Sarone Bluetooth Player Canterbury HE EAR 509 Rey Audio

Click pics to enlarge. Right, book spotted at WSS. In English it would be Money cannot buy thoughts. I just reserved a copy from the HK Public Library, where it is still freely available (not sure for how long). Surprisingly, the Shenzhen Library has a lone reference copy not available for borrowing (but can be read in house).

Letter from Hong Kong (24-3): The Longest Days, Part I

What goes around comes around?

Written in Shenzhen

Part II. Jan 29th, Part I, at Taimonsing's, RCA vintage

Part III, Jan 29th, Part II, chez moi, SET amps

All of a sudden, I had a few days to myself. I contacted the resourceful icefox (aka my taskmaster) and he arranged a couple of day's worth of events (many thanks). This starts the chronicle.

January 28th, Chaiwan 

I arrived in Yuen Long around mid-morning and ran some errands. I returned some old HiFi News and, as I had some spare time, sat and read the January issue of the HiFi News from cover to cover. Really enjoyed the thorough review (not yet online) of the newly re-issued Musical Fidelity A1, which our Ray Salamat had reported on (here). It's also one of my favorite integrated amps (here).

icefox was so thoughtful as to have arranged a ride to faraway Chaiwan. So I met them at Tsuen Wan West MTR at 1 pm. The driver was Taimonsing, whom I had met once 20 years ago. He's a fascinating character, and you shall hear a lot more about him in Part II of this series.

Tannoy Canterbuy driven by EAR 509 monoblocks. ANUK Jinro and MC2 not heard. 

Tannoy Canterbury HE, EAR 509, Sarone Bluetooth Player

First we hit the den of WSS, surely familiar to many regular readers (should you want to read more about his older setups, just search WSS). Preamp was ANUK M8.

Story: When I left HK for NYC in 2018, we moved my Canterbury HE to my friend trazom's place. I had much earlier sold the Spendor SP-100 to him and he still enjoys it. During my stay in NYC, WSS moved to his current den, which is much larger than his old one that I had reported on several times. The Tannoy then went to him. I had actually visited him in this den towards the end of 2020, just before I went to China.

On this occasion, finally I got to hear the fabled Sarone Bluetooth Player, designed by WE guru Yip 西電葉. Basically, supposedly it cuts down functions performed by the Bluetooth chip to the minimum and the output circuit had been greatly tweaked, with many WE parts used. It is not cheap but many Golden Ears (like our own icefox) swear by it. Many have foregone CAS and CDPs in favor of it. Believe it or not! For my whole stay, source was icefox's iPhone playing Tidal Lossless. I must say its performance was excellent, and none of us missed the ANUK digitals. Incidentally, our own ELO had reported his experience at a Mongkok shop (here)!

Sound was very good indeed. Much better than in 2020, when it sounded a little overdamped (dead). Credit must also go to the EAR 509 monoblocks, which I had also sold to him. Incidentally, at my old place, it had sounded very good with the Tannoy's. My friend Thomas (moniker tubediyer) always said that was the best he had hear my Tannoy's. WSS had it serviced and it put out a flawless performance, tube neutrality at its best. It's fitting that trazom was also present to hear these gear at a larger place than his.

Rey Audio Loudspeakers. In front of the Left speaker is a Thomas Mayer Phonostage. Center left is the Connoisseur Phonoamp (I think Lyra). On the 2 stands in front is the 4-piece JC Verdier Phonoamp. Crazy!

On its own stand the Thomas Mayer Compactron Phono.

Rey Audio, Turntable and Phonoamp Galore!

Then we hit on old friend wher (moniker wadia). Read about my 2009 visit (his old place, where he now lives), which also tells you something about Chaiwan the locale for audio. This new place is actually a little smaller but has golden ratio, and it surely sounds better!

