in a recent interview conducted in a hifi saloon in taiwan, in conjuction with her latest album release, cai qin, raised a few eyebrows about what she expects from audiophile recordings....

fact #1 - cai qin's real voice is not as thick and bassy as most audiophiles would believe

most audiphiles would tweak her sound until really "kao kao" (concentrated and thick-sounding) and think that's how cai qin sounds like. in real life, cai qin's voice is actually quite clear, precise and light. she sounds definitely younger than her age. so the next time you tune cai qin, don't make her sound like 70 year-old!

fact #2 - cai qin's doesn't think any of her albums so far are close to her real voice because no one album does sound the same. every time she listens to the monitor speakers in the studio, she always disagree with the sound.

cai qin is not being arrogant. her explanation is that every recording studio and the equipment it uses has its unique sound and all the engineers tend to beautify her voice to a certain degree.

fact #3 - which albums then is closest to cai qin's real voice?

cai qin tactfully answered that it must be the best-selling album because it is endorsed by most people.

i don't have any evidence of her sales, but i would hazard a guess - it must be "lao ge" album.


fact #4 - what's cai qin's definition of a good recording?

cai qin thinks a good recording must represent the era the recording is made. a 1960's recording must conjure up images of that era - the hairstyles, the clothes, the culture, the colors, the setup... all the visual cues that is related to that era. it is really up the the recording engineer's imagination to capture all these cues.

I apologise for the lack of activities here in the last few days. I was busy at work and busy transporting my self to various concert venues and recording studios since my last post. I now know why Maggielurva doesn't write here of late, he's busy enjoying himself with his hifi system!

Simon says: What a beauty! Panzer replies: I am absolutely in love!

Over the last couple of months since I started blogging here, some of our readers and friends may have formed an opinion, or two about me, my music, my sonic preferences and my hifi. Simon, whom is a rather famous name in it self is used to represent all these opinions, and where possible, I wish to set the record straight should they be contradictory to my believes and practices.

1) Simon says: These days, anyone with a half decent hifi system and access to Internet via the computer can call them selves an audio reviewer. Panzer is one such example!

Panzer replies: Agreed! and why not?

2) Simon says: Panzer's not a "Golden Ear"

Panzer replies: Agreed, and what a blessing it is!, that I am not a "Golden Ear". I personally know a few "Golden Ear"s whom can never enjoy their music, because every single piece of equipment(even those costing 5 or 6 figures!) is never good enough for them. I am in the opinion that these tormented souls are cursed.

3) Simon says: Panzer's equipment is not good enough!

Panzer replies: Agreed! If my system is so good, and I am so satisfied, would I still go around looking for better things to try? It's all in the up grading process. And this blog has caught me on the up ward move. Coming from a lower level, most equipment more expensive than my own can often sound very good indeed!

4) Simon says: Everything Panzer review also sound nice! This guy has no standards?

Panzer replies: Our readers only see the things we write about. There are those that we played with and decided not to. Are they bad equipment? No. In this day and age of CAD(computer aided design)/CAM(computer aided manufacturing) processes, there are really very few bad apples on sale in the market(discounting certain China made products). Some of the big brands we played with, just could not synergistically match our system on sonic character, i.e. non-complementary, that is. Hence we feel it's not fair to the equipment with respect to the manufacturers. That's all.

5) Simon says: Panzer only listen's to Tsai Chin's Lou Ge!

Panzer replies: Tsai Chin's Lou Ge is indeed one of my favourite CD, and until recently LP! But I am genre blind. I listen to all good music, and willing to explore out of my comfort zone from time to time. I just used Tsai Chin's Lou Ge as an example more often because it's musical and sonic performance quality is well known amongst all audiophiles in Asia, and probably the world.

6) Simon says: Panzer doesn't like DIYers!

Panzer replies: I love to DIY. I just dislike people whom make claims like, "my RM$2K DIY amp killed the Krell and left it for dust!" I've heard many making this type of claims before, and often, when the pudding is heard, it's not proof of the eating! Many a times too, even the pudding you cannot see or smell! That's really disappointing. I really respect DIYers, whom can bench test and benchmark their "pride and joy", against the high end establishment, and can show proof of their work. I have so far only met 2 such individuals. These are truly rare gems in the DIY world.

7) Simon says: What kind of sound does Panzer likes?

Panzer replies: I love the sound that glorifies music! The kind of sound that puts hifi in a position to represent the musical source's artistic expressions. I must be touched/moved by the music I hear. I want to feel all the emotional intent of the song. In short, I love beautiful sound as opposed to neutral sound, or some would say the truth! Audiophile aspirations can come second. A system may have some flaws from an audiophile perspective, I am o.k. with that.

