The audiophile music market has been slowly shrinking here for the last 10 years or so.

But since the outbreak of the financial tsunami, the market suddenly worsened at a much accelerated pace. Now the economy is getting better but CD sales doesn't pick up at all. People are talking about digital download will replace CD. But the problem is when you sell one download, the paid download copy will be freely distributed to friends and then friends of friends of the one who actually pays.

Who will bother to fill in his or her name and credit card no. to download when his or her friend can share a free copy which is exactly the same as any paid download one? Some audiophile labels are starting to sell 24 bit 96k wave files via the net. I believe they are in fact killing themselves. The 24 bit 96k wave file are of course better sounding thanh the commercial CD. But how can they recoup the money they spend in a brand new production? Of course there is no question of recouping the investment if it is old master. But sooner or later, download sales of old master will exhaust. If these labels invest in new recordings, they will not be able to recoup.

So much for the bad news, a few days ago, I received a test pressing of the HQCD version of Susan Wong's first CD and it sounds really beautiful, much much better than the normal CD or XRCD. I hope HQCD might bring some excitement to the CD market.

Keith Yip, Rock In Music

i was introduced to veteran hifi reviewer from the star newspaper, lam seng fatt, yesterday and he too has a blog called hifi avenue ...

http://hi-fi-avenue.blogspot.com

since lam is a journalist, he brings the latest update from the local industry. of great interest to me is lam's interest on the hard disc players and its progress and evolution. readers who want to know more about this topic would definitely find great info from lam's blog.

so besides desirable audio, we now have hifi-unlimited and hifi-avenue! the more the merrier!

Are you young, energetic, and have a passion for AV and music?

Do you like to twiddle in state of the art hifi and AV products all day, and get paid for doing so too? Sounds like too good to be true? CMY has a proposal for your consideration.

In an expansion drive, CMY Audio Visual seeks extra Retail Sales Staff to be based in one of their Petaling Jaya showrooms. They hope to get, young, energetic individuals, whom have a passion for all things AV and music, plus would like to seek a career in the retail industry.

Perks of the job includes:
1) Playing with hifi and AV products all day.
2) Sales commission applicable.
3) Experience the retail industry.

However, the job also requires you to:
1) Work long hours as shopping centers retail from 10am to 10pm daily.
2) Work on public holidays.

If you'd like to try out for a career in hifi retail experience, here's your chance to do so with an established market leader.

If interested, please call John at Tel no: 016-2861000

I have being asked by CMY to invite all you Dynaudio fans out there to attend a presentation by Wilfried Ehrenholz , on Thursday, 3.00pm, 13th August 2009, at their Damansara Uptown Showroom(formerly known as the Naim center) in Petaling Jaya.

Even if you're just a little bit curious like me, please take the oppurtunity to hear what Mr Wilfried Ehrenholz, CEO of Dynaudio, and indusrty leader, has to say about his products and our hobby in general.

You may call CMY at 03-77272419 or 012-2873551(Chan) or 016-2861000(John) for RSVP.

You may also e-mail to admin@cmy.com.my for RSVP.

So mark your calenders and make it a point to be there.

See ya all there!

Andy Duffield(left), with my KLIAV show buddy Lin, the Terenganu PMC Club President(right). Lin has a pair of the original PMC LB1 and hopes to grab the pair of LB1 Signature out of AV Designs showroom soon! Readers eyeing the LB1 Signature better hurry before Lin grabs em! I guarantee the LB1 Siganture is a special breed indeed.

Andy Duffield is Sales Manager for PMC speakers. He came to the KLIAV accompanying the latest PMC PB1i and Fact 8 speakers on demo/display.

I had the opportunity to sip a cuppa with Andy during the show and learn more about the man, the company and the products.

Panzer: Hi! you've been to Malaysia before?

Andy: No, actually this is my first visit to Asia, after KLIAV, I'll be doing the Hong Kong and Taiwan shows next month. Any other Asian hifi events that I should be aware of?

Panzer: You should really check out the Guangzhou AV show in China, which is probably held during the later part of the year. It's possibly the largest event catering to the AV markets in the region.

Andy: O.K. I'll check with our partners in Hong Kong about that.

Panzer: So how did you get in the business of selling hifi speakers?

Andy: I've been working on the professional side of PMC for a long time, probably 8 years or so, very recently Peter(Peter Thomas, PMC founder and chief designer) had ask me to help out on the consumer side of things and so, here I am!

