Elite Acoustic MSI on the left, and Shunyata Darkfield on the right. Let the games begin!

Until the arrival of the Shunyata Darkfield, I was a cable elevator skeptic. However, with Shunyata in the game for cable elevators, being company whose products are non voodoo science by nature(well at least their "white paper" theories seemed plausible), I figured they must be up to something good. And since I had one product on hand, which coincidentally Sound Precision brought about their latest product, Elite Acoustic MSI, amongst which include a cable elevator.

Since Hifikaki already post earlier about the Shunyata Darkfield in detail, I'll do a little explaining on the Elite Acoustic MSI(Magnetic Shock Isolator). It's elevated by means of two opposing magnets of the same polarity facing each other, not unlike the Clear audio Magix 2 reviewed on 4th March 2009. I must confess that however, the Clear audio Magix 2 is more well thought out in execution and better built. Another area of concern is the Elite Acoustic MSI is non-shielded, which means if you put 2 of the cables elevators close to each other, they'll wanna stick together! Does that also means another possible source of stray magnetic interference?

However I am happy to report that none of those concerns affected the subjective sonic reproduction out come as far as my ears are concerned. So are we ready to start the cable elevator shoot out?

Shunyata Darkfield, lifting Cardas Golden Presence interconnect.

First up, I'll mostly concur to Hifikaki's observation about the sonic observation of the Shunyata Darkfield. I found that placing the Darkfield under speaker cables to give most gentle of intrusions, meaning, it's sonic effect on speaker cables are most minimal compared to, say the power cords and interconnects, in the order of severity. I also found that you can't use too many pieces of Darkfield in your system either! I started with 4 pcs under my Straight wire Maestro II speaker cable, which made the back ground very silent, dark and brought about a new level of imaging focus to the overall sonic picture. I later added one piece at a time, to various power cords and interconnects, as I had a box to play with. With each piece added, the sound was getting darker, and the imaging focus seemed sharper in contrast. It was until the 9th piece, when I noticed the sound coming from the system took on a certain hardness in the high mids. At this point the whole sound stage also took on a rather constricted quality, like as if all the instruments are tied up with strings, just as in a puppet staged musical event. That, I did not like.

I also noticed that during it's time with me, some cables, like the Siltech G5 LS88 Classic speaker cable, did not respond well to the Darkfield. With only 4 pcs of Darkfield supporting both the left and right chanel speaker cables, the sound was already edgy and bright. I just couldn't wait to take the Dark field off! In the end, I found with just 3 pcs under my Cardas Golden Presence interconnect(4 meter in length connecting my pre to power amps) and a piece of Darkfield supporting my JPS Inwall power cord connecting from the Torus Power to my power amps, the sound was most well balanced between the background silence, darkness, and imaging focus.

Elite Acoustic MSI(Magnetic Shock Isolator) supporting the same Cardas Golden Presence interconnect.

Next, I replaced the Shunyata Darkfield with the Elite Acoustic MSI. Just like the I discovered earlier with the Darkfield, you can't use too many of these stuff. I also found the MSI to be weight sensitive, the heavier the cable the more effective it is. To achieve this, one can use less MSIs on a given cable length, that means like if I had use 4 pcs Darkfield earlier, I can now use only 3 pcs of MSIs to support the same cable. Once you dialed in the correct amount of MSIs to use on each cable, now you're rolling.

As per my experience with the Darkfield, 3 pcs of MSIs under the same Cardas Golden Presence interconnect gave excellent results. The MSIs never darkened the back ground like the Darkfields did. Instead, it fills the back ground with audiophile air, if a little hazy translucent like quality(I am trying my best to describe the sonic effect heard in lay man's term, hopefully it makes sense to you as an audiophile). Whatever it is, it's not white noise either. With the MSI, I feel the vocals and voices are projected with more density. This makes voices sound more complete and real, with chest and lungs. However, as you add more and more pcs of MSI, you'd find that the vocal imaging projected a little further and further forward in to the room, making the voice a little detached from the musical instruments in the back ground! I also subjectively found the MSIs more PRAT friendly to the tempo of the music, comparatively to the Darkfield.

In summary, the two cable elevators work in different sonic directions. I would say if your system is looking for a little more back ground silence, better imaging focus, the Darkfield is the more suitable candidate. Should your system crave for a little more audiophile "air" and dimensionality, with increased vocal density projection, then the MSI is a treat. At RM$100/pc, the Shunyata Darkfield is no doubt, the better value option. However, if it clicks with your system, as it did with mine, at RM$256/pc the Elite Acoustic MSI is my preferred cable elevator device, in the context of my system and musical preference.

