Hong Kong HiFi shops to visit

XV-1

Well-Known Member
May 24, 2010
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Hi Guys

I will be in Hong Kong first week of May on business, so want to visit a few of the good hifi shops so I can actually hear some gear we don't have in Australia.

Where should I visit?

After I go and have a look at Gary's wonderful Genesis Dragons @ Forthwise Ltd . 6/F, 1 Duddell Street,Central :cool:


Are the hifi shops open all weekend?


cheers
 

Big Dog RJ

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Feb 2, 2012
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G'day mate,

Oh! Good old Hong Kong... so much has changed that first time I was there, just around 1989, 2003 and in 2005. Then again around 2010, and half the great stores that I used to visit and buy my gear shut down! The maggie & c-j chaps, Pass Labs, McIntosh and Wilson's have all changed hands. Now they are owned by big wigs who demand big sales figures and cannot waste their time listening to real world excuses such as "slow economy, cost of living going up, people have other priorities other than hifi ". Anyway, Jason Tan who used to run Wilson and Lamm a few decades ago, don't know whether he still exists. Norman Hifi based in Singapore, same guys are branched in HK and do c-j and all Quad stats, again don't know if they're still in business. Prestige Audio used to carry the top of the line Audio Note Ongaku amps, YG Acoustics, and Apogee's. Again probably changed hands.

The thing is these chaps had made their money, and so moved along... probably went fishing.
Your better off touching base with some locals over there and they asking around for exact shop names, and go from there. I also believe if you are interested in auditioning some particular gear, then perhaps call up the manufacturer directly and check if they have a distributor/ agent in HK, and visit them. They'll be very happy to give you an audition if they carry the products.

The Infinity showroom/agent was one of the best I have ever auditioned, back then it was the awesome Infinity IRS-V, the dam thing looked like four huge buildings, sadly Infinity is no more. Now I guess it's the Genesis equivalent Genesis 1 but I strongly feel that although the G1 is awesome in every aspect, there will never be another IRS-V!

Good luck in your auditioning, and do let us know how your HK trip goes. Hope business is good!
Cheers, RJ
 

JackD201

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Apr 20, 2010
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So near and yet so far from us here XV!
 

LL21

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Dec 26, 2010
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Hi Shane,

Audio Exotics (Tidal, Zanden, Tripoint, Dalby, Argento, Stahl-Tek, etc)
Ernest Lau (Rockport Arrakis, VTL monos, Clearaudio Statement, etc)

I've PM'd you the shortlist on restaurants and drinks/views....enjoy!
 

XV-1

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May 24, 2010
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I was last in HK in 2009 and their was quite a few large HiFi dealers in central HK as well as some over in Kowloon. Big Dog, it would not surprise me if a few brands have changed hands

I will definitely visit Tommy at Top Class audio as in 2009 I managed to come back with an Exclusive P10 turntable packed in my luggage with the plinth/platter shipped FedEx. Always easier to negotiate a better price in person.

Hi Lloyd. I will definitely check out the dealers you have mentioned. Hopefully Audio Exotics will have the Wave Kinetics turntable there.

Thanks guys

Hopefully a couple of the HK gents will be able to chime in.

Cheers
 

BruceD

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Dec 13, 2013
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Yoh XV,

You certainly hear and get it all in Hkg—good luck !—I’m sure others will give you more addresses—these are my Fav spots anyway—I’ve worked in Hong kong.

Firstly ask Tom to give you a perspex cover for you TT he makes—very handy stops dust on the platter -unless you have one already

Yes AE’s is quite a trip- hold onto that wallet —ha!

Shop wise:

Yes Forthwise excellent they demo the Techdas TT’s too—speak to BG he know his stuff friendly and good English.

Audio Note / WBT connectors-excellent rooms for demo see Ken Leung good bloke
Elephant Holdings 3/F Beverley House 93 Lockhart Rd Wan Chai

Precision Audio see Lui Shi—Excellent English they have Linn VG Demo room
Unit 1 3F Chinese Chamber of Commerce Bldg 24 Connaught R Central

Premier Hi Fi see Ken Mok—ex English—Trenner & Friedl /Verdier TT/Audience
Rm 201Tung Ming Bldg 40 Des Voeux Rd Central

All above on the Island

Signal Wave Co—one of the 10 or so floors of new and S/H mainly Hi End gear at one spot—a must to visit if you haven’t already been there
Grancastle Commercial Central 2T Sai Yeung Choi St South Mong Kok

Wing Sing Electronics -see Sing he has use Entreq Ground Boxes and other goodies/Duelands/ spares —worth seeing good prices
174 Apilu St Sham Shui Po Kowloon

Apilu Street must for s/h stuff

Mr Audio-see Franky Ng—good deals on Furutech /accessories/etc
Shop 7 Basement Prosperity Bldg 6E Nelson St Mongkok

