I got my first integrated amp after I ROD circa ’93 a nice little Creek 4040 s3 still functioning. Tonight I unboxed to find the good old UK handy works….the transformer , chassis signed by one Barbara on 18th October 1991
Sunday learnings
Last night, the Mark Levinson preamp was driving me crazy with a high pitch tone (faint but audible) near the transformer side. The noise did not comes from the speakers and after much troubleshooting of powering down all other equipment as well re-positioning did not helps. So, who you gonna call?
FB message William and he immediately told me it might be the LED display causing the high pitched. It’s a DUH-moment, why didnt i think of that! I should have disable the display and voila, no noise!
Another learning from re-positioning the rack to right corner of the room is that is acts like a low pass cut-off filter. It was too much drop of bass for my liking but this confirm that i can use bass trap for bass management.
Marantz CD player do not like to be stack on the pre-amp. It resulted in slight treble harshness.
That is all i spent the day learning audio on the hands-on way, physically.
Hifi Magazine
Stereo Sound audio magazine remains the de facto audiophile magazine for me. It maintains high editorial standard, great photography and is not just about advertisements. Good reference to the taste of the Japanese market. Published in Japanese 4 times per year and i only manage to get the Chinese translated edition when I travel to Zhuhai.
Friday afternoon at Audiosound
Spend the Friday over at Audiosound with William. The studio is moving along with many state of the art and desirable equipment.
Audionet Friday
Awesome power and magically musical. 
So much lights in the Audionet Preamp leading the way to music nirvana !
Groovetracer Delrin Platter & Reference Subplatter
Tweaks for my Rega RP6 !!! Speedy communication with Frank of Groovetracer makes the transaction a breeze. Most importantly, these are outstanding products for the turntable. Sorry, Roy, i gotta hot modded my table. The 5 minutes installation is painless and please read the instructions!
The Reference version of the subplatter features
i) low coefficient of friction between bearing surfaces minimized vibrations for a lower noise floor. this is physic at it’s best and quality that can be heard.
ii) record spindle is decoupled from the bearing axle to further reduce vibration transfer to the record playing surface. in other word, Frank did not skimp on quality . he goes all the way !!!
iii) 3 point Delrin contact (non resonant) between the subplatter and platter ensure positive interface and also minimizes vibration transfer.
iv) 0.0005″ – 0.001″ concentricity between the axle and hub greatly improves pitch control
v) extended length record spindle permits the use of my favorite tuning Acouslik Labor clamp.
The only Delrin Rega platter from 3rd party vendor. It carries more mass than the original glass platter, 83 ounces compared to 70 ounces. This increases its ability to maintain constant rotational speed and extra mass will not damage the bearing.
Also the construction of the Delrin platter has such precision to match Rega’s distance from the top of the plinth to the top of the playing surface. Finally i do not need a record mat when spinning the vinyl.
Live Sound Hi-Fi
A good live sound performance is the ultimate hi-fi experience. The night when Maroon 5 sangs their famous hits to F1 crowd at the Padang.
Matt Flynn whiplashed the night away !!!
Continuum
The Observatory Percussive Gamelan – imagine in a paddy field on a full moonlit, with frogs croaking and crickets chirping to the primal beats in continuum. It was a good night.
Clarisys Audio Planar Speaker
Listening to 五月天 x 10 top female singers rendition of May Day’s song. The huge planar Studio Magnetostatic Speaker by Clarisys Audio projects awesome playback : crisp, full range and musical reproduction.
Duntech Sovereign
The massive Duntech Sovereign (130kg per cabinet) bridged with Mark Levinson 33H & Krell 350M power amp for a 1000W peak output. It drove the complex 7 drivers with ease and George Porter vocal doesn’t sound nasal at all. It’s an audiophile speakers famed for mastering works due to it’s sonic revelation of sub-sonic defects in the music. Ain’t no where to hide if it’s a bad mix. ( 音色有就有，沒有就沒有）
