: >99 dB

TPA3116 is a class D power amplifier IC, which can reach a modulation frequency of up to 1.2MHz. It has the characteristics of low power consumption, high efficiency, low distortion, and strong reducibility.

-The Bluetooth 5.0 module uses the QCC3008 chip, supports APT-X, APTX-LL. The decoding line uses the classic 1543 chip, and the external high-gain detachable antenna makes the sound quality low-latency high-fidelity lossless transmission.

-The headphone amp part uses the classic MAX9722 audio decoder chip.

-Adopt 6N3 tube, Bluetooth QCC3008 chip + 1543 decoder chip.

The now-forgotten A7 is definitely a cousin of the same company's older version A4. In fact, the relationship probably stemmed from really early on, when the TDA1543 chip had not yet run out. As we have emphasized in the Douk U4/PJ Miaolai A4 (U4/A4) threads quoted above, their current products do not sport the classic chip. And so we came to why I bought this amp - in the hope that its obscurity (nothing on the internet, and deadwood) means that I can get a TDA1543 product. Result? Well, I'm not sure at all! Read on...

I bought it for a very tiny sum during TB 618 (less than a bowl of wonton noodles in HK). The first thing I did when I received it was of course to open it up (hence the pic above). It's construction is very much like the U4/A4, with a daughter board housing the tube. Unfortunately, it's also seems to be hard-soldered to the main board via many pins. Again, this precluded my taking a good look as to whether there is a TDA1543 chip around. It's also amazing that the very limited space there can house an amp. Kudos to digital amp!

Facilities are very limited for this tiny amp. You have BT and 3.5 Aux in, that's all.

Earphone I didn't test it out, but I expect it to be exactly the same as the U4/A4, which is very good.

Bluetooth It shows up as PJ Miaolai (no, not A7, nor A4 etc), and seems to be very similar to its sibling A4 (Douk U4). Connectivity seems the same, that is with hiccups sometimes (follow the previous threads) but I'm OK with my old Samsung cell. I wish Shawn P and his App are around to tell me what this BT is, SBC? I'm pretty sure it is. Apt X support? Doubtful. But then, how good is the BT sound? Supported by a TB BT antenna, sound is as good as U4/A4, perhaps even better. The A7 is now permanent in my setup with the Sansui. It's good enough to have shifted my playback habits to more reliance on BT. When the sonic qualities are not so far away, BT can be very attractive.

Aux 3.5 works perfectly well and sounds very good, of course. I could have tested this input more but I didn't.

Power With only a 12V supply, the claimed output is likely way too optimistic. BUT, matched with my efficient Sansui speakers, sound was beyond reproach! With such limited real estate and minimal components, I'd think twice about increasing the voltage of the PS. It survived my 24V (very brief) but I'd not vouch for it. This 12V (rated at 4A) seems to be fairly powerful. But then my loudspeakers are efficient. It also drives my Beydas well enough.

Sound This is the million dollar question! I'm glad to report that it is very very good, provided you make a few adjustments: 1) I did not even use the stock Russian 6N3 and went straight to the JAN GE 5670 (see our U4/A4 threads); 2) it needs a bit of run in to smooth out some roughness; 3) it needs forgiving loudspeaker cables, like that provided by my "Belden 1309A" 

So? How good is that? I'm not sure how to say it. It's good enough to be a Reference here. In fact the A7's arrival significantly changed my setup here in SZ. It is now a permanent fixture for my Sansui loudspeakers. It made me use BT. It does not have the tonal generosity of my all tubed amplification but it makes up for it in its crisp and incisive delivery. THAT is a good few watts!

I'd reckon I'm hearing some of the TDA1543 qualities (supreme rhythm, at the expense of a little grain overall) but, since I cannot get to the part of the main board under the daughter board, I cannot vouch for it. If you do, let me know.

What I do know is that, this is a great little achiever! If your loudspeakers are efficient and the very limited input suits, think of trying it out. I haven't compared directly, but I'm pretty sure I prefer it to the Aiyima T9.