A warm thank you to everyone who visited us at the show !

Thanks to all who visited us at the show, and for those who voted our room as one of their favorites. 

Some of course may have come in at the wrong time when the music playing was not to their taste.  Some may not have been able to come in due to the crowd.  Well, you are all welcome and feel free to visit our showroom. 

Others may have wanted a very warm, syrupy presentation.  Well, we always prefer to set up our systems with a neutral sonic balance, our reference is always the timbre and tone of live instruments. 

Of course, our systems can be tailored to have this sort of warm presentation through matching - a change of cartridge here, cable, tube, etc.  The same goes for those who like a system to be on the brighter side.

For this year, rather than concentrate most of the time on slam bang bass music, we instead demonstrated the  system with a wider range of music.  We intended to showcase the all-rounder ability of the system, it's capability to handle subtlety and grace, and yet be able to deliver exciting complex music with aplomb when desired. 

Furthermore, we are always more interested in demonstrating a system that can keep time (i.e. with good timing, rhythm, and pace), as opposed to one that can deliver every nuance, but ending up as sterile and ultimately boring.

We were actually surprised at the large crowd that came in, and stayed, whenever we played Metallica's music on the Sunday.

The Kondo Audio Note Japan tube electronics are indeed a rare and special breed.  The Kondo KSL-M7 preamplifier + Kondo KSL-Kegon power amplifier circuitry design delivered what we wanted from a musical point of view, subtle when needed, and superbly powerful and dynamic when required, with a superb sense of pace, rhythm, and timing, the best we've heard from tube amplification before, and definitely makes many solid-state amps eat dust. 

Of course, the articulate Living Voice IBX-RW speakers allowed this attribute of the Kondos to surface, as we've heard Kondo amplification before, but never in this way.

Kondo products are indeed representative of great tube products.  After all, Mr. Hiroyasu Kondo san, it's founder, was considered as an audio god by other manufacturers in Japan. 

Kondo has brought tube amplification design to the top, that many other manufacturers always try to compare against Kondo amplification.  In this sense, they are THE reference then, and one may hear from many others the claim that theirs is as good or better than a Kondo.  Well, it is really flattering :)

On to the new Living Voice IBX-RW speakers.  They still retain what we love from the other Living Voice loudspeakers, the ability to play any music without faltering, and to be full of verve, life, vim and vigor, while at the same time truly delivering outstanding rendition of timbre and tone.  It's not subtle, but musicians or those exposed to different live instruments would more likely be able to perceive these better, as they would know which has the better timbre and tone when comparing.

For example, one of the albums we played was an interplay of four different drum sets, having four different tonality, playing one at a time, until they all played together to a crescendo at the end.  While most listeners would only listen to the power and dynamics, others including us would perceive the different characters of each drum set played.

The main source we used was the dps 3 turntable with a Schroder No. 2fw tonearm, specially designed for the dps turntable.  Simple yet elegant, tiny, and with a sound much bigger than its size.  Once again, one of its major strength was in timing,  which many visitors have commented on.

We've seen some magnetic-type tonearms at the show, reminding us of the Schroder tonearms :)  Well, we don't blame them for getting into the bandwagon.  At any rate, Schroder tonearms are so super-special that the manufacturer is backordered by a super long period, take note.  There is no need for any review, this is an amazing phenomenon.  However, at this point in time, Schroder tonearms are only for patient enthusiasts, who are able to dig in and wait.

Once again, a warm thank you to all who have visited us at the show.