I won't try to list the 13 or 14 TTs, many with two arms, nor the plethora of phonoamps (you name it, it's there). Preamp was an old Studer Mixing Console. Otherwise it's FM Acoustics Electronic Crossover to Klein and Hummel amp and old FM professional amp.

wher was generous with his 威水, aka Scotch. Thanks man! I stayed for a long time. I was very glad that I met again Lawrence (moniker mda) who had actually sold me the EAR 509. Small world, huh? He's one of the many HK emigrants of recent times, who now lives in Nottingham.

Just because I was enjoying wher's whisky so much, I missed one of the scheduled stops, but I have some pics here:

Winston's R2R and Pro Stuff (Grundig Loudspeakers)

Then we all went to a delicious dinner. I just post the menu here, but pics shall appear in another article. Many thanks again to icefox for arranging things!

Enjoying HiFi News report on A1

Sarone at bottom of middle rack. Roksan TT and digitals not heard.

One channel of the JV Verdier Phonoamp, PS below.

Connoisseur Phono

Thomas Mayer Phono

Studer Mixing Console

The very rare Fi Phono amp

icefox refers to this kind of food as 麻甩佬 food

Winston's R2R

Home Visits: TAD and Rey Audio

Home Visits: TAD and Rey Audio

It's time to tie up some loose ends, and write up a few recent visits. Foremost is a wonderful Rey Audio setup.

Part I. Rey is King (in Spanish it is)
Sometime ago thanks to icefox I had the fortune of visiting andyhkw (aka 富貴, I believe) at his Tsuen Wan loft. He had recently finished re-arranging his gears. That's no mean feat, as he had rotated all equipment 90 degrees to another wall, and his main speakers weigh several hundred pounds, each! Andy's setup is relatively simple (but hugely costly):

Digital: EMT 986 (hard disc player). Delicious!
Analogue: EMT 948
Preamp: ARC Reference 3
Amp: MC2 MC-1250
Speakers: PMC MB2i and huge Rey Audio (RM7)

First we auditioned the PMC in front. Previously, with lesser PMCs I have always been bothered by bass that seemed a little lagging behind, which I attributed to the transmission line designs. Not so this time. This was true monitor sound, tonally accurate, well integrated and dynamic. Rock and pop recordings were fast and highly exciting. Overall, in this large room, bass was still just a shade lean. Moving the seat up a foot or so produced better defined bass and even extension. I suspect a little room mode at work here. Still, a highly commendable setup.

With great expectation we moved on to the double-15" woofer Rey Audio. It was a revelation when the first bass notes of a classical piece came in and we just FELT it. A clarification is in order, it was classical music at low volume, so this was not what's commonly referred to as 褲管震 of the rock-JBL kind; rather it was a sensation of feeling a distant rumble, of feeling THREAT, of feeling atmosphere. There's no better attribute to the quality of a system if one has this feeling during listening (this is not something you'll ever feel with Maggies, e.g., no matter what their other attributes are). The Rey's were almost completely blocked by the PMCs, darker and likely less neutral, yet the sound had tremendous authority and the presence of live music.

A note here on the equipment. Once again it upheld my belief that a good tube preamp matched with a solid state amp frequently is a simple and effective solution for speakers that demand power (both in this case). I'd also like to note that, although I have long been an ARC fan, previously I had not been impressed by the ARC Ref3, even suspecting it of lack of dynamics. It's all in the implementation after all. It should also be mentioned that both digital and analogue replay were very balanced and tonally similar, as it should be in a good system.

Now, we have here not just a highly commendable setup but an awesome system. In many ways, I think it even gives Alansoo's wonderful (and complex) so-called "TAD2401" system (now more and more of a Goto system) a run for its money? Competition is healthy! :-)

Part II. A Tale of Two TADs
Of the huge number of hifi systems in 錦繡花園 there are two that I know quite well, those of the 2 gentleman in the picture. Both use TADs with tubes but their approaches differ greatly.

