I was invited to a fellow legal practitioner and a professional musician, Andrew Lee’s home to audition his audio system.
Before listening to the audio system, Andrew formally introduced himself and his audio system…component by component (almost).
The following comprised of his audio system:
1) ND555/555DR,
2) Kuzma Stabi XLDC/Clearaudio Statement Record Clamp/4 Point14/
4 Point9/Clearaudio Goldfinger Statement/Kuzma CAR-60/
Clearaudio Talismann V2 Gold,
3) Superline/Supercap DR/Doshi V3.0 Phonostage,
4) Statement NAC S1/NAP500DR,
5) Magico S7 Loudspeakers,
6) Ethernet: Ansuz D2/Furutech LAN-10G/QED Performance,
7) Chord Music: DIN4-5/XLR-XLR Super Lumina: DIN5-5/DIN-XLR/Speaker Cable,
8) Naim Fraim Rack/Naim Power-Line power cord,
9) Uniti Core/Synology NAS/Cisco Catalyst 2960G-8TC-L,
10) Entreq Poseidon Ground Box,
11) Frank Power Bank PB-15000WS (x2),
12) Dedicated spur for hifi system
Separate mains spur for router, switch and NAS,
13) Acoustic System International (ASI) room acoustic treatment, and
14) Harmonix RF-999M Million Maestro/TU-666M “BeauTone” Million Maestro.
We started the listening session with the digital source, and then continued with the analogue source.
Upon its first tone, I realized that I was listening to a truly high end and revealing audio system (at that price point, it’s expected!)
Expect such audio system to reveal not just the source material but also the character, experience and expectations of the owner.
Andrew confessed and I concurred that he is a ‘clean and tidy’ person…”you will find no dust on any of my audio component “ (but I thought dust could act as micro resonator?!…jokingly)
Indeed, I saw no dust anywhere! (How I wished I could be the same).
Back to the sound presentation…Then what did I heard there and then?
I heard a clean, clear and quite tidy audio presentation!
Another positive note, that audio system was very detailed, with every musical tone exposed,…
…came with energy,…
…power and dynamism.
But that presentation also exposed the weaknesses of the space and acoustical problems where the audio system was set up.
There was audible hint of echo and reflection.
To me, ‘the higher the end the audio component or system’, the more revealing it would be.
The same as ‘the higher the mountain, the harder the climb’.
It will reveal the good, the bad and the ugly.
However, such revelations allow the owner to correct and improve the total performance of the system.
Therefore, we would revisit that set up in the near future…keep it up, Andrew!
(I was informed that Andrew already started work!)