Like Mr. Zanden, I’ve been quiet for more than a year in AE forum as I’ve been focusing on developing an audio room and fine tuning the sound with an equalizer. All measurements were done by a certified audio analyzer and it was quite an interesting experience.
More than a month before the arrival of Wadax Ultimate, PT already discussed with me about the technological design behind this crazy stuff especially the Zepto clock and power supply. The way they tested the noise of the phono really shocked me. Last Saturday I finally paid a visit to AE1 to audition this new weapon and to check whether it can truly reflect the technology behind and can reach my expectation. After spinning several LP’s, my jaw was on the floor and my whole body was motionless. It was fxxking natural, relax, live and dynamic. Many audiophiles claim their systems are very dynamic, but after the audition I am always disappointed and find out there is only an excess energy around 100hz to create a punch to your face feeling. They may disagree with me, but can they disagree with my audio analyzer? What I heard here is a very steady image with an extremely fast attack following by a right amount of decay disbursing into air in 360 degree. That’s how I call dynamics. I highly recommend those audiophiles to visit AE1 and it will be quite an interesting lesson.
Listening to the CAS by using its media PC is also another jaw dropping experience, it was the best digital sound I’ve ever heard and I did not expect a digital source can sound like so analog. Although I already became a hard core analog fan after PT introduced me to the Da Vinci system, I had to surrender this time and reenter into the digital world. Yes, I bit the bullet before I left AE1.
So it’s been just 2 weeks with the Wadax Ultimate in my system. PT had asked me to write a short review. Forgive me if some of what I write repeats some of Javier or others comments. However the review of one component will necessarily become the review of two – the JMF Audio PCD 302 arrived last Friday and cant comment on the level of sound without mentioning the French power conditioner.
I had thought with the Qualia Indigo DAC that I was at a very high level. (Trinity DAC is not for me as my system is 100% single ended). It certainly handily outperformed the Opus Prime I had before. It was tonally dense, pleasurable to listen to and had a real sense of performers being “there” in your room. My experience with digital over the years and the constant DAC upgrading I’d been doing was that each time I would experience another veil removed between me and the music. Each time I would get closer to the real experience. And with the Qualia DAC I thought I was almost at the end of the road of DAC upgrades. How much better could digital get?
Answer: a lot! I don’t know whether the performance level of the Wadax Ultimate is solely due to the amazing Zepto clock or Javier’s proprietary DAC architecture, but the improvement was remarkable. It took a day or two to properly settle down, but when it had, it felt like the whole soundstage had opened up, left and right and back to front. There was so much more information being presented, but in a totally natural wonderful way. Not a hint of digital grain or glare. The music gives you shivers it is so realistic.
Then…what should be a relatively minor upgrade compared to the Ultimate, the JMP PCD 302. Well, to say that replacing my trusty Tripoint Orion with the JMF has taken my system to the next level is the understatement of the year. Multiple veils were ripped away, and the sound improved in a quantum leap I hadn’t experienced before. I knew power conditioning was important. Living in a 20+ storey block it is going to be difficult to get clean electricity supply, so a conditioner is vital, and the JMF is head and shoulders better then anything else I’ve come across.
Of course the JMF is just providing clean power. What it is doing is showing the true level at which the Wadax Ultimate operates. Which is insanely high. I haven’t heard the Trinity DAC so I don’t know how it compares to the Wadax Ultimate, but for me, my digital journey is over. Any upgrades will now just be software – room mapping to start with, I’m looking forward to that. Next power conditioner upgrade will be very soon though, another JMF for the field coil supplies. Looking forward to that too!
So in summary, thanks to Javier whose quest for perfection in digital has taken my system to a level I've never experienced, and thanks to JMF for the letting the Ultimate perform at the highest level!
A few weeks ago a controversial discussion took place on this thread. The theme, phono playback under the mixed signal domain (analog + digital), triggered some deep reactions that were expressed here. At the same, I see it is completely understandable that such a reaction occurs from a first thought or further on, if no deep explanation is given and no demo exposure is experienced.
From your post of the 24th of January: ‘But for phono stage, I really want to pick a fight here. Never and never be possible would any digital phono stage can even have a slight chance of waging a war against analog phono stage. This turns everything completely upside down! And I don't know who is Mr. Zanden and why he carries so much weight. I need to verify myself.’
Please allow me the opportunity to explain some of the principles and reasons why we have followed a different path for phono playback.
