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The 2nd AE Super HI End Audio Show on July 12, 2014

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  • I attended the 1st session. It was so impressive that I came back for the 2nd session in the middle. I did spot the presence of 黎耀祥。The show made me realised my Wilson Alexandria is nothing really special. They sound too slow and somewhat disintegrated with bass protruding to make an impact calling too much attention.

    The Cessaro Carmen indeed exceeds the Lizst by a wide margin. I was so mesmerised by the abundance of bass energy which the Lizst lacks.

    I will join the Cessaro camp very soon. Don't want to listen mine anymore after the show.

    Great Job! By the way, my hardcore FM acoustics team had no complaints on the show which was very rare.
  • I appreciate most is the speed delivered by the system, especially for the bass. I can't imagine that bass can come out with such a high speed, details, charity and impact. I listened to Chuoku one week before with Lizst in AE showroom. Now, with Carmen, the "weakest" link in the system is resolved. I like most the piece of music by two guitars of Rodrigo and Gabriela. The sound is stunning. One thing distinguishes AE show from others is that the whole team of designers show up. I am happy to meet Robert Koda in person as I am a big fan of him by using a whole suite of Robert Koda at home. Everybody should agree that K15 is a masterpiece pre-amp with its outstanding control with details on the whole system. I praised Robert once again in the dinner that he did a great job for evolving K10 to K15. AE has a already set a high standard of public show this year. But the question is what's next? I quickly discussed this with Ralph and he provided me some hints already. I look forward to the 3rd AE show next year.
  • Same attitude, different mood.

    PT was very tensed throughout last year's show. Since then, I find it difficult to catch up with the quantum leap of AE. It makes sense as I witnessed the synergy of the whole team on the spot.

    I might be the last to audition a full suite of Trinity. I intended to save it for the biggest occasion knowing the orchestration with other exotic newbies. The "marvellous" Craz Rack 3, the sexy purple hole, the gigantic Emperor power and ground, as well as the angelic ground cable all caught my eyes.

    What I heard was dedication and homage to the recordings. The degree of silence while playing the PPM lp was shivering. I guess the late Mary of PPM would have her thumbs up if she were with us.

    I have always liked the heartfelt speeches by JLam and PT. They are uniquely genuine and have firm beliefs in what they pursue. Well said JLam, one needs life-long planning to live life with purpose and satisfaction. And AE do it in style.

    For connoisseurs who do not follow the crowd, they truly mean it.

    Salute to the AE Team!
  • I had an enjoyable and memorable experience on the 2nd AE show. My journey began on an early flight to Hongkong, eagerly planning on the set of questions intended for the designers, hoping to get answers out from my curiosity.
    I arrived at the Hongkong Airport at about 12:30 noon, rushed to catch the express bus to Wanchai. Arrived at the Convention Center at exactly 2:15 pm. I missed the introduction of the designers, but was lucky enough to a have a seat at the far back end of the room on a jam packed full house show.
    I was impressed with the show, there was synergy among the equipments, and it was very close to a live performance. The Cessaro Carmen got my attention, it totally changed my perception on horn speakers, the midrange was perfect and had the right amount of bass energy on a large room. My jaw dropped upon seeing the Tripoint Emperor Ground and AC device, I think that they were responsible for the ultra low noise floor. I also think that the Takumi K15 and the Zanden Chouku are perfect match, it really made the Cessaro Carmen sing. Digital front end and DAC by Trinity gave a superb performance.
    Even though I don’t understand a word what the hosts were saying, the most important thing is to witness the AE Experience, a totally different kind of show where you meet the different designers, interacting with them and sharing the passion, which is music.
    I only had one thing to regret, I sat down and beside me was Robert on my right, Deitmar on my left, and Ralph in front. I was so concentrated on listening and I totally forgot to ask my questions.
    After the 1st session ended, I hurried back to the airport to catch my 7:30 pm flight back home. A job well done to the AE team, congratulations!
  • Custer,

    Are you from Taiwan?
  • Marvel,

    I'm from the Philippines.
  • Custer,

    Because my son is quite familiar with airlines, so he is guessing you are from Taiwan....

    Are you using any of the products in the show?