Panzer: Care to explain the latest rational behind the i series speakers? By the way i stands for "improved"?

Andy: Yes, i is for "improved" indeed! The i series upgrades happened mainly because as we gear up to comply with the newly regulated RoHS program(for those whom do not know, RoHS is a set of strict environmentally friendly guidelines, which all electronics sold within EC must comply to) , effectively enforced within the EC this year. With that objective, Peter set out the re-evaluate every component in the speaker manufacturing line to ensure compliance. Whilst at it our previous driver supplier, Vifa had moved their manufacturing operation out of Europe, which makes it less convenient for them to supply us the drivers that are custom ed to meet PMC specs, which are subjected to very tight tolerances in specifications. So we looked around and found SEAS, which is a reputable speaker driver manufacturer of the highest quality in Europe. The i series tweeter are built by SEAS to meet our very exact specifications.

Panzer: Ahh......SEAS!, I know their drivers sonic character very well. They tend to sound very clean, articulate but at the same time so..... analytical too!, which is not what I'd like in my hifi sound reproduction. However, my brief experience with the PMC GB1i speakers in my own system revealed the sonic character of a different kind. The high frequencies were still articulate, detailed, clean, and if I may add somewhat a little sweet too, which is good.

Andy: Exactly!, we do not take just any standard, off the shelf SEAS driver and plonk them in to a PMC box, whilst the drivers cosmetically and physically look similar, some of the materials used, like the voice coil windings, and the dome fabric process is somewhat different from the standard SEAS drivers. Which explains the difference you've heard between the standard SEAS tweeter and a PMC spec SEAS manufactured tweeter. They are made differently and therefore will sound different!

Panzer: What sort of a L/R tolerance in decibel spec does PMC applies to it consumer speaker lines?

Andy: Our in coming QC procedure makes sure each and every component that goes in to our speakers are checked to ensure they meet very tight tolerances in the 1st place, like for example, all our capacitors are 10% and our resistors are 1% spec, for use in the speaker's crossovers. The drivers are matched to very close tolerances before final speaker assembly. Peter personally listens to every pair of speakers manufactured, compared to the final R&D approved test pair, before they are boxed and shipped out of the factory.

Panzer: I heard that Peter has a huge collection of all the British speakers ever made worthy of vintage status?

Andy: Not only that, Peter has a museum in the PMC factory that is a collection of every speaker model that PMC was ever manufactured! It's usually the last pair of the production line.

Panzer: So, what hifi system do you have at home?

Andy: I've been privileged to work at PMC, where we are allowed to take speakers and amps from the R&D for home trials and report our findings. I personally do have a pair of the original PMC GB1s at home. They are powered by an old integrated amplifier and sourced by a Linn turntable.

Panzer: No Bryston amps for your own system?(PMC distributes Bryston electronics in the UK, just in case our readers didn't know)

Andy: Ohh... that too, I get to bring back various Bryston gears back home to evaluate. So there's really no hurry for me to purchase one right away, but if I really wanna upgrade my home audio system, when my kids are a little more grown up, I'd certainly be going with Bryston amps.

Panzer: PMC uses Bryston amps in their powered monitors and speakers too right?

Andy: Well, yes, we do get amplifier modules from Bryston for our powered monitors and speakers. Peter then strips away all the un-necessary bits off the modules, like the protection and non-audio related circuits, and in the process, he usually beefs up the power supply section too! The end result really does sound very different from a standard Bryston amp. That's why we call them "Bryston by PMC" amplifiers.

Panzer: Why launch PMC LB1 Signature re-issued in Tiger Eye wood finish, so soon after the original LB1 model just ended it's run about a year or two ago?

Andy: I am not really sure about the details of LB1 model, it was discontinued as I took on my present position. However, I do know that the PMC LB1 has had a very long production history and in some markets like Hong Kong and Japan, we keep getting request for them still. In response, Peter has incorporated our latest improvements in to the LB1 and uses parts ultra tight tolerances, plus that special Tiger Eye wood finish which is unique, finally each pair is especially match for L/R chanels. Peter performs all the QC and signs off on every "Signature" speaker himself, hence the designation.

Panzer: Well, thanks for spending tea time with me.

Andy: It's very nice to have met you too.

With that I concluded my quick chat with Andy Duffield of PMC speakers UK. Thanks to James of AV designs, for making the arrangements possible.