Phono playback is challenging from different perspectives. Tiny signals. Tiny cartridges. Tonearm-cartridge setup flawed by design. Electrical reactions between cartridge and step-up device.
These are the core hazards in phono playback. But in practice, this is not so simple. Let’s see an extended analysis of the situation:
Cartridges are small, i.e. production tolerances have an importance impact on final performance and production consistency is as concern.
Mechanical limitations and non-linearities in the cartridge. Tonearm-Cartridge Setup cannot be perfect by theory. Left to right channel asymmetry by concept. Electrical parasitics in cabling, loading mismatching effects between cartridge and phono preamp. Phono preamplifier step-up non-linearities. Parasitic effects in RIAA eq components, independent of the type of RIAA topology used in the analog phono preamplifier… dielectric effects, energy storage over time,.. The list goes on.
All the above deteriorating agents are ALREADY in your analogue vinyl reconstruction, no matter which playback equipment you use.
The classic audiophile approach in the pursue of better phono playback come by choosing different phono stages, an endless seek because the most important contaminating agents in phono playback are out of reach of any analog phono stage, like time distortion reversal.
A phono stage can, at most, limit its own step-up non-linearities and parasitic effects in RIAA eq components. This can be achieved by good engineering design practices and an endless component selection. Can be limited but not eliminated.
And at the same time it cannot do anything to overcome any of the long list of other contaminating elements present in phono playback, external to the phono preamplifier.
In our 5 years of development and experience with phono setups, we were surprised by real world measurements in existing setups. An example, as of today, from over 150 measurements done across the World in high-end phono solutions, we have not seen a setup that have better amplitude losses than -15dB at 20KHz. Or left to right deviations better than 3dB from 20Hz to 4KHz. From 20Hz-20KHz, best L-R differences are >5dB.
In the time alignment area, results are appalling. Never better than 40uS at 20KHz. Very poor. We also measured an important dependency with playback amplitude. Etc.
All together, vinyl playback chain can be modelled as a black box with the behavior of a high-order complex modulator.
The content stored in the groove of the record is altered by this ‘black box’. By the time the phono preamplifier receives this signal, it is already contaminated and DIFFERENT from the original content on the record. The phono preamplifier can do an ideal job to amplify and apply RIAA eq, but it will never be able to revert the losses in the path from the groove to the phono preamplifier. The process to revert these losses is not possible in the analog domain.
This is where we blend our best analog circuitry with our digital tools (our musIC custom chip).
First, as a phono preamplifier, we apply linear analog signal amplification.
We have done a full characterization of our linear phono preamplifier and therefore we can provide for adequate processing (in the digital domain) to ensure transparent high-gain amplification. RIAA EQ is then processed in the digital domain by our musIC chip, instead of by capacitors and resistor networks that exhibit non-linear behavior due to parasitics and other collateral effects.
All processing is done in 128 bit precision and in a singular data path topology that keeps quantizing noise (‘math’ noise) away from the output.
The result is a phono step-up and RIAA EQ that is time aligned and way beyond what would be possible in a pure analog signal chain.
The next step in performance is to reverse contamination by the ‘black box’ mentioned above. For this, we model the whole signal path inside this ‘black box’ by means of a calibration flow. This calibration process uses our reference vinyl disc and we compare the actual reading with the ideal one cut in our reference disc (see picture attached).
Based on this reading, we generate what we call a ‘map’. This map is a 3D mesh of high density data that has behavioural info of the phono playback chain.
The musIC chip is then configured to purify the signal deterioration that occurs in the vinyl playback chain. And this is what you get; a big step closer to the truth. We call our truth what is stored in the grooves of the LP’s. What happens before the disc is cut is another story, that we have also been exploring, by the way.. but that is another story.
Then, I would be pleased to know if what we are trying to achieve –new quality levels in phono playback-, matched your experience. I am sure Mr. Leung will be pleased to guide you to an empirical exposure to our phono approach in our latest blend, the Ultimate with the Zepto clock.
I brought my FM222 phono to AE showroom for a “battle” yesterday. The electronics at AE were completely alien to me, other than the impressive towering Cessaro speakers. The golden tube preamp called Dalby was idle in action because Mr. Leung explained that there are no XLR inputs. As a result, a line-stage called Robert K15 was in the chain of command. It is luxuriously built with a golden chassis. I repeatedly asked Mr. Leung whether it is true fully balance differential design as FM 222 only works in perfection under this configuration. He explained that K15 is true balance design whereas the predecessor is not. I just want to make sure the amplification chain would not degrade the performance of FM222 because I had no idea of them. But that 7 watt Zanden 300B amp was a bit too low profile. Power is everything in amplification.