8) Simon says: Panzer everything also want to review!

Panzer replies: Well, pretty much most things! Guilty as charged!

9) Simon says: Panzer is salesman for Torus Power! Got commission?

Panzer replies: I do not accept commissions from any individual or dealers. I do get some discount for the stuff that I buy. However, I think nobody ever pays sticker prices for hi fi any way, right? Especially in Malaysia, where if you don't haggle over price, you've probably not lived here long enough! I do accept invitations for "healthy" drinks and sumptious meals though.

10) Simon says: Every home visit Panzer writes about sounds like this and like that! Does Panzer actually likes what he heard?

Panzer replies: Every system, I think, is a work in progress. Audiophiles are a breed that is never satisfied with what they have, so their system as in their musical journey is ever evolving. My home visits are a snapshot of that system and the owner's hifi ideals at that very moment. Many a times, the very next day, new equipment comes in too. It really doesn't matter if I liked what I heard, what's more important, is that the system owner featured, likes what he hears. This way, we may share each other's system here with pride and joy! You can also think of our features here are a sort of time/progress marker for your system(if featured) with various follow up threads, every now and then.

With this I hope to debunk some of the myths or opinions formed.

This was happening in my room last night. Cool!

I thought I'd take a break from hifi last night. I also wondered if, after all my hifi improvements, does my system, just ticks all the right audiophile boxes? or does it still have the pizzas to rock?

One of my all time favorite bands, Queen is always a good test! So I sat down and put in the Queen Greatest Hits CD in to my Marantz CD7 player. I have bought this CD 20 years ago and have listened to it more than a millionth times by now. I know all the songs by heart.

Queen Greatest Hits CD.

But last night, something magical took place, I was transported back in to the studios when the songs were recorded, for the very first time in a few years, no leap of faith was required. I finished the CD in no time, I reach for Queen Greatest Hits II, plonk it in to the CDP press play, and returned to the studio with Queen.

Queen Greatest Hits II.

The older Greatest Hits was more convincing in the illusion, despite the louder tape hiss! The rather cleaner sounding Greatest Hits II was clearer and had more definition, i.e. more hiss free, but proved just as fun. In the end the music took over, I played at near concert loud levels! yet my system never sounded noisy, staging and imaging was stable and it was never strained. Many a times when a system is pushed to the limits, harshness, staging and imaging disintegration sets in.

By the end of 2 hours, I was pretty tired, not from listening to music, but participating in music. Like I said, I knew all these songs by heart. I sang along side Freddie Mercury, played air guitar with Brian May, plucked bass lines with John Deacon , and jammed drums with Roger Taylor! I did a four things in rotation, as and when, what came naturally. No wonder I was tired.

It is rare days like this, when all the effort, money and time spent on improving the hifi pays off handsomely. For 2 hours, I was transported in to a musical event, and away from reality.

Bottom line is "My system still rocks!" and that, is a good feeling.

Now if only they were more days like this? Perhaps I am just in a good mood as weekend comes around again.

I am sure some of you may have read, or at least are aware of the inspirational book, Dare to fail! Some day, I might just write a book too. Probably tittled Dare to dream. Yes that's it!

All I can say is, one must "dare to dream", because, sometimes they might just come true! I've had a few experiences in my audiophile life, some dreams may take longer to materialize than others, but eventually I got what I dream of. Here are the examples.

a) When I was a nappy wearing green horn high end audio aspirant, my dream was to have a pair of Pass Lab Aleph mono blocks. Thanks to my very good friend, Felix whom help me to secure the pair that I have now. Thanks again man.

b) When I was dreaming of the Marantz CD7, I wanted it so badly, I even prayed for one to appear on the local hifi classifieds(by then all 750 units made were already snapped up world wide, you could only get em "pre owned" and hopefully un abused). 3 years later, my prayers were answered! Thank god.

c) After hearing the Audioquest Sky interconnects at Hifikaki's place, I marveled at the level sound quality it could help a system achieve. I secretly wished for a pair too. 2 months later, a colleague helped me with the transaction and I have the Sky in my hands. Thanks to my esteemed and extremely helpful colleague(and he certainly knows whom he is).

d) I reviewed the Torus Power RM8A PLC a few weeks ago, see my post tittled Power Struggle? Torus Power RM8A, dated 14th March. I was totally floored by the Torus Power's ability to bring out the music's emotional nuances, so essential for my enjoyment. I didn't think I could afford it at that time. However, for the last 6 weeks or so, my friends have been betting, if I could hold off my lust for it. I am sorry guys, if you really believe I could go on without the Torus Power, you've lost your $$$. Ha!Ha!