That's Franck and his resonator products in the back ground wall.

I noticed many hifi brand ambassadors came to attend the KLIAV 2009 show along with their products. I spotted representatives for McIntosh, Jeff Linn for Telos, Hans Ole' Vitus for Vitus Audio, Justin Cohen for Sooloos Meridian, Andy Duffield of PMC(which I had tea time with, story to come) and Franck Tchang of Acoustic Systems. Some have also mentioned that a Japanese representative for Kondo came to set up the demo system, but I did not see him on demo when I attended the said room.

With the 2 days I attended the KLIAV show, I only managed to chat with 2 of the personalities over a cuppa, courtesy of the exhibitor's time and suitable arrangements. I did briefly chat with Justin of Sooloos Meridian, but that wasn't something I could post here about, not without his approval anyway.

So I start having Koffee with Franck Tchang.

Panzer: You're Asian, yet your company is established in France, why and how it become so?

Franck: I am Vietnamese by birth, by my 2nd birthday, my family moved to the United States where I grew up. I returned to Asia post graduate to work in Taiwan and Japan for a few years before finally moving on to Europe, where I finally choose and settled in Paris, France.

Panzer: Why Paris, France?

Franck: I enjoy the Parisian life style, it's a vibrant city that makes my creative juices flow. I do my audio stuff by day, and play music by night.

Panzer: You mean play in a band for gigs?

Franck: Yeah! absolutely.

Panzer: What instrument do your play?

Franck: I play the electric and acoustic guitar.

Panzer: So you actually used your "live" musical performance to benchmark your products and hifi?

Franck: Yes, there's no substitute for "live" music! We can only try to get closer somewhat in the reproduction of the musical event captured on a recording, by neutralising the room effect on your audio system.

Panzer: So your Resonator room tuning cups are inspired that way?

Franck: Yes, very much so.

Panzer: I understand from what I read, most room treatment devices need a certain minimum surface area vis a vis room area to work effectively. Your Resonator cups are so..... small, tiny even, by comparison! So how does it work?

Franck: I agree and you're right that when it comes to traditional room treatment methods, you need big surfaces to work effectively, and that always bring troubles to family harmony, if you know what I mean?

Panzer: The lady in the house doesn't agree with the home decor appearance of traditional room treatment?

Franck: Exactly, so that led me to think un-conventionally. I needed to do something discreet yet effective for the application. I looked around scientifically and physically, then realised that by using density to replace surface area volume, I actually could make a more effective room treatment device.

Panzer: Huh??? Care to elaborate?

Franck: You see, the Resonator cups come in various grades, the most cost effective being the basic resonator cup to the most expensive being the platinum resonator cup. The difference is in the materials used as indicated by the product name, and in between two just mentioned, there's the silver and gold resonator cups available too.

Panzer: How does the material used to make the resonator cups have a difference to the end result?

Franck: You see, the basic resonator is made of brass(Franck hands me a brass cup sample, after a quick look and feel, he takes the brass cup back and drops it on the glass surfaced table a couple of times) hear that? (as the cup dropping on the table produces a ringing chime like tone) Now (Franck hands me a platinum cup to look and feel). How did that compared to the earlier brass cup?

Panzer: It feels heavier and somewhat more substantial.

Franck: Exactly, you see, the different metals used to make the cups all have different density and weight for the exact same shape! (Franck now drops the platinum cup on the glass table surface for a couple of times) You hear that? Do you hear the difference in the ringing tone?

Panzer: The platinum cup seems to ring with much more clarity and possibly at a higher pitch and frequency level too.

Franck: That's right! That's a result of the different metals used. The platinum, is a purer,and higher density metal, in comparison to the basic brass cup. Hence the different response and effects different areas of the audio band frequency wise.

Panzer: WOW! That's really some clever science behind the resonator cups! Thanks for expanding my mind.

Franck: (finishes his cuppa) Time's up! I gotta get beck to work, there's another round of presentation to start in a few minutes.

Panzer: Good bye!

Franck: Bye! and we must meet up again soon.(He gets up and rushes back in to the hotel)

I personally find Franck to be a humorous fella and hugely entertaining, not to mention, enlightening at the same time. I thoroughly enjoyed spending my koffee time with him.

Well if you had missed his presentation during the KLIAV, let's hope the good guys at CMY does bring him back again sometime soon.

