GeorgeO
Well-Known Member
That's the way Aha Aha, I like it , Aha, Aha!!
Singapore Hifi Show 2011 - Dec 2 - Dec 4
- Thread starter panditji
- Start date
I can picture Santhosh and Dr. Bass feeling like they can no longer live with their system ... the seeds of upgraditis are now sown ... the virus has infected their brains ... a case of audio encephalitis ... 
hyeah:
Their wives will run around in circles trying to get them diagnosed .... hard luck!
--G0bble
hyeah:Their wives will run around in circles trying to get them diagnosed .... hard luck!
--G0bble
Gobble,
Actually, I am smitten by the entry level Magnepans (1.7?) that I auditioned with Abhi at the Adelphi Mall a few weeks ago. Those are the closest that I have heard to a real concert.....the speakers just disappear inspite of their size. After that, everything sounds "not as good". Wonder how my system is gonna sound when I return?
Also wonder what the higher end Magnepans sound like? Will find out on this trip itself...my family return tomorrow and I have 10 days more to explore :yahoo:.
Actually, I am smitten by the entry level Magnepans (1.7?) that I auditioned with Abhi at the Adelphi Mall a few weeks ago. Those are the closest that I have heard to a real concert.....the speakers just disappear inspite of their size. After that, everything sounds "not as good"
. Wonder how my system is gonna sound when I return? Also wonder what the higher end Magnepans sound like? Will find out on this trip itself...my family return tomorrow and I have 10 days more to explore :yahoo:.
anm
Well-Known Member
Gobble,
Actually, I am smitten by the entry level Magnepans (1.7?) that I auditioned with Abhi at the Adelphi Mall a few weeks ago. Those are the closest that I have heard to a real concert.....the speakers just disappear inspite of their size. After that, everything sounds "not as good"
Also wonder what the higher end Magnepans sound like? Will find out on this trip itself...my family return tomorrow and I have 10 days more to explore :yahoo:.
also they are quite light. you should be able to carry them easily.
Edit - that reminds me that a pair of maggies are somewhere lying in the house begging my attention - I need to bring them to the living room, without being killed by wifey.
anm
Well-Known Member
they are in a bad cosmetic shape. Hoping to give them new look soon. Just replaced my audio rack, last night.
Here are some video clips of the Master Tape playback on the ATC SCM100 speakers. Please use a headphone to hear anything worth while. Not that it is high quality or anything but whatever little is left to be heard let us not spoil that 
Master Tape playback through ATC SCM100 and Studer - YouTube
Master Tape playback through ATC SCM100 and Studer - part 2 - YouTube
Listening impressions of some of the systems to follow.
Master Tape playback through ATC SCM100 and Studer - YouTube
Master Tape playback through ATC SCM100 and Studer - part 2 - YouTube
Listening impressions of some of the systems to follow.
Here is an interesting video. I was asked by the ATC people to bring along this CD so that they can play it during the ATC demo. They knew about this CD because I had taken it over to their showroom when I went for an audition few days back. This short video is more to do than just music, check it out. Please watch the full video (it is very short anyway) and use a headphone to appreciate what is being played back to some extent:
Jagjit Singh Live on ATC SCM100 - YouTube
Watch the Chinese people who do not understand Hindi at all still deeply involved in the listening session. The power of music !!
After the session, these guys sitting adjacent to me asked me the details of the singer and where they could buy this CD. Finally they took a picture of the CD label and serial number so that they can place an order with some CD store. It was a nice feeling.
Jagjit Singh Live on ATC SCM100 - YouTube
Watch the Chinese people who do not understand Hindi at all still deeply involved in the listening session. The power of music !!
After the session, these guys sitting adjacent to me asked me the details of the singer and where they could buy this CD. Finally they took a picture of the CD label and serial number so that they can place an order with some CD store
. It was a nice feeling.
square_wave
Well-Known Member
Wow ! I somehow missied this thread.
Can you guys summerise your experience ?
Any gems ?
Any individual component that really impressed you ?
Which room sounded the best ?
Which room sounded the worst ?
Can you guys summerise your experience ?
Any gems ?
Any individual component that really impressed you ?
Which room sounded the best ?
Which room sounded the worst ?