Truth is, the last 6 weeks have sort of been a cooling off period for me, but the magic of the Torus Power proved too strong to resist. I surrendered to my audiophile lust and my musical dreams. Thanks to all whom have help me to procure the Torus Power.(and I am very sure you all know whom you are too!)

I am so very grateful to all my friends(and certainly the al' mighty and all powerfull one too!) whom have help me over the years to make my audiophile dreams come true.

Go on, have a dream, and may your dreams come true!

God Bless.

Music is but sounds harmoniously sowed
and when sufficiently harvested
is indistinguishable from magic.

ANONYMOUS (FROM AN INSCRIPTION ON THE WALL OF THE 2000 YEAR-OLD GSALRIG CHONGG MONASTERY IN TIBET).

Dan Brown has his Da Vinci Code, which he made millions.

Lawyers have their Ethics Code, which legalise their millions.

I have my Musicality Code, which I made nothing.

Except being musically richer and will share with you, dear friends, for free, if you would care to read.

The Musicality Code is simply:

MACRO + MICRO + EMOTION

For better clarity, think of a family module to represent the Musicality Code.

Macro - the Man in the family. Masculine, big, bold, strong and energetic. In music, the big stuffs - power, dynamics, slam, loudness, bass extension, high frequency extension, dynamic contrast and high level resolution.

Micro - the Woman in the family. Feminine, sweet, soft, gentle and delicate. In music, the small stuffs - microdynamics, detail and inner detail, refinement, delicateness, decay, texture and low level resolution.

Emotion - the Child in the family. Unrestrained, innocent and natural emotions from mind, body and heart. In music, the stuffs that move and touch us - the expressive and quivering voice of a female vocalist, the fluttering sounds of the bow gently touching the strings, the heartfelt lyrics of a torch song..., the list goes on.

Macros give excitement; micros give refinement; emotions give soul.

Mix them up and balance well in time and space.

The result?

You will get REALISM and ALIVENESS, which to me are the highest achieveable twin peaks of fine music reproduction at home.

The above, dear friends, is my Musicality Code.

[contributed by km ng]

When planing to enter the world of high end audio, what do you think of first? The budget of course!, nothing matters without budgets. So now you're prepared to spend the $$$, what do you have to think about first?

Many newbies whom I posed this question to answered with which gear to buy! Some even think to the extent of which cable they wanna buy. Not one person thought about where are they going to set up the system, once purchased.

Now, this is the most important factor of them all! Before anyone even think about buying any piece of audio equipment with the aim of achieving realistic high end sound, think about where you'll likely want to set up your system, because you're likely going to spend many hours of your waking time, in the place with the aim of enjoying music.

Be it in a dedicated room, or in an open area of the house, like the lounge or hall area, be sure the environment is quiet, and reasonably conducive for music enjoyment. Once the area is identified, think if you wanna pull a dedicated power supply line to the said room or lounge?, however that could be fixed at a later date, sometime after you've set up the system.

The room or space where the audio system is to be set up will very likely influence the final sound you'll hear thru the speakers, due to a factor called speaker/room interaction. The speaker cones acts like a moving piston in the room thereby, exciting room modes. There's an exact science where the dimensions of the room will indicate the room mode frequencies. But let's just take it easy for now an leave the science to the pros. Look at the link here, taken from http://www.audiophysic.de/technik/index_e.html , look thru the spec sheet, and you'll see from the 4th row down to the left of the speakers line up technical spec, noted as , "Require Space" and you'll see that it clearly indicates the minimum room sizes suitable for each model. From my experience with Audio Physic products, your room size can be slightly exceed or reduced, use the chart as a guide. You may even find that some room sizes able accommodate 2 or 3 models, in that case, an in room demo would be required, and your ears will determine the final choice. More speaker companies should provide this crucial information, which in my opinion makes speaker buying so much easier.

Good, now that you have your room, and speaker choice, based on the speaker specs, again looking at the technical chart provided by Audio Physic for is various models, you can then shortlist a few amplifier models, that will in theory be mode than adequately power your pair of speakers. Amps should in theory be a "wire with gain" and nothing more. It's job is to take a low level signal, amplify the signal with minimum of distortion added or signal corruption. Ideally it should also be very transparent in sound, and not lose information along the way.

