the pre-burned in unit (200 hours by jerry ramsey, the designer) arrived yesterday at my dealer's shop. out of the box, it didn't sound good.

so we burned it for another 15 hours.

this morning, it started singing.... the sound is a great contrast to richard gray and shunyata. it's gonna be fun.

review to come.

we spent 2 hours working on the sequence of the songs in the album


why must all the good things happen all at once? i am certainly not complaining.

tonight i met up with my reviewer, let's call him "t" for now. he is the first person who volunteers to write for me, after a futile search for more than one year. not only is "t" a nice person, he is experienced enough to review high-end gear for me! what a pleasant surprise! i was half expecting an aspiring newbie...

i hope "t" would also add some spice to this blog and make it less lonely for me.

i have finally listened to the final mix of 2v1g. what can i say - it moved me to tears. the recording is first-class. imagine a malaysian recording engineer achieving this feat, quick remarkable.

those of my friends who have sampled some tracks off the album, they have all increased their orders to multiple copies cos they want to give the CDs to their friends. i was moved to bits.

so the CD will leave for hong kong today for mastering by keith yip. we have also decided to press in HK since the pressing factories in malaysia are mainly owned and operated by pirates. so the CDs will come into malaysia with an "imported" sticker.

also a bonus news, very likely keith yip will distribute the cd for us in hk and taiwan. so essentially 2v1g will be going international. very cool.

i am doing all the marketing and promotion for the cd from now until its launch on 18th may 2008. we predict the internet sales will beat the retail sales. i will be meeting the press and many more media people in the next 2 months. i love this sort of thing ;-)

as many of you know, centre circle in TTDI has just shifted to another shoplot on the same row and it is looking even better than before - brighter, cozier, sunnier and definitely more customer-friendly.

in the new shop, there is plenty of displays of the very ergonomically-looking auralex acoustic panels such as the ones in the pictures.

the audio tiles look really cool. the guy who invented this ingenious design must have a fussy wife at home.

nelson, the boss, urges you guys to check out the auralex for your room treatment. it comes in an assortment of colours and shapes to fit your interior decor.

in USA, auralex boasts of a clientele from a to z. at the moment, nelson's major clients are studio owners.

it's about time you guys check it out.

it is really strange, readers who tell me great things about av xpress are genuine music lovers and not hifi nuts. i guess the reason why music lovers like my mag is because it has good music contents and i don't dish out hardcore hifi stuff that would frighten them off. you know, music lovers don't touch the typical hifi mags.

on the other hand, the true hifi readers are crying out for more hardware contents like reviews and shoot-outs. i have to strike a balance here but i am all too willing to please. starting next issue, i will have a few reviews on hardware like cd players and cables. my condition for the dealers is they must first break-in for me cos i don't want to spend my expensive tubes for breaking-in.

sourcing for worthy reviewers in malaysia has been almost impossible. i am speechless as to why this is so. are people not confident of their english or they just don't see fun in the whole exercise? i now have to source elsewhere, from overseas and i have gotten a few responses, which is good.

i know i can't please all with av xpress. there are still dealers that complain about the lack of "thickness" of the mag. they don't seem to realize by virtue of it being free, i have a cost issue to control. some even suggest to me to cut and paste articles from internet just to make up the "thickness". ludicrous suggestions, i must say.

ultimately i can't stop emphasizing the importance of music over hifi. don't be a slave to hardware. your music must be better than your hifi.

we are at the final stages of our year-long project - mastering by HK audiophile guru, keith yip of rock in music!

2V1G is gonna be the first chinese acoustic pop group in malaysia that uses the alternative media (blog) to launch its internet pre-sales starting 18th may 2008!

we have created a superb blog complete with mp3 playlist and purchase details for the CD.

we will soon be announcing the new blog here!