The Soulution 710 power amp and 720 pre amp kombi. Now on DEMO!

Folks, the long awaited Soulution amps are finally here and on demo at Audio Image. I heard fom the grape wine a kombi pair(that's what Soulution calls it's pre power pairs in German speaking Switzerland), arrived some time in May, but was sold even before I got to hear it a week later! Adrian says that pair was pre-booked by a customer.

The current pair on demo are the 710 power amp and the 720 pre amp kombi. Go audition before it's sold too!(things move pretty fast at Audio Image)

Soulution is sold by Audio Image, Tel: 03-79563077

The Marten Coltrane Supreme with the Baldelius Ymer power amp.

Folks, do watch out for the ultra high end gears on demo at the Swedish Statement room at the KLIAV 2009!

I was told that the flagship Coltrane Supreme speakers would be on demo, powered by possibly, no less than 2 pairs of Vitus Audio SM-101 class A mono blocks and SL-010 pre amp.

Vitus Audio SM-101 class A mono blocks.

Also likely to be on demo is the Bladelius Embla CD/Memory player and the Vitus Audio SCD-010 CD player.

Bladelius Embla CD/Memory player.

Vitus Audio SCD-010 CD player, it's a top loader too!

Don't miss the chance to audition this superbly ultra high end set up!

Centre Circle Audio will be exhibiting with the many trusty brands in its stable.

The electronics will include Esoteric - very likely the X-05, sibling to Panzer's favourite X-03; Pathos - famous for their hybrid equipment, such as the to-be-displayed Logos, one of my my fave integrated amp; and loudspeakers from Amphion - the Argon2 Anniversary. The system will be strung together with cables from JPS Labs and Purist Audio Design. Powerline conditioners from Isotek will also make their appearance.




Let's see whether Centre Circle Audio's choice of a more real-world, honest-to-goodness system will captivate you!

Acoustic treatment products from Auralex will also be on display, both in Centre Circle Audio's main room and at a booth set up by its sister company, Acoustic Innovations.

Alas, I was told that the new Egglestonworks speaker models would be arriving too late for the show. CCA is also close to sealing the distributorship for a new electronics line. There will probably be a private launch event when these arrive on our shores.

CMY Audio & Visual is inviting those who are curious(like me), or interested to know more about the Acoustic System Resonators to attend a presentation by Franck Tchang, the designer and founder of Acoustic System Resonators product.

Please feel free to attend any one of the presentation scheduled on the 24th and 25th July.

1st Show 12.30pm - 1.30pm

2nd Show 2.30pm - 3.30pm

3rd Show 4.30pm - 5.30pm

See ya!

The new Wilson Audio Shasha in Canary Yellow.

Now, we already know that Perfect Hi Fi will certainly be a feature at the KLIAV 2009 show, being one of the biggest hifi distributors in the country. But what we did not know is their planned goodies at the exhibition!

First up, Wilson Audio's new Watt Puppy 8 successor, the Shasha will be on show.

Next up is the latest Audio Research Reference 5 line stage pre amp(apparently, all the ARC Ref 5 pre amp allocated stocks for Malaysia has been temporarily sold out, and there's a waiting list for it if you want to buy one today!), and the Reference 8 CD player!, along the rest of the ARC range.



Finally, the Pass Labs local representation issue has been settled, with Perfect Hi Fi exhibiting the latest XP series pre amps and the not so new X-600.5 mono blocks.

Pass Labs XP-10 pre amp.

Pass Labs XP-20 pre amp, Hifikaki's dream may soon come true on this one!

Pass Labs X-600.5 mono blocks.

Other usual Perfect Hi Fi brands like Transparent cables, Sonus Faber speakers and Audio Analogue tube electronics will be making an appearance too.

By the way, Andy, the young energetic boss of Perfect Hi Fi tells me they've just landed Nordost cables and power products as part of their growing stable of brands. Though he's are not sure if the stocks will arrive in time for the show.

Congrats to Perfect Hi Fi!

This KLIAV 2009 show is indeed getting more exciting than I previously thought.

The veal will be taken off soon at the KLIAV show?

Here's a little teaser from Dynaudio www. Could this new speaker be revealed at the KLIAV Show? Go find out at the CMY room/lounge during the show.

Catch these mythical beasts at the KLIAV 2009!