Finally, you can work towards your choice of source, be it digital files streaming system, CDP or Turntable. A source's job is to extract the maximum information out of it's carrier. The source may even be slightly tonally coloured, if you're in to that sort of a thing.

Finally, you can look into your choice of auxiliary equipments, like cables, power conditioners and equipment racks. If you followed the speaker to room size ratio as per advised by Audio Physic(if you're in to Audio Physic stuff like me), you should require very little room treatment. But in the quest for perfection, some room treatment can enhance the whole listening experience.

Once all the above has taken place, you can then look at tweaks, if that's your kinda thing. It can be some crystal bits on top of speaker's corner, or sound tuning beak, as Totem speakers calls them, Shun Mook, cable evalators, like Shunyata Dark Field, you get the idea. Non essential items that do help to squeeze the last ounce of performance from your system if implemented effectively.

I don't know how true this is, but my personal experience tells me this is a better way. More experienced sifus may have other ideas, perhaps?

Amy Winehouse, a junkie of sorts, just like me?

A kable kooker junkie, that is!

I was once a skeptic to the idea of cable cooking. However, since I have experience the sinful taste of a cooked cable, I can no longer bear to listen to un-cooked cables anymore, what ever the price!

There, that's my confession.

Here are just some fancy notes about kable kooker which I experience while hallucinating perhaps?

1) The kable kooker's performance is affect by the power cord powering the kooker! I tried the usual computer supplied grade, Isotek Premium power cord and JPS Inwall. The experience is the better the power cord connected to the IEC socket from wall, the better the sonic results of the cooked cable.

2) Oil filled cables, like some of the Purist Audio Design range, are not effected by kable kooker! I read this in some other forums and decided to try it for my self. I loaned a pair of demo PAD speaker cable, courtesy of Centre Circle Audio, for the purpose. I cooked the cable for 72 hours, with intervals of 24 hours of unhooking and doing a short listening to check for sonic changes and found zip!, nada! or no changes to the sound in plain English.

3) Some cables are harder to cook than others! When cooking cables, especially speaker cables, I found various results. With some speaker cables, when cooking, the kable kooker's metal casing gets very warm to touch. With other cables it's just barely warm. The PAD, totally no temperature felt! But the sonic results also followed the temperature of the cook. The hotter the cook, the better sounding the cable will be post cooked! With the PAD no temperature, no sonic feel either.

4) Silver cables(even silver coated copper ones) take longer to cook, compared to just copper cables. This was evident when I cooked all my XLR cables. Both the Cardas Golden Presence and the AQ Colorado took only 24 hours to cook, both are copper. The AQ Sky, by comparison, took 84 hours to sound just as nice! Speaker cables reveals the same treads. The Abbey Road speaker cables, which are silver and copper strands mixed, reviewed earlier, took a very much longer time to cook compared to the copper only Cardas Golden Reference.

That's all folks! Any more substances, and I'd be OD-ed.

Ha!Ha!Ha!

I was in Singapore for work this week and have a few hours time to kill before I make my way back home. What better way to do so than a visit to SG's hifi mecca, Adelphi?

Whilst there, I first checked on the software, a.k.a. CD and vinyl. Both the Roxy Disc House and New Disc Village seemed to dedicate about half or more than half their rack space for vinyl. There's still 10% rack space for SACD and the remaining space for CD. My last visit in August 2008, things were quite different. With CDs dominating rack space and about two racks for vinyl and the same 10% for SACD. How fast the tide seems to be turning against the CD format within months!

Next, I checked out the Proac Response Tri Tower speakers. These are truly life style speakers that do not compromise sound quality. The speakers, driven by a Vimak CD player and a 50W stereo tube amp, sounded really transparent, with amazingly full width and depth reproduction of the sound stage and solid imaging. the speakers tonal balance was warm, and lightly colored, a Proac signature sound perhaps? The tubey factor perhaps? I don't know, but it sure sounded very pleasant and easy on the ear if a little bass light and tight.(it's to be expected from a slim tower consisting of three 4" cones to do the bass reproduction work). Now if only CMY has a pair for demo?

Then I checked out some Shunyata Dark Field Cable Elevators, Audio Note, the shop selling it, was very accommodating to my request for an A/B/A test to see if it works. I heard very subtle differences with the Shunyata Dark Field inserted under the speaker cables in comparison to without. The sound reproduced was somewhat richer and seem to have quieter background. Interesting, will make it a point to hound the local Shunyata distributor for a demo set to try out!

