To be part of the 6th AE Super Hi End Audio Gala, was as great as always. The re-union of the Super Hi End team, both from AE, the manufacturers and Audio Technique Magazine, is such great fun.
I feel proud of the common achievement we made, and from the reactions and excitement all friends of AE showed, the efforts were all worth it.
I’m especially glad for the warm welcome to our latest product ARNE, that some of you got the chance to audition when I made a short demo during the Sunday session.
Always looking forward to my next trip to Hong Kong.
This is such a great show. I thought last year was already excellent, but this year is better and truly world-class. There are so many surprises in the show -- the planar speakers sounding like a compelling full range speaker, the smaller Divin speakers sounding as good as the big ones, and the digital Wadax deck sometimes confusing audience that we are playing analog. The list can go on. We live in a world full of disruptions (e.g. e-commerce, social media, artificial intelligence). AE is playing the role of the disruptor in hifi and redefining the frontiers of high-end every year.
The star of the show was in my view Zanden. The tone of the music reproduced from the Zanden sounds so right, so warm, and so glorious. I already have the preamp and made the "mistake" of asking Chris to try the 仁風 phono. This is without doubt the best phono I have heard -- I ended up buying it.
Still trying to fathom the
barrage of information from the "Seminar", I start off with the word
seminar. Now this was a little convention of audiophilia where four very
different settings were presented:
1. Gobel
Noblesse/Zanden Kaun/ Wadax and Vertere/ Topwing Red Sparrow
2. Cessaro
(Brahms/Firebird)/Engstrom Monica, Eric and Arne, Hartvig Statement/ Wadax
3. Alysvelox Botticelli/
trinity golden reference / Da Vinci Gabriel
4. Full suite of JMF
Audio
Room 1 started off with a
slight disadvantage because returning connoisseurs would be very used to seeing
overstated speakers in this room (Divin Majestic, Cessaro Carmen, Cessaro
Universe etc.) Another slight disadvantage would be for those who have been
to the Divin Laboratory as well, as expectations and comparison would
come naturally. But putting preconceived opinions to a side, this room is
more mortal and down to earth. The speakers would just about meet the value
proposition of price vs size vs living space vs wife. When listening to
the pieces of music on friday,
when the room was not filled with seats and people, it was surprising that the
"baby Divin" was able to voiced out bars and bars of melody that
filled that huge room. The traits
of the Divin Majestic could be felt in the Noblesse. It delivers that balance of umph and sparkle when
needed. This is obviously music
and distortion (chairs, people x100 on the Saturday) dependant. The accuracy transcribed by Koichi-San’s
Red Sparrow cartridge set at RIAA reverse on the Zanden Phonostage to the music
of Yamamoto Tsuyoshi Trio – Midnight Sugar (USA reissue) was phenomenal. The Kaun redeemed itself from last
years problems. It worked
effortlessly in the environment given and showcased it unmistakable double push
pull Zaden signature. Well done
Yamada San…. This is another
mini Divin Lab in the making…
My adventure in Room 2
started on Friday when I was told by Chris that tension was running high
because the long awaited Firebird was still “flying”. Arrival and custom clearance meant that it would only arrive
at 0700 on the day of the event.
SO the Cessaro Brahms was hauled in to hold up the fort. And IT just did that! With the Wadax transport and Hartvig
Statement/thales statement/Blue Dragon leading the way, the Engstrom
Monica/Eric combination married it matrimoniously with the Cessaro Brahms. I cannot remember of such effect back
in 2016 when the Eric was paired up with Carmen. Track after track, digital or analogue, the non-fatiguing
flow of music kept on coming.
The Ferrari red, Cessaro
firebird stood tall and majestic on Saturday morning with an extra shine from
Ralphs smile of relief. With no
time to waste, it was made to work hard for the next two days straight out of
the box. Is it a horn or a
conventional speaker? The horn is
not big. There are two front
loaded drivers and 6 subwoofers driven by 6, 500watt amplifiers. Now this beast has a completely
different character to its brother of the previous day. It has characteristics of both a horn
and conventional box speaker. The
Firebird has a control panel in the rear with a myriad of connections. Apparently this will be able to be
controlled in the future via apps on your smart phone. I like the firebird for its control and
pinpoint accuracy and imaging. The
subs go really low. The air from
the horns is unbecoming of the small spout.
300B or not 300B?
When is a 300b tube not a
300b tube? This is the situation
when you line up 4, 300b tubes in a Engstrom entry level integrated amplifier
called Arne (Ar ne). I was especially
interested to know the capability of this integrated amplifier as it was paired
up with the colossal goliath, Living Voice in Munich.
Arne is a common first name
for Scandinavian males. Now this
Arne is far from being common, originates from the old norse word for eagle also
means the central stone in Norwegian Homes. Powerful in its name and powerful in its delivery. Lars has done magic again with the
Arne. He has been able to extract
bass from the crypts of the 300b tubes where no man has gone before. Absolutely
amazing! Reminds me of the Lars2….