In the end, your system and musical preference will ultimately sway your purchase decision. Like all tweaks of this nature, try before you buy is the order of the day.

Shunyata is sold by Valve & Vinyl, contact Mr Ng, tel:016-3302049

Elite Acoustic is sold by Sound Precision, contact Mr Chan, tel:019-3825937

From top: Wireworld Electrifier, Sine SA-6 and lastly, Furutech e-TP60. Which is my choice?

Do power bars have sonic characteristics? Or do they all sound the same? I wanted to find out if spending more $$$ in this area will improve the system's sound? Or are we just paying more for better brand name and cosmetics? I got 3 contenders, ranging from RM$300 - $1,800 to put to test.

Wireworld Electrifier. Basic build but very decent quality for the price.

First up, I must make clear that the Wireworld Electrifier is a starter kit to get you up and going or if your kind self or your system is not demanding, then can serve it's distributor role rather well. It comes with a basic looking plastic body shell and has 1 input, then splits to 6 copper outputs. It's actually OEM to Wireworld's spec by Wonpro. I find the sound(if there's a sound with distributors) to be very neutral, tidy and for the money asked(RM$300 or so when available), decent. Note that the Electrifier has since 2003 been superseded by Wireworld Tundra, which is still current model, I think.

Furutech e-TP60. Well built and nicely presented. Sound is neutral, with clean and tidy highs.

The Furutech e-TP60 has much better build quality, as it should for selling at RM$1320 a piece. It has a nice aluminium curved top face plate and matt black finished bottom portion for that sleek look. Like the Wireworld, it features 1 input the splits to 6 gold plated outputs. On the inside, Furutech employs a special sheet compound shielding formula 303 developed by the 3M company. Furutech claims the use of this non contact, i.e. to the duplex output sockets can effectively shield the box from harmful stray EMI/RFI radiation. The sound of the Furutech, when used in place of the Wireworld, is even tonality, with cleaner and tidier high frequencies. The Furutech also seemed subjectively to have lower noise floor. All other areas of sonic performance almost identical or very slightly better then the Wireworld. The contact points of the Furutech is much more superior to the Wireworld.

Sine SA-6. The heavy weight champ! Build to last and sounds great too! Review sample came in silver.

Lastly, the Sine SA-6 is the heavy weight of the group, with solid 5mm aluminium plates built all round and very nicely bolted together with counter sunk screws. The Sine offers the same 1 input splits to 6 cryo treated outputs. The cables used to connect the duplex outputs are audio grade silver type. The box seems to be filled with some kind of bead compound, which would either functions as internal resonant damping or just for sheilding stray EMI/RFI radiation. The contacts are gold plated and are as tight as the Furutech's. The sound of the Sine is really something else. At first the highs seemed like rolling off prematurely, but on closer analysis, is actually more airy and perhaps sound like it's set a little further back in to the sound stage. This creates a more believable illusion of stage depth. The vocals are set a little behind the speakers, vis a vis the Wireworld and Furutech which puts the vocal in line between the speakers, if a little closer to the listener. Bass is more robust, and easy to follow. Image density is full, and has the fade to black quality, against the Wireworld and Furutech's stronger image outlined presentation. Noise floor is the lowest of the 3 auditioned too. Price of the Sine is comparatively highest of the trio at RM$1,800 a piece.

I used both the Furutech and the Sine to substitute my existing Wireworld power bar, taking clean, isolated power from the Torus Power, then splitting to six outputs for all my front end needs, i.e. CDP player, pre amp, turn table and phono stage. All 3 power bars do not contain any sort of filters inside, but the difference they made to the system's sound is very notice able indeed. The Sine being the most effective, followed by the Furutech in 2nd place, and lastly the Wireworld. I guess the old adage "You get what you pay for" still applies here! This preview is compiled using the Bryston 4BSST2 in place of my Pass Alephs.

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

Sine is sold by Hi-Way Laser, contact Kenny Sin, tel: 019-2813399

Power Struggle indeed!

Watch out Pure Power, Torus Power RM8A just got up graded!

I remember my first time witness to a DIY shoot out session very well. It was a cordial event held at a senior DIY-er's home whose system was deemed most suitable to host, i.e. system sonics has to of rather high standards and allow easy access to plug and unplug components for the shoot out.

The star of the shoot out was 3 versions of the much loved Marantz 7 pre amp. All three pre amps are built based on the very same schematic that is legendary in sound quality, but each version had different parts on it and various degrees of circuitry tweaks to reflect the builder's musical taste and personalised work signature.

