Let me preface this thread by saying that I have just returned from a 2 week trip to South East Asia which was probably one of the most spectacular and memorable trips I have ever taken. This trip was one year in the planning with many of the members here from the Philippines but in particular JackD201 without whose help the scale and magnitude of this trip would never have happened. This friendship started ~5 years ago when Jack and his brother Jim visited me while I was still living in the SF Bay Area and they were in SF. A terrific friendship and bond grew over time that many other members from the Philippines likewise came to visit me (Jadis, dafos, dimfer). When the opportunity for all of us to connect this year at the Hong Kong Audio show followed by a trip to Manila to catch up with everyone again and to hear some of the best systems around I just couldn't resist, especially when Jack suggested the trip be concluded with a weekend visit to Palawan. The only time I had ever heard of Palawan was when it was the location for one season of Survivor on CBS TV.
For those who haven't heard of Palawan, let me provide this link
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/t...-World-SECOND-year-running.html?ITO=applenews
Paradise found (again): Travellers vote Palawan archipelago in the Philippines 'Best Is...
Daily Mail
The island of Palawan in the Philippines has been named the 'Best Island in the World' by Travel and Leisure magazine for the second time running. The exotic paradise is home to two Unesco heritage sites.
So after a one year wait my wife and I departed at 0050 hours on Aug 2 and flew non stop to Hong Kong where we arrived at 0630 Wed AM the following day after a 14 hour flight
I was warned that this was rainy season in this part of the world and boy was it ever. We were uncertain if the flight would be cancelled as there was a Monsoon due to hit Hong Kong 12 hours prior to our arrival but all was well as the clouds parted and the flight left on time. The rain however which greeted us was heavier than anything I have seen in almost 40 years in California. There was considerable flooding.
I plan on starting a separate thread on the balance of our journey after Hong Kong as I heard so many great systems and was able to capture many photos along the way so stay tuned for that as I get over my jet lag with a 15 hour time difference.
We had never been to South East Asia so I was juiced for this trip. The Hong Kong show I was told is the largest of its kind in that part of the world and boy was that an understatement as the venue was huge and rooms filled to the brim. There weren't many good listening rooms as it became apparent quickly to me that all of the large rooms were usually run by a distributor who brought with virtually every brand of gear they carried, so many rooms had static display, whereas others were constantly rotating the gear they represented. Much to my amazement it was all too common to see high end brands of competing speakers, turn tables, stands, cables and electronics all in the same room. This is something not seen in shows in the USA.
Some rooms were almost the size of double or triple banquet rooms filled with everything imaginable from front to back and side to side. Around the back wall of one of these rooms were even modular listening rooms which were cobbled together for the event where you could enter through thick clear plastic doors on the front. I saw so many things that I have never seen before and many caught my interest. There were records and CDs and tapes for sale every where. In fact one booth had a NM as well as a NM- copy of Flamenco fever. The NM copy IIRC was almost $1300 (USD and not Hong Kong dollars).
Many rooms stood out including Luke Manley's VTL room with Rockport, the YG Acoustics room (which was huge) and the Tech Das room. The TechDas room was shared by Gary Koh and his new Forte speaker along with Lloyd Walker's new turntable. Sadly however the room was underpowered (all of 13 amps) and there wasn't enough power for Gary's speakers which then kicked off the new TT as well as the DartZeel gear. I felt terrible for Gary and Lloyd who were debuting new gear. Gary took it in his stride and was calmer than I was as I felt bad for these guys who traveled so far to show something new and couldn't even get it up and running. This room nonetheless was my absolute favorite and fortunately the room was well attended and I saw Gary fielding a lot of questions from interested people.
I had the privilege of not only meeting Nishikawa San of TechDas fame but I also had some photos taken with him and joined him briefly at breakfast one morning. He was displaying his soon to be released TechDas AF1 Premium and wow did it perform. He was playing it with his new titanium platter, along with a titanium arm mount and the TechDas titanium cartridge. He was using the new SAT tone arm from Sweden that Fremer raved about (he also raved about the titanium platter). Nishikawa San is now the Japanese distributor for SAT and is able to cut his own titanium and will be selling the SAT arm with a titanium wand. He also is the distributor for Graham tonearms and had a 10" Phantom Elite with a titanium wand mounted on an AF2. The new AF1 Premium has a totally different all in one controller box rather than the 2 box system we all have. Cosmetically it adds some bling but the big feature that caught my attention was the quick and simple automatic leveling of the feet which was previously done with a bicycle pump manually.
The sound was better than I had ever heard this turntable play. The sound was effortless and the presentation far more forward than the typical AF1 which I own. To prove the point of this table's ability to withstand any vibrations Nishikawa kept tapping the turntable and the rotating record without introducing any extraneous noise. This together with the all titanium platter I was gob smacked. Had I never heard this turntable I would be eternally happy but I have to say this demo scratched an itch as Nishikawa took time to explain to me all of the changes in this AF1 Premium. As I understand it the AF1 can be upgraded in part or in whole to the Premium. I would suggest to all owners of the AF1 to give this Premium a listen if they get a chance. The platter is amazing but then again I was hearing that plus the new TT as well as the titanium arm mount and the SAT arm. This arm was fabulous and tracks seemingly perfect. Again for my ears, this was the best sound at the show. Speakers were Marten. The price of the Premium as well as the upgrade for existing owners is yet to be determined. For me this was not a lateral upgrade but definitely an upward one. The sound was spectacular.
