Kinnie Bluetooth Player RCA PA-103 PB-23 JBL K2-9500

Letter from Hong Kong (24-14): Another Longest Day, Part II

JBL K2-9500 and RCA Summit

I forgot to mention in my report on the visit to Take One Audio that, finally, I met our author Shawn P for the first time. He's had a rough few months (including 2 false medical alarms for family members, imagine!) and I'm glad that things have sorted themselves out now. jules also joined us there.

JBL K2-9500 After Take One, we decamped to the den of Brother Shan 山哥, also in a nearby Industrial Building. What a luxuriously large space that, unusually, doesn't have any clutter at all. The host is apparently a neat man who doesn't like too many things lying about.

Apparently, this pristine pair of JBL is on loan (I'm envious that these fellows with large spaces often get donor items to play with) They were driven very nicely by a pair of DIY 211 SE amps (with KT66 drivers) that sport many transformers (including inter-stages), the most expensive of which being some Bartolucci (apparently the Italian is controversial and very tardy in delivering his stuff). Preamp is DIY VT-25 (10), very unusual. Source was mostly the excellent Kinnie Blue Tooth Player (previously reported here) via digital out to the DAC of the Esoteric CDP. Esoteric has never been a personal fav, and we briefly tried and preferred Kinney's own analogue out. Overall, a very decent performance! Most of us think the 9500 sounds better than the later 66/67000. I also have previously heard an excellent 9800, driven by my humble integrated tube amp Fisher X-101-C (it slaughtered FM Acoustics on that day)!

RCA Summit Shawn had to leave and the four of us went for a quick dinner. After dinner, we decamped to Taimonsing's place. You have met this RCA man before (here and here)! 

This is the pinnacle of RCA Tube amps, RCA's answer to Western Electric 41/42/43. In the above pic, the Preamps and Amps are housed in the tall Equipment Rack in the center, whereas the Booster Amps are slightly to the rear, on the right. The huge PG105 horns heard on the day.

PA-103 (Preamp): Tube complements are 57 driving 59.

PB-23 (Booster Amp): 45 PP Amps heard on their magnificent own before (here). UY224A and 56 driving 45 PP. Rectifier is 80.

PB-45 (Amp): 845 PP. 866 Rectifiers. This place otherwise has all old-stock tubes but here Chinese 845s are used. Understandably, as almost no sellers can test these high voltage tubes buying old-stock is like a gamble.

As to be expected at Taimonsing's place, the sound was excellent. With the huge amount of power on hand (845 PP) the soundstage was pushed backwards and images were rock steady. Observations: 1) compared to the PB-23 (45 PP) by itself in the last visit the sound was more expansive but necessarily lost some refinement and subtlety; 2) but it was not at all completely without, as the sound was still mellifluous, and definitely carrying some traits of the 45 Booster Amps; 3) the PB-45 (845 PP) to my ears are superior to the very similarly structured Ballantyne MX-24, also heard last time. IMHO, at least part of this has to do with the transmitting tube employed. The Ballantyne uses 805, which in my experience has never really roused me even with old-stock tubes, in SE (like Wavac or some modern Chinese proponents) or PP configurations. Whereas 845 is different. My Unison Research Smart 845, even SE, minimal and using Chinese tubes, sounded marvelous in its hey-days! Problem is, old-stock 805s are still affordable and plentiful whereas 845 are really risky!!

The system's perfectly healthy condition now can be certified by the performance of just one LP cut that I requested. It was the same Shostakovich Symphony No. 13 (RCO/Haitink, Decca) played before. Now, everything is well sorted!

MARVELOUS! I'm really lucky to have experienced this kind of thing! Thx to my hosts and icefox for the arrangements!