I brought my recordings for the tests because all of them are virgin pressing which must be better than Mr. Leung’s own collection. Given the Waterloo experiences of the dCS Vivaldi against Trinity DAC, I was cautious. I requested Mr. Leung to power on the FM222 for at least an hour before critical listening began. During the elapsed 1 hour, we had a coffee break at Starbucks nearby together with Darth Vader, and another friend of mine. Frankly speaking, we feel more comfortable to talk with Mr. Leung in person than speaking at the forum domineered with implicit “hostility” to newcomers. I just want to repeat once more to other fellows here that we are newcomers from another school of thought. It takes time for us to learn what’s out there. And we are not arrogant nuts that do not accept constructive criticisms. We are as educated as other eloquent writers here.
The FM222 mark 3 costs almost HK$300,000 and is considered as the holly grail in phono amplification everywhere in Asia. Mr. Leung rebutted me that it is never a success in Europe and US for fundamental reasons. He even went as far as claiming it is over-rated while recognizing its merits in some areas. Anyway, we moved on to the recordings that I brought over including the following; Kogan Beethoven Violin Concerto, John Coltrane Night train, Muddy Water Folk songs, Led Zeppelin Stairways to Heaven, Jano Starkers Bach Solo etc. I also requested power cables on Robert K15 and Zanden to be Goebel Lacorde Statement. This time, of course, the FM222 mark 3 has to be connected to the Troy signature. I learnt a big lesson last round!
Just like last time, I really like the Cessaro speakers. It takes some time to adjust to the new “direct” presentation. It was still a new experience to me despite the short acquaintances’ of the Brahms’ at Leung’s private residence. This breed is much faster and resolute than my Wilson XLF. On the John Coltrane recording, the bass response is excellent. The Zanden 300B amp began to draw my attention. The room was filled with energy. The attack could be stronger and faster. I suspected the Zanden 300B probably was working to the limit. But the end result was still excellent. I believe that Robert K15 line stage must be doing a tremendous job of control given the scarcity of power downstream. After-all, music is lively. Colors are vibrant, soundstage is continuous and imaging is solid. Music is lively.
At that juncture, Darth Vader broken the silence and made a joke that the FM222 mark 3 sounded much better at AE than my home. Frankly, I agree other than the last juice of power seems to be somewhat reserved. I could not complain given the amp is only 7 watt and the resolution is already enormous. Dynamics and transients are as good as it can be. I played all my recordings with utmost satisfaction. Another 1 hour elapsed. At that point, I wasn’t concerned about battle anymore because I began to understand the philosophy of AE more. And Mr. Leung is certainly much more experienced and well versed than any other audio salesman that I know from other showrooms in Hong Kong. At the end, Darth Vader requested Mr. Leung to play the KAZE live recording. Under the FM222, I think the live atmosphere together with the abundance of ambience of that recording was reproduced with pride. Vocals are so natural. I must buy this recording but Mr. Leung said it is very difficult to find now.
My curiosity escalated exponentially when the Wadax ultimate was reconnected as the source going into the Robert K15 line-stage with the same set of cables. We listened firstly to Beethoven violin concerto by Kogan because even analog phono stage could not deliver great violin sound all the time and this must be the greatest challenge to digital phono. The needle was dropped on my beloved recordings. For a minute of two, Darth Vader stared at me with a strange face. I was calm. I said to myself at the beginning, “It is really not bad.” As the music developed, I could comprehend the pristine purity of Kogan’s tone. I could feel and “see” the control of his bow much more so than the previous FM session. The upper body of Kogan was occasionally felt later on, and that was quite scary because I had never encountered such reproduction level. The mid range of FM222 in comparison is overdosed to beautify which is not bad. It could be a taste preference here. On the reproduction of the Night Train, the pace of music dictated by the Wadax Ultimate was perceived to be more rhythmic. Low level bass resolution is tremendous. On the recording of the KAZE, the Wadax Ultimate completely championed over the FM222 particularly in the Z-axis of the soundstage. The front to back arrangement is well layered. And the supporting vocals together with the lead vocals were performing in harmony filled with great ambience. I wonder what if the Zanden 300B are replaced with another one that has more power. I know there is a super amplifier by Zanden called Chouku, which Mr. Leung said it will be landed in March.
