I was very fortunate to be invited to this very passionate videophile/ audiophile’s home (no…he is not Boba Fett from Star Wars),…to experience two (2) very special systems, a Home Theater and Stereo,…each in its own dedicated room.
The host, Encik Shamyl has been in our beloved hobby for decades,…and his experience in the appreciation of high end video/audio was even further enhanced by his career in the same production industry.
Firstly, I was led to his Home Theatre room,…already his passion was evidenced by arrays of movie posters,…
…the statue of Marvel’s THE INCREDIBLE HULK,…
…the replica of DC Batman’s THE BAT (HOT TOYS) from DARK KNIGHT RISES,…and many more!
Here was the list of the equipment used in his Home Theater room…
- JBL SDP55 AV processor
- Bryston 6BSST2 power amp (300 x 3)
- Bryston 9BCube power amp (200watts x 5)
- Bryston 9BSST2 power amp (150 Watts x 5)
- Ascendo The 12 Passive speaker x 3 (LCR)
- Ascendo The 10 Passive speaker x 4 ( surrounds)
- Ascendo CCmi6-P ceiling speaker x 4 (height speakers)
- Ascendo The 18-2 Pro Passive Sealed Sub x 2
- Ascendo The 18 Pro Active sealed Sub x 1
- JVC NX9 projector
- Screen Research 140″ wide 2.4 ClearPix Ultimate White framed screen
- Panamorph DCR expansion lens
- Pioneer UDP LX500 UHD 4K Blu Ray player
- Sony PlayStation 5.
The Home Theater was spacious and equipped with seatings for at least eight (8) person or more.
En.Shamyl led me to the best seat in the Home Theater room, and shared to me that the lamp in his JVC NX9 projector was already at more than 2500 hours (due for a replacement soon)…
…however, his passion and meticulousness in colour calibration at the projector and the (Top) choice of high end screen from SCREEN RESEARCH, did not hinder him from enjoying high quality video.
Skin tone, Colour Rendering and Detail from the video were nothing short of ‘Top Quality‘,…
…the brightness and clarity to the details were vividly presented, even those at the depth of the scene…mesmerising indeed.
The newly installed and calibrated Home Theatre sound system by AV DESIGNS (MALAYSIA) sounded expansive, enveloping, engaging, and involving…a truly three (3) dimensional experience…, and with a ‘touch of palpability‘ (explained further in the next paragraph).
Every nuance and detail were clearly rendered…nothing was amissed, comparatively.
I would add that each tone, twack, bang and note were spot on.
Hence, the title of the write up, ‘the RIGHT NOTE‘
A TOUCH of PALPABILITY
…the Home Theatre system was further enhanced with five (5) pieces of eighteen inches (18″) woofers in three (3) subwoofers(!)…that added dimension, density and weight to each tone, twack, bang and note…thus the ‘Touch of Palpability’.
It also be noted that the subwoofers were coherently calibrated to the entire ensemble of speakers, space and time to reach that level of ‘spot on‘…Kudo to the host and the team at AV DESIGNS.
After, the “Millennium Falcon made the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs (Star Wars)”,…
I was led to another part of the house, to another room…the Stereo room. Here, I was greeted by a host of High End audio components from Clearaudio, DCS, Audio Research, Bryston, Focal, Shunyata, Torus, Entreq, Taoc, In-Akustik Cables, etc.
Music of different genres were played from analogue to digital sources…
The music from the analogue source gave a good presentation of Pace, Rhythm and Timing (PRaT), resolution, detail, minute nuances and coherency throughout the bandwidth…,
…nothing was amissed.
It also gave a good amount and value of body, density and weight to the images…a colour or the house sound of the famed Audio Research(?).
Ultimately, the combo of both Clearaudio and Audio Research was entertaining and musically done ‘right (also note’)
As for the digital source, the presentation was leaner and came with slightly more highs…it did not sound like or have the colouration of the Audio Research.
However, both sources sounded just ‘right‘ to my ears (but taste different).
There was a plethora of High End cables connected to the audio components.
I saw that En.Shamyl has heavily invested into cables from In-Akustik (Germany)! I could easily recommend those cables…they were that good! (Reviews available)
I found the pairing of Bryston amplification with the Focal loudspeaker to be a good match. It drove and controlled them, transducers, with nimbleness and agility.
It even made En.Shamyl felt that the Focal loudspeaker to be “too big for his stereo room”.
To me, that sentiment was a testament that the Bryston has the power to deliver the goods through the Focal!
A pleasurable and sumptous sight and eargasm…enjoyed.