[p/s] do you like the black-n-white cover? ultra kool, ain't it? it is designed by creative director, eddie hor of black box, one of the biggest entertainment hub in malaysia. eddie's idea is to create a theme for the album which is "music in motion". we all like it very much!

louis de fuente (hope i got his name right), the boss-cum-designer of stage III concepts has been reading my blog and he is not too impressed that i used old models of stage III to compete with kubala-sosna so he called up the local distributor and asked him to convey the message that he will specifically loan me the latest, top-ranked ASP (absolute signal purity) reference interconnect to try out...

so, i should be so lucky lucky lucky, like what kylie minogue sings in the song!

check out ASP reference here!

i am feeling musically inspired tonight, so i will share with you my all-time-best albums. it is darn difficult task to select 10 best CDs out of the thousands of CDs in my collection. (i could actually list 30 more! please don't feel offended if your faves are left out) but tonight i will do that just for you. many of these are indie rock in the late 80s to late 90s, some are classics that are permanently mentioned in rock history books.

these are the CDs that define my musical journey and leave a big mark there. i am still deriving so much joy listening to them once in a while, like tonight.

sorry, no audiophile albums makes it into my list ;-)

i hope you can let me know yours as well!

here's it, in no particular order:


artist: teenage fanclub
album: grand prix
why: NME called teenage fanclub the best british band in the 90s. indeed, they were better than oasis and blur. the jingle-jangle of their distorted guitars never fails to drive me to multiple aural orgasms.

artist: new order
album: brotherhood
why: the post-joy division peter hook and bernard sumner are less dark but irresistably hooky. this is the definitive album that spawned "bizarre love triangle" , a song which many have mistaken to be a frente's original

artist: new order
album: low life
why: the best album cover i have ever seen. peter saville design group is the best album designer in the world. this great album carries the sublime 10-minute long "perfect kiss"

artist: travis
album: the man who
why: if music can be poetry then travis are the greatest poets in music

artist: radiohead
album: the bends
why: because it is actually better than "ok computer"

artist: belle and sebastian
album: the boy with the arab strap
why: the modern-day simon and garfunkel. ever watched john cusack's "high fidelity" where the song "seymour stein" is played?

artist: jesus and mary chain
album: darklands
why: if punk can be so deliciously melodious, then every music lover should embrace it! this is, my goodness, superlative!

artist: barbara streisand and barry gibb
album: guilty
why: stylish, rhythmic, melodic, perfect pop - superb gibbs brothers' production

artist: cheer chen qi zhen
album: a glamorous adventure
why: the only chinese album that makes it into my list. cheer is the best singer-songwriter in the chinese music world in the last decade, period. if you don't like it, it is because you are not 'there' yet.

artist: oasis
album: what's the story, morning glory?
why: the gallagher bros' angst and crafty tunes are phenomenal. but listening to them now does sound a bit dated. still, they ruled the 90s.

some dealers hinted to me that if i were to organize a hifi show in kl, they would support me.

they wanted something more niche, more focused and themed along the high-end. they wanted a "best sound of the show" kind of competition among the dealers, with panel of judges coming from renowned and respected audiophiles in malaysia; they wanted more overseas visitors; they wanted more prestige...

though i love organizing events, it boggles my mind to think of the logistics, politics (among the dealers) and sheer scale of doing such an event.

seriously, do you think we need another hifi show in malaysia?

give me your feedback, please!

it is gratifying to see this happening in US - american express collaborating with hifi retailer musicdirect in their plum card program, supposedly a credit card for the businessmen in the trade. musicdirect received plum card number 4350 (out of the initial 10,000), and to quote what amex said, "i can't wait to see what they do with it".

in a slightly different offering, the EPP (easy payment plan) scheme that malaysian credit card companies offer to hifi dealers and end-consumers is not really popular in malaysia because mark-up is too high and mathematically smart audiophiles feel that they are getting a raw deal.

if only local banks can offer something like a plum card to hifi dealers then it may ease their cashflow and allow them to manage their finances better.

it is simply beautiful to see hifi being featured in mainstream television for once!