2 Stage Preamp, VT25 drives VT25. Kinney Bluetooth Player (black)

with integral Antenna (golden "X'mas Tree")

Note the Blue Glow of the Mercury Vapor tubes 866, similar to those

used in Ballantyne and WE

UMI Class A Amp JBL 4365 K29800SE Air Tight Meixing Raphaelite

Preview: UMI 优美 Class A Amplifier
Letter from Shenzhen (23-15): Great Food 吃喝玩樂 and JBL

All of a sudden, with a few days on hand, and access to a car, we embarked on an impromptu journey to some nearby Guangdong cities. It was a jam-packed 2 days, chronicled here in order. 天時地利人和，又有两位任勞任怨的司機，故臨時起義，驅車北上，兩天壹夜，吃喝玩樂之際沒忘音響正事。

Shunde, 顺德
Shunde is famous for its authentic Cantonese food. I had some advice from our own ELO, who apparently goes there often. He remarked that there is no bad eat there. This past Thursday, we started out mid-morning from SZ and had lunch at a famous local restaurant 黄但记 (new shop). Very nice! 順德菜不用介紹。本刊作者ELO 常去，说揾食容易，鲜有不好吃的。星期四中午打卡黄但记，吃得快樂，普洱茶也不俗。自家陳村粉質感壹流，薄但彈牙，XO 醬兜兜，就把其它油膩炒河粉比了下去。鵝腸超值，最關鍵是新鮮，咬下去不止有咬的爽脆感還有延續的延綿質感，不是冰凍貨可以比。那微甜的醬味不是香港人熟悉的，但吃上海菜大的我覺得非常棒。柚皮本身好的，鮑汁卻過濃，好此味者應該點蝦子。點心也不錯。

Then, thanks to the suggestion of ELO, we went to the nearby He Museum 和 美術館. Designed by no less than Takao Ando, it was a perfectionist endeavor 7 years in the making. We didn’t have that much time so just walked around the immaculately finished and landscaped exterior (a rarity in China) and went in to survey the cafe and admire the pond. Still, we got a glimpse of some classic Ando touches, like the regularly spaced small punched out wells in concrete walls in which one can glimpse small bits of exposed supporting steel rods. I attach at the bottom some ELO photo of the inside. In case you wonder why is this museum here? Well, it was built as a statement by Chinese Appliance Giant Midea 美的, whose headquarters are right across the street. 然後去打卡電商巨頭美的總部旁邊的“和”美術館（嚴謹制作，打造7年！）。不用說，建築師名家安藤忠雄出品，必屬佳作！

Foshan City 佛山市, Lingnan Xintiandi 嶺南新天地
Then we drove another hour. Built by Hong Kong’s Shui On Group, the first and most famous Xintiandi (new world) is of course the one in Shanghai, which I have never been to. This one though is mightily impressive (for pics and comprehensive plans, see here). The Lingnan style roof structures, color scheme and deliberately carved out alleys and backways seemed quite authentic. I didn’t take any pics but we did enjoy coffee here. We perhaps only did half of it, so big it is! Lots of wonderful looking cafes and restaurants and interesting shops and stalls. 瑞安打造的嶺嶺南新天地非常大，除了經典的顔色和屋頂，還喜見非常多細節，雖然花街柳巷是營造的，卻毫不違和，值得壹贊！喝了杯咖啡，舒服！

Class A Amp in center, flanked by matching mini loudspeakers. But we mostly heard the much larger 35 clone on stands. Own CDP (lower left) was used, fed into the UMI 1:1 transformer (small black box on top). 