Mr. Leung told me one AE fellow was not too impressed by the KAZE recording and complained that the ambience resolution was not enough. I wonder whether this is the Mr. Zanden. To my ears, it was just plain damn real. Now I understand the beauty is in the truth. But getting the truth out perhaps requires a lot of works other than piling up expensive and famous electronics.
Technology really changes everything, I said to myself. I recalled naming the day of awakening after the dCS was smashed into pieces by Trinity. Yesterday, I would say it was a day of introspection. Darth Vader lastly said to me, “May the digital force be with you in the realm of analog domain.”
We all appreciate out of the box thinking here. Your explanation makes logical sense. The rest has to be proven by our ears. Obviously, you passed the ears of the critics with flying colors. You have something very special here. It is just that the audiophile mentality is one of the hardest to crack. It takes time but the supremacy of quality shall navigate to eventual success.
To Longinus,
You are a very honest man, a very rare breed indeed.
Can you get rid of the fucking "hum"? My time is precious and there is no way I can carry on critical listening with those fucking hum. I am not as good as your other customer who can make judgment with the presence of hum.
Please connect Robert's Takumi K15 as the preamplifer before my visit next week.
Don't let the supremacy be challenged because of those stupid issues. I need the sub and the main to be free of "hum". If you can't do that, please alert my secretary to change the flight as I fly in purposely to audition the Ultimate Wadax. I want full balance operation, no single end means musicality shit theory.
The ultimate wadax phono is phenomenal. I agree with VR that a switch of Robert Takumi K15 will ensure a much quieter opeartion environment. There must be some grounding issue with Dalby D7SE, which is truly out of this world craziest tube preamplifier I have ever listened.
It is totally "hum" free now. The issue is attributed to the lack of a 2nd output at the Dalby Preamp. As a result, a split cable was made. It was further complicated by the change of RCA to XLR confusing ground connections inbetween.
The Spainsh black horse is really something extraordinary. After 2 hours of critical listening, I could understsnd why hardcore Zanden and Da Vinci users changed camp swiftly. Tonal color is genuninely rich when the instruments call for it. I tested various lengendary violin recording and the phono is able to differentiate tonal colors amongst violins. Imaging of each piano key is rock solid with varying decaying details from high pitch note to the bass notes in an extremely transparent plane. Soul of the pianists is reproduced with conviction if the recording quality is up to it.
Full balance operation is better to my ears. And to my very surprise that the prototype super European single ended tube amp could deliver solid-state like image/sound staging stability. And Robert's Takumi K15 is simply phenomenal with Dalby's exotic power cable. We tested various power cables on the Ultimate Wadax and Takumi K15, and time and time again, the Goebel statement power and Dalby Ultimate D1000, trash everything else.
My musical enjoyment has heightened quite drastically recently with Trinity DAC, K15, Wadax Mk2. They are all G2 (2nd generation) of their own breed and have significantly improved on the precision in delivering music and error handling (noise, speed, clocking, etc). Whilst technology never finds an end, I feel I am much closer to the ultimate fidelity in terms of the path of the signal transmission. Unless I have fully addressed the room acoustics, ground noise, electromagnetic interference, etc, any further upgrade on the gear would only yield marginal improvement in my particular listening space. I am still upholding this thought firmly whenever I consider more changes in my system components. Let alone I am always kept abreast by PT on the latest products launched.
This thought always shatters into dust when I visit AE showroom which I did last week during the Chinese New Year last week. PT is an integrator of the system component which can create magic and this is not done by coincidence. There were countless nights and early morning listening in the showroom before he announces certain new product for public audition. The seriousness and patience are always the parts hidden and underplayed by PT whenever we meet him in the showroom.
