Seoul Audio Show

[Solypsa]

Shall I get decent turntable instead of upgrading my digital source?

YES

But that's my interest bias too

 

[Mike Lavigne]

Esoteric turntable is something speciall with magnetic gravitation,separate power supply and option of external clock to control servo motor.

They also played Led Zeppelin with and without external clock.

It sounds much more clear and dynamic with external clock engaged,

Turntable cost 80k$ and external clock cost another 25k$ but they are worth the money.

any more feedback you can give on the effect of the clock? was it a one button on-off sort of thing, or did they need to plug and un-plug cables?

 

[thomask]

any more feedback you can give on the effect of the clock? was it a one button on-off sort of thing, or did they need to plug and un-plug cables?

With remote, he can turn it on and off.

Very handy.

The difference is quite noticable.

 

[thomask]

YES

But that's my interest bias too

I quit vinyl 30 years ago.

But I got the feeling that decent 10k$ vinyl setup may sound better than 40k$ digital setup.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

With remote, he can turn it on and off.

Very handy.

The difference is quite noticable.

thank you. very interesting.

if you think of any other impressions about the clock please post them.

 

[thomask]

One Korean gentleman made magnetic planar units from the scratch.

He also got the patent right of it.

The proto type speaker shows lot of potential, clear and fast sound driven by Hifirose one in all streamer and int amp.

 

[thomask]

Avalon Isis speakers driven by Vitus monoblocks sounds very musical and stable.

The noticable thing is that 5k$ SME turntable works well with this 500k$ setup.

To me SME turntable sounds more natural than Merging Dac digital setup.

 

[thomask]

A portable system sounds pretty nice at open space.

The pair of speaker cost 800$ and portable amp connected to your laptop cost 200$.

Interesting try!

 

[thomask]

thank you. very interesting.

if you think of any other impressions about the clock please post them.

I will

Esoteric turntable has lot of other features.

Thus you may want to try it with your system.

It will be fun!

 

[thomask]

I had never listened to Devialet spherical speakers in person before Seoul Audio show.

Small spherical speakers filled the pretty large space.

Although it is not for pure audiophile like me, it will get favor from young people.

 

[thomask]

This is my first encounter with Perlisten speakers driven by Block amps.

They sound natural and stable in pretty big room.

 

[godofwealth]

View attachment 105540

I had never listened to Devialet spherical speakers in person before Seoul Audio show.

Small spherical speakers filled the pretty large space.

Although it is not for pure audiophile like me, it will get favor from young people.

I have owned the Devialet Phantoms for over 5 years now. I got it for my spouse who uses it everyday. I have to admit they sound quite good. I have a pair of large Quad 2905 electrostatics next to them, which look a bit silly next to the Phantoms. Of course, Quads have a special sound, particularly the 5” tall 2905s. But the Quads are ugly as sin, and a pain to drive. If they go bust, they’re expensive as hell to fix. It starts to add up eventually.

My Phantoms have a 5000 watt class A/D amplifier, built in DAC and streamer. They will comfortably produce 110 dB from 15 Hz to 25 kHZ. At that sound level, my Quads would have melted.

Speakers like the Phantoms or the newer Kef LS 60 Meta are the future of high end audio. Plug in the speakers into the wall and stream music. What’s not to like? Oh, wait, you can’t roll tubes! You can‘t use $20k Nordost cables with them. Or $5000 USB cables. All the “fun“ in Hi-Fi is gone.

 

[microstrip]

(...) Esoteric turntable is something speciall with magnetic gravitation,separate power supply and option of external clock to control servo motor.

They also played Led Zeppelin with and without external clock.

It sounds much more clear and dynamic with external clock engaged,

Turntable cost 80k$ and external clock cost another 25k$ but they are worth the money.

If a turntable controller sounds much better with an external clock we can be tempted to think there is a problem with the internal clock ... What is the reason they present for such difference?

 

[thomask]

If a turntable controller sounds much better with an external clock we can be tempted to think there is a problem with the internal clock ... What is the reason they present for such difference?

External clocks are much high quality than internal one.

Thus they give better control of speed of platter spinning around.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

If a turntable controller sounds much better with an external clock we can be tempted to think there is a problem with the internal clock ... What is the reason they present for such difference?

this review gets into the weeds about what is special about this particular clock. i'll be interested in how your much greater technically informed viewpoint than mine sees this.

then watch this video.

 

[thomask]

Sonus Faber speakers are pretty popular in Korea

Many Korean audiophiles are listening to classical music.

It may be why.

Overall Sonus Faber driven by either Dan D'agostino or Mcintoshi sounds pleasing to ears.

 

[Johan K]

Thank you for the report, thomask.
Very good coverage?!

All the best

/ Jk

 

[microstrip]

this review gets into the weeds about what is special about this particular clock. i'll be interested in how your much greater technically informed viewpoint than mine sees this.

then watch this video.

Well, clocks for digital DAC's are a well known, well explained and accepted subject, both technically and subjectively . But we do not see any connection between the 10 MHz clock stability and turntable motor drive stability. All I see is a nebulous try to associate their well known DAC performance to their turntable performance.

We are addressing am electromechanical inertial system, not a DAC supplying an analog signal to the amplification

 

[Mike Lavigne]

Well, clocks for digital DAC's are a well known, well explained and accepted subject, both technically and subjectively . But we do not see any connection between the 10 MHz clock stability and turntable motor drive stability. All I see is a nebulous try to associate their well known DAC performance to their turntable performance.

We are addressing am electromechanical inertial system, not a DAC supplying an analog signal to the amplification

a question, just for sh*ts and giggles;

lets just say you first heard the T1 turntable and were impressed with it's speed stability and flow. it was awesome sounding. and you've owned the EMT 927, so you know your turntable flow.

then someone brings in this clock and clearly it's takes things to another level. easy to A/B and no denying it.

do you then assume that the basic speed controller is flawed and this clock is fixing it? or is it just an over-the-top enhancement? at what point do we give the separate clock it's due, verses knocking the power supply clock design?

why wouldn't turntable speed precision be as significant as dac speed precision?

 

[microstrip]

a question, just for sh*ts and giggles;

lets just say you first heard the T1 turntable and were impressed with it's speed stability and flow. it was awesome sounding. and you've owned the EMT 927, so you know your turntable flow.

then someone brings in this clock and clearly it's takes things to another level. easy to A/B and no denying it.

do you then assume that the basic speed controller is flawed and this clock is fixing it? or is it just an over-the-top enhancement? at what point do we give the clock it's due, verses knocking the power supply design?

Yes, unless there is an acceptable technical explanation I consider that something is wrong with the design of the controller. The same way I would consider that a turntable that sounds better at sun shine than in cloudy days is flawed ...