sources close to me told me that EMI has finally pulled out from the asian market.

this is indeed sad news for one of the major labels. EMI's efforts to cut 2,000 jobs worldwide early in the year didn't seem to rescue them from dire straits.

who's next in the line?

let's be realistic, a lot of genuine music lovers can't stand this whole idea about audiophilia cos all they want is good sound at a reasonable price. aesthetics and convenience play an important part in their choice of hardware.

tivoli audio has paved the way for lifestyle music system that is acceptable even by critical audiophiles. april music, a seoul-based south korean company, the people behind russ andrews and stello, went a step further to gain audiophile's acceptance by creating this all-in-one player, the aura note music centre.

on the outside, aura note oozes retro styling, beautiful casing and classy finishing. it is simply a joy to ogle! no wonder, as april music enlisted the help of english design guru, kenneth grange, to do the styling and ergonomics. many have ranked the styling of aura note alongside lifestyle brands like bang and olufsen, only with better sound.

the aura note is a magical combination of a cd player, am/fm tuner, a 50w single-ended push-pull power amp with a line input and a pair of USB inputs for mp3 players and PCs. all it needs is a pair good speakers! the USB ports means it can connect to memory sticks, PCs and USB hard drives and playback mp3, wma and OGG files at bit-rates up to 192kbps.

reviewer david allcock of hifi world magazine called the aura note "a tremendously impressive all-in-one system at the price". he describes aura note's sound as being "slightly on the warm side of neutral, with extra richness and warmth being concentrated in the upper bass/lower midrange". david also noted that the 50w of tube power gives grand scale and power, generating real drama and energy in the music.

calling all music lovers who don't want the hassle of mix 'n' match separates - aura note may just be your ideal solution to a whole new world of music. and we can assure you that your girlfriend/spouse will love the looks of it.

call uncle edwin tan of RAVE@city square at 012-3242434 and he would be glad to demo the aura note to you.

we bumped into mia palencia at no black tie last night and she told us that she has just released her debut solo album! check it out at popfolio

the album is recorded, mixed and mastered by her long-time partner roger wang, our guitar man for 2v1g as well.

mia is currently having a roadshow at major MPH bookstores nationwide.

[mia's profile]

Singer songwriter, jazz crooner, voice actor, public speaker and occasionally a theatre personality, Mia Palencia is a woman of many talents. She kicked off her career as the other half of well-known local jazz act Double Take at the age of 14, with whom she has released two albums.

She has sung for kings, travelled the world as a public speaker and a vocalist, and, most recently, begun exploring the world of cartoons as a voice actor.

Mia released her first solo single, 'Sayang' in September 2006. Her first solo album, 'Finding My Way', has been released in digital format on www.popfolio.net/miapalencia and is set to be launched in its physical form in April 2008.

what do you think of chesky recordings? my fave is ana caram's "rio after dark". it is as if david chesky knew i am playing planar ribbon and he made the recording just for me. to me, chesky cds have ultra high-resolution, plenty of air and details but they might just be a bit dry and lack of warmth.

in the intervening years, chesky has somewhat slowed down in producing audiophile records. actually, they were working overtime to deliver something big.

last month, chesky launched its high-res music store called HDtracks. according to david chesky, "we designed HDtracks to be a place where you can hang out online." seriously, no one hangs out in tower records, victoria music or rock corner anymore.

from recording experts, now the chesky brothers (norman and david) have to grasp computer jargons associated with the music technology. the chesky brothers acquired servers, hired staffs of programmers and developers, negotiated with independent record labels, and created tonnes of online information.

HDtracks is impressive and works for both PC and Mac. like iTunes, HDtracks offers AIFF with the metadata intact. there's no digital rights management (DRM) and downloads of CD-sourced material can be purchased as full-resolution FLAC or AIFF files.

many indie labels have agreed to partner chesky in this ambitious project. audiophile favorites reference recordings, dorian, ASV, MDG, and, yes, chesky records are all in. there isn't a genre that chesky hasn't taken care of. but major labels are notably absent.