This was the first time I listened to Ultimate Wadax in the showroom whilst PT was in the midst of evaluating a tube power amp from Europe driving the Lizst. The power amp was said to have a 10W power compared to 8W in the Zanden 300B. The power amp aside, Ultimate Wadax was playing a dual role (also in my own setup ) as the phono and Computer Audio DAC in the showroom. We listened to the Japanese music ‘Wind’ which PT mentioned to me was also used for comparing the FM222 with Wadax. The playback really stunned me as a Wadax Mk2 user. Just like Trinity DAC, when music is played back from Ultimate Wadax, I have a feeling that ‘if there is nothing in the space, why there is dust’, there is nothing for me to evaluate because there is nothing which I find wrong and requires a marking of 90 out of 100 or anything else. I cannot find a better word to describe the naturalness and realism of the music reproduced. Eyes closed, music from Wadax whether it is from a vinyl record or a high rez file, flows naturally in its own rhythm with my left brain only driven by the melody and mellow voice of the singer. It was such a pleasure listening session which I don’t have a feeling of ‘serious evaluation’, right brain drained to mark which area the system does better and which area requires improvement. The equilibrium stroke by PT in integrating Wadax so nicely into the whole system chain is magical. The speaker disappears, the preamp disappears, cables disappear, Wadax disappear, just music stays…what a wonderful experience ot begin the Year of the Horse!!
I was very much attracted by this super European tube amp and could not agree more with Voy that it could reproduce solid state like stable image. It is probably THE tube amp that I am looking for. Its sound is more natural than Zanden I would say.
I listened to this amp twice but unfortunately there was something missing every time. The first time it was connected to Dably without subwoofer while the second time it was connected directly to Wadax as pre-amp. The super tube amp is now to K15 and all the issues are resolved. I must arrange for a third audition on it soonest.
Comments
More than a month before the arrival of Wadax Ultimate, PT already discussed with me about the technological design behind this crazy stuff especially the Zepto clock and power supply. The way they tested the noise of the phono really shocked me. Last Saturday I finally paid a visit to AE1 to audition this new weapon and to check whether it can truly reflect the technology behind and can reach my expectation. After spinning several LP’s, my jaw was on the floor and my whole body was motionless. It was fxxking natural, relax, live and dynamic. Many audiophiles claim their systems are very dynamic, but after the audition I am always disappointed and find out there is only an excess energy around 100hz to create a punch to your face feeling. They may disagree with me, but can they disagree with my audio analyzer? What I heard here is a very steady image with an extremely fast attack following by a right amount of decay disbursing into air in 360 degree. That’s how I call dynamics. I highly recommend those audiophiles to visit AE1 and it will be quite an interesting lesson.
Listening to the CAS by using its media PC is also another jaw dropping experience, it was the best digital sound I’ve ever heard and I did not expect a digital source can sound like so analog. Although I already became a hard core analog fan after PT introduced me to the Da Vinci system, I had to surrender this time and reenter into the digital world. Yes, I bit the bullet before I left AE1.
More to follow after CNY…………….
I had thought with the Qualia Indigo DAC that I was at a very high level. (Trinity DAC is not for me as my system is 100% single ended). It certainly handily outperformed the Opus Prime I had before. It was tonally dense, pleasurable to listen to and had a real sense of performers being “there” in your room. My experience with digital over the years and the constant DAC upgrading I’d been doing was that each time I would experience another veil removed between me and the music. Each time I would get closer to the real experience. And with the Qualia DAC I thought I was almost at the end of the road of DAC upgrades. How much better could digital get?
Answer: a lot! I don’t know whether the performance level of the Wadax Ultimate is solely due to the amazing Zepto clock or Javier’s proprietary DAC architecture, but the improvement was remarkable. It took a day or two to properly settle down, but when it had, it felt like the whole soundstage had opened up, left and right and back to front. There was so much more information being presented, but in a totally natural wonderful way. Not a hint of digital grain or glare. The music gives you shivers it is so realistic.
Then…what should be a relatively minor upgrade compared to the Ultimate, the JMP PCD 302. Well, to say that replacing my trusty Tripoint Orion with the JMF has taken my system to the next level is the understatement of the year. Multiple veils were ripped away, and the sound improved in a quantum leap I hadn’t experienced before. I knew power conditioning was important. Living in a 20+ storey block it is going to be difficult to get clean electricity supply, so a conditioner is vital, and the JMF is head and shoulders better then anything else I’ve come across.
Of course the JMF is just providing clean power. What it is doing is showing the true level at which the Wadax Ultimate operates. Which is insanely high. I haven’t heard the Trinity DAC so I don’t know how it compares to the Wadax Ultimate, but for me, my digital journey is over. Any upgrades will now just be software – room mapping to start with, I’m looking forward to that. Next power conditioner upgrade will be very soon though, another JMF for the field coil supplies. Looking forward to that too!