UMI 优美 (UMLAUDIO)
Another hour of driving and we arrived at a vast industrial district (Foshan is one of the important industrial centers; all our apartment steel doors come from there). UMI is actually a maker of transformers, especially step-downs, that are sold world wide. Regular readers would have read about its astonishingly good 1:1 Audio Transformers 音频牛 (Report by ELO, who now cannot do without it; I can't either, but have yet to write a detailed long report, soon...). The audio section is a hobby and fringe part of the UMI, not its main business (strangely, note that officially they are UMLAUDIO, not a typo!). The section is small, with a couple of technicians working and a small audio room. I had been wechatting with the Engineer Mr Li, David 李工, who had told me about his small and cheap Class A amp. It sounded very good with their own 3/5 clone loudspeaker and top loading CDP. But what truly impressed me was the focused sound I got from my cellphone Tidal via the built in Bluetooth Receiver. I was quite smitten by the full bodied sound of the cello and piano I got from the new Sony album of Raphaela Gomes (now a personal fav). I should have a review sample in due time and look forward to testing it out in detail. We also listened to the very cheap matching small speakers and they are really quite decent by themselves (when not compared to the bigger 3/5s)! A very good (in both looks and sound) complete system for a reasonable price. The inside of the amp shows quality parts, including capacitors. Of course, the transformers are all bespoke. The small one is for digital and standby functions. There is no heat-sink. Instead, the output devices are affixed onto metal tunnels with fan cooling. Parts quality is decent, so I don’t understand how they can make money! 行也匆匆，接下来去了一个工業區探访优美音响的李工。李工是個非常溫文的人，話不多，是個實幹派！我們報道過他那冇得頂的1:1音頻牛，是個寶物。這次聽了他那膽前石後的甲類合拼機，雖然只有20瓦，配搭他家的仿35，聲音却非常靠譜。更令我驚訝的是藍牙非常好聲。也聽了那配對的小小喇叭系統，都非常稱職。看看機器裏面那些零件，尤其電容，都不錯的。變壓器都是自家的，這個價，我覺得沒錢可賺，屬于打天下産品。其實音響只是這公司的小副業，主業是各種變壓器。我將會詳細測試這部合拼機，請留意下文。

Sanshui 三水
Another hour of driving to Mr. Lai’s 黎先生multiple award-winning restaurant 假日豬肚包雞. Mr Qian 钱先生met us there. I first visited this restaurant in 2007 while on a trip with some HK audiophiles, and the superb signature dish (chicken wrapped in pork stomach) had been etched in my memory. So wonderful to have a second act! Most gratifyingly, the second act was just as good as the first! 又壹個小時去到三水。時隔15年又去到黎先生獲獎無數的餐廳假日豬肚包雞，新店環境更好，重要的是重溫舊夢壹樣那麽味/美好！黎生溫文典雅，像書生多過餐館老板，端莊的太太也熱情招呼我們，壹謝再謝！你如果去三水，這是必需打卡的地方！深圳，甚至香港，豬肚雞到處都是，但你吃壹次你就會明白檔次。那酸菜魚也是驚喜，酸菜自家腌的，而魚是即殺的，微辣也惹味！牛丸超正，是軟的，牛肉味重，不像潮汕那些只有質感的。如果香港飲茶那些所謂蒸牛肉是用這丸子就發達了！正哦！

Click pics to enlarge. Center Air Tight 2-chassis Preamp. R Philips CDR700. JBL K29800SE. Air Tight amps behind. See bottom pics.

JBL K2-9800SE
After this, we retired to Mr Lai’s home nearby to listen to his JBL K2-9800 SE. I had heard the regular version many years in HK. It was to my liking and so it proved here. Unfortunately, we could not listen for very long as one Air Tight 211 monoblock developed a problem that made the sound wax and wane. 跟著去了黎先生家聽 JBL 9800SE, 聲音不錯但有問題，壹只後級有故障，右聲道時有時無，需要維修。希望下次來可以正瞻風貌（还要喝多点酒）。

Goodnight! 累！休息！
Exhausted, we retired to a local hotel. For 2xx rmb including breakfast, it was a good deal (but the coffee was horrid). 入住了三水的佳田酒店，OK, 二百多連早餐。早餐非常好，味道可以，居然有牛腩粉，我吃了兩碗，還有皮蛋瘦肉粥，各種雞蛋配菜，超值。可惜咖啡是三合壹，非常糟糕！只能喝菊花枸杞茶。啡友不宜。

JBL4365. Center top Meixing 300B Preamp driving the 211 PP monos. Flanking R top Philips CDR700, below which (silver chassis with 2 knobs) a SE version of UMI 1:1 transformer. See bottom pics.