Due to the Firebird
configuration requiring control to the subwoofers, the Arne was used as a stand
alone amplifier without running the subwoofers and once as a power amplifier
via the Monica. I must say that
it’s a true winner in delivery and aesthetics. The looks is unmistakably Timo Engstrom and its sound
is unmistakably Lars.. Kudos
gentlemen!
Room 3 came as a surprise to me seeing a super accurate full range panel speaker being represented. Interestingly enough it was paired with the preciseness of the Trinity Golden Reference suite. My love for panels go back a long way. Its holographic accuracy, eeriness and presences in unbecoming. The Alysvox Botecelli / Trinity Golden Reference just brought this up by notches. The material used and the 1-2 cm displacement in the panels is far greater than the 1-2mm in yester years. The unrestricted flow of music produced by this combo was phenomenal. I will be very interested to hear more…
Room 4 was without a doubt the JMF room; from powercords all the way to the speakers. This was actually the first room I visited on Friday. Laurant explained the history and philosophy that started the company back in 1985 by his father and how the passion evolved over the years. Providing products for the industry made it very special and probably explains why I am unable to explain my emotions for this room. The most eyecatching piece was the speakers. With the large drivers facing forward and the GIP like ala Goto horn, one would wonder how difficult it would be to synergistically marry these two synchronously. But wow, didn't it just do it right?!!! Absolutely superb.
Last but not least are 4 words that could not have made the show possible: Skogrand, Dalby, Tripoint and Argento. They lay on the floor, plugged in and out and when selected carefully brings out the very best in everyone. Kudos to Knut, Lee, Miguel and Ulrik.
Chris and the AE Family, thank you for another mind boggling event for the senses. The amount of information attained was extraordinary. I wonder what else you have up your sleeve.....
I really wonder what you could do next year but I think that will be another year of surprise! Your show gets more amazing every year. The characters of each room are so different and they are all interesting in different ways. The planar speakers really shocked me on the smoothness and seamless coherence in all frequencies. The violin playback was too beautiful and elegant, very intoxicating. The bass was presented in a very elegant way too, with waves of energy sweeping through the floor. It is surprising that the bass energy of these speakers is quite rich, even in such a big room. Can't imagine how it would perform in a normal living room. Divin performs very well as expected, with the same picture rendering ability of Divin Majestic, really having turned the place into another Divin Lab. However, personally, I like Firebird most as it shocked me with the speed, energy and liveliness in sound. The bass was so vivid and it made all music becomes cheerful and effortless. I wish I could have more time listening to all these systems.
Comments
Dear friends of AE.
To be part of the 6th AE Super Hi End Audio Gala, was as great as always. The re-union of the Super Hi End team, both from AE, the manufacturers and Audio Technique Magazine, is such great fun.
I feel proud of the common achievement we made, and from the reactions and excitement all friends of AE showed, the efforts were all worth it.
I’m especially glad for the warm welcome to our latest product ARNE, that some of you got the chance to audition when I made a short demo during the Sunday session.
Always looking forward to my next trip to Hong Kong.
// Timo
The star of the show was in my view Zanden. The tone of the music reproduced from the Zanden sounds so right, so warm, and so glorious. I already have the preamp and made the "mistake" of asking Chris to try the 仁風 phono. This is without doubt the best phono I have heard -- I ended up buying it.
707708 6th AE Super Hi-End Audio Seminar
Still trying to fathom the barrage of information from the "Seminar", I start off with the word seminar. Now this was a little convention of audiophilia where four very different settings were presented:
1. Gobel Noblesse/Zanden Kaun/ Wadax and Vertere/ Topwing Red Sparrow
2. Cessaro (Brahms/Firebird)/Engstrom Monica, Eric and Arne, Hartvig Statement/ Wadax
3. Alysvelox Botticelli/ trinity golden reference / Da Vinci Gabriel
4. Full suite of JMF Audio
Room 1 started off with a slight disadvantage because returning connoisseurs would be very used to seeing overstated speakers in this room (Divin Majestic, Cessaro Carmen, Cessaro Universe etc.) Another slight disadvantage would be for those who have been to the Divin Laboratory as well, as expectations and comparison would come naturally. But putting preconceived opinions to a side, this room is more mortal and down to earth. The speakers would just about meet the value proposition of price vs size vs living space vs wife. When listening to the pieces of music on friday, when the room was not filled with seats and people, it was surprising that the "baby Divin" was able to voiced out bars and bars of melody that filled that huge room. The traits of the Divin Majestic could be felt in the Noblesse. It delivers that balance of umph and sparkle when needed. This is obviously music and distortion (chairs, people x100 on the Saturday) dependant. The accuracy transcribed by Koichi-San’s Red Sparrow cartridge set at RIAA reverse on the Zanden Phonostage to the music of Yamamoto Tsuyoshi Trio – Midnight Sugar (USA reissue) was phenomenal. The Kaun redeemed itself from last years problems. It worked effortlessly in the environment given and showcased it unmistakable double push pull Zaden signature. Well done Yamada San…. This is another mini Divin Lab in the making…
My adventure in Room 2 started on Friday when I was told by Chris that tension was running high because the long awaited Firebird was still “flying”. Arrival and custom clearance meant that it would only arrive at 0700 on the day of the event. SO the Cessaro Brahms was hauled in to hold up the fort. And IT just did that! With the Wadax transport and Hartvig Statement/thales statement/Blue Dragon leading the way, the Engstrom Monica/Eric combination married it matrimoniously with the Cessaro Brahms. I cannot remember of such effect back in 2016 when the Eric was paired up with Carmen. Track after track, digital or analogue, the non-fatiguing flow of music kept on coming.