    Marvel
  • 我是代我父的友人貼上以下文章:

    I wish reviewers from the west would have come for the 2nd AE super show. The crew successfully set the international benchmark for public demonstration. I should say this is an “attitude” that simply does not exist elsewhere in the world. I have read so many positive reviews about the Vox Olympian speakers driven by a suite of Kondo flagship electronics in Munich 13/14. To be fair, I attended the Munich Show this year and had been to the room orchestrated by Kevin Scott of living voice. I spent 45 minutes there. The selected music for demonstrations was all well calculated. Tonality is beautiful and audiences were easily engaged by the music. To my picky ears, the system however lacks speed and transient resolution.

    To be fair, the Cessaro performance in Munich 2014 driven by Tron’s cheaper line of electronics really sucked. There was no refinement. Resolution was vague. Details were rough. The speed might be there but sorry the roughness really hurt my brain. I had to leave after 15mins. I came back for the 2nd day, slightly better but the inferior quality of the electronics continued to prevail.

    The AE guys are tremendously famous in the internet. Audiophiles from the west probably see them as a bunch of rich Chinese audiophiles who want to show off their expensive audio trophies. I felt the same beforehand until I attended the 2nd AE show. I was in “awe”. What I experienced last Sat in Hong Kong was simply “Live music” with a vanishingly low noise floor that allows the inner detail of music to bloom with genuine color. Those damn expensive ground filter boxes by Tripoint must be doing some serious works from behind. And one of the AE crews told me those SRA boards contributed no less than the ground/AC filters. Whoever you are, I can’t verify your claim. I can only comment from a total experience point of view.

    Dynamics are almost no different from live concerts. And I do mean it because I come from the music industry. The replay of Peter, Paul and Mary was astonishing because it was so freaking real as though the audiences were teleported in time to the venue where the concert was took place. The Spanish guitars duo was another show stoppers. That exhibition hall was at least over 120 square meters. Energy fills the entire room. Refinement and resolution of details are all there without highlighting themselves. I suspect some seats might probably have more bass volume than others. But that is natural. The only criticisms I can imagine would have come from those “imaging freaks” associated with conventional speakers. Those who sat in the first few rows may find imaging bigger than those at the back row. Try listen to Jacky Cheung live in the first few rows in the HK Coliseum, imaging is much bigger with excessive bass. I can see the Chinese audiences were truly engaged by the whole event. And the standard is much higher than western counterparts. I truly mean it is a few planets away than what I experienced in CES and Munich.

    If guys like Srajan, Edward Baker or whoever thought the Vox Olympian driven by Kondo was spectacular in Munich, my honest words to them – “Sorry pals, you have never had any experiences of ultra fidelity yet.” What they thought so great attained by the best in Munich is mid-end at best. And Ralph Krebs of Cessaro probably never knows what his speakers are really capable of if he keeps using Tron years after years for the Munich Show. The electronics by that skinny Robert guy and the white hair Yamada are way better than what was chosen for the Cessaro/TW acoustics room in Munich.

    AE truly put forth a system that plays music as a wholesome experience. In comparison, the guys over Munich/CES shared a room purely to economize costs as the priority. Sound quality comes second without considering synergies. How do you explain Cessaro allowed cheap Tron electronics (mostly front end) to partner with the Lizst retail well over EUR120,000. To compare, the British chap is smarter. That was why he succeeded in winning compliments from audio journalists because he voices the big Vox with Kondo electronics. And that alone made him stand out as he had complete control on mating. And this room is indeed well ahead than those big German brands like Burmester and Avantgarde that sounds metallic and plastic respectively year after year. The standard of the Hi Fidelity industry is getting worst and worst with ever increasing price tag.

    The whole execution of this show is one of a kind. It is unique and it is much higher class than anything out there. The boss seems like a man who excels in public speech. That probably deepened the color of the event. But I don’t care who runs the boat from behind. It is the content that matters. I am not an AE customer and will unlikely be one anytime soon. But I have to say that the AE crew had achieved something genuinely splendid. I admire the spirit of challenging the ‘status quo”. I encourage journalists from the west to attend the 3rd AE show next year. There is so much more to learn and write from just one single company than the sum of many companies who simply wandered in the audio forest with inadequate planning. Audio designers who think you have done a great job in designing electronics should look for a manager who can put together a system that allows your designs to shine through. If not, it does more harm than good very much too often.