I remember vividly that each version of the Marantz 7 sounding very different from one another. However, with great show of respect for each other and the subjective truth, all three of the builders gentlemanly settle the score and concluded, based on what they heard and elected the best sounding pre amp of the day. Four of us sat down for a cuppa after the shoot out where everyone shared their build experience. It was a great day for a DIY student like me, to be in the company of experienced old timers.
MKIII Boards

Today, I am just as excited as I am posting out a batch of PCBs(Printed Circuit Board)to a group of DIY-ers, where I am about to meet again in 3 months time, to hopefully witness another great and cordial DIY shoot out session.
MKIII Test Board

This time round, the star of the shoot out would be Carlos's implementation of the AD815 chip pre amp. For more info go to http://www.diyaudio.com/, do a search for Carlos or AD815. The AD815 chip is a telecommunications chips designed by Analog Device to handle high band width A/V applications. However, in the late 1990s, the high end marquee, Jeff Rowland was pairing this chip with the Crystal CS3310 volume chip for use on their flagship Coherence pre amp( see review on http://www.stereophile.com/) which was battery powered. Carlos's implementation of the AD815 is rather simplified to make this project very cost effective to build but yet have very musical sound.
The AD815 Chip

The local designer whom helped to make to project possible had retained Carlos's audio signal section of the schematic (on the left hand side of the MKIII board), but choose to use a class A power supply section instead(about 60% from the right side of the MKIII board). I had an AD815 built earlier based on the MKI version boards, which to me sounds musically satisfying when partnered to my LM3886 chip power amp(that will be another story in another time), driving a pair of Epos ES11 then. The bass was tightly controlled and extended very low, the mids had tube like quality and the highs airy. My only gripe was the highs could at times sound a tad grainy. Not bad for a budget build.
My version built on MKI board

The pictures that you see now are the MKIII boards. The improvements of the MKIII boards over the previous versions are, shorter signal paths, improved grounding and a more stable power supply re-design. According to the local project designer, whom wishes to remain anonymous, the MKIII boards in theory should sound better than previous versions, again depending on the builder's tweaks and skills.

So, it's ready, get set, build!

And wishing all those building the project "Have an enjoyable musical time!"

a mini power duel ensues....

on my hand the furutech reference III power cord, currently being cooked for the battle.

it is going to challenge my resident ps audio xstream statement sc for the all-important connection to my cd player.

ps audio xstream statement sc has proven to be a tough opponent to beat. it has plenty of heft in the bass and midrange, plus real quality highs proferred by the single-crystal.

it is going to be a friendly duel with no bloodshed expected.

watch out in the next few days.

I got to the battlefield at 10 this morning. The victor was strutting its stuff at centre stage. There were cables lying all around, literally, on the carpet in front of the system. It was not a pretty sight... No, no, hang on, it was actually quite a pretty sight, it was rare to get so many high end cables in the same room at the same time, and one did not just get to ogle but also listen to them in action…heavenly!

I plonked myself in the listening seat and maggielurva proceeded to play all his normal test CDs. Well, we already knew how taken maggielurva was by the ASP Gryphon, so I thought let’s see how much better it was in the normal hifi departments – I proceeded to analyze its performance in the bass, mid, treble, its resolution, its soundstaging capability etc. etc… Before long, I realized that it was all quite pointless. It was as if the ASP Gryphon was gently telling me that those were the wrong questions to ask. The appropriate question with the Stage III Concepts ASP Gryphon was “How Real Is It?”.

Before we get to that, let me quickly dispose of the hifi analysis stuff – in maggielurva’s system, the bass was excellent, it came on strong and even rattled my listening seat; the mid was as textured and palpable as ever; the treble was smooth and clean; the soundstage was wider and deeper, much deeper, it was more 3-dimensional than before; the resolution was first rate.

Then, the Gryphon went much ahead, to say that it was good in this and that was not appropriate. The music from maggielurva’s system was presented with an ‘oneness’ so complete that you could not but recognize it as ‘real’. For me to be able to understand / analyze this fully I’m afraid I’d need more time. I might just want to say that it was organic, it was seamless, it had natural flow…and they were all correct. I also thought that they got the ‘musical tension’ part right too (very very right). Some systems tend to tighten the tension a tad too much, that may give a sense of excitement but makes you grit your teeth some time. Some loosen it a tad too much, the music presentation may be relax but can also become lethargic and uninteresting. Maggielurva’s system with the ASP Gryphon got it right on every disc played, and it had the knack to get it right according to the music, like on the slow, atmospheric Rickie Lee Jones, and on the hard-charging and rocked out Teddy Robin.