Gobble,
Actually, I am smitten by the entry level Magnepans (1.7?) that I auditioned with Abhi at the Adelphi Mall a few weeks ago. Those are the closest that I have heard to a real concert.....the speakers just disappear inspite of their size. After that, everything sounds "not as good"
Also wonder what the higher end Magnepans sound like? Will find out on this trip itself...my family return tomorrow and I have 10 days more to explore :yahoo:.
How much for these 1.7s in SGD?
--G0bble
Great coverage you guys! I'm going to try and visit SG next year for this show. Abhi, I'll probably impose on you
Oh sure. Every year it will be an open house for all the visiting Indian audiophiles during the hifi show in Singapore
Here are some listening impressions of the various setups.
1. Cabasse La Sphere : This was the most expensive speaker of the show and they had the biggest room so I visited them first hoping to get a good start. The sound was huge, the imaging was surprisingly precise for such a large speaker. Tonally nice, smooth and musical, very impactful. But in the end I thought the overall sound was like listening to a very refined PA system. The singer's mouth was about 3-4 ft wide, the drums were sounding too big like what you hear in a concert speaker. If someone wants that kind of sound 200k could be justified but not if someone if looking for a domestic intimate speaker.
2. Ocean Way : Ocean way is actually a very renowned recording studio. They get their speakers specially made. Typically these speakers are not sold commercially but there is a Singapore dealer who has had some tie up with the Ocean way studio and has become dealer for the same speaker that is used in the recording studio. He gets these speakers directly from Ocean way.
The speakers in the picture cost USD 90k. These speakers sounded very open and lively as expected. I liked the tone, could be the vintage JBL drivers. However in that room it was a bit too boomy. These speakers have to play clean else they can totally mess up the sound because of the SPL. That was not happening in the demo room. But still it was a very exciting speaker to listen to.
3. Voxativ Ampeggio - Da Vinci TT : After listening to two huge full range speakers when I entered this room with a single driver speaker and TT playing it was like a sudden entry into reality. My experience with single driver next to nothing. I have only heard one Lyrita single driver speaker, thats it. However this speaker was a revelation to me. I was amazed to hear a very well extended treble. I did not miss a tweeter at all. I didnt know this can happen, seriously. Anyway this was one of the best sound in the show for me. It was clean, coherent, tonally uncolored, intimate, very fast, well extended at the top. The bass region was okay, sounded like a good bookshelf speaker which is fine to me. Some people may argue that SGD 40k should not have such limitations but I didnt care because it sounded very good. Midrange and upper midrange were extremely nice, combine that with a very fast transient response, it sounded special.
4. Harbeth - CAT: Harbeth has been traditionally a warm sounding speaker and this was no exception. However this was one of the best Harbeth demos I have heard. The sound was in a word "rich". Now I know a little more why many people like Harbeths. It has a beguiling warmth through out the frequency range and the bass is rich and round. The midrange which is very touted, yes it has a warm envelope around the voices and instruments but cmon it is not neutral. I heard some western classical pieces, again very smooth and open sound, warm and intimate. Just that everything has coating of warm air around it which takes away any incisiveness from the music. And this was with one of the most neutral amps in the world, the CAT. Overall nice.
5. Lansche No5 - Octave : I was mainly here to check out Octave. The octave is a nice tube amp. The presence of tubes are very evident from the sound. It doesnt sound very agile like some of the more neutral tube amp but when the passages demand the amp doesnt buckle. The ability to deliver headroom is clearly audible. It can punch without breaking a sweat. Just that in normal listening it sounds like a tube amp, that feeling will always remain.
6. Marten Design - Nagra : This was a nice room. Suddenly the sound took a quantum leap. These speakers have everything to a good extent.
The sound was smooth, totally grain free, great bass, liquid highs, intimate, precisely laid out images overall a very sophisticated sound. But I did not find it worthy of its SGD 83k price tag. Not even close. Max 20k
7. Audio Note - Wow !! This is one room that took me aback. The gears were all top end. Those corner placed speakers were playing unusually well. The sound in this room was one of the best and the music content played in this room was actually the best of the show. There was a man dedicatedly changing CDs after "every song" and doing it whole day. The variety being played was amazing and all very good music. Known, unknown whatever. I finally spoke to him and then I learnt he is an employee of Audio Note UK. He is here to demonstrate the system. He was very confident and proud of the setup. He showed me the collection of 200 CDs he had brought to play during the three days of the show. The sound in this room was very very dynamic, micro details were too good, those 22 watt tube amps are the most dynamic amps I have ever heard and they were able to fill up a room sized 25ft X 15 ft with concert level SPLs without a hint of distortion. The sound was very live, very very uncolored, great PRAT, super impact and overall very exciting. The only little thing I was not convinced was the tones had a slight silvery hue to it. That could because of extreme amount of Silver stuff going into the AN equipments and cables. A little bit of copper could have been magic.