On this day we all met up and by chance talked about approaches. Although they looked to be of similar vein, Andy on the right always claimed his hearing has been compromised and builds his system upon high frequency air and treble performance; Simon on the other hand, craves warmth and smoothness, preferring to build upon a solid bass.

A tad sharp?
In a previous visit to Andy he was using the stock TAD 3401. Since then a lot has happened. He acquired 2 adjacent houses and crafted new spaces out of them. In the new house, the listening room is a lot larger than previously, though still kind of squarish. I have visited this place several times.

Now he is using a pseudo-2402, in that the treble-midrange driver with its original horn is placed out of the box, on top of an aftermarket cabinet that houses the woofer. For reasons of symmetry and bass performance, Andy placed the speakers almost right against the wall. Gears:

Analogue: Clearaudio YKW (the unmentionable you-know-what); Goldfinger
Digital: MacIntosh-Amarra-Firewire; Weiss Firewire-XLR converter+professional DAC
Amplification: Kondo step-up, M7 phono, M7 preamp, Ongaku

We listened mostly to vinyl. The sound of the TAD is now very crisp and sharp, and there is a lot more bass to be had than in the old room. This marks a big step-up from his old house. In case you wonder, yes, the Kondo system drives the TADs quite well. It showcases hifi recordings quite well but falls down a little on mellower classical material. Nonetheless, it is frequently exciting and never ear-grating, though at times one is aware of an "anal" control, a refusal to let loose. Presence is quite good with the right material. The TT has recently been upgraded. Sound is very dynamic, with black background, but I am still bothered by its lack of rhythmic elan. I remain unmoved by this Clearaudio.

I should mention that the crossover in the picture is newly developed by our friend tubediyer. I have listened to the original crossover and can attest that this DIY one maintains the tonal balance while improving on details and perhaps transients. I understand our friend wadia is also trying one out (for his Rey Audio) to great satisfaction.

Andy in the last 2 years has completely gravitated to CAS. Previously he was using iPod/iTransport, but now that has been replaced by the full system detailed above. This is probably the most expensive CAS system I have encountered. On a previous visit I listened to it in detail. I was quite disturbed by a glassy sound. Replacement of the Nordost XLR by a Kimber immediately ameliorated the situation. This shows other hifi parameters are still important in the digital domain, and one can EASILY trip up.

Am I impressed by the very expensive Weiss? the answer is NO. It does not equate a good CDP, not to say trailing far far behind vinyl. My view on CAS remains: have fun on the cheap, and forget about all the bullshit of delivering the best. That's only sales talk cleverly crafted by certain "experts", who have been wrong again and again on the path of digitals.

A tad smooth?
For some reason, previously I have only briefly treated Simon's system in these pages. His has always been a musical system. 300B driving TAD of course is a challenge, and Simon has steadily improved his system's driving ability. System now:

Analogue: Verdier La Platine-Boyer arm-EMT cartridge
Preamp: Shindo Giscours (using WE349a)
Amp: Shindo 300B monoblocks using old stock WE300B
Speakers: TAD 2402

Compared to the previous visit, the system certainly gained in dynamics while remaining highly musical. I asked him what he did. He said the only changes were the tonearm and cartridge, plus a little tube rolling.

I have always treasured some of the very fine sound coming out of the WE tubes in this system. That's not for mere mortals to savor, perhaps even know...:-) More power to him.

Return Visit: Wadia's Loft, but focus on Wolfson 8470 DAC

Return Visit: Wadia's Loft, but focus on Wolfson 8470 DAC, aided by dCS 972 Upsampler

紂虐柴灣 的 HiFi 精 A, B, C
Just a little background for the uninitiated. In the Chaiwan industrial estates there are MANY hifi 竇s, with different approaches. For what I know, fever prizes must go to HiFi 精s A (Alansoo), B (wher, aka wadia) and C(harles).

