mission accomplished

over the last 12 months, i have been helping a friend to assemble a high-end system. it takes longer than necessary because my friend is a decent listener himself and he doesn't take all my recommendations and advice wholesale. because of this half-hearted approach, he has been going in circles.

finally, with the recent purchase of a 2nd hand ARC classic 120 monoblock and the imminent purchase of a 2nd hand CAT SL-1 preamp, both with my endorsement, he completes his audio milestone and sees the merits behind all my advice in the past.

eventho' he bought mostly the same components as me, the sound is slightly different due to the speakers we use. he is using maggie 1.6/QR with quasi ribbons whereas i am using the larger maggie 3.6R with true ribbons. the quasi ribbons give softer highs thus rendering softer attack of instruments, lacking of presence and a general tamer presentation. overall, a "yin" sound rather than a "yang'" sound. due to this, i have asked him many times to get equipment (encompassing amp, preamp, cdp) or ancillaries (encompassing cables, power cords, conditioner) that are bolder, livelier and has more grunt to balance off the softness.

he finally sold away his ARC VT100MkII power amp last week and replaced it with the older-but-definitely-better ARC classic 120 monoblock and what a step in the right direction! the classic 120s exert a tight grip and control on the maggie that the VT100 failed to do. besides, the sound is more alive and has more kicks and presence. and finally, CAT SL-1 preamp is the last missing link to all his concerns. though it is not the most refined of preamp (by today's standards) and it does lack details but it packs a lot of grunt and rawness and the most crucial of all is the presence factor, which it egdes over my much more expensive and modern preamp, ARC LS25MkII. in his system, that is.

the moral of the story is - the proverbial system matching and synergy is paramount in hi-fi. use a yang to balance a yin. hi-fi is all about balance.

i am happy that he is a happy man now and i am happy that he has finally seen the light.