JBL 4365
In the morning, Mr Qian picked me up and we went to his large room (about twice or thrice the size of Mr Lai’s) to listen to his JBL 4365, which is like a professional (and cheaper) 9800. Sound was very good and typical of modern JBL monitors. As for the equipment, it was obvious Mr Lai just followed Mr Qian, a lot of duplication. CD source was the same venerable Philips 700 (TDA 1547 1-bit), so you know the host likes things musical. Here were also the Air Tight 211 monoblocks, but not in use. Instead, Amplification was all Meixing (Mingda), a monstrous 300B Preamp and a back-breaking monoblock pair of 211 PP (only one pair for PP; the other 2 are for rectification!). Vinyl was played on an Amari TT sporting a Hana SL cartridge, fed into a delightfully retro-looking 2-chassis Raphaelite Preamp. As is the norm, the amps took a while to warm up and just when I started to really get into things my cohort came to pick me up for the next stop. It’s worth noting that Mr Qian is very exacting about details and power cleanliness. He DIYs all his own cables (also used by Mr Lai) and spends a lot of time tweaking. It’s also interesting Mr Qian does not believe much in damping the room, nor cares much about soundstaging. Yet music sounded very clean and focused. 早餐完，錢生把我接去了他家。器材不少，但非常整潔。錢生個性豪爽，直來直去，岩我嘴型。系統聲如其人，也是直接爽快。玩音響方面，錢生可比我執著甚多，凡事壹絲不咎。電是直拉入房間的，經過多重處理。所有線都是自家焊的。音源必需有相位選擇。CD 出來接優美李工的1:1音頻牛，不過是特別版。放大是美星旗艦一套（這篇文章描述非常詳盡）。那300B前級比我的300B後級重3倍，用膽2倍！單聲道211壹邊四根，兩根是推環，另兩根原來是整流！真系，哦地見識少！Amari 唱盤經拉斐爾前級播放，聲音濃郁，和數碼截然不同。另外，虽然钱生对音场定位不是特别注重，东西还是聚焦的。钱生也不特意房间处理，这点和我一样，但他花很多功夫在避震上。值得留意，黎先东西很多都是钱生设置的，所以结构和声音略同。可惜，正進入狀態之際，同行來接我，只有期待下次拜訪！

Back to Shunde 顺德 2
Our trip back to SZ passed through Shunde again, so we quickly hit a clay pot rice place. Again, very good! 匆忙原因之壹是我要趕回深圳晚上聽音樂會。回程又經過順德，順路快快打卡了一個網紅煲仔飯。非常地茂，不便宜, 但食料超新鮮，淡口但美味。那腐乳通菜我們吃了兩碟，沒吃過那麽美味的！味道和香港的完全不壹樣，我琢磨有加酒和糖。

Back to SZ 回到深圳
Thanks to my drivers, I made it back in time for the concert by the SZSO. Mahler 3, wow! Just lovely! What a fulfilling 2 days! 趕回深圳聽音樂會，深交的馬勒3棒！

Midea Headquarters 美術館對面美的總部

Chicken wrapped in Pork Stomach Hotpot 無敵猪肚鸡

Air Tight Preamp (PS separate)

Air Tight 211. All Cables by Mr. Qian 黎生處所有線材都是錢生做的

錢生 美星 300B Preamp 前级

Amari 唱盤。墨綠2部是拉斐爾前級

右側是煲仔飯餐廳 黃鳝，排骨，臘味都好，但米粒太碎，是敗筆。

鹽水雞，五柳旦都淡味，我喜歡。

SZ Symphony Mahler 3! 深圳音樂廳深圳交響樂團馬勒3！

Below are ELO's pics of the Interiors of the He Museum 和 美術館 内部

JBL C60 Altec A5 A7 604E Tannoy GRF Memory Electrovice B&W Matrix 801

Click pics to enlarge. JBL C60 against the wall. Citation IV atop the center pile driving McIntosh MC240, next to which was the Citation I.Note the huge Kronzilla to the right.

