JLam’s Charity Act at AE SW: Donations to Food Angel 惜食堂 2021

Piano Tuner

I had been recording many Cantonese pop songs by iPhone 11 in the past few weeks.  I sent them to hundreds of people almost on a daily basis. To my surprises, the feedbacks had been tremendous.  If my irrationality translates into gracefulness relieving your stress, I am happy to go on. 

Today, I was listening at AE Sheung Wan.  I began with Sam Hui and ended with Lesley Cheung. 

許冠傑: 1. 應該要自愛 2.學生歌 

林子祥: 1. 活色生香 2.邁步向前 

優客李林：認錯

羅文：小李飛刀 

張德蘭：情義兩心知

關正傑：惜別歌

張國榮：1. 拒絕再玩 2. 無心睡眠 3. 共同渡過 

The playback quality of these supposedly average recordings today was proven otherwise to be “phenomenal”.   Realism is unprecedented.  Guests who came in at different time slot were in constant awe due to immense musicality projected by the system with tremendous speed and abundance of energy in the most resolute manner (thanks to Thales exquisite cartridge ST, 神級作品 in the words of Lincoln Cheng 大草）。

The last song: “共同渡過” performed by Leslie Cheung LIVE in HK Stadium was especially touching.

I couldn’t help but encored another three songs with the presence of Dalby Pirueta Record Weight on the Vertere RG1 analog deck.

童年 by Leslie Cheung 張國榮

禁區 by Akina Nakamori 中森明菜

破曉/瘋了 by Sandy Lam 林憶蓮 

I am delighted to be immensely touched by the songs that grew up with us.  The heartfelt responses triggered me to do a series of canton pop appreciation sessions at AE with an aim to raise some funds to Food Angel 惜食堂 to help people who don’t have enough food to eat.  AE will match the sum of donations at each session   

Piano Tuner

I am very proud of this system after spending so much time to fine tune every little parameter to the betterment of conveying musicality. I am thrilled to keep pushing the envelope. 

Piano Tuner

The technical configurations of the analog source at AE Sheung Wan are:

1. The motor drive of the Vertere RG1 analog deck is grounded to the Robert Koda Takumi MC One via Argento FMR phono ground cable. 

2. There are a set of ReVOpod under the motor drive of Vertere RG1.  All electronics underneath have a set of ReVopod. 

3. Riviera Lab preamp is powered by Skogrand Stravinsky.

4. Vertere HB phono cable and interconnect between Robert Koda Takumi MC One and Rivieralab Preamp 

5. Esprit Eureka interconnects from preamp to Engstrom ARNE 300B stereo amp. 

6. Esprit Eterna interconnect from preamp to active subwoofer of Cessaro Firebird 

7. Application of 2 x JMF PCC power cables for the active sub 

8. Speaker cable is Vertere HB 

9. All is connected to Tripoint Signature NG

10. Ground cables consist of: Dalby Kyoku (曲）Dalby Ode Grande, and Argento FMR EE

11. Engstrom Arne powered by Esprit Eureka

12. Cartridge is Thales Exquisite ST (silver coil).

13. Wadax Atlantis AC Conditioner (Prototype)

14. Vertere HBS power from the wall to the Wadax Atlantis AC conditioner 

15. Vertere Electrical Phase Management Center

16. Vertere HBS power on Robert Koda Takumi MC One. 

17. Vertere HB power cable on Motor drive of RG1

18. SRA Virginia Class amp stand under ARNE 

19. SRA Craze Rack 3

20. Dalby Constellation Record Weight

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Thomas0701

I had known this speaker for two years because I worked for AE as summer intern. I listened to the Firebird in the summer of 2018 everyday before school began in fall.  Since then, I mostly went to Divin Lab.  Chris put me into his core WhatsApp group.  He is a very hard working guy with many new ideas all the time. I thought he would stop after the spectacular tuning by Sterling, whom I also met accidentally last year.  But still I am not prepared to experience the current state of affair. 

Power! Impact! Speed! These are the characters of Firebird. But it still sounds dedicate and smooth.  It flows like a river and and remind me of the wine from Ms Leroy - full of power of life, 源源不絕的生命力。And in this dark time, music really gives me a moment of peace. The music is rather physically resourceful, and yet spiritually impactful. What an amazing experience!

This firebird reminds me the Phoenix in Harry Potter - for as long as you have faith in Dumbledore, it always brings you hope.

I am so grateful today. Really! Thank you so much! 

P.S. I would like to share two songs with you, 劉若英 - 後來 and 林俊傑 - 偉大的渺小。

Nelson

Chris, you also have LA Sound interconnects and Power cord that seem to be connected to the Riviera Preamp. Please comment as you have not mentioned them, nor have you mentioned the Vertere distribution Block.

Piano Tuner

Nelson,

Had we met before?  You are welcome to visit AE Sheung Wan.

Thanks for pointing out.  The Vertere Electrical Phase Management Centre is a MUST HAVE.  All of my showrooms and my home are using it. Without it, we would never understand the meaning of sound stage. The reason I didn’t write too much about it is because I prefer people to experience on site.  Unconventional products require demo to convince. I am using Vertere HB XLR from phono to preamp.  The power cord serving phono is Vertere HBS. 

I tested La Sound for awhile as Da Vinci Audio recommended me to test 2 years ago in 2018.  It was awhile ago.

