My audio journey has brought me to befriend some audiophile around the country.
(Harbeth SHL 5 Loudspeakers)
My recent trip was to the state of Malacca, Malaysia.
There I was introduced to Mr. Faisal, a banker who knows a good investment when he sees one.
He shared to all of us about his audio journey that encompassed a number of notable audio brands.
What fascinated me was his sharing about selling off most of his audio components to invest on a local young man’s endeavor to design and build for him separate tube power amplifier and preamplifier.
(BEN AUDIO TRIPLE B 211 monoblock amplifier, KR audio tube & 6sn7)
That young man was Benjamin Tan (an article about him is available here).
(Ben Audio prototype preamplifier)
Faisal accumulated a sizable sum from those sales and passed it all into the hand of one that has yet to be proven…that was Faith!
Benjamin designed and built him a pair of mono-block tube amplifier and preamplifier.
(Enlightenment Audio Design Power Master 500)
My initial impression of Benjamin’s babies was as follows:-
(Turntable Michell Gyro SE & Phono Cartridge ~ Transfiguration Phoenix MC)
The build quality was good enough to deserve recognition.
(Avantgarde Acoustic Uno Nano)
What deserve even more recognition would be the sound quality…
I could not believe the quietness of its background…
…and the transparency to detail, even if compared to some higher priced tube audio components.
The dynamic and transient of bass slam was defined, fast, clean, extended,…
…and given me the impression of much higher power reserve than those tube amplifiers were specified!
(Power 20wpc @ 8ohm
Freq respond : 17hz to 22khz +/- 1db
tubes used 211 1pcs 6sn7 1pc)
As a complete audio system, Faisal has done a good job in presenting a tonally balance presentation…without any ‘shout’ in the mid, high and low frequencies.
It may not seem much in term of acoustic treatments in his room, but I found the room size and dimensions, and ‘items’ therein did assist in a musically satisfying presentation.
I really enjoyed my listening session there and left with a begging question,”how much does one have to spend to get the right sound?!”