Letter from NYC (23-11): Labor Day Weekend+, Part II (Sunday), The Longest Day

Written in Shenzhen

(Continued from Part I (Saturday)) MJ came by in the morning and listened to my systems a bit. He was particularly taken by the deep airy soundstage produced by the LS3/5A in my LR (Yamamoto; Elekit, here). I packed some of the food I cooked on Saturday and we went over to Kevin's place, where he in short succession demonstrated his Altec 604E, B and W  Matrix 801, Infinity RS-1 and Altec A7 (I have profiled him extensively in many articles; will have an updated article somewhere down the line). We had lunch there with the stuff I brought over, supplemented with some nice Chinese chives (grown in the backyard) sauteed with bean sprouts. Andy was waiting for Godot in the morning. By 1 pm, Godot had not turned up and we were very happy to have our group leader join us. We picked him up and headed to Roslyn Heights.

Chez MJ We first hit his basement, and were immediately overwhelmed by the sheer number of large vintage loudspeakers and gear. It is an L-shaped basement (see diagram). We enter first into the long-stroked arm. At the Tip of the Letter were the Altec 604E and a pair of EV, driven by very simple disc player and an old Sansui Receiver. The Altec cabinet is a little larger than Kevin's and I thought it also sounded a little richer. Not bad at all for the very difficult to get right 604E (like the bigger A series, most suffer from crossover woes). The EV Fullrange was also surprisingly organic.

Like soldiers going through landmines, we advanced inch by inch and sat down on the sofa and listened to the JBL C60. Wow! It's like the big brother of the 4320 the day before! Significantly larger with an extra passive 15" woofer. Driven by Citation IV and McIntosh MC240 the sound was utterly engrossing! And the LP was played on a humble Technics SL-1200 with a Denon DL-103 (rare variant D), Denon Step-Up but a cheap "professional" DJ phonoamp! Streaming through a Marantz, much like Sam. As you can see in the pic, the C60 is propped up on a dolly. Andy raised the question of listening to them in the original state, on the floor (though the tweeter would be quite a bit below ear level. And then there is the question of taking the mid driver and tweeter out and putting them on top - something many JBL users do to improve the sound.

How good is the C60? Near the top, for my taste. Incidentally, I had written a brief JBL Overview before, so you know where I stand. Looks like I have to update it! As I mentioned in Part I of this series, my hitherto favorite has always been the L300. But the C60 has mighty attributes of its own, like an extra, albeit passive 15" woofer. The sound of the C60 (as of now) tilts towards the bass, whereas the L300 likely has a more evenly sorted sound. It hardly matters - we are smitten! Kevin is already on the lookout. Andy and I have no more space.

And then we turned the corner to the short leg of the L. At the end was a pair of Altec A5, with Wood Horns! It was being driven by a pair of Acrosound EL34 monoblocks to good effect. Of course, this wing of the L shaped room is just too confining for the A5. Source was classic half-size Esoteric VRDS Transport and DAC. Preamp was a DIY by one of their friends. Beneath are some Stromberg Carlson integrated amps. I asked to substitute the Oliver Sayes 43 SE amp (this one had 1x 6SL7 and a 5Y3). I heard much the same mellifluous sound as the 71A amp I had at home (although the 43 is indirectly heated pentode and 71A DHT).

One thing I learned recently is, much to my surprise, Altec's can be less efficient than I thought. With my YL horns (YL drivers and Altec 416A woofer) the Oliver Sayes 71A (0.7 watts) was more potent than here with the 43 driving the A5. Similarly, at Kevin's my Conar SE EL84, though tonally excellent, was not that powerful with the 604E (article to come).

Flanking the Tannoys are the Klipsch Forte's used in HT. Pair of Chartwell LS3/5A on stands. Pair of Spendor SP-100 idle on left.