Now that's how a hifi buff kill a few hours in a foreign place.

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my hifi friend suggested to me to have a hifi god in my house where i can offer daily prayers.

for a start, i pray that there will be no more interruptions to my hifi for the next 20 years. there are other prayers of course but this is the most significant.

apologies to panzer and hifikaki for shutting myself up for the past 2 months. i have been showing a moody face every time i see you guys. i can't hide my feelings; i am just a straight forward guy.

so let bygones be bygones.

i want to try the finite elemente cera-whatnots; i want to try the quantum tuning black box; i want to change all my IEC plugs to furutech; i want to try what i have missed out in the last 2 months.

i am the meanest comeback kid.


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I have wished for the Benz Micro Glider L2 to be in my vinyl set up for some time now and thought it would be nice to end the year on a higher note!

For some funny reason, I am very attracted to it's nude, open body construction. I guess you can say the same about the fairer sex too! Hmmm......

In retrospective, 2008 has been a kind, rewarding and progressive year for me on the hi-fi front. It was the year that saw me switched from tube to solid state pre-amps, I've never had solid state pre-amps before. I've always admired the Pass Labs X2.5 since it made it's appearance here in 2003, but could never quite afford it. Also managed to get my self a good and effective PLC after a few months of auditions. I also re-did my room twice, more than any other time in the last five years.

But this must, mostly be remembered as a year of entering the high end cable search. I've never swapped so many cables before this. And finally ending the year with my recent purchase of the AQ Sky and now the Benz Micro Glider L2. I'll post later, about it once the break in time is achieved.

But most profound to me at least, was to have more hi-fi friends. I also wish to thank all my hi-fi buddies and sifus whom have chipped in to help me advance my sonic rewards. Finally, must thank hifikaki and especially maggielurva, for allowing me, to share my thoughts on this blog. It's been really mind opening for me.

And lastly, a big thank you to all the readers for sharing your kind, "desirable thoughts" with me.

Will be back next year, hopefully with more toys to report, and better hi-fi ideas to share.

Wishing all a "Happy and Bountiful 2009!"

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this time of the year, every year, i will always dig out my treasured cantate domino cd and play the "silent night" track on my system, at the same time, appreciate how great the ambience of the hall where the recording took place , how great the layering of the choir and believe it or not, at one stage of my hifi journey, i even started counting the number of members in the choir ;-) (disclaimer: don't do that if you don't have the resolution and detail, hehe)

but this year, it is different. the past 5 weeks have really been "silent nights" ever since my ARC preamp gets admitted to ICU due to a power supply problem. i haven't got a clue when it can be fixed. my house has been so queit without music, even my neighbours find it strange that the "nightly ritual" is gone for more than a good month.

during this period of "silent nights", i have been spending my time on other important things in my life, like earning more money (and saving it up), catching up with friends, soul-searching and planning for 2009. it allows me to realize that hifi is not the be-all-n-end-all of my life, eventho' i greatly miss my system, especially the problem came at a time when it was performing at its peak.

i am so glad that i have panzer and hifikaki to anchor this blog while i am "inactive". they are great writers that can give different facets to this blog.

the world is in turmoil now and i am ever grateful that i have a stable job and many fun hobbies that can bring me side income. i wish that you readers treasure the things around you - your family, your jobs, your friends, your beloved ones and even your hifi cos you don't know how bad it can get once they are out of your life.

i wish you a merry x'mas and a happy new year. i will be back.

my preamp is still not repaired properly so my life has been without hifi for close to a month now. it is agonizing. sorry for those who are waiting for more reviews from me.

i have been reflecting on some of the hifi things and the hifi people i met this year and the most illuminating statement i heard this year, from a very sage audiophile, is "good sound has universal standards".

this particular audiophile, like me, doesn't subscribe to the frequent defensive statement from audiophiles when facing constructive criticism from visiting audiophiles : i-like-my-sound-and-i-don't-care-how-others-dislike-it mentality.

true, you have every right to defend your sound and your biases towards this kind of sound but do you ever ponder for a moment that universally there is only one "right" tonality (that's the one closest to live sound), one "right" soundstaging (that's the one closest to live soundstage)? the operative keyword here being "closest to live". c'mon, reproduced sound can never, ever achieve the scale, intensity, SPL or realism of live sound but a good system can provide a close facsimile of the real thing. a case in point, even the tiny monitor like the famed bbc ls3/5a can do a wonderful job in creating a good facsimile of live sound, albeit in a much reduced scale.