The music through maggielurva’s system with the ASP Gryphon this morning was so real, it was like I was going to the concerts – I had 2v1g and Rickie Lee Jones performing in maggielurva’s hall live for me. I think there can’t be any higher accolade.

What about the vanquished? The Kubala-Sosna Emotion, the Stage III Concepts Magnus, and the Audioquest Sky, they were all excellent cables in their own right. Their performance in many of the hifi areas was beyond reproach, but none got into the ASP Gryphon’s territory of ‘realness’. I’ll leave it to maggielurva to tell you the shootout results. Let’s just say that - first, there was the Stage III Concepts ASP Gryphon, and then there was every one else.

Today’s listening session with the Stage III Concepts ASP Gryphon was quite a revelation.

[addendum by maggielurva]

final relative score:

[1] stage III concepts asp gryphon - 100/100
[2] kubala-sosna emotions - 80/100 (tie)
[2] stage III concepts magnus - 80/100 (tie)
[4] audioquest sky - 75/100

[clash of the titans - stage III asp gryphon vs kubala-sosna emotion]

[xhadow vs neutrik]


it was a gory scene. it was a blood fest. it was violent.

it was like uma thurman with her bruce lee jersey killing the villain in the final duel, with dead bodies of baddies scattered everywhere in the scene where the ultimate duel takes place. it was a perfect quentin tarantino finishing. he would have made of a cult movie out of this.

i can't even begin to describe how brutal and clinical the battle was. the winner just finished off the battle - the way lucy liu in "kill bill" chopping off the head of the japanese guy who opposed her, using her samurai sword (with blood juice squirting out from his head for that extra special effect) - in just 1:30:34:57 minute. ok, i exaggerate, i didn't actually have a stop watch but the time should most likely be 00:30:34:57. yes, in exactly 30 seconds the winner killed off the loser, with little drama but plenty of blood. brutal.

whatever the loser has, the winner has it 2-3 times more. it is no longer about individual aspects of hifi criteria (i mean i don't have a sonic checklist when i evaluated these two cables), it is about everything in totality; it is about music-making ability in totality. the winner has the proverbial "opening up the sonic window" effect in the most accurate and mind-blowing sense of the word. forget about it, you would never understand what i am talking about here without listening it to the winning cable in the right system. the sonic soundscape proferred by the winner is so realistic and convincing that it left my mouth agape, eyes wide open, trying hard to search for adjectives to describe this stupendous experience.

i will be frank here. this is as good as a cable can get. this is state-of-the-art. this is how god intended audiophile cables to be. cynics and detractors of high-end, high-priced audiophile cables can go home and bask in his self-glorifying contentment that their systems sound good even without splurging on cables, after all you don't miss what you can't afford or what your system can't tell. ignorance is bliss.

it was fortunate or unfortunate, depending on how you look at it, that hifi kaki couldn't make it this morning to my house so his AQ sky skipped the battle unscathed. but i doubt it would make any difference to the final results.

in the next few posts, i would do a technical analysis on the battle.

btw, not that you haven't guessed, the winner is stage III concepts ASP gryphon and the loser is kubala-sosna emotion.

more to come... kill bill (part 2) where kubala fights for 2nd place with AQ sky.

reader limkh - you can collect your winnings from me ;-)

temperature is rising at bandar utama....

the whole shipment of the latest stage III concepts top models are waiting for me to collect. louis fuente, the designer, has specifically passed the instruction to me to ask me to audition their top-range ASP gryphon interconnect against the best that's available in malaysia. such guts, such audacity! i love it!

while hifi kaki will be bringing his AQ sky to battle out with kubala-sosna emotion...

bandar utama is going to turn into a 3-way battlefield with AQ, Kubala and Stage III all fighting for supremacy....

blood shed! i want to see blood!

I couldn’t resist the chance to borrow maggielurva’s Meridian G08 for a couple of days to compare with my Copland CDA822. Who could? Both CD players are class leaders and have garnered many positive responses, putting them head-to-head should be an exciting prospect.

The G08 is a current model in Meridian’s stable, while the CDA822 has been superseded by the CDA823 in the house of Copland. Both the G08 and CDA822 are in the same general price range (RM10k-RM15k) with the G08 being slightly more expensive by 20%-25%.

Well, it turned out that both are capable communicators of music, allowing me to enjoy my usual music selections. Their soundscapes are cut from the same cloth, being the kind that is neutral and clean, and not the kind that is euphonic or cuddly.

