when lightning strikes

i finally got danny summer "am" III album from hong kong, thanks to kc. the local pricing sucks ass big time (almost double of that of HK), that's why i rather wait for friends to get it from hk. soon i will blog on the suck-ass local pricing which is killing the industry.

happily i switched on my system but lo and behold, my meridian g08's stand-by light is gone! no power at all. my heart instanly sank 39,549,650 feet.

apparently, a severe bolt of lightning had sent my beloved meridian g08 to ICU. i checked the fuse - that's gone and it is blown into a blackish ugly mess, so you can imagine the severity of the surge. upon changing the fuse, still the power didn't come up. something is serious, i said to myself. i ended the night without playing danny summer, or any cd for that matter.

the next day saw me driving listlessly to my technician's place to confirm my suspicion that the power supply of the g08 was fried. true enough, some of the surface-mounted chips on the power supply module were practically cracked/exploded! serious sh*t man. my technician warned me that the surge could have spread beyond the power supply module, to the main board. (there are only two boards in the g08, the rest is thin air!) he couldn't confirm it but advised me to get a spare power supply module from kwan (my meridian dealer) to isolate the problem. i am panicking like a sick child.

anyway, in the interim period, i got hold of ringo's meridian 508.24, the former model before the upgrade. when i powered on the 508.24, i thought my system has got other problems because the sound was terrible. it turned out that that is the normal sound of 508.24! major paradigm shift. imagine 508.24 was THE cd of choice in 1998-2000. the 508.24 seriously lacks the presence and drive of the g08. the whole soundstage shrinks considerably and everything seems to have lost its energy, as if the TURBO button has been off.

so i listened to danny summer with this less-than-ideal condition. i didn't really listen critically with the intention to write a review because the sound didn't really draw me into the music. yes, i am that fussy. so you have to wait for a fairer
review when my meridian returns from ICU.

my overall impression of this cd is not a positive one. it is quite slow and boring. it doesn't have the "jump" factor of the 1st "am" album. there is no denying that danny's voice has matured and he has become more emotive and expressive as he ages but i don't like the way the songs are being dragged to sound really slow and sleepy. i have listened to the cd for 3 rounds and still i am not quite enamoured.

some of the arrangement are pretty good, no doubt but i can't expect less with this cast of musicians. recording wise, again, i can't judge from the 508.24 but it can't be bad.

kc has been raving about this recording but not until i get back my g08, i will reserve my judgement.

i am not sure if you readers are aware, the new generation of cd players (like my g08) really pushes the aural boundary of the standard cd sound. for those who think cd technology has stopped advancing, you ain't see nothing yet.