I am going to keep this thread closed until I post all the photos, for purposes of continuity
For those who haven't heard of Palawan, let me provide this link
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/t...-World-SECOND-year-running.html?ITO=applenews
Paradise found (again): Travellers vote Palawan archipelago in the Philippines 'Best Is...
Daily Mail
The island of Palawan in the Philippines has been named the 'Best Island in the World' by Travel and Leisure magazine for the second time running. The exotic paradise is home to two Unesco heritage sites.
So after a one year wait my wife and I departed at 0050 hours on Aug 2 and flew non stop to Hong Kong where we arrived at 0630 Wed AM the following day after a 14 hour flight
I was warned that this was rainy season in this part of the world and boy was it ever. We were uncertain if the flight would be cancelled as there was a Monsoon due to hit Hong Kong 12 hours prior to our arrival but all was well as the clouds parted and the flight left on time. The rain however which greeted us was heavier than anything I have seen in almost 40 years in California. There was considerable flooding.
I plan on starting a separate thread on the balance of our journey after Hong Kong as I heard so many great systems and was able to capture many photos along the way so stay tuned for that as I get over my jet lag with a 15 hour time difference.
We had never been to South East Asia so I was juiced for this trip. The Hong Kong show I was told is the largest of its kind in that part of the world and boy was that an understatement as the venue was huge and rooms filled to the brim. There weren't many good listening rooms as it became apparent quickly to me that all of the large rooms were usually run by a distributor who brought with virtually every brand of gear they carried, so many rooms had static display, whereas others were constantly rotating the gear they represented. Much to my amazement it was all too common to see high end brands of competing speakers, turn tables, stands, cables and electronics all in the same room. This is something not seen in shows in the USA.
Some rooms were almost the size of double or triple banquet rooms filled with everything imaginable from front to back and side to side. Around the back wall of one of these rooms were even modular listening rooms which were cobbled together for the event where you could enter through thick clear plastic doors on the front. I saw so many things that I have never seen before and many caught my interest. There were records and CDs and tapes for sale every where. In fact one booth had a NM as well as a NM- copy of Flamenco fever. The NM copy IIRC was almost $1300 (USD and not Hong Kong dollars).
Many rooms stood out including Luke Manley's VTL room with Rockport, the YG Acoustics room (which was huge) and the Tech Das room. The TechDas room was shared by Gary Koh and his new Forte speaker along with Lloyd Walker's new turntable. Sadly however the room was underpowered (all of 13 amps) and there wasn't enough power for Gary's speakers which then kicked off the new TT as well as the DartZeel gear. I felt terrible for Gary and Lloyd who were debuting new gear. Gary took it in his stride and was calmer than I was as I felt bad for these guys who traveled so far to show something new and couldn't even get it up and running. This room nonetheless was my absolute favorite and fortunately the room was well attended and I saw Gary fielding a lot of questions from interested people.
I had the privilege of not only meeting Nishikawa San of TechDas fame but I also had some photos taken with him and joined him briefly at breakfast one morning. He was displaying his soon to be released TechDas AF1 Premium and wow did it perform. He was playing it with his new titanium platter, along with a titanium arm mount and the TechDas titanium cartridge. He was using the new SAT tone arm from Sweden that Fremer raved about (he also raved about the titanium platter). Nishikawa San is now the Japanese distributor for SAT and is able to cut his own titanium and will be selling the SAT arm with a titanium wand. He also is the distributor for Graham tonearms and had a 10" Phantom Elite with a titanium wand mounted on an AF2. The new AF1 Premium has a totally different all in one controller box rather than the 2 box system we all have. Cosmetically it adds some bling but the big feature that caught my attention was the quick and simple automatic leveling of the feet which was previously done with a bicycle pump manually.
The sound was better than I had ever heard this turntable play. The sound was effortless and the presentation far more forward than the typical AF1 which I own. To prove the point of this table's ability to withstand any vibrations Nishikawa kept tapping the turntable and the rotating record without introducing any extraneous noise. This together with the all titanium platter I was gob smacked. Had I never heard this turntable I would be eternally happy but I have to say this demo scratched an itch as Nishikawa took time to explain to me all of the changes in this AF1 Premium. As I understand it the AF1 can be upgraded in part or in whole to the Premium. I would suggest to all owners of the AF1 to give this Premium a listen if they get a chance. The platter is amazing but then again I was hearing that plus the new TT as well as the titanium arm mount and the SAT arm. This arm was fabulous and tracks seemingly perfect. Again for my ears, this was the best sound at the show. Speakers were Marten. The price of the Premium as well as the upgrade for existing owners is yet to be determined. For me this was not a lateral upgrade but definitely an upward one. The sound was spectacular.
I am going to keep this thread closed until I post all the photos, for purposes of continuity