Nola Mini Grand - Modwright : This room did not do much to me. The bookshelves were doing excellent bass but the highs were dissapointing. It was thin, lacking body. Cymbals sound tss tss...not the full bodied tash tash....Nothing much to learn or enjoy except that the speakers cost 19k. The modwright electronics were good but really cannot say much about them with these speakers.
Sonist Concerto 4 - Canary Audio : This was a surprise to me. After listening to $$$$$ systems all day when I entered this room and listened to music, I was sure this is yet another $20k speaker but I was amazed learn that it costs only about SGD 6k odd. WOW...really ? These speakers sounded terrific. They are high efficiency speakers (95db) and has ribbon tweeter. Tonally they were very good, because of its high efficiency it sounded very lifelike with great transients, ribbons gave them extension. Overall a superb speaker in the show going by what others cost. The ribbon tweeter again was not very likeable to be me, sounded a bit too hot but overall sound was very good so it is okay. Moreover a high efficiency design means a good low powered tube amp can be used which will have refined highs. The canary audio amps were excellent as well. Did most things right without imposing tube coloration and providing a very low noise floor and great headroom. Very good design.
Proac - Zanden - Kondo : Good sound but I did not hear the speciality of a Kondo. Ok it had superb body to the instruments, very smooth and refined sound. But nothing more. Rather it sounded too smooth and a bit too rounded/muddied to me. I have liked Proac speakers in the past but this design has nothing to write home about even though it has the ATC dome midrange driver. It was just good sound thats all. There is nothing special about it. I have heard Kondo with a different speaker and I know how special it sounds. In this case either the Zanden or the Proac were eating details replacing it with mud.
Sonus Faber - EMM Labs - Audio Research : This was the worst sound of the show. Period!! There was just nothing good about it. It sounded like a $5k system at max. Whereas the actual price of the speaker alone is 45k. The whole system costs about $150k. I have never liked Sonus Faber and this demo has helped me put the last nail in the Sonus Faber coffin. Totally compressed sound, lacking details, just nothing to offer except looks. The partnering electronics are all known to be best in class though.
ATC SCM 100 active : This was by far the best sound of the show. I have already written about it in the previous post. The sound in this room tells you how hard others were trying to perform. And also how hard it is to get almost everything right to this degree. The brain suddenly relaxes when everything is right, no more processing happens. It is only then that one concentrates on more important things, the creativity of the artist. I could almost visualize the facial expression of the singer. It is possible when the brain is not busy joining some missing dots. It happened in this room on all three days.
Master Tape + ATC SCM100 : This was an amazing experience not because the music played back was great but because I had no idea what to expect from a master tape. To me a master tape sounds like nothing !! It is neither warm nor cold, neither dry nor wet, neither bright nor dark, neither rolled off nor super extended, neither in your face nor laid back. I am adding so many "neithers" because it is not possible to explain objectively the sound of a master tape. I heard everything but nothing stood out. Everything was there in a proportion that I cannot or would not want to change. If I think objectively: Tone : wow what neutrality, not an iota of extra fat or warmth but neither a hint of dryness or sterility; Dynamics : Outstanding, the way the pianos struck, I have never heard before; Extension : No hi-rez material I have heard till date that has such outstanding treble range. The treble had bite but it will not bite the listener, the ambience and air was real, you just cant point a finger at it. The cymbals sounded hot and metallic but refined and with a proper body without any mud. I can go on and on but it is like a perfect world which has to be lived once. Now I understand what Vinyl lackshyeah: and how much:sad:.
1. Cabasse La Sphere : This was the most expensive speaker of the show and they had the biggest room so I visited them first hoping to get a good start. The sound was huge, the imaging was surprisingly precise for such a large speaker. Tonally nice, smooth and musical, very impactful. But in the end I thought the overall sound was like listening to a very refined PA system. The singer's mouth was about 3-4 ft wide, the drums were sounding too big like what you hear in a concert speaker. If someone wants that kind of sound 200k could be justified but not if someone if looking for a domestic intimate speaker.