RAVE Systems are planning to show off their recent imports from the house of The Gryphon:

The Mikado Signature cd player

The Mirage preamp

The Colosseum poweramp

Doing the honour at the end of the audio chain is another high end brand from RAVE Systems - Wison Benesch.

The C60 Loudspeakers

If we are lucky, we'll also catch The Torus Infrasonic Sonic Generator (that is what Wilson Benesch call its subwoofer, cool!)

Just to remind our dear readers to mark your calenders. The KLIAV 2009 Show starts from 10.30 am, next Friday morning, the 24th and runs for 3 days til the 26th July 2009, at the JW Marriot Hotel Kuala Lumpur.

We'll be posting sneek peeks to new product launches, hifi personalities(there's a few big names coming, I hear?) and special events taking place during the show.

If you've not made plans to attend the show, there's still time to reconsider doing so.

Let the count down begin!

The Sony XA5400ES SACD/CD Player.

This Sony SACD/CD player caused a stir in the Internet forums and amongst SACD based audio community as a giant killer, when launched sometime late last year, 2008. It was rumoured to be Sony's last SACD player made ever. My friend PS, whom is so entrenched in to SACD just had to get hold of this player, no matter what! He spent the last few months knocking on Sony Malaysia and Singapore's door, begging them to sell him one. No one in the organisation gave him two hoots! Finally, poor PS had no choice but to get a 230V spec unit imported from Germany, with the help of the Internet. The irony of it all? The Sony XA5400ES is indeed proudly made in Malaysia! It would seem to me Sony Manufacturing Malaysia Boleh!, but Sony Marketing Malaysia Tak Boleh???

The Sony stting proudly on my hifi rack.

It seems that whilst Sony engineers are still highly competent, their marketing team have somewhat been too busy marketing mobile phones, Vaio lap tops and LCD Bravia screens amongst other things. Audio products seems to be all but forgotten when compared to the more glitzy tech products in the Sony catalogue. My personal call to Sony Malaysia, WAKE UP!!! The XA5400 SACD/CD player trully deserves your attention, and by refusing to sell it, you are doing disservice to all the SACD and CD music lovers in the country, not to mention, your bottom line. I don't think I need to remind you of your dismal overall financial results for the last operating business year? I also don't think Sony founder, Akio Morita would be a very happy man if he was still alive today.

The Sony's ultra smooth tray mechanism. Almost as smooth as the Esoteric X-03

O.K. enough of my ranting of Sony and the dysfunctional Marketing Dept. Let's see if the XA5400ES is truly all hype? First up, it seems to be built on the existing platform of the former top model XA9000ES, to save cost, which is no bad thing. Despite that, the fit and finishing quality from the Sony Malaysian plant is first rate, based on the sample PS bought. The design is typically Japanese business like and very ergonomically friendly. There's a lack of audio jewellery that makes past Sony ES series components so desirable, like full copper plated chassis, full aluminium face plate, gold plated RCA and XLR(which I used all the time during the review) output jacks. Weighing 11kgs, the player can be describe as solid medium built rather than battleship quality. The CD tray mechanism operation smoothness is second to only the much, very much more expensive Esoteric X-03, and makes almost all other high end expensive CD player seemingly shameful by comparison.

The back panel of RCA & XLR analogue ouput jacks. The Sony XA5400ES does multi chanel too, but only via it's HDMI output.

The sound of the Sony XA5400ES is truly impressive. It always portrays a musical sound stage and imaging in such a convincing manner, with the much prized high end "air" or space between instruments, making stage depth layering very easy to perceive. The tonal balance is very close to my resident Marantz CD7 in flavour too. Invitingly lush, warm, smooth and full bodied best describes it's tonal balance. This was confirmed as I was switching between Pass Labs and Bryston amplifications. When partnered with the Pass Labs combo, the sound was as described above. With the Bryston gear the lush, warm, smoothness was still apparent, but the sound also gained a certain level of dynamics and transient excitement. But should the Sony XA5400ES be compared to the Marantz CD7 or the Bryston BCD-1, both are very much more expensive by the way, two areas of deficiency did start to show. First is the area of very low level details in the music, like as in when I play my favorite Tube Hifi Violin CD, I found that many of the subtle breathing and bowing techniques recorded, were simply glossed over by the Sony, comparing to the Marantz. When compared to the Bryston, the Sony's handling of macro dynamic and transient swings is not as great at the contrasting ends of band width extremes. However, the Sony did excelled at portraying micro dynamics instead.

