Dynaudio Excite X32 Lab12 Preamp Mark Levinson ML9 Weeput Bluetooth Cambridge DacMagic Plus

Click Pics to enlarge. Dynaudio Excite floorstander. Linn loudspeakers sold. Right rack ML9; center, Marantz, Cambridge, Weeput; left McIntosh combo.

Letter from Hong Kong (23-4): ELO Home Visit, From Below-Par to Highly Enjoyable

As I was instrumental in the selling of his Avalon Avatar to my friend, I have known Seven for almost half a year. Since then, we have been texting on hifi matters. He has a tendency to buying and selling often, sometimes reselling quickly, and equipment come and go like merry-go-round.

At first the performance of his setup was quite mediocre at best and did not arouse my interest at all. I admire his courage but the purchases he made are not things that I would usually consider. Recently, when he said he would like to try McIntosh amp, I told him about my bitter experience with my Dynaudio Compound 2 and McIntosh MC7300. Of course, like many Hifi lovers, he bought it anyway. Luckily, he actually bought the Dynaudio Excite X32 and Lab12 Preamp based on my recommendation.

He said he compared the X32 with Focal floorstander and Wharfadale Jade 5 and preferred the Focal (a name I also respect) to Dynaudio. He also told me the Lab12 Pre was not as good as his other DIY preamp.

Well, sometimes you never know! I just want to verify if what he said is in line with my ears, so one day I went to his rented space purely for hifi listening (what a luxury!) after work since it is just a stone throw away from my workplace.

Powered by his McIntosh combo and Marantz CDP, we tested the Focal against the Dynaudio. It was apparent in the interim the sound had improved from quite mediocre to acceptable, though still with some booming in the mids and lows. My preference was with Dynaudio and, after prolonged listening and sharing views, he came to my views and eventually sold the Focal. The Lab12 Preamp was not played on this occasion.

After a very short period of time, he bought a classic Mark Levinson ML-9 Amp and hooked it up to the Lab12 Pre. I revisited, bringing with me my Luna Orange speaker cables (that I have previously reported on) to see how it would sound in his setup. On this occasion, the CDP sounded OK, but was nothing to write home about. Then, I spotted a tiny Bluetooth device (oddly named Weeput, 小沛知音, from China) that was hooked up to a Cambridge DacMagic Plus. I immediately streamed Tidal from my cellphone to his BT device. Sound completely trumped his Marantz CDP, which in comparison sounded tired, veiled and lacking in sparks. While the McIntosh combo sounded rich, fleshy, slightly coloured and musical, Lab12 Pre/ML9 provided more details and better imaging, but with a leanness and slight austerity that was not to my taste. Luna Cable came to the rescue and once again shined with its true orange colour. The sound became more organic and musical, with good bass and convincing soundstage. Everything began to make sense, PRAT was preserved, and I was starting to enjoy the music tremendously through the BT device and Tidal music - what a transformation from before! Yet, a trace of hadness is still detected .

I also suggested he paired the Lab12 Pre with his McIntosh Amp. Surely, the next time I visited, it was hooked up and immediately uncovered a perfect synergy - the neutrality and speed of Lab12 paired perfectly with the lush and big sound from McIntosh. Previously on the verge of being dumped, the Lab12 Pre had become the last piece of the jigsaw puzzle that completed the picture! I am happy that the Lab12 has found a good home!



I then played the songs from my playlist, with different genres, and Seven was enlightened since I have opened up a whole new world of music to him and he found it so fascinating! He said he had never heard his setup's performance to be so good. He has upped his understanding of music 升呢 big time lol. Once you taste the best, you can no longer settle for less (not quite yet, but I like the rhyming)!! But, right now, I can spend extended time to enjoy music at his place, and that does not happen often to me.

The surprises for me are the superb quality of the Weeput 小沛 BT receiver/DacMagic combo as well as the quality of McIntosh Amp (all it just needs is the right preamp to pair with)!

Incidentally, I also found out on why before he and his friend had preferred Wharfadale. The bass coming out from the speakers was big and with copious quantity. However, to me it's lacking in finesse, timbral accuracy, details and shimmer. Musicians played as if they just had a hearty meal and were ready for a siesta, which to me is a big NO. What really shocked me was that I found out why his peers prefer that type of sloooow sound. They mainly listen to Canto pop with limited dynamic range! They seldom listen to any other types of music and actually enjoys SLOW sound even when it is supposed to have PRAT!