    Audio Aristotle
  • I loved the show and I completely agreed the post from all AE fellows.

    The show did not only provide fully enjoyable 2 hours music but also a sort of ear opening experience to me.

    The bass reproduced in weight and authority with lightning speed and abundant layering.
    It was the best bass reproduction in public show I’ve ever heard.

    The pop music band Beyond ‘Lover’ song completely changed my prejudice on the pop music recording . I don’t believe that the subtle emotion details could emerge from such big purple hole.


    The LP replay is definitely a kind of amazing experience. When the Kogan Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto LP started to play, I was teleported to the Concert Hall .
    The ambience, the isolation between instrument and interlink among musicians, the depth of the stage , the palpable singing tone for the kogan’s violin were all remarkable.

    I did treasure the precious moment to have idea interchange among the designers and the audience.

    I had very long chat with Dietmar. We talked about the Trinity PC configuration, Android RDP, Linux restriction, the Preamp improvement, the power amplifier’s frustration and glory. His plentiful knowledge on his masterpiece and the big sense of humour still imprint in my memory.

    Thanks AE brought us the wonderful Super High End show 2014. Bravo !
  • Marvel,
    Yes, I have only one product that was used in the show, the Dalby Vinyl Weight. Hopefully if budget permits, my next acquisition will be the Tripoint Troy Signature.
  • I cannot agree more from all previous post written here.
    This show is marvelous and set a very high benchmark for hifi show.
    One can finally listen to the systems in a show.
    Since I already listened to system just a few days before the show, I were not surprise that they can reproduce live performance music. But can easily tell even I were not at the best spot that the new Carman and the super emperor tripoint power really push the limit to the edge.
    I couldn’t stop smiling when I heard the master file of Beyond song. This is what we are longing for in hifi world. A true lossless recording and a true lossless reproduction of the sound. Really touching. This is what music is all about. Forget about all gears they are using there. They are all transparent at that moment. Just you and the performers.
    Another things that I really appreciate about AE is to bring all the designers together with the audience. To let the audience understand the designers in person. I believe how a designer personality will reflect on how the system sound. Like DB, when you talk to him, you can tell in a second that he is a perfectionist in zero distortion and measurement. All his products are so accuracy, precise and direct. Robert and Yamamoto, they are very humble ,perfectionist and artists, all reflect in their master piece. AE concept is very right. If you buy a expensive piece that will move and touch you every day, he better know the designer as well. I think this message is strongly carried out in this show.
    Thanks for all the efforts you bring to us. What a wonderful show!
  • As a lot of brothers have shared their impressions about this show, I’ll just keep it short and straight to the point.
    First of all, many thanks to PT for inviting me to such great event, it was easily the best sound I’ve heard under show conditions.

    When the first note struck out, the first thing in my mind was the sound was quite similar to what I have experienced at AE showroom, which means AE has developed sort of a house sound. A house sound of a dealer? Sounds a bit weird but that’s so true. So what does the “house sound” sound like? It is highly resolving, extremely fast, ultra transparent, while very musical; musical in terms of very soft and silky smooth tone without any harshness and aggressiveness… which is very much to my liking.

    Carmen, as a pair of brand new speakers performed very well in such a big room in front of 100+ audiences, it showed no stress and the sound was relaxed and authoritative. In terms of music, the most impressive piece was “take five” from “live in Japan”, which I bought one immediately after the show. The recording is just stunning, explosive and lifelike, and the reproduction by Carmen is just superb, I was really impressed by the bass, although a bit of stiff and blur due to not fully broken in, showed great potential of what the Carmen is capable of after fully run-in. And the presence of all the designers/owners of the brands that AE carries really demonstrated how serious AE is about this show…

    I don’t know what happened last year but PT I can tell you this, this is a damn good one!!
  • Ralph in town setting up my alpha 2
  • Marvel

    Where is Zanden Chouku?

    Jeff
  • Jeff, still in my salary receivable account....
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