That visit was welcomed by a gate with ‘electrified wired’ fence…
…that reminded me of the electrified fence for the dinosaurs, especially the T-Rex in the movie…
…The Jurassic Park! (Am I to be caged here?!)
The owner, Jei showed me to his audio room…
…which was filled with acoustical tuning devices of different disciplines.
There were traditional bass traps…
…strategically placed around the audio room.
There were a number of Frank Tchang’s ASI Acoustic System Resonators…
…of different materials, strategically placed…
…all over the audio room!
Jei was not shy with his enthusiasm for ultimate audio performance to his specific taste.
Wahhh…a simple but yet not so simple set up?!
He told me that his reference CD player from PlayBack Design, the MPS-5, was not in the system for my visit (due to a secret mission?!).
Jei believed that the current digital source was enough to showcase his intended artistry in audio performance (?!).
The digital source at play was also from PlayBack Design, the Syrah streamer and the Merlot DAC.
The heart of the system consisted of the well known DarTZeel CTH 8550 Integrated Amplifier that pushed out 220 watts!
The set up was neat at the front…
…and at the back!
Cables were floated up with Shunyata Cables lifters when needed be. While other cables were meant to touch the ground…all for the purpose of achieving the ‘right sound’ to Jei’s ears!
There were Entreq Independent Grounding Units,…
…even treated with ‘tweaked’ footers,…
…for the appropriate audio components!
The center stage was treated with diffusers,…
…and resonators,…
…of different disciplines!
To me, obviously Jei was a serious man with serious passion in audio!
My question…did he knows what he is doing?!
“The taste is always in the pudding”, as they said!
Jei played all types of musical genre well known and played by audiophile.
The first note from the musical instrument floated out from a jet black background that reminded me of the glorious day of Mark Levinson by Madrigal Labs.
The soundstage was so black that no attention was called to it…it was like a dark venue where one could not see the boundaries, which muted the questions of width, height and depth…it was just surreal!
The bottom end bass was clean, control, defined and delineated, with certain precision that would thrilled even the recording engineer.
The musical presentation there was top notch as per the direction intended by the director and owner, Jei.
That answered my above question…Jei knew what he was doing, and was so good at his game that he could set up his audio system to sound ‘right’! (Bravo!)
I asked and he showed me some of his artistry…his tuning even went outside the audio room (believe it or not?!)…
…that included the adjacent room and living hall!
All that to passively control the bass.
Ahhh…I almost forgot the unconnected RCA cable at the window,…
…and the ASI Wooden Cubes at the pillar outside the house too, for better bass performance thus better audio presentation…relative to Jei’s ‘right’ sound.
To someone whom have not heard or experience such (extreme?) passion…my take, try it…
Conclusion, Jei has taught me a few artistries that would be used in my audio set up!
Thank you, Jei.
Jei’s Components List:-
Source
———-
1. Playback Design, Model: Syrah, Streamer
2. Playback Design, Model: Merlot, DAC
3. Playback Design, Model: MPS-5, CD/SACD player
Integrated Amplifier
—————————
4. Dartzeel, Model: CTH-8550, 220watts integrated Amplifier
Loudspeakers
——————-
5. Estelon. Model: XA, 6 Ohms 3-ways loudspeakers
Cables
———
6. ASI, Model: Liveline Reference, Power Cord (for source)
7. Kharma, Model: Grand Reference, Power Cord (for integrated Amplifier)
8. Dartzeel, Model: Dart to Zeel, 50 Ohms interconnect Cable
9.Argento, Model: Senerity Reference, 4N Silver Speaker Cable
Room Acoustic
———————
10. ASI, Model: Platinum, Gold, Rose Gold, Copper & Silver, Resonator
11, ASI, Model: Sugar Cube,
Noise Filter
12. GIK, Model: Tri-Trap, Bass Corner Trap
13. GIK, Model: Soffit Trap, Bass Monster Trap
14. GIK, Model: Range Limited Panel, Acoustic Panel
HiFi Rack
————-
15. Taoc, Model: ASR ll-2S, Equipment Rack
16. Taoc, Model: SCB-RS-HC45B, Equipment Rack
Tuning Feets
——————
17. Harmonix, Model: TU-666M Million
18. Harmonix, Model: RF-999M Million
19. Harmonix, Model: RS-1502M Million
20. HRS, Model: Nimbus