"we've worked really hard to eliminate all the reasons people have given for not downloading music," david chesky said.

say what you like, david. i still miss the good old days of hanging out in the "real" record shops, like championship vinyl in the movie "high fidelity" starring john cusack and jack black. there is bound to be a jack black character in every record store, hurling sarcastic and snooty remarks to those music lovers who are not clued-in. so much fun.

nothing beats flipping thru racks and racks of LPs (even CDs to a lesser extent), taking them out from the jacket, admire the artwork, sniff on them and seeing them being spun on the turntable. also discussing music with the store owner or assistant is an enriching and interactive experience.

just how could one "hang out" in an online store?

we are gaining momentum! i feel a deep sense of satisfaction distributing av xpress free copies to dealers, even to those who don't advertise with us. i feel like a santa claus dishing out goodies to all and sundry!

this issue, av xpress goes back to colour (cover pages) again! many have complained about the black-n-white colour scheme in past issues! we heard you and we promise we would never revert back to black-n-white again!

you can find free copies at:

[record shop]
1)tower records (KLCC, 1-U)
2)victoria music (Atria, Amcorp Mall)
3)rock corner (1-U, Bangsar Village, The Curve***) ***note - rock corner at the curve has moved to ground floor

[hifi shop]
1) audio matic (amcorp)
2) A&L (amcorp)
3) audio synthesis (amcorp)
4) future technology (amcorp)
5) all CMY branches (by friday this week)
6) zest audio (city square, by friday this week)
7) music by design (city square, by friday this week)
8) CJ audio (the mall, by friday this week)
9) perfect hifi (IOI mall, by friday this week)
10) audio image (ss2, PJ)
11) centre circle (TTDI, KL)
12) audio note (mont kiara, by friday this week)

[outstation dealers]
9) dong fong audio (ipoh)
10) audio art (ipoh)
11) AVE Hi-fi Centre (Perai)
12) Eng Hi-Fi (Kulim, Kedah)
14) Eng Hi-Fi (Bukit Mertajam)
15) Perfect Match AV and Hifi (Melaka)
16) Happy Photo (Penang)
17) C&O Audiophile Enterprise (Kampar, Perak)

[starbucks cafes]
we won't advise getting from starbucks cafes as they are grabbed up almost instantly. by right, customers cannot take home any in-store mags but many starbucks' customers ignore this regulation and just take home any mag they fancy. many readers have complained that they can't find av xpress in starbucks.

[contributors wanted]
calling potential writers, especially expat readers who want to contribute - we are short of contributors/writers and you can play a part in this very fun and rewarding project that is av xpress!

please hold your breath now.

in what seems like a phone call made in total elation, my dealer called me and screamed "kubala sosna emotion thrashed stage III concepts vacuum gold reference!"

i was stunned for more than a few seconds. just how could it be? a RM12,000 interconnect beating a RM20,000 interconnect????

my dealer added, "when you got the k-s kubala emotions from joe, one of the XLR plugs was shorted with pin-2 and pin-3 wrongly soldered! that's why your sound is not good!".

my god. i was speechless. i am going to screw joe kubala soon for his carelessness.

my elated dealer further asserted, "we pit k-s emotion against stage III vacuum in a RM400K (USD100K) system, and the k-s is clearly superior in all three frequency bands. soundstaging is notably better (much taller) than stage III's. when we pit the k-s against AQ amazon (the former top model before DBS), it was like child's play, k-s practically white-washes the AQ! however, k-s emotion only works in newer speaker designs like marten design but not eggleston andra".

my dealer wants me to thank all the readers who suggested this superb brand to me. he is confident that the k-s will rule in malaysia.

my apologies to readers for a misleading review. bad, bad, bad me. i am going to repent now.

meanwhile, we hail the new cable king!

