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!

Visits Western Electric 91E Sarone Hartley Neat Iota

Click pics to enlarge. Above, Sorane.

Letter from Hong Kong (22-13): ELO Auditions

During the period that I was chewing on what preamp I should get, I visited several setups worth writing about.

HiFi shop in Tim Chee Building [Footnote 1]
Superb Bluetooth Streamer, named Sarone, designed by an experienced HK designer [Footnote 2] using vintage W.E. parts and transformers, which is no slouch at all!

Newly designed W.E. 91E Amplifier [Footnote 3]! DJ and I agree that the front looks a bit tacky and overwhelmed. Sound wise, there's nothing to complain about.

In front of me, two huge wardrobes (Hartley 24" white cone bass woofers used) made me feel like I'm peeking/hearing music behind them; yet it did not lessen my enjoyment of the beautiful sound coming out of the system.

They were playing songs with limited dynamics. As good as the W.E. 300B is, it can only play through its strength, not with songs that require a high dynamic headroom. So, obviously, vocals with few instruments exceled in this setup and My Favorite Things by Youn Sun Nah sounded so real, nuanced and emotionally stimulating; notes of the single gong-like instrument (no clue what it is) was a real treat and I could have just sunken deep into the couch and listen non-stop!

Home Visit to CW with his Great Setup

The system is anchored upon the Soulution 330 Integrated Amp, partnered with Luxman D10X SACD/CD Player

This gorgeous looking Magico Mini speakers did not sound mini in any way!

The Nordost Odin Two power cord was re-purposed into 2 pairs of XLR cables and a pair of spk jumpers. The price may become more "affordable" yet it is still out of my reach; but it does play an extremely important part as veins of the system.

While we had to go through a few iterations and fine tuning, the final outcome was rewarding and fantastic! Spain by Chic Corea Trio was really scintillating. The overall system is quite coherent, with high quality bass with a lot of QQ bounciness and tenacity. However, sound is kept within 2 speakers and height of soundstage is still capped at about 4ft, which i think can be improved by further speaker placement. We tried my DIY earthbox on his Lux SACD player and, all of a sudden, the sound improvement was indeed significant. Music became more involving, cohesive and it seemed like the musicians were feeding from each other's energy - they formed a unity and I almost wanted to give a standing ovation after the performance!

Audition of Lab12 Pre (one of my previous targets) at local distributor

What caught my eyes/attention was the cute NEAT IOTA Xplorer speakers which though small in size managed to throw out a huge soundstage and deep bass with its down-firing bass woofer (one more hidden in isobarik form). Played through vinyl setup and Lab12 Pre/power combo, the sound was natural, musical, analog (of coz). Overall, very good result indeed!

P.S. I noticed there was a second hand selling at a very attractive price, and I highly recommended it to a friend. Suffice to say, he was mightily happy with the performance as it totally trounced two DIY efforts and his SS preamp (no surprise). I also managed to change some misconceptions of him - that "Old is always better than new ". More to follow/

All three systems performed really well and can serve as very good reference points to gauge the sound of my own system! As for the Elekit TU-875 that I ended up with, please wait for the next installment!

Editor's Footnotes: [1] Hong Kong has several buildings mostly devoted to HiFi stores selling new or used gear, and it's paradise (or trap) for the unintiated. Tim Chee is in Mong Kok, in an old district known for its population of audio stores and immortalized by HK filmmakers; [2] The designer is Ah Yip, famous for his Western Electric expertise. Indeed, I have met him several times and am impressed by his passion and, something not so commonly encountered, candor. Yes, calling garbage by its name, which is, you guess right, garbage (including ultra-expensive stuff). According to our priceless HK consultant, icefox, the Sarone debuted with the dealer of the super-expensive WE91E in the HK Audio Show not so long ago and, despite show conditions, sold quite a few! If you are not a BT follower, you might not believe: the theory is to just use the BT chip (short signal path) and do the rest in proprietary ultra-luxurious fashion, including use of WE sourced iron for transformers. Not cheap but according to my friends, sensational in results. I call this Extreme Bluetooth, and icefox has informed me of another formidable contender, Kinney, with MONSTROUS antennas! I hope to feature these in another article; [3] I'm not sure what to say about this, from my conservative viewpoint. It's not something I'd tackle but I'd like to hear it. Yes, I hate its looks. Below are what icefox sent me, review pages from Taiwan's Audio Art. Sorry, pdf only in Chinese (the pages were loaded in reverse, so start from the bottom; click to enlarge). Enjoy if you can.