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The Sound of Money
It is almost a universal truth that men love sports cars, women and stereos. What they all boil down to is the sound of engagement that stimulates our senses and imagination. The world can not tolerate imitation! The growl of a Ferrari is unmistakable. It is the sound of perfect engineering integration that no retrofit can re-generate. Men love the sound of money!
My cowardice nature has prevented me from visiting PT for the longest time knowing that it will only add insult to my system like a fake growl from a woman. This is a lesson well learned by many comrades and the collateral damage in the aftermath is at best an interim measure until the next speed ram arrives. Stereo is an extreme sport that calls for an extremist approach. For the first time, I was saddened after the visit. Not because it sounded so much better than mine but the fact that PT ain’t using the best of front end gears available. An Orpheus transport, DAD dac plus a small footprint Grimm CC1 in between! To some, this digital front is only loose change but it was already so damn good that blown my system to pieces (not that I am surprised given my past experience). As I am also using Tidal as my amplification partner, the truth is so obvious that Sunray is the culprit. Da Vinci is sweet, Cessaro is eye-catching but Sunray has a magic that the other two can not meet. (Sorry, folks, this is my subjective opinion). The sense of relaxation is immediately noticeable and defies the logic of the room boundaries (until it reaches certain SPL). With two bass drivers firing out against the side wall from each speaker and only ~8” away from the wall, I can’t help but leaned my ears against those units to make sure PT has not deliberately turned them off. No, they are working properly and as smooth as a 32-yrs St Elgin. But where it stands out is in the depiction of emptiness. Typically, we assess the liveliness factor in terms of spatial separation. The projection of artists location gives us clues as to the soundstage but space rarely transcend much beyond this primary layer of darkness. The Sunray really does “out-shine” the competition in its ability to deliver the signatures of the concert halls. HK Stadium is just a vast expanse of darkness in Eason’s recording but finally Carnegie Hall has the envelope of its curvilinear roof and timber flooring back. This is a hair-raising experience for me as emptiness depicted by my Piano Diacera is only a surreal emptiness from all live recordings with the difference only in terms of size of the “can”. Part of the accolade has to go to the CC1 clock. Without it, the stage collapsed somewhat but the hall signature is still very noticeable. We expect a big system to sound big but more often than not, their merits extended only to the outer skins of an onion. It would not come close to make you cry. Sunray does and I sat silently throughout the session.
With my limited knowledge in audio technologies, I can’t tell whether this is due to the superbly executed bass drivers of Sunray or some other design attributes hidden beneath. But the feeling of intimacy with the recording event/space is unique and one-of-a-kind. The impact of stereo system integration is impossible to describe. It is a digital achievement of whether you are there or never. Like owning a Ferrari, the sound of money is an integral part of a total solution that is privileged only to the luck owners. In a city where ones has to duck for radars, slowdown for speed rams and potholes and hopelessly saluting to 24/7 jam while watching your fuel gauge reverting to zero like drip, owning a sports car in Hong Kong can only be interpreted as a vain and vulgar act (my wife would allude to it as symptom of mid-life crisis). For the same $3MM dollar, you can actually own a system that does not betray its intent – transposing yourself to live music at anytime of your choice without having to worry about points left on your driving license.
Admit it, we live in the prime time of human existence. When the music industry is on the steep downhill slope of commercialism and image propaganda, we have the technology within reach that allows us to re-live those classic performances when it is still possible to accumulate a reasonable collection of fine recordings. Our offspring’s won’t be so lucky, they only have the latest version of iPods to look up to.
Why torment yourself when you know what you have now is only a half-baked solution? Why left your ears to rust and aged until it matters no more?
My cowardice nature has prevented me from visiting PT for the longest time knowing that it will only add insult to my system like a fake growl from a woman. This is a lesson well learned by many comrades and the collateral damage in the aftermath is at best an interim measure until the next speed ram arrives. Stereo is an extreme sport that calls for an extremist approach. For the first time, I was saddened after the visit. Not because it sounded so much better than mine but the fact that PT ain’t using the best of front end gears available. An Orpheus transport, DAD dac plus a small footprint Grimm CC1 in between! To some, this digital front is only loose change but it was already so damn good that blown my system to pieces (not that I am surprised given my past experience). As I am also using Tidal as my amplification partner, the truth is so obvious that Sunray is the culprit. Da Vinci is sweet, Cessaro is eye-catching but Sunray has a magic that the other two can not meet. (Sorry, folks, this is my subjective opinion). The sense of relaxation is immediately noticeable and defies the logic of the room boundaries (until it reaches certain SPL). With two bass drivers firing out against the side wall from each speaker and only ~8” away from the wall, I can’t help but leaned my ears against those units to make sure PT has not deliberately turned them off. No, they are working properly and as smooth as a 32-yrs St Elgin. But where it stands out is in the depiction of emptiness. Typically, we assess the liveliness factor in terms of spatial separation. The projection of artists location gives us clues as to the soundstage but space rarely transcend much beyond this primary layer of darkness. The Sunray really does “out-shine” the competition in its ability to deliver the signatures of the concert halls. HK Stadium is just a vast expanse of darkness in Eason’s recording but finally Carnegie Hall has the envelope of its curvilinear roof and timber flooring back. This is a hair-raising experience for me as emptiness depicted by my Piano Diacera is only a surreal emptiness from all live recordings with the difference only in terms of size of the “can”. Part of the accolade has to go to the CC1 clock. Without it, the stage collapsed somewhat but the hall signature is still very noticeable. We expect a big system to sound big but more often than not, their merits extended only to the outer skins of an onion. It would not come close to make you cry. Sunray does and I sat silently throughout the session.
With my limited knowledge in audio technologies, I can’t tell whether this is due to the superbly executed bass drivers of Sunray or some other design attributes hidden beneath. But the feeling of intimacy with the recording event/space is unique and one-of-a-kind. The impact of stereo system integration is impossible to describe. It is a digital achievement of whether you are there or never. Like owning a Ferrari, the sound of money is an integral part of a total solution that is privileged only to the luck owners. In a city where ones has to duck for radars, slowdown for speed rams and potholes and hopelessly saluting to 24/7 jam while watching your fuel gauge reverting to zero like drip, owning a sports car in Hong Kong can only be interpreted as a vain and vulgar act (my wife would allude to it as symptom of mid-life crisis). For the same $3MM dollar, you can actually own a system that does not betray its intent – transposing yourself to live music at anytime of your choice without having to worry about points left on your driving license.
Admit it, we live in the prime time of human existence. When the music industry is on the steep downhill slope of commercialism and image propaganda, we have the technology within reach that allows us to re-live those classic performances when it is still possible to accumulate a reasonable collection of fine recordings. Our offspring’s won’t be so lucky, they only have the latest version of iPods to look up to.
Why torment yourself when you know what you have now is only a half-baked solution? Why left your ears to rust and aged until it matters no more?
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Comments
But there is another dimension of the Sunray that needs a vinyl setup to expose. This time, if the vinyl is set up properly, there is no return - and you may probably begin to understand there is a beautiful side of humanity in a world of commercialism and image propaganda as you mentioned.
You will have a pair of Sunray. Life is short.