there don't seem to be an end to my power woes. lately, the AC supply to my house is absolutely horrendous even at 1am in the morning, rendering a very thin and shrilly sound which is unbearable to my ears. listening is no longer a joy.

yet some experts in the circle think that whatever i have tried - be it shunyata, ps audio or RGPC - are not good enough, and that they can build something better that can tackle my power problems.

as much as i am cynical about D.I.Y. solutions, i am open to anything. seriously, i am open.

so, here's the challenge - and this challenge is open to any hifi retailer, distributor, manufacturer (wherever you are from), D.I.Y. guy, general electrician, electrical engineer, or even technician from TNB (local power company) - if you can build a permanent solution to address my problem, i am willing to offer RM10,000 (USD3,000) to you. of course, you need to come out with your own money to buy the materials (parts) to build your hardware.

to prevent naive experimentalists, let me state that my AC does not suffer from the following:

[1] fluctuations - my voltmeter reading is a solid 240v at all times. so don't waste your time suggesting power stablizers or regulators

[2] EMI/RFI - my shunyata hydra already tackles this very well. so whatever ready-made power conditioning hardware that you suggest, chances are it won't work either

[3] also if you don't know high-end or appreciate what a high-end sound is, don't need to apply. i am not snobbish, i just don't want to waste your time and my time.

criteria of challenge:

> that your solution must give consistent great sound at all times of the day
> that your solution must not alter the tone of the sound
> that your solution must not act like steroids to add false energy to the sound

i hope someone will take the challenge!

p/s if all else fails, i will consider moving house :-(

another dealer expressed interest to bring in this japanese product and he wants to gauge the response via this blog.

CSE (chubu system engineering) is a japanese company focusing on power products. RK-100, featured here, is an isolation regulator, which basically is a ac regenerator like those from ps audio.

personally, i think it is about time that malaysian audiophiles get exposed to japanese hifi.

the retail price is around SGD1,900 (RM4,400), a far cry from ps audio power plant premier.

check out little kc's review in enjoythemusic.com http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/equipment/1107/cse_rk_100.htm

guys, give me some feedback!

as usual one of the benefits of reading this blog is, you will get to read first-hand info on the hottest albums releases, especially chinese audiophile albums from taiwan and hk.

** need to blow my little trumpet a bit ** ;-)

we are eagerly awaiting the arrival of dennis nieh's (聂云) first audiophile jazz album entitled "can't help falling in love" (浪漫情歌集 - 情不自禁). i am a sucker for chinese audiophile jazz cover album so please pardon my self-induced excitement.

dennis, a tv host-cum-radio deejay has made announcement about this audiophile project years ago and i had been waiting since then.

in this album, dennis partners with pianist uno and her orchestra. dennis's choice of songs includes some definite classics (the likes of teresa teng's "the moon represents my heart") and some surprises.

taiwan's hifi mag "audio art" praises this album for its recording of the bass notes.

we'll see if this gets a stamp of approval from the host of desirable audio boutique.

you can sample two tracks here http://www.books.com.tw/CD/activity/0020122616/Nieh_bookspage.html

http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/equipment/0408/audio_magic_stealth_mini.htm

former blogger of this blog, little kc, has reviewed the AM stealth mini reference in enjoy the music.com.

check it out!

how can hifi be sexual? some readers of stereophile have cancelled their subscriptions because of provocative ads like this. do you really find anything offensive about this ad?

i don't. just like how fast cars are always associated with fast women. pick up a copy of hypertune (a local car mag) and you will see more slutty women in scantily dresses. who's complaining?

i think this hifi hobby is so boring that we need to make it sexy. hifi should have sex appeal. lusting over glowing tubes or behemoth monoblocks are perfectly ok.

perhaps i should pay carmen soo, amber chia or hannah tan (top 3 sexiest women in malaysia) to pose for my ads soon. now that's a cool idea, wouldn't you say? imagine hannah tan caressing a VT4C tube....

your say?