Marvel bro! Where have you been? We disappeared for a long while as though there is nothing to discuss. Perhaps we all run out of words? This Italian School is the extreme opposite of trinity. PT’s home System was a complete trinity system driving Cessaro plus a big subwoofer, right? Riviera Labs with Gobel speakers are the opposite end in the speaker space too. High sensitivity versus low sensitivity, how was your musical comprehension between these two?
I like the Cessaro Firebird very much. I auditioned it with Engström electronics. I like the sparkle of speed and the continuity of the mid range and the big damn active bass system.
I was told social media is the platform to go and many have ‘migrated’ to read facebook. What I see lacking, particularly in this group, is the interaction that we have in the forum but not in the Facebook. I like your spontaneously response which energise me to continue to hang around in this space.
PT home system has completely Riviera-ised triggering my new year visit with my family. The presence of George Lam via Goebel Epogue speaker and Riviera suite had my whole family blown away. Whether it is zero distortion or neutralisation of distortion due to signal feedback, to me, every system, room included, has inevitably disrupted by distortion and noises. Effort to mitigate and eliminate such distortions could be very diversified. As PT said, all roads lead to Rome, the ultimate verdict is the realism that one’s mind perceives. This is always an integrated function of subjectivity and objectivity.
By the way, my new Firebird is under construction to pair with Lars Eric. I will use it as the speaker to pair with Synaestec electronics in the August hi-fi show.
The demo on Sat is really impressive and I think it is a breakthrough for AE Sheung Wan showroom, as I found it is not just a demo of ultimate hifi effects. It is a demo with the highest musicality I could ever hear in AE Sheung Wan.
This Italian combo can really make you forget about all the hifi terms and fully enjoy the music it plays. Such musicality is very close to live music, not the type of musicality by "beautifying" and smoothening the sound. It is the live-like ambience, squeezing out the emotions of performers, realistically reproducing the dynamics of live instruments that make this system so different. I don't feel stressed and tired even when it was playing so loud. I think maybe there are only 3 or less systems I ever heard can allow you to play at such volume and still sound musical!
I have high expectation of matching Riviera Labs with Cessaro Firebird. Engström has proven to be a very good match with Cessaro in many sites. Actual users also agree. The control aspect of riviera Labs is very strong, I am not sure if the mid range driver of Firebird requires such control. The Italian Casta Elettra is a “homerun” speakers for certainty. But I equally believe Firebird will project a more grandeur scale, and the vocal quality given the mid range driver operates from 400hz to 4,000hz ensures perfect integration over a wide range. The challenge is the subwoofer integration. PT had done a great job on the sub. If not, we can always call his father for help!
My utter respect to Riviera as I enjoy every minute with the AIC 10 headphone/speaker amp. The AKG K1000 is a crazy design from 30 years ago representing the the company’s ambition of creating the utmost hiend headphones with all the resources that they could possibly put together back then. The result was a truly legend, equivalent to the nautilus from B&W in speaker terms. The problem is, this damn headphones are so difficult to drive that some of the enthusiasts even drive them with speaker amp. Therefore very few out there have heard what the headphones really can do, I was one of them until I met Riviera AIC-10, it makes the K1000 sound like a dream, so effortless, so smooth, so dynamic that I don’t know what else I can ask for from a pair of headphones. The AIC10 and K1000 combo work so perfectly together they just made me so content to think about anything related to headphones at all, that are that good.
I got the headphone amp from Riviera Lab too. I am using Abyss headphone with this great headphone amp. The sound is very fast, coherent and agile. This headphone amp deserves more publicity. It is the very best I have ever experienced.
Good to know you are on the way to your mega system. Two Xiang Xu subwoofers together with Wagner is one very big system.
Thanks emperor, adding the sub is a day-and-night improvement, just can not live without it after having it. And everyone says subs have to come as a pair, so....oh did I mention Xiang Yu is probably the best looking sub out there?
I added a 2nd Cessaro Xiang Xu 項羽 subwoofer today to my Goebel/JMF/Riviera system at home. I was absolutely contented with just one. I successfully integrated it to the Goebel Epoque Reference speakers despite vast differences in sensitivity. Everything simply disappears. It was Mr Stirling Trayle who encouraged me to use a “pair” of subwoofer for the sake of even room pressurisation. After seeing the real man at work and the resultant system performance, I am thoroughly convinced by his professional opinions.
It took me around 2 hours to reconnect everything. I checked thoroughly the electrical phase on the Vertere Electrical Phase Management Center. I made sure all the ground wires were connected tightly to the Tripoint Troy Elite, with the latest Argento FMR EE ground wire on the Riviera Lab pre, Dalby Ode Grande on JMF 3.7 transport, Dalby Kyuku on JMF DAC 2.2, and Dalby Meda on the Riviera AFM-100 mono amplifiers. I also installed two sets of Revopod underneath the sub to mitigate mechanical vibrations. I didn’t change the position of the main speakers. (I was thinking Stirling will eventually do it for me anyway). I let the system settling in for another 3 hours before listening.
The parameters of the Xiang Xu subwoofer were casually set crossing low pass at 52hz, 18db Buttsworth filter, volume at -11db, and high pass was off. (I didn’t touch the parametric EQ.) To be frank, I was very happy right at the beginning. I listened to a dozen of music to grab some general impressions and occasionally adjusted the gain of the sub back and forth. The sound was decent. Then I took a nap about an hour before listening to the system more critically. By then it was already evening.