we don't dismiss those who play 300B because they like the romantic sound, or those SS-proponents who like dynamic bass, or those horn-proponents who like lifelike realisim and many other sub-genre of audiophiles who have various biases but do you ever dispute that good systems share many similar traits?

just like we won't dispute that jessica elba has the best beach-girl bod, or angelina jolie or hsu qi (picture above) have most sensuous pouty lips, or scarlet johannson has the best boobs. even beauty have universal standards, tho' many would argue that beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder ;-)

while it is not wrong to defend the kind of sound you like, do spend a moment next time to ponder when you receive a constructive criticism from a sage and wise audiophile (make sure he is sage and wise lah!) on why he gives that kind of feedback. he does not mean to dent your ego and make you feel bad; he may just want to help you because he has been there, done that.

when you do get it right on a certain aspects of hifi, do visit those people whose systems you looked up to in the past and you would then realize good sound do indeed have universal standards.

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i met sunil, an indian expat who has just migrated to kl, at eugene's audio matic at amcorp mall yesterday.

sunil told me he reads my blog 3-4 times a day and it is thru my blog that he discovers the furutech dealer. at that time, i was totally outraged by something i read in the local chinese hifi magazine which i picked up in eugene's shop. so i was at the two extremes of emotions - elated that i have an appreciative reader and outraged that someone has been launching vicious attacks on me time and again.

thanks, sunil, for all the nice words you said. it is readers like you that make me enjoy my blogging. i also have plenty of appreciative music lovers who told me they love the music that we do because they are sick of the thrash in the market today.

i try not to get into the politics of hifi but sometimes the best form of defence is attack. even our mr. nice guy abdullah badawi will attack back if he is provoked beyond his threshold of tolerance.

at the end of the day, i picked up two very good CDs which really really lifted my day from a mediocre one to one which is musically blissful.

music is a powerful therapy. and in gloomy times like these, we really should find solace in music.

i will be back with more hifi this week.

introducing jim smith's (US distributor for avantgarde loudspeakers) latest book titled "get better sound"...

why i think this is a great book is because jim smith hits the nail on the head by stating all the relevant issues plaguing audiophiles, especially those who are not getting a good sound:

"in all my visits to audiophiles' home - to my great suprise - i have never encountered one system that was performing anywhere near its potential. in fact, very few were performing at even half of the performance of which they were capable!"

"and yet the common denominator among their owners was the question - "what about upgrading to XYZ component?"

"but their priorities were misplaced. there was no need to spend another dime on components until they had gotten their system optmized to "play the room""

exactly my sentiments. but not all audiophiles are bent on upgrades all the times, especially malaysian audiophiles. some just don't know how to max out their systems because they don't know how far their systems can go. they don't have a reference.

go buy this book!

with the current global financial crisis, many hifi dealers are bracing for the worse in months to come. they predict that audiophile consumers would naturally tighten their spending (i.e. stop upgrading) and leave hifi out of their "priority" list.

i spoke to some people and they offer some interesting views on how economy impacts the entertainment industry. it has been shown that whenever there is a crisis, the entertainment industry, such as music and movie industry, seems to do even better because people have less money to spend on "expensive" entertainment but they can afford "affordable" entertainment like music and movies. also, they find solace and inspiration in these pastimes to help them through tough times. ever listen to mozart's piano sonatas when you had a bad day? they work wonders, don't they?

it does make some sense to me. this world is full of entertainment options and hifi is often ranked very bottom in the list because you have to stay at home to enjoy it. during bad times, youngsters and young adults would have less money to go clubbing, concerts or general merry-making so they would stay at home and listen to their ipods and play with internet. for the middle-age audiophiles, they would have less social obligations with clients, less product launches, less beer-drinking sessions and they would also stay at home to listen to their hifi.

so i urge malaysian dealers to work even harder in bad times like these to get more sales. if biz is slow, these are the best times to build up customer relationship by visiting them and understand their aspirations and frustrations. of course, it is inevitable that buying customers would squeeze more discounts from the dealers.

seriously, now is the time that busy audiophiles would stay at home, be a good hubby and listen to their hifi. who knows, you will find inspiration to experiment that tweak that you have always been wanting to try or reposition your speakers to get better imaging and depth, or build up your software collection by shopping for those cds that you have always been wanting to buy. or continue with any hifi project that you have shelved due to your busy schedule.

bad times like these are also best times to reflect and soul-search in oneself. whether you are a boss, an employee, a father, a husband, a son, an audiophile.... you shall find these slow times the best opportunity to unwind, medidate and improve on whatever you are doing.