2. Ocean Way : Ocean way is actually a very renowned recording studio. They get their speakers specially made. Typically these speakers are not sold commercially but there is a Singapore dealer who has had some tie up with the Ocean way studio and has become dealer for the same speaker that is used in the recording studio. He gets these speakers directly from Ocean way.
The speakers in the picture cost USD 90k. These speakers sounded very open and lively as expected. I liked the tone, could be the vintage JBL drivers. However in that room it was a bit too boomy. These speakers have to play clean else they can totally mess up the sound because of the SPL. That was not happening in the demo room. But still it was a very exciting speaker to listen to.
3. Voxativ Ampeggio - Da Vinci TT : After listening to two huge full range speakers when I entered this room with a single driver speaker and TT playing it was like a sudden entry into reality. My experience with single driver next to nothing. I have only heard one Lyrita single driver speaker, thats it. However this speaker was a revelation to me. I was amazed to hear a very well extended treble. I did not miss a tweeter at all. I didnt know this can happen, seriously
. Anyway this was one of the best sound in the show for me. It was clean, coherent, tonally uncolored, intimate, very fast, well extended at the top. The bass region was okay, sounded like a good bookshelf speaker which is fine to me. Some people may argue that SGD 40k should not have such limitations but I didnt care because it sounded very good. Midrange and upper midrange were extremely nice, combine that with a very fast transient response, it sounded special.4. Harbeth - CAT: Harbeth has been traditionally a warm sounding speaker and this was no exception. However this was one of the best Harbeth demos I have heard. The sound was in a word "rich". Now I know a little more why many people like Harbeths. It has a beguiling warmth through out the frequency range and the bass is rich and round. The midrange which is very touted, yes it has a warm envelope around the voices and instruments but cmon it is not neutral
. I heard some western classical pieces, again very smooth and open sound, warm and intimate. Just that everything has coating of warm air around it which takes away any incisiveness from the music. And this was with one of the most neutral amps in the world, the CAT. Overall nice.5. Lansche No5 - Octave : I was mainly here to check out Octave. The octave is a nice tube amp. The presence of tubes are very evident from the sound. It doesnt sound very agile like some of the more neutral tube amp but when the passages demand the amp doesnt buckle. The ability to deliver headroom is clearly audible. It can punch without breaking a sweat. Just that in normal listening it sounds like a tube amp, that feeling will always remain.
6. Marten Design - Nagra : This was a nice room. Suddenly the sound took a quantum leap. These speakers have everything to a good extent.
The sound was smooth, totally grain free, great bass, liquid highs, intimate, precisely laid out images overall a very sophisticated sound. But I did not find it worthy of its SGD 83k price tag. Not even close. Max 20k
7. Audio Note - Wow !! This is one room that took me aback. The gears were all top end. Those corner placed speakers were playing unusually well. The sound in this room was one of the best and the music content played in this room was actually the best of the show. There was a man dedicatedly changing CDs after "every song" and doing it whole day. The variety being played was amazing and all very good music. Known, unknown whatever. I finally spoke to him and then I learnt he is an employee of Audio Note UK. He is here to demonstrate the system. He was very confident and proud of the setup. He showed me the collection of 200 CDs he had brought to play during the three days of the show. The sound in this room was very very dynamic, micro details were too good, those 22 watt tube amps are the most dynamic amps I have ever heard and they were able to fill up a room sized 25ft X 15 ft with concert level SPLs without a hint of distortion. The sound was very live, very very uncolored, great PRAT, super impact and overall very exciting. The only little thing I was not convinced was the tones had a slight silvery hue to it. That could because of extreme amount of Silver stuff going into the AN equipments and cables. A little bit of copper could have been magic.
Nola Mini Grand - Modwright : This room did not do much to me. The bookshelves were doing excellent bass but the highs were dissapointing. It was thin, lacking body. Cymbals sound tss tss...not the full bodied tash tash....Nothing much to learn or enjoy except that the speakers cost 19k. The modwright electronics were good but really cannot say much about them with these speakers.