There are no sonic nasties presented by the Sony XA5400ES either, the highs are never grainy or harsh, mids never shouty, and bass is articulate, detailed and always tuneful. The best part about the Sony is that it possesses a level of musicality and cohererence in musical presentation, never before attain able at this price point. It may be the PRAT factor, but music always flowed freely and somehow manages to communicated that emotional massage of the musical performance very effectively. I had no trouble connecting "emotionally" with this player at all, and when buying source components, this is especially important!

The complete back panel view.

Unlike previous generation SACD players, which always tend to short change CD play musically to show case SACD's format superiority. Those days are over, as people now days tend to buy a CD player performance first, and if it plays SACD too, then considered a bonus. That's the market trend, and the XA5400ES does not short change the CD play back at all, I am happy to report. The Sony just plays both formats with the best ability it can. Other than being a little more analogue like sounding and slightly better low level resolution retrieval when playing SACD software, I enjoyed the CD format's musical performance just as much. Also gone are the days when a player takes ages to recognise if you've put in a CD or SACD in to the tray. The Sony mostly took no more than 20 seconds at worst to sort if self out automatically, although the user is allowed to override with manual format selection.

The standard Sony remote supplied. No fancy remote this time for the XA5400ES.

Depending on how Sony Malaysia work it's costing, should it be available in the local market, the player would likely to retail for between RM$5 - 7k(my guestimate, based on it's UK retail price), which is really cheap for an ES series component. The Sony XA5400ES would certainly be THE ultimate CD/SACD player to get for those in the midst of setting a hifi system costing between RM$15-20k budget range, or those seeking to up grade from that good ol' Marantz CD63. Trust me, it's that good, and I here by confirm that all the Internet and overseas buzz about this player is not hype. Not at all.

Dear readers, please do yourself and all other music lovers a favour at this coming KLIAV show, go to the Sony exhibition room(which is big I am told, so you can't miss it!), and ask for the Sony XA5400ES SACD/CD player. Hopefully, that will jolt the local marketing guys out of their comfy slumber and make this wonderfully musical player available in the local market. For not, us Malaysian audiophiles and music lovers on a budget would be musically poorer.

And finally, PS, you've made the right decision, and I am glad you've decided to stay your course of purchase, The Sony XA5400ES is a mighty fine buy indeed.

Sony Malaysia enquiry contact, tel: 1-300-88-1233

Vitus Audio SS-101 Integrated power amp. 50Watts of Class A smoothness!

I seen the Vitus Audio products in hifi mags, they seemed well built and look like something that'll sound special. Full balanced class A amplifier designs are my kinda thing. It's come to Malaysia now courtesy of Audiomatic in Amcorp Mall.

Vitus Audio SC-010CD player, with built in linestage.

On demo is the SCD-010 CD player and the SS-101 integrated stereo amplifier. You may ask that if I have missed out on a pre amp? No, the pre amp is not required as the CD player has a built in line stage! You can also read about the products and Hans-Ole-Vitus, the brand's designer, on http://www.vitusaudio.com/

Do make an appointment for a demo to avoid disapointment.

Vitus Audio is sold by Audiomatic, contact Eugene, tel:012-3222698

The always immaculately stylish "Sifu"!

One of my favourite audio gurus, Ken Ishiwata is celebrating his 30th Anniversary working with Marantz. To commemorate this event, Marantz will launch the SA-KI Pearl SACD player and PM-KI Pearl amplifier combo. The British audio press has leaked that these special products are due to be launched by end of this month!

There are only 500 pairs of these interesting one off products on offer world wide, and they will be truly special indeed, especially to Marantz fans and collectors worldwide. I bet the Europeans are already lining up in front of Marantz showrooms by now to snap up the units.

The "Black Pearl" finishing is special to touch. The internals of these babies are going to look and will probably sound great!

Technical specs are sketchy at this stage other than what is let known on Marantz European website at http://www.Marantz.eu/kipearl/

Will we get to see this special pair in the metal at the Woo Kee Hong room during our July KLIAV show?

Would you like collect a pair?

How can any hifi buff miss this place?

Folks, our good ol' familiar hifi store, or as CMY likes to call it "The Naim Centre", managed by the ever helpful Chan in Damansara Up Town, Petaling Jaya, has just got a make over!

The store front display.