whatever the case, the worst of times are sometimes the best of times.

you know it and you have experienced it more than once, the demo blues are the kind of situations that frustrate the most earnest kind of host.

i have had more than my fair share of demo blues over the years and i would say in 7/10 cases either (1) my system didn't sound the way i intended to be, or (2), my visitors' reactions/feedback were not the kind that i wanted them to be.

before a big demo to impress you friends and visitors, you would clean up your listening room, polish your cable connectors, re-check your speaker positioning and for those vinylphiles, you would re-check your VTA, clean and prepare the list of LPs to be demo-ed to your visitors.

the big day came. you get jittery. you are so sure that your system can impress even the most critical of listeners but you are worried that their listening skills are nowhere near your level or their tastes/demands are totally different from yours.

you get the visitors seated comfortably and you get on with your job of playing your fave discs one by one. you observe their facial expressions. all look nonchalant; some even look pensive. you yell to yourself, "damn it, can't you tell how gorgeous carol kidd's tone is thru my system - the midrange is so lucid, can't you tell?". one of them manages to utter some remotely positive remarks about your system, "i quite like the way your system portrays the depth of the cathedral". you are exasperated and yell silently, "this is a studio recording, you fool!". looks like your visitors are totally clueless about your system's strengths.

yet another comments with a tinge of sarcasm, "something about your drum, it doesn't sound like a real drum. it sounds like an oil drum, or something hitting on a tin can." now this really gets you cranky and edgy. you wanted to shove him the exit door but being a gracious host, you swallow your pride quietly. you tell yourself, "this cotton-ear should be barred from now on".

so the listening session is over. none of them seems too impressed but they are all too nice to say anything damaging but the damage is already done. their facial disapproval says it all. your are disheartened and your whole day is spoilt.

on the same night, you switch on the system again. everything seems so perfect, it is almost faultless. carol kidd is alive in your room. what happened this afternoon? why can't this bunch of cotton-ears hear how glorious my system is?

then it suddenly dawns on you that this was the same situation that happened last month, when little johnny brought his entourage of visitors to your house and none of them said anything that could tantamount to a praise or compliment. you wallowed in your misery too and did the same thing at night by switching on your system and found perfection in it.

as the night wears on and you getting a bit pacified by this sudden realization that not all cotton ears can appreciate high-end systems. carol kidd is still sounding naughty on gershwin's "nice work, if you can get it". she is so palpably real in your listening room that you can touch her. your take a slow sip of your red wine which you reserve for late-night listening.

"c'est la vie", you tell yourself. "no more demos to cotton ears."

for those over 35 and constantly lament on the lack of good music today, mamma mia! is for you! the movie is a spirited adaptation of the popular stage musical and did i have fun watching it!

this is not a movie blog so there is no movie review from me. but i want to drive home the following points:

1] why is today's pop music cannot be as simple, sweet and melodious as ABBA's?

2] when the music is so brilliant, does it matter whether your hifi is low-end of high-end? you don't need soundstaging and separation, do you?

i left the cinema with slight teary eyes. it has been awhile since i was so moved by the music. so much childhood memories were recalled.

yeah, go call me a sentimental uncle. i live and die music!

pay a visit to your typical indian newsagent and you would have a hard time finding where they put their hifi magazines. they are always located at one inconspicuous corner where magazine of less "importance" are. even when you do find them, there is at most one or two copies available. such is the sad state of hifi magazines in malaysia.

most of the times, these magazines are left unsold and they would be sent to the 2nd hand bookshops, like the one in amcorp mall, and be sold at 1/3 of its original price. even at that price, there are not many takers. the best selling hifi magazine in malaysia, as far as i know, is taiwan's "audio art", which is absolutely one of the best in the world in terms of photography, sheer volume of articles and intellectual contents.

fact it, today's audiophiles are no longer reading hardcopy hifi magazines, save for the very few minority hardcore readers. there are many reasons for this phenomenon, chief of which are the widely available internet resources and lack of credible reviewers.

but many local dealers argue that those who read from internet are not the real buyers. real buyers are those who still read hifi magazines. i could understand where they are coming from but i feel that the internet readers and buyers alike would boom in the next 3-5 years in malaysia, judging from the awareness of local dealers and audiophile community towards online hifi resources. a case in point, local hifi trading blog, hifi4sale, has somewhat "forced" even the most internet-handicapped dealers/audiophiles to go online and post their 2nd hand items for sale. this is a very encouraging sign indeed.