So in summary, thanks to Javier whose quest for perfection in digital has taken my system to a level I've never experienced, and thanks to JMF for the letting the Ultimate perform at the highest level!
A few weeks ago a controversial discussion took place on this thread. The theme, phono playback under the mixed signal domain (analog + digital), triggered some deep reactions that were expressed here. At the same, I see it is completely understandable that such a reaction occurs from a first thought or further on, if no deep explanation is given and no demo exposure is experienced.
From your post of the 24th of January: ‘But for phono stage, I really want to pick a fight here. Never and never be possible would any digital phono stage can even have a slight chance of waging a war against analog phono stage. This turns everything completely upside down! And I don't know who is Mr. Zanden and why he carries so much weight. I need to verify myself.’
Please allow me the opportunity to explain some of the principles and reasons why we have followed a different path for phono playback.
Phono playback is challenging from different perspectives. Tiny signals. Tiny cartridges. Tonearm-cartridge setup flawed by design. Electrical reactions between cartridge and step-up device.
These are the core hazards in phono playback. But in practice, this is not so simple. Let’s see an extended analysis of the situation:
Cartridges are small, i.e. production tolerances have an importance impact on final performance and production consistency is as concern.
Mechanical limitations and non-linearities in the cartridge. Tonearm-Cartridge Setup cannot be perfect by theory. Left to right channel asymmetry by concept. Electrical parasitics in cabling, loading mismatching effects between cartridge and phono preamp. Phono preamplifier step-up non-linearities. Parasitic effects in RIAA eq components, independent of the type of RIAA topology used in the analog phono preamplifier… dielectric effects, energy storage over time,.. The list goes on.
All the above deteriorating agents are ALREADY in your analogue vinyl reconstruction, no matter which playback equipment you use.
The classic audiophile approach in the pursue of better phono playback come by choosing different phono stages, an endless seek because the most important contaminating agents in phono playback are out of reach of any analog phono stage, like time distortion reversal.
A phono stage can, at most, limit its own step-up non-linearities and parasitic effects in RIAA eq components. This can be achieved by good engineering design practices and an endless component selection. Can be limited but not eliminated.
And at the same time it cannot do anything to overcome any of the long list of other contaminating elements present in phono playback, external to the phono preamplifier.
In our 5 years of development and experience with phono setups, we were surprised by real world measurements in existing setups. An example, as of today, from over 150 measurements done across the World in high-end phono solutions, we have not seen a setup that have better amplitude losses than -15dB at 20KHz. Or left to right deviations better than 3dB from 20Hz to 4KHz. From 20Hz-20KHz, best L-R differences are >5dB.
In the time alignment area, results are appalling. Never better than 40uS at 20KHz. Very poor. We also measured an important dependency with playback amplitude. Etc.
All together, vinyl playback chain can be modelled as a black box with the behavior of a high-order complex modulator.
The content stored in the groove of the record is altered by this ‘black box’. By the time the phono preamplifier receives this signal, it is already contaminated and DIFFERENT from the original content on the record. The phono preamplifier can do an ideal job to amplify and apply RIAA eq, but it will never be able to revert the losses in the path from the groove to the phono preamplifier. The process to revert these losses is not possible in the analog domain.
This is where we blend our best analog circuitry with our digital tools (our musIC custom chip).
First, as a phono preamplifier, we apply linear analog signal amplification.
We have done a full characterization of our linear phono preamplifier and therefore we can provide for adequate processing (in the digital domain) to ensure transparent high-gain amplification. RIAA EQ is then processed in the digital domain by our musIC chip, instead of by capacitors and resistor networks that exhibit non-linear behavior due to parasitics and other collateral effects.
All processing is done in 128 bit precision and in a singular data path topology that keeps quantizing noise (‘math’ noise) away from the output.
The result is a phono step-up and RIAA EQ that is time aligned and way beyond what would be possible in a pure analog signal chain.
The next step in performance is to reverse contamination by the ‘black box’ mentioned above. For this, we model the whole signal path inside this ‘black box’ by means of a calibration flow. This calibration process uses our reference vinyl disc and we compare the actual reading with the ideal one cut in our reference disc (see picture attached).
Based on this reading, we generate what we call a ‘map’. This map is a 3D mesh of high density data that has behavioural info of the phono playback chain.