Best LP S/H selections in Hkg-not the cheapest but incredible quality—if it’s not near mint this guy won’t carry it—the selection of rare stuff is the best I’ve sever seen—oh yes and he has CD’s
Classical Gallery Rm704 7/floor Sino Centre, 582 Nathan Road Kowloon

Good Luck Matey

Bruce
 

XV-1

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May 24, 2010
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Thanks Bruce

appreciated

hopefully I can keep my wallet in my pants :p
 

CKKeung

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Jun 17, 2011
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Hong Kong

CKKeung

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Jun 17, 2011
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Hong Kong
Hi Guys
I will be in Hong Kong first week of May on business, so want to visit a few of the good hifi shops so I can actually hear some gear we don't have in Australia.
Where should I visit?
After I go and have a look at Gary's wonderful Genesis Dragons @ Forthwise Ltd . 6/F, 1 Duddell Street,Central :cool:
Are the hifi shops open all weekend?
cheers

Three more -
Radar : http://www.radaraudio.com/woo-product-2/ http://www.radaraudio.com/contacts-2/
Avantgarde : http://www.avantgardehongkong.com/mainv01.aspx?lang=0
WiseSound : http://www.wisesound.com/en_products.php (the showroom is in Central District of HK Island http://www.review33.com/storedir/store.php?store_id=6 )

BTW most showrooms in Hong Kong are open on Saturdays.
Please give them prior tel calls or emails for arranging the audition. Big systems such as Genesis Dragon take days to set up!
 

adyc

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Jan 5, 2013
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I would strongly suggest to visit for BACCH-SP

MASIS Audio | Venue X

4A, 499 King's Road, Hong Kong

Phone: +852 2860 0990
Web: www.masisaudio.com

I went there for a demo this Monday morning. The cross talk cancellation is unreal. It changes one perception of stereo listening. Whether you like it or not is another matter. BACCH-SP is currently only available in US and HK. Do not miss it when you are in Hong Kong. I would suggest you make a booking first.
 

Big Dog RJ

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Feb 2, 2012
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Melbourne
Hey Shane mate,

How did your hk trip go? Was wondering since we didn't hear anything.

Did you get to audition some mighty systems? Do let us know, and did you pick anything up from hk on your travels?
Cheers, RJ
 

XV-1

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May 24, 2010
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Hey Shane mate,

How did your hk trip go? Was wondering since we didn't hear anything.

Did you get to audition some mighty systems? Do let us know, and did you pick anything up from hk on your travels?
Cheers, RJ


Hi RJ

Yes, I did get to audition some extremely nice systems. On the Weekend I spent most of the day over in Kowloon and went up and down the 20 floors of hifi in the Grandcastle commercial building.
The Karma speakers sounded exquisite, so musical and refined.

Another afternoon I went to Central and visited Forthwise. the big mother Genesis , driven by Viola and Tech Das AF2 table was superb. Hard to believe so many tweeters can sound so coherent and relaxed. I am sure the superb AF2 had a lot to do with that. They were using an optical cartridge from Japanese DS audio. the AF2 looked sensational with the Gold knobs, AF1 not so much imo.


Listened to Pluto and Continuum tables with T&A amps with Alexias. I know the Wilson sound and it sounded good, however not so sure about the turntable/cartridge setup thou which was a little off.


Other notable was the Transrotor / Levinson / Verity Lohengrin speakers. Speakers were superb and you could tell the turntable was set up perfectly with some Stone Koetsu I had never seen before. It Never Rains from Love over Gold was the best I had heard from a tracking and holographic presentation. New found respect for the Transrotor Bling.

a few pics


17192037649_05ab52abfd_b.jpg


17376303652_d6140a0e9b_b.jpg


17352301606_a7bcb7a327_b.jpg


17352300666_426825cabe_b.jpg


17170797267_814985f219_b.jpg
 

XV-1

Well-Known Member
May 24, 2010
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a couple more pics


17377927131_645bfb7f92_b.jpg


16757975613_ac85ebdb06_b.jpg


17190457958_2515cac5fa_b.jpg


17190686690_b3b3de89e9_b.jpg
 

DEV

New Member
Oct 19, 2011
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0
Hi RJ

Yes, I did get to audition some extremely nice systems. On the Weekend I spent most of the day over in Kowloon and went up and down the 20 floors of hifi in the Grandcastle commercial building.
The Karma speakers sounded exquisite, so musical and refined.

Another afternoon I went to Central and visited Forthwise. the big mother Genesis , driven by Viola and Tech Das AF2 table was superb. Hard to believe so many tweeters can sound so coherent and relaxed. I am sure the superb AF2 had a lot to do with that. They were using an optical cartridge from Japanese DS audio. the AF2 looked sensational with the Gold knobs, AF1 not so much imo.