The make over is done to accommodate some new range of products recently secured by CMY, namely, Dynaudio speakers, Acoustic System Resonators(our friend CK would be thrilled!) and the in coming Jeff Rowland Design Group electronics. Yummy, Yummy, indeed!

The very affordable quality QED cables and power accessories corner.


Eye fi candy store! Audio equipment display galore.

CMY has always been regarded by many as a hifi supermarket of sorts because they carry a wide range of hifi and AV brands to suit every needs, aspirations and budget. Amongst their brands excluding the 2 mentioned above are Goldring, QED, Siltech, PrimaLuna, Brightstar Audio, Rel Acoustics, RGPC, Naim, Primare, Copland, Usher, Audio Pro, Blue Horizon, Proac, Boston Acoustics Horizon, Denon and Onkyo. I hope I didn't leave brands any out.

CMY also sells various accessories like the Milty Static gun, WBT connector parts, nickel coated RCA caps(these are really good stuff, if you've not tried), Cardas RCA caps, various tubes and an extended range of audiophile CDs, especially from the Naim label.

Primare CDP & integrated amp powering Proac Response D28. Note PrimaLuna tube CDP and integrated amp. RGPC power line conditioner and Siltech power cords in the back ground.

As you walk in to the familiar part of the store greets you with some entry level demo systems followed by rows of AV and hifi equipment on display shelf. Really makes me feel like a kid in a candy store!

More equipment display, spot the lone Goldring turntable?

Then there are the big Usher speakers in the familiar demo room with the full range of Usher electronics. This room also doubles as an AV demo area with projector screens and cinema theme decor adorning it's walls.

The flagship Usher Beryllium and electronics. AV demoed here too!

Siltech corner in dedicated glass display. You'll need assistance to get a feel of their superb quality.

Boston Acoustics for quality table radio fans. Chan did not serve me the wine? I should've asked.

However, once past the cashier counter looking at your left, you'll find the Siltech corner by the side of the Boston Acoustic Horizon Solo display shelves. As you walk thru the walk way, You'll be greeted by the full range of Dynaudio speakers, accompanied by Naim, Usher and the soon to arrive JRDG electronics. This new area, just completed recently and fitted with soft lighting with light ceiling deflector treatment also has Acoustic System Resonators and other tweaks fitted to improve the room acoustics.

More Ushers on static display.

The ceiling treatment. Nice and effective!
Acoustic System Resonator and other range of room tune tweak applied in this area.

The full line of Dynaudio Confidence on display, awaiting their Jeff Rowland mates.

Dynaudio 30th Aniversary Saphire speakers(inner pair in special Rose wood finish), and Naim electronics with RGPC PLC.

I was listening to the demo system consisting of Naim CDX2 CDP, Naim pre-power combo with their dedicated Hi Cap/Flat Cap power supply boxes in tow, powering a pair of smallish Dynaudio C1 Confidence on dedicated stands. This system rocks surprisingly hard. We were spinning some Queen music and the track, Another one bites the dust, really nailed me to the wall, with its big, bold tuneful bass whilst maintaining the tracks simplistic clarity and drive so wonderfully coherent!

The rocking system! Note how small the Dyanaudio Confidence C1 is, compared to the giant Naim DBL speakers(outer pair). But sound is certainly big and confident. You're looking at a RM$100k or so worth of equipment here!(excluding the Naim speakers)

I love the way the Naim rack complements the look of their electronics.

RGPC with UK style 13 amps rated outlets, especially just for Naim systems.

Bespoke British style 13 amps rated plugs designed by Naim for Naim equipment!

I then went on to audition the "new" Usher Tiny Dancer speakers powered by Usher electronics and Copland CD823 CDP. The sound was warm and very forgiving in nature. It made for very easy listening. It did not do the Queen or rock music particularly well, but I am sure many will like it's easy listening nature. Having said that, the speakers are new as they just arrived and have not broken in yet. So there's certainly much room for more performance.

If only this sexy "tiny?" Dancer can dance in to my audio cave. Just makes me wanna caress the dancer!

I spent half a Saturday there with some of my hifi buddies, and we all had a great time there, until we all got a little hungry and went on to feast our selves with some of the most sumptuous tasting nasi lemak in KL, just a few blocks away! Excellent hifi, glorious music, great company of like minded fellas and sumptuous food, it was a lovely day out in CMY Damansara Uptown!


And finally, congrats to CMY Audio & Visual for securing some of the most successful brands in the hifi business!