The Ferrari red, Cessaro firebird stood tall and majestic on Saturday morning with an extra shine from Ralphs smile of relief. With no time to waste, it was made to work hard for the next two days straight out of the box. Is it a horn or a conventional speaker? The horn is not big. There are two front loaded drivers and 6 subwoofers driven by 6, 500watt amplifiers. Now this beast has a completely different character to its brother of the previous day. It has characteristics of both a horn and conventional box speaker. The Firebird has a control panel in the rear with a myriad of connections. Apparently this will be able to be controlled in the future via apps on your smart phone. I like the firebird for its control and pinpoint accuracy and imaging. The subs go really low. The air from the horns is unbecoming of the small spout.
300B or not 300B?
When is a 300b tube not a 300b tube? This is the situation when you line up 4, 300b tubes in a Engstrom entry level integrated amplifier called Arne (Ar ne). I was especially interested to know the capability of this integrated amplifier as it was paired up with the colossal goliath, Living Voice in Munich.
Arne is a common first name for Scandinavian males. Now this Arne is far from being common, originates from the old norse word for eagle also means the central stone in Norwegian Homes. Powerful in its name and powerful in its delivery. Lars has done magic again with the Arne. He has been able to extract bass from the crypts of the 300b tubes where no man has gone before. Absolutely amazing! Reminds me of the Lars2….
Due to the Firebird configuration requiring control to the subwoofers, the Arne was used as a stand alone amplifier without running the subwoofers and once as a power amplifier via the Monica. I must say that it’s a true winner in delivery and aesthetics. The looks is unmistakably Timo Engstrom and its sound is unmistakably Lars.. Kudos gentlemen!
Sorry too long like usual.
More to come.
Khairul
707708 6th AE Super Hi-End Audio Seminar
Continuation....
Room 3 came as a surprise to me seeing a super accurate full range panel speaker being represented. Interestingly enough it was paired with the preciseness of the Trinity Golden Reference suite. My love for panels go back a long way. Its holographic accuracy, eeriness and presences in unbecoming. The Alysvox Botecelli / Trinity Golden Reference just brought this up by notches. The material used and the 1-2 cm displacement in the panels is far greater than the 1-2mm in yester years. The unrestricted flow of music produced by this combo was phenomenal. I will be very interested to hear more…
Room 4 was without a doubt the JMF room; from powercords all the way to the speakers. This was actually the first room I visited on Friday. Laurant explained the history and philosophy that started the company back in 1985 by his father and how the passion evolved over the years. Providing products for the industry made it very special and probably explains why I am unable to explain my emotions for this room. The most eyecatching piece was the speakers. With the large drivers facing forward and the GIP like ala Goto horn, one would wonder how difficult it would be to synergistically marry these two synchronously. But wow, didn't it just do it right?!!! Absolutely superb.
Last but not least are 4 words that could not have made the show possible: Skogrand, Dalby, Tripoint and Argento. They lay on the floor, plugged in and out and when selected carefully brings out the very best in everyone. Kudos to Knut, Lee, Miguel and Ulrik.
Chris and the AE Family, thank you for another mind boggling event for the senses. The amount of information attained was extraordinary. I wonder what else you have up your sleeve.....
Khairul
我相信在未來日子𥚃，這盛事不單是香港的發燒友的每年朝聖必到的展覽，同時也吸引了越來越多亞洲其他地區發燒友的注視，祝願AE show 規模一年比一年壯大
我其實替Chris 頭痛，因為每年都要突破去年的表現，實在是非常困難，皆因平台已經被推得很高很高，所以真期待下一屆Chris又會有什麼新產品開發，這已經變成Ae fans 每年的期盼
說回今年，我最欣賞是JMF 這個展房，由頭到尾都是自己聲音個性，十分自然，非常耐聽，在AE 中也是相對比較價格相宜，但絕對不是便宜，可是質素卻非常高。
當然其他三間房都有各自特色，視乎用家品味，正所謂百貨百客。
最後，希望Chris 8月會展show 再創另一高峰
The planar speakers really shocked me on the smoothness and seamless coherence in all frequencies. The violin playback was too beautiful and elegant, very intoxicating. The bass was presented in a very elegant way too, with waves of energy sweeping through the floor. It is surprising that the bass energy of these speakers is quite rich, even in such a big room. Can't imagine how it would perform in a normal living room.
Divin performs very well as expected, with the same picture rendering ability of Divin Majestic, really having turned the place into another Divin Lab.
However, personally, I like Firebird most as it shocked me with the speed, energy and liveliness in sound. The bass was so vivid and it made all music becomes cheerful and effortless.
I wish I could have more time listening to all these systems.