Listened to Pluto and Continuum tables with T&A amps with Alexias. I know the Wilson sound and it sounded good, however not so sure about the turntable/cartridge setup thou which was a little off.


Other notable was the Transrotor / Levinson / Verity Lohengrin speakers. Speakers were superb and you could tell the turntable was set up perfectly with some Stone Koetsu I had never seen before. It Never Rains from Love over Gold was the best I had heard from a tracking and holographic presentation. New found respect for the Transrotor Bling.

a few pics

Thanks for postings - favorites?

Which Karma model and what did the rest of the system consist of - any pics?
 

XV-1

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May 24, 2010
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Thanks for postings - favorites?

Which Karma model and what did the rest of the system consist of - any pics?

Hi Dev

I listed the favourites and left out the rest. But given an unlimited budget and room size, the genesis speakers would be something to build a system around.

I did not take any pics on the Sat with the Karma.

They had the 2nd to top model Karma - Exquisite Extreme Grand in the room next to a smaller pair that were hooked up. Karma amps and digital I can't remember. They were way too big for the room, but the smaller speakers were I am pretty sure were the Elegance db7 sounded really pure - they were playing audio show musak thou.
 

analog brother

New Member
Jan 20, 2014
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shane, looks like you had as great a time as one can have with their pants on. :D

af-2 looks much better with the gold accents; reminds me of a 7.2 rs.
looked a bit lower-end industrial before.....

good to see you made the most of your business trip.
did you buy anything?
how could you resist? :p
 

XV-1

Well-Known Member
May 24, 2010
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Sydney
shane, looks like you had as great a time as one can have with their pants on. :D

af-2 looks much better with the gold accents; reminds me of a 7.2 rs.
looked a bit lower-end industrial before.....

good to see you made the most of your business trip.
did you buy anything?
how could you resist? :p

Hi James, I looked for rock, paper scissors however it seems that Japan has that niche market covered.;)

I agree the gold accents on the AF2 look way cool and class up the rather drab industrial look of the AF2. If I ever bought the SF2, it would be gold posts all the way.

bought nothing as everything I want costs too much $$ :rolleyes:
 

Big Dog RJ

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Feb 2, 2012
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Holy moly! This is the stuff I'm talking about.
There are a number of Asian customers who are buying these systems and can easily afford them. I clearly remember when I was at Canon Inc., my Japanese bosses had very impressive systems in dedicated music rooms.

Looks like you had a blast Shane.
Perhaps a bit longer trip would have allowed you to spend more time with one system you liked.

I noticed in the background of one of the Genesis photos, in the corners are a pair of Analysis ribbons, do you know which series they were?

How did the Genesis sound overall? Was it worth the price?
I have heard those big Genesis speakers before and noticed that the sound is very amplifier dependent. You get out what goes in. They were driven with top of the line VTL's and to me the tubes sounded superb.

Those look like solid state amps, what amps are those?

Overall, was it comparable to your Wilson's.
RJ
 

LL21

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Dec 26, 2010
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Fantastic Shane...absolutely fantastic. Did you manage to hear the Arrakis setup? Favorite or 'meh'...i'd love to hear any comments if you managed to hear them. I know exactly where the Genesis Dragons are in Hong Kong, having had lunch just up the street with the owner of a new boutique restaurant there 2 years ago (unfortunately did not know the Genesis were there at that time!).
 
Last edited:

XV-1

Well-Known Member
May 24, 2010
3,591
2,573
1,860
Sydney
Holy moly! This is the stuff I'm talking about.
There are a number of Asian customers who are buying these systems and can easily afford them. I clearly remember when I was at Canon Inc., my Japanese bosses had very impressive systems in dedicated music rooms.

Looks like you had a blast Shane.
Perhaps a bit longer trip would have allowed you to spend more time with one system you liked.

I noticed in the background of one of the Genesis photos, in the corners are a pair of Analysis ribbons, do you know which series they were?

How did the Genesis sound overall? Was it worth the price?
I have heard those big Genesis speakers before and noticed that the sound is very amplifier dependent. You get out what goes in. They were driven with top of the line VTL's and to me the tubes sounded superb.

Those look like solid state amps, what amps are those?

Overall, was it comparable to your Wilson's.
RJ


Hi RJ

not sure about the Analysis ribbons - they were secondary on my priorities that day ;)


The Genesis sound was really good. very different to the Wilsons. Wilson's excel in soundstaging precision and all the hifi priorities but with a musical delivery.

the Genesis seemed to do all that and sound more like a live venue without the annoying parts like distortion, loudness etc, but at the same time sounding very relaxed.

Hard to put into words and I am sure would sound better in a HUGE room. Re the amps, the Viola amps were like small fridges lyin down. they seemed to be doing a good job.

Worth the $$ - all relative. I can't afford them however if I could they woukd certainly be on the short list.

cheers
 

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