many hifi magazines are barely surviving, with diminished readership, eventho their advertising revenue are still stable. many manufacturers still want the distributor to allocate a certain budget for advertising in hardcopy hifi magazines. in the end, you may end up with hifi magazines that no ones want to read or bother to buy and take it home. and this is already happening today.

it is with this awakening thought that i have decided to suspend my av xpress infinitely and concentrate solely on my blog.

why so serious? that's what joker repeatedly said to his nemesis.

indeed, why take yourself so seriously? one dealer had tea with me and he uttered the following words - many audiophiles have fallen sick; the industry itself is sick and even he himself is sick. being in the industry for too long exposes him to all the problematic traits of local audiophiles. being in their company for too long also made him a cynic.

this hobby is no longer fun with bad-mouthing, back-stabbing, ego-bashing and mud-slinging bickers happening all the times. is it a malaysian problem or is it a global problem? gone are the days where audiophiles congregate together on a weekly basis at the coffee table to share, exchange and generally have a good time. nowadays many discerning and intellectual audiophiles (especially the high-end ones) prefer to play in solitude, just to distance himself from the rascals.

we think that today's audiophiles lack hands-on knowledge, self-confidence, assurance and depth of character. too many armchair critics. too many sour grapes. too many with "communist " mentality (as opposed to "prosper-thy-neighbor" mentality) .

the local situation has gone so bad that many dealers want to look beyond the audiophile community, and start to do business with non-audiophiles, the genuine music lovers who are less problematic and easier to deal with.

call me an audio rebel. i don't believe hifi has to be monotonous and political. why can't it be naughty and fun just like car audio with plenty of eye-candy? besides, there are times i couldn't find a fitting photo to insert into my post!

if no one has done it (to mix women with hifi), why can't i be the first one in the world?

do we need a hifi doctor to cure all the sicknesses?

[the beautiful charmaine sheh]

a dealer advised me to tone down my exuberance in this blog, for many dealers have become very "worried" of what i said in this blog. he cited several cases:

[1] i tend to make conclusive remarks too soon - i tend to side certain products.

[2] i should avoid doing shoot-outs in the future for malaysian dealers don't like it

[3] i am too opinionated and that i should have more reviewers to review a particular gear before i publish it in this blog. i should have at least 10 sets of systems before i am qualified to comment on a product.

with regards to comment [1], i make no apologies, for this is my blog and i have my own personality and style. i have always maintained "the caveat emptor" condition - you read with knowing what i like and dislike. the last thing i want to be is a "mr. please all", to satisfy all the dealers but myself. i loathe selling-out.

i still maintain my huge enthusiasm for stage III asp gryphon and no one is going to change my mind. i still maintain that it sounds superb in my system. so if you don't agree with it, stop believing what i write and stop reading this blog.

so, it is important to know the blogger's biases (and whims and fancies) before you take his words seriously.

the addition of hifi kaki and other bloggers in this blog also shows that i am open enough to have varied opinions.

so i beg you - readers and dealers alike - read with caveat emptor.

with regards to comment [2], i admit it was my mistake. because i am an industry figure, i have a responsibility to educate and inform. i shouldn't pit one product against another. i shall stop doing shoot-outs in the future. readers are encouraged to read between the lines. and i believe my readers are smart.

with regards to comment [3], i make no apologies again. which revered reviewer does not have an opinion? would you rather read a wishy-washy article (like in many magazines) rather than one which has a clear opinion (like hifi+)? as i have said, the fact that i invited hifi kaki and master ken shows my intention to broaden the perspectives of this blog (and magazine). but maggielurva would always be maggielurva, that is having an opinion (not opinionated, mind you) and honest to his art. is it because malaysia is not ready to have a writer like me?

having 10 systems before i qualified to review hifi? come on, stop kidding yourself, even robert harley or jonathan valin doesn't spend time evaluating a piece of component in 10 different systems. everyone knows system matching is important. if i said a component does not sound good in my system does not mean it does not sound good in hifi kaki's system or master ken's system. you have to take my criticsim with a huge pinch of salt. again, no one forces you to believe what i write. if you don't like what i write, then why are you reading this blog?

so, in summary, i promise to be more diplomatic in the future but within what i think is fair, without compromising my integrity. it is a fine line between commercialism and honesty and i am still learning the balancing act. but just so you know - in politics, i rather be a lee kuan yew than an abdullah badawi. in hifi, i rather be a roy gregory than a ken kessler.

i am just an honest and straight forward guy, so please don't bother me with all these politics.

oh, btw, don't you think charmaine sheh is highly desirable?