Huber

昨天是一個非常值得推薦的聚會，因為昨天的目標如Chris 所説，Cheer everybody up, 在這段充滿哀愁的社交隔離日子，人的確需要快樂起來。

昨天主要播canton pop加日本pop,最緊要都係來自80年代，一個我認爲是最黃金的年代，亦係伴著我成長的年代。昨天的歌把我喚回到了那最精采的青蔥歲月。

當然重點係要播出左每首歌的神髓，在以上Chris 介紹的系統，加上精確計算的缐材配搭下，將一對火鳥發揮得淋漓盡致，飛龍在天！每位歌手活靈活現站在眼前高歌，聽得在埸每位仿如進入時光隧道，回到了那些年⋯⋯

昨天的聚會令我得到兩個啟示：
1. 所有流行曲的Lp 都是寶藏，視乎你有冇心或能力把它們解放岀來，聽hifi是聽音樂，不是聽天碟

2. Mix and match 的確十分重要，世上沒有無敵的系統，重要的是知道自己要聽什麼音樂，將糸統向正確方向調校，從而了解系統上欠缺什麼，加以完善配套，便可達到理想重播效果，昨天最好的例子是一條phono ground cable 及正確調校唱頭負載阻抗便可完全扭轉乾坤！

咋天我的最愛太多，很難選擇，我最後選擇Michael Kwan,.,之後是Akina

遺憾是欠缺了我最愛的小鳯姐嘅喜气洋洋，把氣氛推向高峰

留待下次吧！我提議pt ,每月舉辦一次類似活動,輪流在不同AE showroom舉行 ，示範不同糸統如何發揮怠盡，成為一個技術交流平台的例行聚會。

MAC

今次主要播廣東歌有幾個新體驗。

1 自己套 system 想玩得幾好最重要是要有方向感。想玩到淋漓盡致是一門藝術。當中其實有好多竅門。好多時是貪心想十項全能。但係想去到盡總覺得要一點 compromise.  這次真正體驗到火鳥的能量感,辛辣感,節奏感。 今次回家再聽,對自己的方向感更加有信心。其實明白問題所在, 對症下藥, 唔需要compromise, 甚至可以相輔相成。

2 好多時聽 classical, vocal, jazz 都係因為 software 比較優勝, 但係講到touching, 廣東歌始終占一個好重要嘅地位。今次全球疫情我自己獨處時都聽多咗廣東歌, 正因為好多勵志歌從小陪伴我長大, 當中歌詞裏的智慧正正就是自己嘅 guiding principle.   今次呢個體驗, 音響技術上可以幫我set一個新Benchmark. 自己心靈上,亦得以平復。

3 我以為turnable 祇有mechanical noise.  但係原來 grounding turntable係咁重要。Source 搞得好,全套system得到改善。又一次突顯到技術和知識上提昇的重要性。

Romanovym

The Cessaro Firebird often delivers tuneful vibe alongside delivery of tremendous bass energy. They are explosive when the music calls for it. Such energy builds up a very enclosing venue with rich ambience teleporting listeners back in time to attend live performance.  However, the challenge is how to maximise bass energy and resolution without obscuring other frequencies.   

In the auditioning session last Sat, I concurred that Chris had already mastered the control of the subwoofers.  It is extremely challenging to play Canton Pop well in a mega system because these recordings normally sounds very muddy. However, Chris proved us wrong!  All the details hidden deep inside the grooves of the Cantopop vinyls are unveiled.  I won’t believe these average recordings could be reproduced with such unprecedented resolution.  The issue is how can we unleash them?

We played a number of different cantopop vinyls.  It was like playing audiophile grade jazz recordings: very solid imaging, clear contours in all frequencies, punchy attacks, natural rendition of vocals, great separation amongst instruments, and very resolute bass guitars. 

The character of Firebird is revealed to the fullest potential on her rhythmic interpretation of pop
music. The whole setup would take your body to move along with the music naturally. 

In my opinion, AE Sheung Wan probably delivers the mood of canton pop better than Divin Lab given the rhythmical character of Cessaro Firebird.  This audition experience demonstrates different systems excels in different areas. It is up to the “audio chef” to develop the desired taste with respect to the nature of available ingredients. The final outcome indeed touched me deeply when Leslie Cheung sang “共同渡過”. I was glad to attend this sharing session against the current pandemic backdrops. 

Marvel

Audition on last Saturday had filled me with nostalgia of my university time and early days at work.  Leslie Cheung, Sam Hui, George Lam, and Roman etc - they were the singers occupying most of my youth striking for a reasonable work-life balance.  Nowadays I am less a fan of Cantonese pop music partly because of their average recording quality. 

As PT explained at the start of the session, the choice of Cantonese LPs was aimed at cheering  us under the dark clouds of pandemic. It took him 1.5 weeks to prepare the session by listening to these LPs repeatedly with different permutations of cables and phono settings to ensure the right “mood”.  Such passion/spirit are commendable.  Indeed, the musicality enlightened me so much during the whole event.  We have not done enough explorations on these old vinyls which Chris had eloquently proven the playback fidelity were so strong to captivate us all. 

 I would like to highlight a few game changers. 

1.  FMR EE phono ground wire
2.  Thales Exquisite Silver cartridge
3.  Dalby Pirueta Record Weight 

Though it is always a concerted effort to achieve the ultimate success, (1) and (3) were compared on spot. The verdict was unanimous. 

Piano Tuner

The first charity function at AE Sheung Wan was conducted yesterday.  I have tailored an hour of Cantonese pop songs program.  A dry run was done last Sat.  The feedbacks were tremendous because music brought back memories of the good old days of Hong Kong. Most didn’t want to leave.

Then, I officially repeated it yesterday with a charity purpose.  Participants are free to donate whatever, and AE will match the sum.  Yesterday, the donations reached $5,500.  AE thus matched $5,500.  Total amount raised was HK$11,000.  It will be donated to 惜食堂 to help people who don’t have enough food to eat.  

http://www.foodangel.org.hk/index.php?l=tc

There will be another session on May 9.  Give the overwhelming responses, I may continue to do a few more rounds.