Having said that, the G08 and CDA822 do still show up differences. Do take my following comments as about the two players relative to each other, and not standalone review of both.

My first impression is that the G08 has a denser sound image, while the CDA822’s is lither. Further listening revealed that the G08 produces slightly more bloom, while the CDA822’s imaging is slightly sharper at the edges, thus the impression.

The Meridian, surprisingly, seems to produce heftier bass than the Copland. The Copland’s bass, though, has better articulation. The Meridian’s bass is also slightly warmer, which will be great for a system that tends towards some leanness. In my system, I have to adjust the speaker positions a bit to optimize the G08’s bass so that it does not occasionally creep up and obscures details in the midrange, but I don’t blame the player for this since it is a speaker placement issue, whose current positions were derived for the Copland.

The more significant difference in the 2 players is their handling of rhythm and pace. The CDA822 latches on the momentum of the music and simply propels things forward. While the G08 is also quick on its feet, it lingers a bit to allow you to savour the full development of the musical notes, sort of like letting you ‘smell the roses’ on the way. I find this to be quite charming, as it gives me a new perspective on the music. You may get slightly less adrenalin rush but gain insights into the music. In this sense, the G08 comes across as composed and more mature, while the CDA822 is more excitable. And don’t construe my comments to mean that the G08 is laid back or leisurely, not at all, absolutely not through my system.

Where the G08 pulls ahead is in the ‘humanness’ of its sound. I find this hard to describe, may be it is in its timbre or its natural body, it just sounds slightly more ‘right’ to my ears.

All in all, this has been an interesting exercise. I would rate the G08 to be ahead of the CDA822, probably just by a neck. The 2 contenders are not day and night apart, their differences, while can be identified in an A-B comparison, will mostly fade after a couple of hours or so of listening and are no longer critical to my overall musical enjoyment.

once in a while, a cd player comes along that redefines your previous standards about digital playback and audionet art g2 is one such player.

i am totally overwhelmed by this player but my dealer wanted to collect it back tomorrow so i am savoring my last moments with it.

what stunned me about audionet is its adrenalin-filled, highly-charged energy and drive. it makes music so much more live-sounding, full-blown, energetic and purposeful. music through the audionet envelops the entire soundstage, front to back, left to right. because it has so much details and energy, the whole soundstage is set alive with oodles of details and sonic cues. switching back from audionet art g2 to meridian g08 is like alighting from a 3000cc car and hop onto a 1500cc car; suddenly all the zest, drive and headroom are lost.

i seldom experience this kind of paradigm shift in digital playback. audionet gives new meaning to words like live, energy, rhythm, drive, headroom, sense of purpose etc etc.

the only caveat - and i believe this is due to system optimization - is that this german player seems a bit less intimate in vocals and more laidback music. other this little quibble, this player is almost perfect.

both hifi kaki and i are sufficiently enticed by this gem of a player, and we are doing our mathematics at the moment....

p/s i am told that the eps (external power supply) unit which is sold separately, add another 40% to the performance.

hey, i am back! after a week of frantic order taking, i can finally go back to my hifi and music! bliss at last ;-)

hifi kaki just brought over the audionet art g2 and i didn't wait long to open it up and give it a test run.

if audionet g2 is bmw then my meridian g08 is at most a honda accord because the audionet overwhelms it in terms of dynamics, PRaT and bass quality/quantity! well, audionet is twice the price of meridian, you might argue but we are talking about two top contenders in their respective price range.

playing teddy robin cd immediately tells me that the audionet has more oomph and drive. the drummers seems more driven and motivated and the music just unleashed onto the listener effortlessly and naturally. even teddy robin seems more eager to please.

but things took a turn when i played my quirky dennis nieh jazz cd (a lot of people don't like this cd because of dennis' singing but it sounded superb in my system). true, the audionet has the same presence and palpability that the meridian is famous for but it somehow presents dennis in a more sober and no-nonsense mood. or to put it in another way, meridian's presentation is more sentimental, more touching, more organic and more musical and it makes dennis' baritone sexier. the magnetism of dennis' gorgeous tone is more pronounced in the meridian than in the audionet.

other that this aspect of musical flow, organic-ness and humanity, it is not too exaggerating to say that the audionet thrashes the meridian quite completely.

sorry that it has taken so long. this audio magic thingy needs an awful long time to burn in and to date, i have fed more than 500 hours. potential buyers beware - don't make any judgement until you burn-in for more than 500 hours.

so i am going ahead of master ken's review in av xpress and give you a first-hand, no-holds-barred shoot-out between these two PLCs, two of the best of the lot in the market today.