The musIC chip is then configured to purify the signal deterioration that occurs in the vinyl playback chain. And this is what you get; a big step closer to the truth. We call our truth what is stored in the grooves of the LP’s. What happens before the disc is cut is another story, that we have also been exploring, by the way.. but that is another story.
Then, I would be pleased to know if what we are trying to achieve –new quality levels in phono playback-, matched your experience. I am sure Mr. Leung will be pleased to guide you to an empirical exposure to our phono approach in our latest blend, the Ultimate with the Zepto clock.
I brought my recordings for the tests because all of them are virgin pressing which must be better than Mr. Leung’s own collection. Given the Waterloo experiences of the dCS Vivaldi against Trinity DAC, I was cautious. I requested Mr. Leung to power on the FM222 for at least an hour before critical listening began. During the elapsed 1 hour, we had a coffee break at Starbucks nearby together with Darth Vader, and another friend of mine. Frankly speaking, we feel more comfortable to talk with Mr. Leung in person than speaking at the forum domineered with implicit “hostility” to newcomers. I just want to repeat once more to other fellows here that we are newcomers from another school of thought. It takes time for us to learn what’s out there. And we are not arrogant nuts that do not accept constructive criticisms. We are as educated as other eloquent writers here.
The FM222 mark 3 costs almost HK$300,000 and is considered as the holly grail in phono amplification everywhere in Asia. Mr. Leung rebutted me that it is never a success in Europe and US for fundamental reasons. He even went as far as claiming it is over-rated while recognizing its merits in some areas. Anyway, we moved on to the recordings that I brought over including the following; Kogan Beethoven Violin Concerto, John Coltrane Night train, Muddy Water Folk songs, Led Zeppelin Stairways to Heaven, Jano Starkers Bach Solo etc. I also requested power cables on Robert K15 and Zanden to be Goebel Lacorde Statement. This time, of course, the FM222 mark 3 has to be connected to the Troy signature. I learnt a big lesson last round!
Just like last time, I really like the Cessaro speakers. It takes some time to adjust to the new “direct” presentation. It was still a new experience to me despite the short acquaintances’ of the Brahms’ at Leung’s private residence. This breed is much faster and resolute than my Wilson XLF. On the John Coltrane recording, the bass response is excellent. The Zanden 300B amp began to draw my attention. The room was filled with energy. The attack could be stronger and faster. I suspected the Zanden 300B probably was working to the limit. But the end result was still excellent. I believe that Robert K15 line stage must be doing a tremendous job of control given the scarcity of power downstream. After-all, music is lively. Colors are vibrant, soundstage is continuous and imaging is solid. Music is lively.
At that juncture, Darth Vader broken the silence and made a joke that the FM222 mark 3 sounded much better at AE than my home. Frankly, I agree other than the last juice of power seems to be somewhat reserved. I could not complain given the amp is only 7 watt and the resolution is already enormous. Dynamics and transients are as good as it can be. I played all my recordings with utmost satisfaction. Another 1 hour elapsed. At that point, I wasn’t concerned about battle anymore because I began to understand the philosophy of AE more. And Mr. Leung is certainly much more experienced and well versed than any other audio salesman that I know from other showrooms in Hong Kong. At the end, Darth Vader requested Mr. Leung to play the KAZE live recording. Under the FM222, I think the live atmosphere together with the abundance of ambience of that recording was reproduced with pride. Vocals are so natural. I must buy this recording but Mr. Leung said it is very difficult to find now.
My curiosity escalated exponentially when the Wadax ultimate was reconnected as the source going into the Robert K15 line-stage with the same set of cables. We listened firstly to Beethoven violin concerto by Kogan because even analog phono stage could not deliver great violin sound all the time and this must be the greatest challenge to digital phono. The needle was dropped on my beloved recordings. For a minute of two, Darth Vader stared at me with a strange face. I was calm. I said to myself at the beginning, “It is really not bad.” As the music developed, I could comprehend the pristine purity of Kogan’s tone. I could feel and “see” the control of his bow much more so than the previous FM session. The upper body of Kogan was occasionally felt later on, and that was quite scary because I had never encountered such reproduction level. The mid range of FM222 in comparison is overdosed to beautify which is not bad. It could be a taste preference here. On the reproduction of the Night Train, the pace of music dictated by the Wadax Ultimate was perceived to be more rhythmic. Low level bass resolution is tremendous. On the recording of the KAZE, the Wadax Ultimate completely championed over the FM222 particularly in the Z-axis of the soundstage. The front to back arrangement is well layered. And the supporting vocals together with the lead vocals were performing in harmony filled with great ambience. I wonder what if the Zanden 300B are replaced with another one that has more power. I know there is a super amplifier by Zanden called Chouku, which Mr. Leung said it will be landed in March.