Sonist Concerto 4 - Canary Audio : This was a surprise to me. After listening to $$$$$ systems all day when I entered this room and listened to music, I was sure this is yet another $20k speaker but I was amazed learn that it costs only about SGD 6k odd. WOW...really ? These speakers sounded terrific. They are high efficiency speakers (95db) and has ribbon tweeter. Tonally they were very good, because of its high efficiency it sounded very lifelike with great transients, ribbons gave them extension. Overall a superb speaker in the show going by what others cost. The ribbon tweeter again was not very likeable to be me, sounded a bit too hot but overall sound was very good so it is okay. Moreover a high efficiency design means a good low powered tube amp can be used which will have refined highs. The canary audio amps were excellent as well. Did most things right without imposing tube coloration and providing a very low noise floor and great headroom. Very good design.
Proac - Zanden - Kondo : Good sound but I did not hear the speciality of a Kondo. Ok it had superb body to the instruments, very smooth and refined sound. But nothing more. Rather it sounded too smooth and a bit too rounded/muddied to me. I have liked Proac speakers in the past but this design has nothing to write home about even though it has the ATC dome midrange driver. It was just good sound thats all. There is nothing special about it. I have heard Kondo with a different speaker and I know how special it sounds. In this case either the Zanden or the Proac were eating details replacing it with mud.
Sonus Faber - EMM Labs - Audio Research : This was the worst sound of the show. Period!! There was just nothing good about it. It sounded like a $5k system at max. Whereas the actual price of the speaker alone is 45k. The whole system costs about $150k. I have never liked Sonus Faber and this demo has helped me put the last nail in the Sonus Faber coffin. Totally compressed sound, lacking details, just nothing to offer except looks. The partnering electronics are all known to be best in class though.
ATC SCM 100 active : This was by far the best sound of the show. I have already written about it in the previous post. The sound in this room tells you how hard others were trying to perform. And also how hard it is to get almost everything right to this degree. The brain suddenly relaxes when everything is right, no more processing happens. It is only then that one concentrates on more important things, the creativity of the artist. I could almost visualize the facial expression of the singer. It is possible when the brain is not busy joining some missing dots. It happened in this room on all three days.
Master Tape + ATC SCM100 : This was an amazing experience not because the music played back was great but because I had no idea what to expect from a master tape. To me a master tape sounds like nothing !! It is neither warm nor cold, neither dry nor wet, neither bright nor dark, neither rolled off nor super extended, neither in your face nor laid back. I am adding so many "neithers" because it is not possible to explain objectively the sound of a master tape. I heard everything but nothing stood out. Everything was there in a proportion that I cannot or would not want to change. If I think objectively: Tone : wow what neutrality, not an iota of extra fat or warmth but neither a hint of dryness or sterility; Dynamics : Outstanding, the way the pianos struck, I have never heard before; Extension : No hi-rez material I have heard till date that has such outstanding treble range. The treble had bite but it will not bite the listener, the ambience and air was real, you just cant point a finger at it. The cymbals sounded hot and metallic but refined and with a proper body without any mud. I can go on and on but it is like a perfect world which has to be lived once. Now I understand what Vinyl lacks
hyeah: and how much:sad:.Hi Prem, if we talk about external amplification, I clearly prefer Naim and Symphonic Line to ATC amps. ATC amps are very good but the other two are special. But if we consider active speakers then obviously the equation changes. The absolute effortlessness of the ATC active is undeniable. In this configuration the inbuilt ATC amps cannot be flawed. Obviously a fully triamped (with pure class A ATC amplifiers), crossover less design should do something special and it does.
Regading 100 vs 50, I have not heard both. I am yet to hear the 50. But from limited experience with ATC I can safely say if one has a 50 in a appropriate room he will not miss the 100. All ATCs sound very very similar. You only gain in scale as you go up, for most part this is true.
Regading 100 vs 50, I have not heard both. I am yet to hear the 50. But from limited experience with ATC I can safely say if one has a 50 in a appropriate room he will not miss the 100. All ATCs sound very very similar. You only gain in scale as you go up, for most part this is true.
cmsajith
Well-Known Member
Thank you for your detailed impressions. Did you find any good DACs in the same price bracket as AP DAC and better in performance?
Wharfedale Linton Heritage Speakers in Red Mahogany finish at a Special Offer Price. BUY now before the price increase.
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