let's cut to the chase as we are not stereophile nor TAS which go on and on about technical specs and motherhood stories.

the main difference between the audio magic and shunyata is in the tonality, and my god, in this regard, they are day and night apart. the audio magic is decidedly more neutral; the midband is more natural and also blander. and it does not intoxicate the listeners the way the shunyata does. vocals presentation with the audio magic is very matter-of-fact; it is not that the singer has not enough emotions, it is more accurate to say that the singer under audio magic is more sober and more aware of herself and her singing. whereas with shunyata, the singer just immerses herself totally and couldn't care less about the surrounding and the audience - she just sings her heart out. this major difference is very stark.

now the interesting part. the audio magic is more effective in cleansing the AC than the shunyata, as apparent in the midbass and overall dynamic. planar speaker needs the cleanest AC to sound good and under the influence of audio magic, my maggie is transformed dynamically - the midbass kicks ass and the overall P.R.a.T also improves dramatically. more importantly, the audio magic manages to cure my AC problem better than the shunyata. i tested this on a night where the AC is not exactly great and the audio magic comes unscathed and unperturbed while the shunyata just collapsed. so confidently, i could claim that the audio magic has better cleansing power (against bad AC) than the shunyata.

in terms of making music, the shunyata has a little edge in my system and in this regard, i would declare the shunyata as the most seductive and tonally sexy PLC i have ever auditioned to date. the audio magic, meanwhile, is the most dynamic and cleanest PLC. also, if you are into rock music with plenty of dynamic headroom, the audio magic is simply the best PLC for you - it is a rocker's PLC, if ever there was such a term.

whether you choose the shunyata or audio magic is really a matter of taste, musical inclination and even listening mood.

p/s btw, i am comparing two similarly priced PLCs - shunyata hydra 4 and audio magic stealth mini reference, both a shade under RM4K

i deliberated in writing this post. because there are quite a few kubala-sosna supporters here and i am afraid i am going to get hate mails from them ;-)

to save you from reading the conclusion, i would just say that while k-s emotion has many virtues that impressed me, it doesn't win my heart the way stage III magnus did.

before i continue, i want you to know that this is a competition of a very high level so whatever shortfalls i mentioned are most likely system-dependent as well as user-dependent.

i suspect that k-s emotion does not like my shunyata hydra at all (apologies: it would be too troublesome for me to unplug my shunyata and validate this guess). as you well know (since i have documented it so many times here), the hydra is characterized by a very thick and "analogue" midrange, which coincidentally is also the case with the k-s emotion. hence the resultant midrange is overly thick and bulky, to the extent of being a tad sluggish, compared to the very fast, though thinner, and agile stage III magnus.

but k-s emotion most impressive traits are its midrange density and the bass weight. this are two areas that it wins substantially over stage III magnus. this alone leads me to suspect that it is made up of composite metals, which should include silver and maybe, gold. definitely this is NOT a pure copper cable. another winning trait is how natural, emotive and musical the whole presentation is. i could feel that the singer is singing for me, just for me. i truly love this aspect of k-s emotion.

the highs is an area where stage III betters k-s. for that matter, i will now proclaim that stage III cables have the best highs in the business. whereas k-s's highs are natural, stage III's highs are INTOXICATING. you really have to listen to stage III cables when matched with triode and ribbon tweeters to understand what i am talking about. also, stage III has richer colors in its tonal palette (i don't mean coloration!); the timbre from stage III is much more enticing.

to make sure that i am not biased, i actually dragged my audiophile buddy along to make the judgement collectively. he too preferred stage III magnus over k-s emotion on many counts, especially when it comes to revelation of details and fast-paced, uptempo music where PRaT is required.

i would also like to postulate that based on these observations k-s emotion suits solid-state systems more than tubes.

in the end, it is a case of NATURALNESS Vs INTOXICATION.

my review may not be definitive so i am passing the cables over to my dealer for their critical evaluation. after all they are the one who's gonna decide.

[conclusion]
listening to the k-s emotion makes me realize areas where my stage III falls short. i would love to have the midrange density and bass weight, and i think i could only get the COMPLETE package in stage III vacuum gold reference, which remains my ultimate upgrade within the next 6 months, and the subject of my next review.