Mr. Leung told me one AE fellow was not too impressed by the KAZE recording and complained that the ambience resolution was not enough. I wonder whether this is the Mr. Zanden. To my ears, it was just plain damn real. Now I understand the beauty is in the truth. But getting the truth out perhaps requires a lot of works other than piling up expensive and famous electronics.
Technology really changes everything, I said to myself. I recalled naming the day of awakening after the dCS was smashed into pieces by Trinity. Yesterday, I would say it was a day of introspection. Darth Vader lastly said to me, “May the digital force be with you in the realm of analog domain.”
We all appreciate out of the box thinking here. Your explanation makes logical sense. The rest has to be proven by our ears. Obviously, you passed the ears of the critics with flying colors. You have something very special here. It is just that the audiophile mentality is one of the hardest to crack. It takes time but the supremacy of quality shall navigate to eventual success.
To Longinus,
You are a very honest man, a very rare breed indeed.
Can you get rid of the fucking "hum"? My time is precious and there is no way I can carry on critical listening with those fucking hum. I am not as good as your other customer who can make judgment with the presence of hum.
Please connect Robert's Takumi K15 as the preamplifer before my visit next week.
Excuse my language.
Don't let the supremacy be challenged because of those stupid issues. I need the sub and the main to be free of "hum". If you can't do that, please alert my secretary to change the flight as I fly in purposely to audition the Ultimate Wadax. I want full balance operation, no single end means musicality shit theory.
It is totally "hum" free now. The issue is attributed to the lack of a 2nd output at the Dalby Preamp. As a result, a split cable was made. It was further complicated by the change of RCA to XLR confusing ground connections inbetween.
Full balance operation is better to my ears. And to my very surprise that the prototype super European single ended tube amp could deliver solid-state like image/sound staging stability. And Robert's Takumi K15 is simply phenomenal with Dalby's exotic power cable. We tested various power cables on the Ultimate Wadax and Takumi K15, and time and time again, the Goebel statement power and Dalby Ultimate D1000, trash everything else.
This thought always shatters into dust when I visit AE showroom which I did last week during the Chinese New Year last week. PT is an integrator of the system component which can create magic and this is not done by coincidence. There were countless nights and early morning listening in the showroom before he announces certain new product for public audition. The seriousness and patience are always the parts hidden and underplayed by PT whenever we meet him in the showroom.
This was the first time I listened to Ultimate Wadax in the showroom whilst PT was in the midst of evaluating a tube power amp from Europe driving the Lizst. The power amp was said to have a 10W power compared to 8W in the Zanden 300B. The power amp aside, Ultimate Wadax was playing a dual role (also in my own setup ) as the phono and Computer Audio DAC in the showroom. We listened to the Japanese music ‘Wind’ which PT mentioned to me was also used for comparing the FM222 with Wadax. The playback really stunned me as a Wadax Mk2 user. Just like Trinity DAC, when music is played back from Ultimate Wadax, I have a feeling that ‘if there is nothing in the space, why there is dust’, there is nothing for me to evaluate because there is nothing which I find wrong and requires a marking of 90 out of 100 or anything else. I cannot find a better word to describe the naturalness and realism of the music reproduced. Eyes closed, music from Wadax whether it is from a vinyl record or a high rez file, flows naturally in its own rhythm with my left brain only driven by the melody and mellow voice of the singer. It was such a pleasure listening session which I don’t have a feeling of ‘serious evaluation’, right brain drained to mark which area the system does better and which area requires improvement. The equilibrium stroke by PT in integrating Wadax so nicely into the whole system chain is magical. The speaker disappears, the preamp disappears, cables disappear, Wadax disappear, just music stays…what a wonderful experience ot begin the Year of the Horse!!
I listened to this amp twice but unfortunately there was something missing every time. The first time it was connected to Dably without subwoofer while the second time it was connected directly to Wadax as pre-amp. The super tube amp is now to K15 and all the issues are resolved. I must arrange for a third audition on it soonest.