Streaming Bluetooth 47 Labs Gaincard Dynaudio Crafft NPR Tiny Desk Concerts

Letter from Hong Kong (20-1): Eric L on how 47 Labs Gaincard and $7 Bluetooth from Taobao came to his Rescue.

Editor's Preface: The author of today's article, Eric L, periodically communicates with me by email. After his recent comment on Bluetooth I invited him to write as a guest on his experience. Readers, do not be misled by his humility; he is actually quite an experienced audiophile who had things like Metrum DAC. I don't know his whole story, but I suspect he has left a lot behind him. Like any odd man out, Horn People, Infinity People, "Simple is Best" People just don't get to their desert islands without having wandered in the wilds for eons (and "paid their dues"!) I'd reckon too, someone who uses 47 Labs and Sparkler values Authenticity and Aesthetics. Enjoy!

************

Click Pics to enlarge. From Left: Sparkler CDP; icOn4 AVC; 47 Labs Gaincard. The thin cable is 47 Labs; the white thing is part of their proprietary connector. Eric is having a hard time installing them. Below is pic of the BT device which unusually plugs directly into the outlet (rather than use USB battery charge or connected by wall wart).

From Eric L

For my first post, I'd try to be concise and not to bore you. I'll start by declaring that I’m not a hifi hobbyist nor a DIY enthusiast, just a music lover on the cheap (hence a follower of this Blog). Gone were the days that I would spend days to fine tune my system. When I listen to music now, I would like to play at least one whole song/movement, and likely prefer playing the whole disc instead of just an excerpt (say, track 15 from 0:15s to 0:37s for the fathomless cymbals and ocean deep bass).

None of my equipment is expensive in today’s sense but neither are they are too cheap since I believe there’s a certain amount of money you have to pay to achieve decent quality; but I would stop at a price point and I think anything beyond is for the building up of ego. I do believe there are many cheap tricks which really work and are worth exploring as they do not hurt my wallet. I listen to mostly CDs as my LP collection was GIVEN away in Canada many years ago by my cousin when I moved back to HK…. CAS was untreaded territory for me until recently, when on the recommendation of a friend I started to explore Bluetooth.

Size matters or not? I no longer worship massive 100 kg heavy rigs to stroke my ego and bad back, nor will I chase after Carnegie Hall ambience in my modest 200 sq.ft living room. I just want to sit back and relax and tap my feet with the music playing though my system. My theory is simple: as long as music makes me tap my feet or draw my focus constantly when I’m doing something else, it must be something good!

I also believe in less is more, the simpler the better. There is a Chinese saying: one more incense urn only attracts one more spirit (多只香炉多只鬼), meaning the more you design the more trouble you create. That’s why my appetite runs to 47 Lab’s Gaincard and NOS DAC. My latest setup:

Sparkler S507 CDP (upgraded to version ii)
Cheapo BT receiver from Tao Bao played through my vintage Macbook Air (recent discovery~)
Recently acquired Life-Changer Audio icOn4 AVC (autoformer volume control)
47 Lab Gaincard (single Power Humpty, Duo before)
Dynaudio Crafft
47 Lab cables and Mogami speaker cables

As you can see, since I have a bad back, the smaller the equipment, the better for me. All my gears can be easily pulled or dragged down by inch-thick interconnects and power cords, which luckily I never use. Stock 47 Lab and Sparkler power cords are decent enough for me! Also WAF is sky high on the scale due to the innocent, cute and tiny looks of them!

I describe my system as extremely musical and with great microdynamics, which makes you understand what is playing and why the musicians play that way. Great PRAT, transparent sound with lots of purity and no trait of its own personality. I'd characterize my equipment as natural, not neutral, in character. If the musicians and recordings are superb, I will be rewarded by great performances that entice me to press the repeat button if not restrained by my wife.

Bluetooth
Regrettably, my Sparkler CD/Amp combo I had acquired a couple years ago cannot effectively drive my Crafft loudspeakers [Editor: See Footnotes 1 and 2]. I borrowed a pair of 47 Lab Lens, which are supposed to be easier to drive, but the results were still far from what I got previously [Editor: See Footnote 3]. I was wondering what my next step would be…

One day, my friend called me as he had found a great “gadget”. He is a bit more adventurous than me anyway. He told me that his 7 USD Bluetooth receiver from Tao Bao (yes you heard me correct, seven bucks) directly plugged in, worked a treat in his system! Of course I was nonchalant about it but he was so kind to get me one for free~ thx man!