Chez Philip Phil lives across the Street and came over to MJ's for a while and we all followed him back to his VERY large basement. Aside from the speaker change, the room looked much as before. Unlike Sam and MJ, Phil maintains a more minimalist outlook. The Tannoy GRF Memory is earlier than Sam's, with Cork face. We're not sure if they are TW's, Alnico or Ferrite. Phil still uses the McIntosh MX110 tuner-preamp (hidden in cabinet), a great bargain in my book, which drives a pair of McIntosh MC-60 (atop cabinet). Streaming was through a Gold Note two-box (in open cabinet). Sound was decent and much like at Sam's, though here due to the wide separation and heavily carpeted and large space less focused and softer. But it was still very musical. However, with old Jazz, say a Trio, it's ridiculous - there is too much of a ping pong effect with one player far away on the right and another on the left. Many of these old stereos have weak centers to start with, so this is a problem. After giving it thought, I recently told Phil mono jazz small combo albums will likely play better in this system, though we didn't try it that day. With classicals and orchestrals, the wide span was not so much a problem. We also tried out his humble analog setup of Pioneer PL-12 TT and AT95 Cartridge. Through the MX110's excellent phono section. sound was decent. There was however significant imbalance between the levels of the 2 channels, which I balanced by using the MX110's convenient Level Controls (tubes need to be checked). The tone of Michael Rabin (Seraphim LP) was surprisingly opulent, but the orchestral part was kinda grey. We tried to play CDs but the player was unresponsive.

This room is really too large. If I had known years ago, I'd not have recommended the SP-100 for him. In the plan below I show my idea of how to improve placement, but of course I understand everybody has constraints. I know some upgrades and a rack are in the works but re-positioning will have even more decisive impact. just brainstorming.

The highlight of the evening was an outdoor BBQ. What's a Labor Day Weekend without one? The food was simple but high quality, washed down with good wine. We were joined by the two wives (delightful) and another audio friend Johnny, a seasoned vintage veteran whom the mosquitos zoomed in on. Andy and I were completely unscathed. The only regret of the day was that Sam could not have joined us, as he was having too much fun laboring in Las Vegas.

Below a clip of Phil's, all from a cheap cheap TT! 

 L, Phil's room now. R, my suggestion of subdividing by 2-3 ft. This allows for the Tannoys

to be closer together and have more soundstage behind. It'd also make connectivity better.

The TV being closer would be more impressive too.

L, Room Plan of MJ as of now. R, my suggestions

  

Preview: MJ's latest! Too bad I can't be there! Boy, these guys move fast!

Tannoy GRF Memory JBL 4320

Click pics to enlarge. JBL 4320 in front of Tannoy GRF Memory. Japanese (100V) 2A3 amp in foreground. Dared 300B PSE monoblocks in cabinet, atop of which are the Harmon Kardon Citation I and Lafayette Preamps. Cary 300B SEI atop a McIntosh Preamp. The shelf above shows McIntosh MR71 tuner, atop of which a Cary preamp and to the left a WE421A amp. More vintage on the shelf above, including Eico.

Letter from NYC (23-10): Labor Day Weekend+, Part I (Saturday), Labor of Love

Written in Shenzhen. Updated 9/10/23: Some corrections, re-writes and expansion (shaded boxes). Latest Video of  JBL 4320 added.

The weekdays before the Labor Day Weekend were unusually peaceful. Andy was having his contractors cleaning up his yard, and I was busy tidying up things before my departure. Things then happened so quickly all of a sudden that the older ones among us had great trouble keeping up! These new characters are much younger than Kevin and I, not to mention Andy. I certainly had a hard time sorting out the events for this article (especially since a lot of drinking was involved)!

The ball actually started to roll long before, when we visited R. As mentioned, I met Simon's friend Sam (in Whitestone - we all live close by) for the first time there, and it proved pivotal, indeed catalytic. Sam mentioned that we have a common acquaintance, Philip (in Roslyn Heights). Indeed, said Philip many years ago asked me some questions about Spendor SP-100, and I actually met up with him several times then (even with Andy!) Apparently, Philip had more recently taken after Sam in acquiring the Tannoy GRF Memory. I was delighted as I thought Philip had called it quits (his children were very young then). Sam had to fly away on Sunday, and Philip and family were coming back from the Carribean Saturday night, so Sam and I arranged to meet on Saturday with the wild hope of hopping over to Philip later (it was not to be).