[post-script]
i consulted my dealer in singapore, who once evaluated k-s emotion before. they concur with my observations.

kubala-sosna emotion speaker cable

i also hooked on the k-s emotion speaker cable to replace my AQ volcano DBS.

kubala-sosna emotion interconnect

for an interconnect that cost well over RM10K (for 1.5m), kubala-sosna's packaging is rather modest and unassuming.

my first impression is a positive one. despite joe kubala's refusal to reveal to me the material for the cables, i could guess that it may contain silver, because the highs do not lose out to my stage III concepts magnus (which is my gold standard in highs), my reference for RM10K-and-below interconnect.

i was shocked when i found out that k-s cables do not need breaking-in. in that case, i would immediately point to its rather controversial character of a SLIGHTLY bloated midrange (just slightly). if we use an analogy of a woman's body - albeit a little sexist - k-s emotion would make jessica alba looks like angelina jolie, which may or may not be a good thing. on the same token, it would make gywneth paltrow looks like jessica alba, which is definitely a good thing!

on my system, which is a jessica alba (i.e. perfect figure, neither lean nor overly-endowed), k-s emotion is too "full-bodied" for my liking. however, the emotional delivery is ABSOLUTELY top-notch and it is fantastically natural. i have never come across cable that is so good in conveying the emotions of the music. this virtue itself is worth extolling.

despite kubala-sosna's claim of no need for breaking-in (which i don't quite believe cos it sounds way better after 2 hours), i would cook it for 2 days before i assess it again.

here's the final verdict... let's make this a teaser :-)

for more details, please read this issue's av xpress ;-) the article will delve on the strengths and weaknesses of richard gray, shunyata hrdra and the ppp.

coming in 2 weeks' time, i am bracing myself for another stormy and sweat-inducing shoot-out....

is kubala-sosna worth the accolades?

presenting the very sexy black-fascia ppp.... finally making its debut in this blog after so much NATO (no action, talk only).

i may be the first one in malaysia who knows how to use the ppp correctly. why i say so? not many users know that ppp is catered to 230v and to set it to an output voltage of 240v, you need to adjust the trimpot hidden underneath the ppp! (note: it is not documented in the manual!) even the local dealer (A&L) is not aware of that! i found out this after a speedy email communication with paul mcgowan. the difference between feeding 230v VS 240v to your equipment is day and night. 230v sounds lethargic whereas 240v is full of life! i wonder how many users in malaysia have been eluded by this. another good deed from me! i am going to ask atven (A&L's boss) to buy me lunch tomorrow ;-)

first impression - after 5 hours of breaking-in, the ppp has the edge in energy, boldness (in the typical american fashion), scale, quietness and cleanness but on the down side, it is tonally bland, a bit too sober, less sexy and rather anti-septic in presentation, compared to the tonally rich, sexy and colorful shunyata hydra. i will let it cook for 50 hours before any serious listening...

in the next 2 weeks, i am going to try the following permutations:

[1] stand-alone ppp
[2] shunyata hydra front-end; ppp back-end
[3] ppp front-end; shunyata hydra back-end

this promises to be the battle of the century! this kind of earth-shattering, life-altering battle is what makes hifi so fun and addictive!

stay closely tuned!

I ain’t no hi-ender, but I aspired to be one. But being a hi-ender is simply not only having a fat wallet, but the confidence to trust your ears and your heart. Don’t be afraid to do so, even though people might doubt your listening skills. Take your time and buy what sounds the most correct to you.

Take it slow, enjoy the music along the way and grow from there. I kept my previous setup for more than 4 years and I have enjoyed and cherished every single day with it. If not because of my previous setup, I would still be wandering and lost in the sea of choices.

But then, I did a big mistake of under estimating my appetite for good sound and relied again on reviews to buy the first piece of gear for my current new setup. Now, at least I know I can shoot 3 reviewers! Never mind that as I would share with you what 10K more could bring you.

Extensions
The Apollo is indeed no slouch, well, almost great if I was during my start up years. For 4K range, I don’t think many players could rival its fluid and smooth mids. The vocal is textured and well resolved. Violin, in fact most stringed instruments, is having good tonal texture, with a delicate trailing to boot. Back in those years, I was always been told that if there is one range to have, the wise would choose the mids as it’s where most the instruments would paint their sonic presence.

Sorry mate, I have to tell you, those are wise with a budget. I would take all, highs, mids and lows, there is just no way could one forgo any single piece of the frequency range! To have such compromise is such sin to commit if you tell others you are a music lover! Hey, it’s just with 10k more, is it worth a 10k saving to skimp on the highs and lows?! NO WAY!

Compared to the Apollo, there’s such sunlit quality to the mids and highs of G08. The added upper extension just brings more resolution to the mids, the vocals, stringed instruments and high hats. There’s just more heft, density and inner details to discover! With the Apollo, there’s just a summation effect to gel the vocal in smoother and meatier presence. However, it lacks the micro details to let you listen deeper into the emotion of the singers.