I hooked it up to my Sparkler integrated amp and, without any difficulties, it connected with the Macbook Air in my system and produced sound which was good enough for background music.

Fast forward to the day that I finally decided to pull the trigger and send my CDP to be upgraded to version ii and to be switched back from current mode to voltage mode so that I could again hook up my Gaincard, which was boxed. As Sparkler is a one man band (the designer DIY's every single order) I expected I would only get my CDP back in a month or two, which was fine as I had become used to no music.

While waiting for the upgraded Sparkler CDP, I took my Gaincard out from the box and hooked it up to my little BT device and connected it to my Crafft [Editor: See Footnote 4]. And my, oh my, everything came back to life! All the missing dynamics, details, musicality and even tuneful bass were again present and, surprisingly, the source was my humble Macbook Air paired to a cheapo BT device only!! The YouTube video channel Tiny Desk Concerts, which specializes in Indie music, was music to my ears again (especially the videos of The Free Nationals with Andy .Paak and Chronixx, as well as Raveena). I couldn’t stop tapping my feet with the tuneful and rich bass lines! Overall, the sound was way better than using Spotify on my old Android phone. So I would happily stick to the current combo. The only drawback is the finicky connection between my Mac Air and the BT: sometimes it works perfectly with no glitches but often I'd need to restart by unplugging the power from the outlet, which could be a compatibility issue. But that doesn’t bother me one bit as long as I have got music!!!! Perhaps the iFi Zen Blue will be the perfect solution…….lol

How would I describe the sound? With the right music channel, it’s organic, dynamic, tuneful, with reasonable details to get me going. No, you won’t pick up the breathing of the singer, nor the unlimited decay of instruments, and it lacks ultimate resolution in hifi terms. But I am enjoying every bit of the music it reproduces. I can imagine listening to internet radio or high quality music files using a better BT device; it will be heaven for me!!! Looking forward to getting the iFi Zen Blue!

Next time, I would like to talk about my impression of my newly acquired icOn4 AVC line control unit from Life-Changer Audio, plus, possibly, covering the ceramic balls used to support the gears and speakers. Old technology, cloned, bought so cheaply from, again, the almighty Tao Bao! My friend raves on and vows they significantly improve the overall performance and are probably among the best accessories he has ever had!

Here are links on The Free Nationals and Raveena:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1VKZUg8XZA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pre9lE3Wa78

Another one by FKJ is also my recent favorite!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuc9C-C6Ldw

Update from Editor: As I neared the end of my edit, I received an email from Eric. Just as I thought in my preface, he is definitely an aesthete. Guess what? Not only was he previously a blog writer on the now defunct Yahoo Wine and Dine, he is an avid photographer. Visit his Instagram Account @ericlovesfuji to see his works, one of which I chose to place on top. As an Indie Audio Blog, I also dig his liking of Indie Music. Mind you, given the current music landscape, classical music is kinda Indie.

Editor's Footnotes: The casual reader may want to know [1] The Dynaudio Crafft, circa 1989, is Dynaudio's first monitor loudspeaker. Among audiophiles, it is known for its Esotar tweeter (though not the most coveted version) and its inefficiency (supposedly 86 db but much harder to drive than similarly spec'ed LS3/5A!). It has its adherents, but Eric's Sparkler amp likely only has 7 watts, an impossible task; [2] Sparkler favors current mode connection so its CDP can work with its own amp but not with conventional voltage mode operations (like the 47 Labs) unless converted back to voltage mode. The amp though likely has 1 voltage mode input; [3] The 47 Labs Lens (4722) is 47 Labs' first loudspeaker. I once had its alnico younger sibling, the 4737 and it definitely benefited from more solid state power (here); [4] The Gaincard only has one input. Also, if I remember correctly, the HK fellow I bought my 47 Labs Shigaraki digitals from used the Gaincard to drive the equally inefficient KEF 107. Comments (1) Old Apple products have terrible BT compatibility problems, so a better BT device may bring better sound but not necessarily better connectivity; (2) I can't wait to read about the icOn4. As it can have more inputs I'd like to hear about BT vs Sparkler CDP; (3) I sampled some of the music Eric mentioned. Tiny Desk Concerts is an NPR production which one can follow. They are excellent and in fine HD sound. I sampled others which are just as good. I embedded two at the bottom; the Chronixx is not from the NPR series.