Saturday was a long day! Sam had to go to New Jersey in the morning to pick up a pair of JBL 4320. I knew it was going to be a long day, so in the morning I prepared rice, a large pot of Beef Shank (金钱腱) Stew, and Chinese Cabbage with Bean Pockets (油豆腐). Richard came in from Manhattan, picked me up and drove to Sam's place around 2 o'clock. The timing was perfect, not a minute too soon, as Sam's return home was delayed because his pick-up truck had developed problems during the trip. We met Sam's friend MJ (Michael, also from Roslyn Heights, friend and neighbor of Phil, who was with him on the NJ trip. Later, Kevin joined us.

First, we listened to the Tannoy GRF Memory. This is the later one with Wood front baffle. Sam mentioned later it had upgraded German paper cones. Sound was excellent. TT was VPI HW-19 with early Graham arm sporting a VdH cartridge. Forgot the step-up. Preamp was the Citation I (also tried the Lafayette) and Amp was a Dared PSE 300B monoblock. Digital duties were served by a modern Marantz CDP/Streamer.

A word on these Tannoy GRF Memory. There were many generations (confusing) and they are basically predecessors of the Canterbury HE (which itself spawned SE etc). The earliest ones were Cork faced and there were designations of HW, TW, TWW etc.  Sam's later version is bi-wired (just like the later Canterburys). Only the very early ones were Alnico. Sam's is Ferrite. For the Prestige Canterbury HE that I have (and subsequent iterations) Tannoy had reverted back to Alnico. The sound is much more balanced and dynamic than older Silvers and Reds. This blog wrote profusely on the modern Canterbury's, which I believe are the best! These GRFs are very impressive. Indeed, Sam's pair sounded just like my Canterburys, and count among the very few best Tannoys setups (in HK heard too many horrible Silver and Red setups) that I have heard. Do not confuse these with the earlier corner GRF, nor the later Prestige GRF (alnico but 12").

Of course, we could not resist and asked for the JBL 4320. As with old JBLs (and TADs), only spring clip terminals in the back. Sam, an experienced DIY person, made some cables and adaptors on the spot. Sound was of course much more neutral than the Tannoy. Even though they had not been used in a long time and were suboptimally placed in this room, both Richard and I nodded enthusiastically in approval. We just loved the realism. We switched to a Japanese 2A3 amp that sports full Tango transformers (including interstages) and old stock double plates. Sound was sweeter but lacking a little heft. Now, I'd love to hear a stacked pair (my experience with stacked 4312A was stunning)!

A word on the 4320. My first time hearing these and was I impressed! These have superior alnico drivers. Although it bears JBL's "43" professional designation, it has a sturdy wood enclosure. In terms of drivers, the "home use" equivalent (subject to variations over time) is the L200 (just as the L100 is the home use version of 4312). I think these have a lot of potential. My absolute favorite JBL loudspeaker is the formidable L300, but these are no slouch!

We even listened a little to the DIY RCA 829 Preamp and Harmon Kardon Citation II driving the legendary but notoriously difficult to drive ATC SCM10. Not bad at all!

Then, MJ had to go pick up Philip and family from the airport and Kevin returned home. Richard and Sam and I went to my home, had dinner and listened to my LR system of LS3/5A driven by Yamamoto preamp and Elekit 300B amp (here). Afterwards, they spent a little time listening in my dedicated room with my YL horns driven by Shindo Monbrison and Oliver Sayes 71A amp. I had only set it up in the morning and I believe it was very good. The 0.7 Watts of the 71A was amazingly high quality.

A lot of wine (offered by Sam, a Cab drinker) and a day well spent! Sam's place is a treasure trove that I intend to visit again and again! Thx so much! Thx Richard too for being the driver! Incidentally, Richard was very happy as it was not so easy for him to hear big horns, not to mention 2 pairs in one day, no less. I predict a horny future for him!

Preview: Just received this Video from Sam. Swapping in the McIntosh C22

resulted in a fuller sound for the JBL 4320. Wish I were there! 

ATC SCM10 flanked by Philips fullrange in cabinets made by Simon. DIY 829 preamp

atop Citation IV. Citation II. Background various Stromberg Carlsons and Dynaco.

Chartwell LS3/5A atop Philips

Better view of the Dared 300B monoblocks.

Below: Video of GRF