Image Size
With just a magnificent mids, do you think you are able to get the correct image size? With recessed highs and retarded lows, it’s just impossible to get the correct drum size! Great if you can live with a dwarfed drum kit, but you will soon find them lacking! Drum is such important element in determining the speed, rhythm and timing of so many jazz pieces!

Even putting the drum issue aside, the pronounced mids would just make the vocal size gigantic! Can you take a singer with a mouth size that is able to swallow a drum kit? I find it awkward and such an anti climax! The size of the mouth might be correct to you, but relatively, the other instruments are just not in correct proportion.

With the G08, and many other higher priced players for that matter, you are assured of an even extensions at both extremes. No matter how sophisticated your downstream is, there is no way they could produce the extreme extensions that are not there in the first place! And there goes your pyramid of sound!

Emotional contrast
This is what I am sure separate the men from the boys! Cheaper players simply couldn’t give you this! You know dynamic contrast for sure, the difference between the softest and loudest, however, it’s not enough to just give you the difference in volume level.

Listen to some Le Mon tracks, there are many tracks where she’s building up her emotional “energy”. As she sings from soft to loud, she will gradually sing in greater force applied to her vocal chord. A good player is able to bring you along the passage, showing you greater and deeper emotional force within her vocal.

Not only this, the drummer should also be following the gradual emotional explosion, backing Le Mon from behind and matching her in speed and energy. The Apollo failed miserably in giving you that leading edge transient, making the whole presentation slightly lethargic! The drummer just wouldn't play that much harder!

A good player should reveal not only the sound content, but also the emotional content of CDs! It's there to relay the content, not to dictate and alter the content to its inherent shortcomings! You can pour in more money in isolations and stuff, but that is just adding cost to the player.

This comparison is not meant for only the G08 and Apollo, but they are meant to be a yardstick. They are at least something more substantial for you to comprehend and discover further. If you can’t understand what I am trying to convey, it might be a good thing after all.

For these, I am going to be 10K poorer!

before i got the shunyata hydra 4, i didn't read a single review online so i am completely neutral in my findings. anyway, i don't think there is any review that compares richard gray and shunyata side by side yet (not in the detailed manner that i am doing here), and you are gonna read it for the 1st time here.

after close to a week of non-stop burning-in, the hydra 4 has somewhat stabilised. i even switched back to my richard gray 600S last night to confirm my findings.

here's my observations:

[1] ambience - hydra beats RGPC. hydra has slightly more musical freedom and air. it also has more bloom around the instruments and singer/s.

[2] imaging - RGPC is more precise and compact (sharper outlines) because it has less "juices" than hydra, which may or may not be a good thing. vocalist's mouth is sharper with the RGPC, hydra has slightly fuzzy outlines. in fact, many would prefer RGPC's imaging because it is more pin-point

[3] midrange - hydra is fuller whereas RGPC is leaner. RPGC seems to squeeze more "juices" from the "meat".

[4] highs - RPGC has more refined but leaner highs. Hyrda's highs are more robust and more raw. this is a no-win no-loser case.

[5] dynamics - hydra is a tad better than RPGC, especially the intertransient silences and constrast. this is an area where hydra wins by the (relatively) biggest margin

[6] bass - again, hydra has more tactile and livelier bass. it is not necesssary deeper but it is definitely livelier

[7] refinement - RGPC is definitely more refined, especially with acoustic materials.

[8] tonal colour - RGPC is more colourful (in my system, it is of golden hue which is quite addictive) and hydra is more bland, or some may call it neutral.

conclusion

hydra has more bloom around the images and it is also dynamically more exciting. music "breathes" with the hydra. there is a certain rawness in hydra's presentation that is very close to live music. it also retains more "juices" in the "meat". by comparision, RGPC seems drier, tighter (less relaxed), cleaner sounding with sharper images and more refined highs. RGPC can sound a tad anti-septic compared to the musically-flowing hydra. RGPC's presentation is pretty and beautiful while hydra is raw and energetic.

however, let me state that different systems react to power/AC treatment differently. one needs to really audition a few products in one's system before one can reach a conclusion.

[post-script]
it is obvious that i have outgrown RGPC's prettier-than-life presentation of music, while i am not completely bought over by the hydra yet. one thing for sure, the hydra makes me realized that i have been listening to a leaner midrange under RPGC. i really want fuller mids and a more natural presentation. the search and experiment continue...