The Yumcha Diaries 飲茶後記: 14-08-10

The Yumcha Diaries 飲茶後記: 14-08-10

A good breakfast is a good start
Danz and his brother-in-law Sang picked me up early, to return some things to me and to loan me the little known Airtight MSM-1 Bonsai full-range speakers, of which I shall write a review later (it's magnificent! But does it give the Kiso a run for its money? Stay tuned) . Then we went to Sang's place nearby in Yuen Long for breakfast.

Perhaps we all should go audition or buy gears only when we had started our day with a good breakfast. This was what I got (and would not expect less) from Sang. Home (machine) -made bread! It's not the breakfast I'm sure, but Sang's setup has rather dramatically improved to a quite musical degree. The only significant difference from the last visit was the CD transport (visits 1, 2, and 3). He has abandoned his expensive Acuustic Arts CDP for the Sonic Frontier SFD-2 a long time ago, but now he is not even using it as a transport! Now, the old California Audio Lab Delta served very well, much more musical to my ears!

We sampled quite a few CDs over breakfast. I particularly enjoy early music in the morning, and Anne Sophie von Otter's "Lamenti" (DG111) and Musica Antiqua Koln's Bach Brandenburg's (DG) were refined and fluent.

After the great start, we took a ride out to Mongkok. It marked the first time I travelled on the newest bridge in HK, between Tsing Yi and Kwai Chung. The panoramic view of HK is spectacular, but hard to capture in a car, better in a helicopter!.

Old friends, incl Feikeung the Butterfly
The yumcha was full of surprises. As if the pleasant surprise of having Thomson and ilovesonata was not enough, feikeung, aka On9, appeared out of nowhere. As usual, we were totally upstaged by him. He and I talked about the Nagra PLP as headphone amp, but his monster Sennheiser would be a real challenge!

After yumcha only two of the nine people (aside from the inseparable twin Thomson + Frankie) made it to Thomson's place, and that's definitely their lost!

How could I have forgotten the coffee!
Thomson's setup I have visited I think twice before, and it has always been a good-sounding setup, aided by a wonderfully proportioned room. But this time, within the first few CDs played, I knew the sound has been upped a whole notch, and notable for its excellent balance. The setup is "simple" and more or less as before:

Digital: Studer 730
Vinyl: Linn LP12 (full updates I believe), Ekos-Archiva on Andante-Largo stands
Phonoamp: Linn Linto
Preamp +Amp: Cello Suite + Palette + Performance
Speakers; Dynaudio Evidence Master

First came a long CD session, and sound was immediately appealing, balanced across the full spectrum, equally adept at portrayal of intimate chamber music as well as symphonic scores. To name a couple: early Accardo playing small concert pieces was quite a treat, the sound full of rosin and lively; 鬼太鼓 full of special effects. But the CD I enjoyed the most was a track from "Star Wars: Return of the Jedi"; the low brass music was surely a challenge for any system, and this system rendered it with complete tonal accuracy and not a trace of excess.

The LP session that followed was even more delightful. Every strand in Saint Saens' Organ Symphony (EdW/Philips) could be heard, though perhaps the full organ was just a little lean. Michaelangili's Mozart concerto was delightful, the piano sound full and realistic. I asked for a Mercury, and got Dorati's Firebird (original pressing). Not a hair out of place.

We talked about the Cello Performance driving the big Dyna's so successfully. This pair cannot be easier to drive than Wilson speakers, say. I wonder why some people over-kill and use 2 pairs. It's all in the implementation. More is often less.

Thomson has always been a great host. The Italian red was wonderful, a little spicy and with good finish, complimenting the system to a T. We spent almost 3 hours there and I forgot completely about the coffee, and my umbrella left years ago!

As is sometimes the case, feikeung bestowed a gift for me, the Spanish film Alas de mariposa, which I watched in fascination later that evening. The complicated relationship in the family was really touching, and it is a beautiful and sensitive film indeed, from 1991. That's a long time ago! Thank you, feikeung!