I am attracted immensely to the Beethoven universe lately. The Violin Concerto D Major, op 61, played by Japanese violinist Sayaka Shoji, with St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra (DG recording) is the reference test CD of my father. The stage was good. The tonality was balanced. But I felt energy of the orchestra was held back. I jet up low pass to 54hz from 52hz. I felt more power in the upper bass area. Energy was abundant but somewhat trapped in the middle. I tried adjusting here and there without resolving the issue.
The lazy me finally stood up and widened the distance between two speakers by 2 inches, with more toe-in (I am no Stirling Trayle, just some moves based on gut feeling). The stage was opened up with more depth. Energy improved but I still felt it wasn’t there yet.
At this juncture, the playback was good enough to sustain my attention. But a pair of Xiang Xu should deliver much more! If I cannot shock myself, I cannot expect the same system to shock others. This is always my motto. As I wrote previously on AE forum, I must anchor to some facts to avoid circling myself with subjective feelings.
The violin used by Sayaka has quite a story to tell. It was a gift from Napoleon Bonaparte to his intimate woman, “Recamier”. This violin was made by Stradivarius, and history gave it a name “Recamier” given the special historical context involving the French Emperor. The tone of it is round and warm. It has a deep voice.
Subsequently, this violin was bought by famous violinist, Mischa Elman in Paris. The famous “Elman” tone of his performance had a lot to do with this “Recamier” violin. This musical treasure was consequentially ended up in the collection of Ueno Pharmaceutical in Japan. The president had a brother playing violin but was killed in 2nd World War. It was Ueno Fine Chemical Industry that supported Sayaka studying abroad in Germany. Before the President passed away, he asked the young Sayaka to play Paganini short pieces by the “Recamier”. She fell in love with this violin ever since.
From her own words, she likes the warm and round tone of the Recamier more than the “Joachim” which was also made by Stradivarius. The latter produces a louder voice to her ear and seemingly project more energy with loser focus. To compare, she likes the Recamier more because it has better focus in projection.
This information is crucial for evaluation. What is the meaning of better focus in projection? I understand clearly now. Indeed, this recording captured the chatacteristics of Recamier very well. The imaging quality is not just about the physical imaging of the violin. For this recording, we should be able to idendity the origin or the focal point of where the bow started touching the strings before projecting sound energy with a warm/round tone easily. It is the character of the Recamier.
It is such a profound feeling. I am listening to the same violin once Napoelon bought for his “intimate” woman. I can comprehend the character of Recamier in the hand of Sayaka, which was exactly what she had descirbed before during interview. I cranked up the sub volume from -11db to -9db as I want my full body to feel orchetral energy at entirety.
Then I switched off one sub in order to understand his contrubition. To my surprise, the focus of the bow striking the string has become loser with lesser radiation energy. This in turn affects the composure resolution of the violinist. Energy at cresendo was reduced by half. The climax is decimated. I need not try swithcing off another sub.
A pair of Cessaro Xiang Xu subwoofer at work in a typical Hong Kong apartment - is it too much? Not at all. I can’t switch even one off now.
I will leave the rest to Stirling Trayle. Let‘s hope Hong Kong to recover with each passing day.
I remained deeply impressed by Luca’s work. The APL01SE is one of the extreme best preamps I have ever come across in my career. Or else I won’t use it at home.
Comments
I like the Cessaro Firebird very much. I auditioned it with Engström electronics. I like the sparkle of speed and the continuity of the mid range and the big damn active bass system.
I was told social media is the platform to go and many have ‘migrated’ to read facebook. What I see lacking, particularly in this group, is the interaction that we have in the forum but not in the Facebook. I like your spontaneously response which energise me to continue to hang around in this space.
PT home system has completely Riviera-ised triggering my new year visit with my family. The presence of George Lam via Goebel Epogue speaker and Riviera suite had my whole family blown away. Whether it is zero distortion or neutralisation of distortion due to signal feedback, to me, every system, room included, has inevitably disrupted by distortion and noises. Effort to mitigate and eliminate such distortions could be very diversified. As PT said, all roads lead to Rome, the ultimate verdict is the realism that one’s mind perceives. This is always an integrated function of subjectivity and objectivity.
By the way, my new Firebird is under construction to pair with Lars Eric. I will use it as the speaker to pair with Synaestec electronics in the August hi-fi show.
Marvel
This Italian combo can really make you forget about all the hifi terms and fully enjoy the music it plays. Such musicality is very close to live music, not the type of musicality by "beautifying" and smoothening the sound. It is the live-like ambience, squeezing out the emotions of performers, realistically reproducing the dynamics of live instruments that make this system so different. I don't feel stressed and tired even when it was playing so loud. I think maybe there are only 3 or less systems I ever heard can allow you to play at such volume and still sound musical!
a more grandeur scale, and the vocal quality given the mid range driver operates from 400hz to 4,000hz ensures perfect integration over a wide range. The challenge is the subwoofer integration. PT had done a great job on the sub. If not, we can always call his father for help!
I got the headphone amp from Riviera Lab too. I am using Abyss headphone with this great headphone amp. The sound is very fast, coherent and agile. This headphone amp deserves more publicity. It is the very best I have ever experienced.
Good to know you are on the way to your mega system. Two Xiang Xu subwoofers together with Wagner is one very big system.
https://www.monoandstereo.com/2019/12/riviera-audio-labs-apl-01se.html?m=1