Wadia's place needs no introduction, and I won't say much. For this visit, aside from the familiar Rey Audio and FM Acoustics amp, we were treated to his new preamp, the MANLEY Wave, which has built-in digital conversion! I was particularly pleased with this new toy as I still own an excellent sounding VTL DAC-preamp much like the "First Wave" mentioned in the Manley link (Ultra Analogue 20040).

Wave the bye to Son of the Wolf?
The venerable STUDER D732 provided the digital output. I am not sure if Wadia used his dCS 972 to upsample the signal before input into the Manley, as the latter automatically upsamples to 96kHz before decoding with the 24/96 PCM1704. As soon as Wadia hit the play button, I heard the best sound to-date from his Rey Audio monitors. A good tube preamp simply breathes live into music. Once again, this re-affirms (as if it needs to be) my firm belief that a good tube preamp brings music to a higher level, whereas the choice of amp (tube/ss) is secondary. It's important to note that a good preamp provides a lot more control that is mandatory for playback of large-scaled music, something vintage and cheap tube preamps cannot do.

Then we played with tubediyer's new DAC. It was for this reason that I had to forgo Penndan's party that day. It's the DAC you see sitting on top of the box in front of the racks. Strictly speaking, this version is not tubediyer's own design, but an OEM'ed product. I cannot reveal too much, but suffice to say it uses 8x 24/192 WOLFSON WM 8740, the same chip used in less extravagant fashion by the ubiquitous Cambridge Audio 540C/640C/740C; the Arcam DiVA CD73; and the Rega Apollo. Wolfson is gaining popularity, even being adopted by mass market AV amps (like Onkyo) as well as products like the well-reviewed (even by Stereophile and TAS) Onkyo CD players of the xx55 series.

I had a stake in this that makes me want to hear more Wolfson products. As many know, I like to play with digital products and am open to any format, including Music Servers. Sometime ago in NYC I acquired a Rega Appollo. It was quite detailed and certainly quiet in background, but there is a literalness that nagged at me, which surprised me as Rega is supposed to be a company strong on rhythm and pace, which I'd rather not lack even at the expense of a little extra "refinement". Music deficient in rhythm and pace is just a dead beauty. Ditto the Arcam, though I have heard the Cambridge to reasonably good effect and perhaps one day I shall try a higher model.

Nightingale or Raven?
Much (like clock) about this prototype DAC is unknown. When first played, fed directly the digital output of the Studer, sound was singularly unpromising. There was a lack of life and coarseness so severe that it made the nightingale in Serenata sound like a hungry raven! Of course we mocked tubediyer to our content.

Then miracle of miracles. Wadia suggested we upsample the signal with the dCS. First, a hugh improvement with 96Hz. Then 192 kHz just nailed things. Suddenly, everything snapped into focus, and the evil curse had been removed and the raven turned into a nightingale!

Suffice to say we were MIGHTILY impressed. Upsampled, the stage became hughly airy, surpassing that of Manley's. High-level playback was impressive for the ability of individual instruments to maintain focus in complex passages, again out-trumping Manley. However, and this is important to me, I cannot completely rid myself of a small but nagging sense that rhythmically it can be just a bit better (the Manley is superior in rhythm and pace). It's like a deja vu, stemming from my experience with the Appollo. There are more questions than answers. Do chips have intrinsic characters? Of course they do, even if they all seem to do the same thing. Note that even upsampling vs oversampling generates a hugh amount of question marks, as evidenced by questions generated by the reviews and measurements of the dCS 972. Nonetheless, this product is very impressive and I congratulate tubediyer for his manufacturing skills, and I look eagerly look foward to seeing its completion and evolution.

David vs Goliath
That very day I had just taken delivery of the Wadia iTransport and borrowed whlee's iPod Video. So we attempted to burn some files with Wadia's iMac, surprisingly to no avail!!!! So that's for the next article to cover.

Meanwhile, these "computer speakers" are the best I have heard. Guess what brand?

Studer! :-)